Juggles

[shanmonster]

I'd like to teach myself how to juggle this summer. I'd also like to learn how to ride a unicycle (although not necessarily at the same time I'm learning to juggle), but I don't think unicycles come cheap. Ah well. Juggling seems like a good sport for a penniless pauper such as myself. And then, once I've figured out juggling, I can incorporate it into my fire dancing. Hmm....

Comments

[bloobert.livejournal.com]

Juggling 3 balls is fun, and can I also suggest learning to juggle 2 balls with one hand. That's quite fun, just as tough, and once you're quite good at doing that with either hand, you'll be ready to tackle 4 (juggling 4 balls is actually just juggling 2 balls in your right hand and 2 in your left, in a staggered fashion). I'm still working on the 4 balls thing- it's tough! Sometimes I manage maybe 2 or 3 go-arounds, but I lose control rather quickly...

I'd love to graduate to 5 balls someday. I perceive juggling 5 balls as being that threshold that separates a hobbyist juggler from a 'hardcore' one. I know that probably sound elitist, but I just mean that the difficulty level is really exponential, and 5 balls really would take a truly impressive display of dedication...

[snowlionsilver.livejournal.com]

Now see, I think that's a hoot, since I was thinking about learning fire eating this summer.

Maybe we should take our act on the road.

a quick lesson in juggling...

[swirlingchaos.livejournal.com]

Juggling is fun. Start with hacky sacks, as opposed to tennis balls. Tennis balls tend to bounce and roll away when you drop them, and the first little bit will involve a great deal of dropping. Eventually, if you try to evolve to knives, stick to rubber ones first, or screwdrivers, before hitting the knives. The juggling pins are a decent substitute for fire torches i believe, as the fire tends to drag at the air in a similar way to the asymmetric weighting of the pins.

One thing that will make all juggling easier is to practice while standing in front of your bed. The thrown items will tend to land on the bed, involving less stooping over on your part, though this will be a minimal benefit if you only have a futon. It also means you cant move around much and overcompensate for poor throws by moving your feet. As a bonus though, it will keep the noise down if you have neighbours in an apartment under you, who generally tend to get snarky about endless hours of you dropping things on their ceiling. However, partners sleeping in said bed will tend to be equally snarky about you dropping things on them. :)

The key to juggling is consistancy and accuracy. Play with one ball at first, throwing it into the air to catch with the other hand and then back. Then once you have consistant height (forehead height or just above is good) and can make the ball fall into the other hand with virtually no adjustment needed, add the second ball (this may be the first afternoon, or months away).

Holding a ball in each hand, fling the first ball into the air with the right hand, same as you did with one ball. Just before catching it with the left, throw the left ball in a similar arc towards the right hand. The upward followthrough you use to throw the left ball will bring your left hand up to catch the first ball just after the other is thrown. This is going to give your left hand a counterclockwise circular motion, throwing the ball on the inner half of the circle and catching on the outer half. The right will have the same kind of thing, only clockwise, when you try throwing the left ball first.

When you can make this work most of the time with 2 balls, right to left and left to right, then try 3 balls (starting with 2 in one hand). There will always be one ball in the air and one in each hand (other than the brief transitions during catches, of course). This pattern is the simplest 3 ball juggling pattern, and is called a '3 ball shower'. It kind of looks like a fountain spraying water, up the center to fall on the outside.

If your hands were having a conversation, it would sound like this:
RH: throw
LH: throw catch
RH: throw catch
RH: throw catch
...etc.
Eventually they start saying other things, but they need to get this conversation down first.

Thats as much as i can possibly think of that could help get you started. I'm sure there are many internet resources as well, but like most physical skill sets, the only way to learn it is to DO it. Enjoy!

Re: a quick lesson in juggling...

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Wow! Thanks for the pointers!

I'm hoping to practice during the summer. I did a lot of busking/training/practicing down in the historical part of town last year, and I expect I'll do the same this year, too. People can laugh at and support the struggling juggler, this year. Heh....

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I've thought of fire eating, before. I'm a bit paranoid, though, as my asthma is often inspired by sudden temperature changes. Hopefully, the fire wouldn't make it down into my lungs (eep!). I think I'll stick with the fire dancing, for now, though.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'll try that! Someday, I'll be able to juggle five operating, flaming chainsaws. Wouldn't that be a sight?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

The day I run out of things I want to do is the day I keel over.

Re: a quick lesson in juggling...

[swirlingchaos.livejournal.com]

Nice. I can just picture you with a hat on the sidewalk, dancing, doing kung fu and juggling for the amusement/astonishment of the crowds. :)

When you get the juggling basics down i can probably manage to describe a few other basic patterns that look pretty cool without being too difficult. I can do most of the simpler tricks involving 3 balls, can do a few things with 4, and still dream about 5. So just drop me a line when you are ready for more and i'll shove some ideas your way.

[badcat42077.livejournal.com]

Have you thought about contact juggling? (The thing Bowie does in Labyrinth)

I was directed here: http://www.firetoys.co.uk/
Apparently they carry the pretty crystal spheres & a definitive how-to.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I don't remember that scene from Labyrinth. The only juggling I can recall was going on in Bowie's pants. Yowza! That man really ought to have been wearing underwear!

Are there any videos of contact juggling online? I'd like to see what it looks like.

Re: a quick lesson in juggling...

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it's going to take me a while before I'm ready for that. I'm still trying to figure out combinations with my staff, and I started learning how to use that last year.

I need to learn how to use momentum to get the staff to spin around my torso and neck, and I also want to figure out how to roll it down one arm, across the back of my neck, and catch it in the other hand.

I have a busy summer ahead of me....

[badcat42077.livejournal.com]

Hee! I'm tempted to go home & get out my copy of Labyrinth now.

This guy's not as pretty as Bowie, but he's rather good.
http://www.bowers.com/contact_juggling/

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that's really cool! I think it would go along with my dancing much better than regular juggling. Now I want to learn how to do this, too!

[badcat42077.livejournal.com]

In my head I keep seeing silver & crystal bedlah, with shiny crystal spheres. That's a lot of shiny.

[swirlingchaos.livejournal.com]

nice! I love his grand finale for clip 2. Very stylin'.

I'd love to try that stuff, but the problem would be that it would destroy my hardwood floors when i dropped the ball. And i know i would. a lot. That or throw the ball accidentally out the window. I bet that sucker would really fly if you let it get out of hand (pun intended).