HOW TO LEARN EVERY JUGGLING TRICK

 

 

Juggling is THE WORLD'S MOST CREATIVE SPORT

Although juggling has been around for millenia, it continues to evolve.

 

This image is from the tomb of the Egyptian pharoah Ben Hussani, c.a. 2000 B.C.

However, there are certain elements common to every trick
so the possibilities are predictable and knowing what each of those elements is can help you to learn how to juggle every trick that you can imagine.

But can you really learn every juggling trick imaginable?
Why not?

It really only takes a solid understanding of each element behind each juggling trick - and generally speaking, there are only four elements to any juggling trick:
the throw,
the catch,
the hand position (before the throw and before the catch), and
airtime (Ben Beever has broken this down into a few more elements as well - see Siteswaps for more information).

By altering the throw, the catch, the hand position, and the airtime, you can create millions of new tricks. Unfortunately, an inordinate amount of energy has been placed on using Siteswaps to create new patterns and not much time or energy has been placed on discovering new tricks using the other three elements of juggling. This is especially true of purist sports jugglers who are only interested in learning the most difficult tricks and who have lost any interest in the beauty and art of aerial sculpting (aka Juggling).

Use the knowledge of these four pillars of juggling to your advantage - simply mix and match. For instance, try catching every possible throw Penguin style. Then, alter your hand position (try under the leg Penguin catches or sideways Penguin catches caught by Box Throws), mix and match the order and you will undoubtedly have some new tricks in your repertoire ... I've seen Bill Barry Contact roll up his arm to an elbow Hit where it was caught by a Behind the Neck Catch; I've also seen him do an Under the Shoulder throw (right hand throwing under the left shoulder) that functioned as an altered hand position for a backcross - the path of the ball follows along the shoulders; he also does Backcrosses that are caught as elbow traps - and the possibilities continue endlessly.

Of course, don't forget to try each trick with the same hand or the same (or every) ball each beat, every other beat, or every other other beat. And, try each trick both directions or with both hands each beat, every other beat, or every other other beat. Once you have mastered these three elements of juggling, learning new tricks is merely a matter of putting these elements together in various & different orders. The below ideas are intended to help you to discover new tricks in more conventional ways as well.

Transitions & Mixing Tricks	Pretend you are European by trying to juggle each trick with every other trick you know in so many different ways that no one is really sure if you are juggling a particular pattern or not. For instance, Rubenstein's Revenge is essentially an Orbit followed by a Reverse Chop. Sometimes the transition between tricks will lead you to discover a new trick or a variation of an old standby trick. Several IJA champions have discovered winning routines by specializing in only a couple of tricks that they perform with several variations and with different props. One of the coolest tricks I've seen on the IJA videos was a Burke's Barrage performed with clubs; he flourished the held club. Try mixing 2 tricks together - or add a ball to the pattern (use a multiplex throw instead of a single throw). Can you do a Burke's Barrage Shuffle? How about Boston Mess Claw? How about mixing a J-Shower with the Box?
Themes	By themes, I mean a style of tricks. For instance, Kevin likes to juggle "tall" tricks. He likes to throw up really high. Sean McKinney specializes in doing every trick so fast that you can hardly tell what he was doing - even if you very familiar with all of the tricks he was performing. There are many tricks named after animals... I like experimenting with different shapes (often by using holds). Kevin does this too. For instance, he has a routine where he demonstrates different electron paths of various elements and orbital paths of the planets using juggling patterns.
Other Props	Try doing a trick performed with a different prop. For instance, Try Rubenstein's Revenge with clubs - a really cool trick though you don't immediately recognize it as Rubensteins. This works both ways: for instance, have you every tried Mills Mess with a devil stick? with a single contact juggling ball? And ... don't forget that you can use different props to assist you as well - I've seen juggling with bowls, tables, huge triangles, large "J" shaped ramps, sideways "L" props for bouncing has always been popular, etc. etc.
Story Juggling	This is traditionally been a total flop. However, I have found this version to be very very very successful: I tell stories that use juggling tricks to visually mimick verbs and/or adjectives in the story. For instance, I drive home from the Factory, turn on my Windshield Wipers because it is raining, and make a hard left (the Turnover) to avoid a woman weaving in and out of traffic (the Dual Weave). Audiences love this. Several of people have told me that they prefer this type of a show to a normal juggling show - unfortunately, it doesn't lend well to some props...

I'm sure there are more ideas as well

...

I'm just not clever enough to have imagined them yet!

One way or the other ...