this term should actually be called the "hang fall". in the city of pittsburgh it was used to shorten the distance of your jump off of a building or structure. for example, if you would jump off a 10 foot tall roof, your knees would take the impact of that fall. instead of jumping, you would dangle off the edge of the said structure and let go so you would make contact with the ground with only a short fall.
holy shit, here comes cracker jerome! let's get out of here! dude we can't go out that window, it's a 10 foot fall! it's okay dude, we can hang jump it and it will only be like 3 feet.