Bush-jumping is a sport. Seriously.
Today it is a nearly forgotten pastime, used only in moments of absolute desperation for attention, but once it was popular. And the sport is not dead yet.
The activity can be identified at Rhodes Definitions online as simply "participants finding a bush and launching themselves at it." But where did this sport originate from and where is it now?
I first learned of Bush-jumping as a younger man from entertaining stories passed down by my father to me about what was entailed as college life in his day.
Although he never participated, calling the act "too dangerous," his fraternity brothers would dive into the shrubberies surrounding their house in "various ways." Audience participation was mandated as the "better dive [was awarded] higher points."
To even understand the sport, one must look into the motivation behind purposely throwing oneself into potentially hazardous landscaping.
The sport seems to often entertain its viewers rather than bring any pleasure to the participants, with the roots of the activity possibly used as a form of hazing decades ago. Since then it has transcended into the perpetual man- against - nature conflict.
One bush-jumping website, dedicated to what they called a sport, provides interested visitors with the uniform, "t-shirt, jeans, [and] boots," as well as a further investigation into the disciplines of Bush-jumping as "a new extreme sport sweeping the nation."
"The two official styles of Bush-jumping are "hardcore and softcore."
Hardcore mandates '"jumping through or at least into" a bush, while softcore challenges the jumper "with finding a bush and jumping over it."
This activity, however, is not very well known; it has died out over the years. A once "popular fraternity sport" as my father put it, is now more associated with its consequences.
There is no doubt that Bush-jumping damages bushes, wrecks property, and is potentially dangerous to the health of the jumper and shrub.
My father says that the "bushes paid the price" and it was only acceptable since his fraternity owned the house and surrounding bushes, therefore they "destroyed our own bushes."
Even the Bush-jumping website had an Ethics page where they say to "never jump in a bush which isn't yours or a communal bush."
Public Safety would certainly look to fine participants citing "Malicious Destruction Of Property" (MDOP), so those interested should wait until winter break to test their skill at home.
Info from: www.alecto.org.uk/extremeinsanity/subsites/bushjumping/index.html.
300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, Maryland 21620 | 410-778-2800 | 800-422-1782