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Jump roping seems to have originated in Egypt or China somewhere around 1600 B.C. The Egyptians used to jump over vines, aborigines jumped over bamboo, and paintings from the medieval period show images of children jumping hoops. 

Rope skipping was taken to America by Dutch settlers during the 1600's and has been written about by English settlers, who migrated to New Amsterdam, later to become known as New York.

During the 1700's rope skipping was mainly performed by boys, as the culture of the time did not encourage girls to be physically active in case they harmed themselves. 

With changes in the 1800's both boys and girls were encouraged to play in games using skipping. During this time three types of skipping evolved 

1) single rope activities

2) long rope with two turners

3) double dutch with two ropes turning in opposite directions.

As girls became more involved in rope skipping during the 1900's, they invented different rhythms and singing games and it became a popular activity.

In the early 1940s and 1950s, jump rope became tremendously popular, and many children in inner cities used jumping rope as a form of play. It only required a rope, and anyone could play. From the late 1950s until the 1970s, however, jump rope history took a back seat to radio and television.

In the 1970's the world started to see an increase of interest in physical fitness, and with that, most attention was turned to rope jumping.

In New York City, in 1973, David A. Walker and his partner, Detective Ulysses Williams developed the street game of Double Dutch into the World Class Sport it is today. Walker and Williams revitalized the game by developing it into a competitive team sport.

The first Double Dutch tournament was held on Feb 14, 1974 with nearly 600 fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade student participating. Double Dutch has since expanded with city wide and national championships.

Currently there are hundreds of competions yearly in all continents, created by federations and organizations worldwide.

 

Nylon - need to work harder to make the rope turn fast (also very heavy depending on diameter)

 

Leather - turns much easier, is heavier so works the muscles more (Soak leather ropes first. This makes them supple, easier to use and longer lasting.)

 

Plastic – lighter product, if speed is required (not the ones, as you mentioned the Disney Type) there does exist, on the market, plastic types, engineered, various handles (short and long) and in more models than you can imagine (prices also) and from different countries.

This is where both feet are slightly apart and jump at the same time over the rope. Beginners should master this technique first before moving onto more advanced techniques.

This style consists of using alternate feet to jump off the ground. This technique can be used to effectively double the number of skips per minute as compared to the above technique.

This method is similar to the basic jump with the only difference being that while jumping, the left hand goes to the right part of the body and vice versa for the right hand.

To perform a double under, the participant needs to jump up a bit higher than usual while swinging the rope twice under his feet. It is possible to have the rope swing three times under the feet (triple under). In fact, in competitive jump rope, triples, quadruples ("quads"), and quintuples ("quins") are not uncommon.

There are many more difficult jump roping tricks that combine two or more of these techniques to make a single trick. These combinations can also be used in Chinese Wheel, Double Dutch, and Long Rope.

The toad is a complicated trick where the jumper performs the "Cross" manoeuvre with their leg intersecting the arms.

Many other variations are possible, including: "skier", a side-to-side jump keeping the feet together; "bell", a front-and-back jump keeping the feet together; "scissors", a jump putting one foot forward and the other back, then switching back-and-forth; "jumping jack", a jump putting the feet apart and then together; and "can-can" a jump with one leg up and bent, followed by a jump with both feet on ground, followed by a jump kicking the foot out.