San Franciscan wants to get America skipping

SAN FRANCISCO - Stop worrying, America, and start skipping.

Dubbed ''Skipper'' by her friends, Kim Corbin of San Francisco is on a crusade to transform this most humble of human activities into a soul-soothing, fat-burning exercise that also functions as a route to every adult's inner child.

''Skipping is my passion. It is really what I'm a supposed to be doing,'' the 30-year-old public relations specialist said in an interview. ''I have had nothing but an outpouring of support since I started this.''

Corbin's skip campaign already boasts its own Web site,www.iskip.com, and a small but loyal coterie of enthusiasts who gather in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for what is billed as ''groupskip.''

She was to lead her first ''Happy Hour'' skip Wednesday through San Francisco's financial district. From there the movement could go national: television news magazines and talk shows have expressed interest in covering skipping, Corbin said.

''I've only been doing this for two months, and it is really going fast,'' Corbin said. ''It seems to strike a chord in everyone.''

For Corbin, skipping is a quick and easy way to feel happy.

''Skipping absolutely makes you feel like a kid again,'' Corbin said. ''Your adult voice says that you'll look silly or stupid; that people will stare or poke fun at you ... but that's nonsense.

''When I skip I make people smile and feel good, including myself. Plus it's incredible exercise -- physically and mentally. Try to get that in a gym.''

Corbin also said skipping works better than jogging or lifting weights. With an eye to getting more people to take up the practice, she has enlisted an exercise physiologist to determine the amount of energy a good skip burns.

She said she has lost seven pounds since she took up public skipping two months ago.

One of Corbin's skipping comrades, 26-year-old Colleen Schell, was dubbed ''the Skipping Fairy'' for skipping the entire 7 1/2 mile San Francisco Bay-to-Breakers footrace in a fairy outfit this year.

''Take a deep breath, put one foot in front of the other, add that extra jump, and feel your lips spread across your face to form a smile,'' Schell said in describing her skipping technique.

Corbin said even the out-of-shape can skip.

''There are no rules to skipping. Sometimes I'll mostly walk, but I'll skip every other block to raise my heart rate. Or I'll skip in the grocery store for shock value. I'm having a blast.''

Encouraged by news coverage in San Francisco and in her hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, Corbin said she has other ideas for getting America in touch with its playful side.

''I've started swinging on a swing set in the park,'' Corbin said. ''That lets me mentally let go and feel like a kid again. It really helps turn on different parts of my creative self.''