Bill Rogers, the world-class marathon runner, once commented, ” My record will go and it will be good. I like to see records broken even if they’re my own.” Since I follow Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy of self-transcendence, I can totally relate to Mr. Rogers’ profound detachment. However, recently, when I found out that my record for finger snapping was broken, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed!
Now, you’re possibly thinking that I’ve gone soft. Here is the guy who once somersaulted for 12 miles and now he’s into finger snapping! I agree, it’s not my normal type of record, but when I spotted it in the new Guinness Book last August, a giant light bulb lit up in my head. Finger snapping must have been a new category because the record was only 119 snaps in one minute. This was my crazy idea -“ maybe I could combine the snapping with something else and break two Guinness records simultaneously!
Bill Rogers, the world-class marathon runner, once commented, ” My record will go and it will be good. I like to see records broken even if they’re my own.” Since I follow Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy of self-transcendence, I can totally relate to Mr. Rogers’ profound detachment. However, recently, when I found out that my record for finger snapping was broken, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed!
Now, you’re possibly thinking that I’ve gone soft. Here is the guy who once somersaulted for 12 miles and now he’s into finger snapping! I agree, it’s not my normal type of record, but when I spotted it in the new Guinness Book last August, a giant light bulb lit up in my head. Finger snapping must have been a new category because the record was only 119 snaps in one minute. This was my crazy idea : maybe I could combine the snapping with something else and break two Guinness records simultaneously!
The wheels started turning. What record requires only the use of the legs so that my right hand could be free to do finger snapping? The answer came in a flash : the Swiss Ball! There was a record for doing the most deep knee bends in a minute while standing on those big, air-filled rubber balls found in most gyms. The record was 29 full deep knee bends, making the thighs parallel to the ground in the down position and locking the knees in the standing position. It’s hard enough to balance while just standing on the Swiss Ball, let alone doing deep knee bends but, with enough concentration, maybe I could also add the finger snapping.
There was only one way to find out. I went into my official training area, my kitchen, inflated a 70-centimeter Swiss Ball to the required pressure, and hopped on. I felt comfortable. I had done an hour of deep knee bends on the ball in Athens, Greece, more than a year ago and I guess the training paid off. Of course, once I started the finger snapping, I was on the floor in no time, but I could tell it was just a matter of practice. The next step was to apply to Guinness for the snapping rules and check that the record in the Guinness Book was still current.
When I got the response back from Guinness, I was surprised that the record was still only 119 snaps, but I was even more surprised by the strictness of the rules. The guidelines specified that the finger snapping had to be done in a professional sound studio with two sound engineers as witnesses. Also, a specific type of microphone had to be used, set up at a certain height and distance from the finger snapper. The other key factor was that no background noise was permissible. I had been training, but my challenge would be considerable. Not only would I have to do more than 29 perfect deep knee bends while balanced on the Swiss Ball and snapping my fingers, but I would have to accomplish it without making any other noise or even breathing hard!
I found a sound studio in Manhattan that was up for the adventure and everything was set to go. One of the official timers gave me the signal and I nervously began the intense minute. Several seconds elapsed when suddenly one of the witnesses yelled, “Stop!” The sudden noise sent me tumbling off the ball. “What happened?”, I asked in disbelief. It turned out that the embarrassed fellow had forgotten to turn on the video camera so we had to start all over again. This time everything went well and I was able to do 30 deep knee bends and keep my fingers snapping. I couldn’t celebrate until the sound guys listened to the tape, but I was hopeful. Finally, after slowing the tape down and counting the snaps several times, the engineers congratulated me on doing 179 fully audible finger snaps!
I submitted all the paperwork and audio and videotapes to Guinness and a couple of months later Guinness confirmed that I had indeed managed to set two records simultaneously. Unfortunately, they did not consider that feat to be yet a third record! Although I didn’t hold the finger snapping record for long, I’m happy that the record is now over 200 in a minute. I’ve already started my serious finger snapping training again and it’s astounding what good forearm exercise it is.
In fact, the other day I was in the back of a meeting hall at a function and I was getting restless so I began doing some finger snapping practice. A friend of mine, Sphulinga, spotted me from across the room and rushed over quite concerned. It seems that I was contorting my face and bobbing my head in order to eke out another few snaps. Sphulinga, not noticing my fingers, thought I was having some kind of seizure! He was relieved to see that I was OK and he was amazed to learn what I had discovered months ago – finger snapping is no snap!
