Newspaper Article

Below is an article the Tulsa World did on me today.
Pro jump-roper leaps into career
By MAX PORTER World Staff Writer
6/10/2007
Peter Nestler jumps.
With one arm behind his back he swings the rope over his head and spins it under his feet — One!
Then with one arm behind his back and his other under his leg, he swings the rope under his feet again — Two!
His arms return to his sides, but the rope goes under his feet again — Three!
Then with both arms crossed, he swings the rope under his feet one more time — Four!
And he lands.
The entire trick — Nestler calls it “The Scooby Doo” — takes only a blink.
“It’s rather difficult,” said Nestler, a Tulsan and one of only five professional jump-ropers in the world.
In fact, no one else in the world has been able to duplicate it, and Nestler says only other professionals can truly appreciate its difficulty.
It’s one of many paradoxes in the world of professional jump-roping — a career that Nestler says not many people understand.
“Everybody has a preconceived notion of what I do,” he said. “But when they see me perform, they realize ‘Oh, so that’s what you do.’ “
Jumping rope is more physically demanding than most people realize, said Nestler.
“It’s something that a lot of people have tried, but few are able to master.”
Nestler can certainly be counted among those few.
Nestler began jumping rope while attending elementary school in Juneau, Alaska, when he tried out for a jump-rope team.
“I didn’t make it the first year because I was really bad.”
Nestler did not give up.
He trained and won a world jump-rope championship only a year later.
He spent the next eight years traveling, performing and competing.
After graduating high school, Nestler was offered a job in Chicago jumping rope professionally.
Six months later, he moved to Florida and started his own company.
Since then, he has been touring consistently and performing his stunts all over the world, often for children.
After years of touring, Nestler decided to incorporate motivational lessons into his act.
“When you have these kids’ attention . . . it’s almost a shame not to try to tell them what they can do with their lives.”
Nestler’s first lessons focused on the importance of hard work and determination, a subject with which he is quite familiar.
“I believe that hard work can really get you anywhere in life.”
In 2002, Nestler moved his company, Rope Masters, from Florida to Tulsa.
Nestler had been to Tulsa several times while on tour and said he chose it because of its size and central location.
Things have been going well for Nestler since his move to Tulsa, he said.
He and his wife, Alicia, a Mounds native, were married earlier this year.
Marriage has not curtailed Nestler’s itinerant lifestyle.
“I’m actually touring a lot more this year.”
Nestler plans to perform as many as 350 times in the next year.
His wife will travel with him and help him run his company while on tour.
On his upcoming tour, Nestler will likely be asked about his occupation countless times, and each time he will face a similar reaction.
“Nobody ever really believes me when I tell them what I do for a living.”