Forms of juggling facts for kids
Juggling is a fun skill where you throw and catch objects. Over time, people have created many different ways to juggle. These ways involve using different items, different numbers of items, and even different numbers of jugglers.
This article explores the many forms of juggling. Both people who juggle for fun and professional performers use these styles. Juggling is always growing, with new patterns being created all the time. Most jugglers don't stick to just one style. They often mix two or more forms. For example, they might combine juggling many balls with complex patterns.
Many jugglers also enjoy other types of object manipulation. These include playing with a diabolo, devil sticks, or cigar boxes. They might also do fire-spinning, contact juggling, hat manipulation, or poi. Other skills include staff-spinning, balancing tricks, and bar flair.
Contents
Solo Juggling Styles
Toss Juggling Basics
Toss juggling is what most people think of when they hear "juggling." It involves repeatedly throwing and catching objects. Common objects are balls, clubs, or rings. Jugglers use many different patterns and styles.
Some jugglers use the term "toss juggling" to describe only throwing and catching. This helps them tell it apart from other circus skills. These skills include diabolo or devilstick, which are also called juggling.
Juggling with Balls
When talking about juggling, "balls" and "beanbags" usually mean the same thing.
Numbers Juggling with Balls
Juggling world records are often set in numbers juggling. This is the challenge of keeping as many objects in the air as possible. For balls or rings, juggling 7 or more is usually considered "numbers juggling." For clubs, it's 5 or more.
Traditionally, the goal was to "qualify" a number. This means throwing and catching each object twice. A newer goal is to "flash" a number. This means throwing and catching each object only once. Flashing is easier than qualifying.
Current world records show this difference. For balls, the record is 11 qualified and 14 flashed. For rings, it's 10 qualified and 13 flashed. For clubs, it's 8 qualified and 9 flashed.
Pattern Juggling with Balls
Some jugglers focus on learning and creating many different patterns. Many of these patterns are made using a system called Siteswap. Jugglers try to make patterns that look interesting. They also try to juggle the longest or most complex patterns. Some focus on patterns with very high throws.
They might also juggle famous patterns like Mills' Mess or Rubenstein's Revenge. They often do these patterns with more than three balls.
Trick Juggling with Balls
Trick jugglers learn or invent many different moves. They then link these moves together in unique ways. They often focus on throws using different parts of the body. They also do tricks with crossing arms or throwing multiple balls from one hand. Carrying balls around other balls and different ways of catching are also popular.
Usually, jugglers stay in one spot and use mostly their hands. They typically juggle three, four, or five balls for these tricks.
Technical Juggling with Balls
Juggling is called "technical" when the skills are very difficult. Many artistic jugglers are also technical. But the term often refers to jugglers who focus on doing harder moves. Their main goal is the difficulty, not necessarily an artistic performance.
Full Body Juggling with Balls
In full body juggling, the whole body helps control the objects. This includes throws and catches using the head, arms, back, legs, and feet. It can also include contact juggling moves like rolling balls on the head or arms.
A full body juggler might also move their body like a dancer. They change their stance and posture. They use their body and the juggling props in a planned performance.
Bounce Juggling with Balls
In bounce juggling, special silicone or rubber balls bounce off a hard surface. This is usually the floor. The juggler then catches them. There are specific tricks for bouncing balls. These include different rhythms, speeds, and types of throws. But the most popular is bouncing many balls at once.
Bounce juggling can be easier than toss juggling. This is because you catch the balls at the top of their bounce. At this point, they are moving the slowest.
Football Juggling
This involves juggling larger balls like footballs, basketballs, or volleyballs. Classic skills include spinning balls and stacking them while spinning. Bouncing balls on the head, shoulder, feet, or floor are also common. Sometimes, jugglers mix in contact juggling moves. They roll the larger balls around their body.
Juggling with Rings
Rings are not as popular as balls or clubs. There are a few reasons for this:
- They can hurt to catch, especially for beginners. Their thin, hard plastic edges can feel sharp.
- Even light winds affect them, so they are usually juggled indoors.
- Rings are best thrown and caught with the hand above the elbow. This feels less natural than the lower throws used for balls and clubs.
- Because of their size, rings must be thrown quite high, especially compared to balls.
However, once jugglers get comfortable with rings, they can create amazing performances. Rings can be as impressive as clubs on stage. They are also easier to juggle than clubs because they don't need to be spun as precisely.
Numbers Juggling with Rings
Rings are great for numbers juggling. They are light and aerodynamic. This means they can be thrown high with less effort than balls or clubs. Numbers juggling with rings usually starts with 8 or more rings. Some jugglers try to set world records for juggling the most rings or for the longest time.
Ring Tricks
Fewer people create new tricks specifically for rings. Jugglers often adapt tricks they learned with balls or clubs to rings. However, inventing unique ring tricks is becoming more popular.
Technical Ring Juggling
Technical ring jugglers often focus on five to seven rings. They mostly work on performance tricks. These include pirouettes (spins), juggling above the head, and backcrosses. They also usually master a move called a "pulldown." This is where they collect all the rings over their head at the end of a performance.
Juggling with Clubs
Clubs are very popular with solo jugglers. People new to juggling sometimes incorrectly call them "pins." Here are some popular forms of club juggling.
Numbers Juggling with Clubs
Most jugglers consider five or six clubs as the start of numbers club juggling. Clubs are larger and heavier than balls. They also need to be spun correctly. This makes numbers club juggling much harder. Because of this, it is less popular than numbers juggling with balls.
Club Tricks
Many tricks are unique to clubs. Their size and shape allow for balances, rolls, and fancy spins. Jugglers can also do "slapbacks" or catch clubs by the wrong end. Most tricks are done with the juggler standing still. They mostly use their hands and head.
Technical Club Juggling
Technical club juggling focuses on three to five clubs. There are many moves to do with clubs. These include pirouettes, juggling above the head, and backcrosses. Shoulder throws and kickups are also common. Juggling with a club balanced on the head is another example. Many jugglers use Siteswap for clubs, though it's less common than with balls.
Juggling Other Objects
Jugglers often use various other objects to make a show more exciting. Instead of clubs, they might use tennis rackets, throwing knives, or lit torches. For balls, they might use Apples or raw eggs. A performer might even take bites of an apple during the act!
More extreme examples include chainsaws, bowling balls, or other heavy or awkward objects. These are much more dangerous. Only the most experienced jugglers usually use them. Some performers mix objects of very different weights, sizes, and shapes. This means they must adjust how hard they throw each object.
Contact Juggling
Contact juggling is different from throwing balls. Instead, the juggler rolls the balls over their hands and body. Usually, "crystal" balls are used, which are actually made of acrylic or plastic. There are two main types: A. Rolling one or two balls all over the hands, arms, and body. B. Controlling three to eight balls, spinning them in stacks in the palms of the hands.
Both types often use the idea of "isolation." This creates the illusion that one ball is staying still in space. The juggler, or other balls, then move around this fixed ball.
Club Swinging
In club swinging, two clubs are swung around the body. They are moved in different patterns, speeds, and directions. Sometimes the clubs are thrown, but usually they are held the whole time. Some toss jugglers don't consider club swinging to be "real juggling." This is because the props are not thrown and caught very much. Club swinging is also done with heavy wooden clubs as a form of exercise or fitness training.
Juggling with Multiple People
Jugglers can also pass props to each other as a pair or in a group. This is different from juggling alone.
Passing Juggling
In passing, two or more jugglers share a juggling pattern. They usually face each other. Passing has many forms and is most often done with clubs.
Numbers Passing
Numbers passing is popular with clubs, rings, and bouncing balls. It's less common with regular balls. A team of two jugglers working well together can sometimes juggle more than twice as many clubs as each could juggle alone. Very few people do anything other than numbers passing with rings and bouncing balls.
Passing Tricks
This usually involves two jugglers focusing on unique trick opportunities while passing clubs. It often starts with a basic pattern, like passing a club every two beats ("2 count") or every four beats ("4 count"). Tricks are then thrown within these regular beats.
Basic throws include tomahawks, shoulder throws, and "multiplexes" (throwing multiple clubs at once). Many other throws exist. Solo club juggling tricks can also be mixed in between the passes.
Group Passing
For three people, there is the "feed" pattern. Typically, one person is the "feeder" who passes to everyone else. Two or more people are "feedees" who only pass back to the feeder. This can be expanded to include more jugglers. Formations like the triangle, Y, line, square, and star are popular.
The juggling patterns are usually simple. Complexity comes from jugglers turning or walking within the group. They might also switch between being a feedee and a feeder. For five or more people, the basic pattern is the "Feast." In this pattern, everyone passes to everyone else, including themselves, while turning clockwise.
Passing Patterns
Jugglers keep things interesting by creating more complex sequences. These sequences involve "passes" (throwing to someone else), "selves" (throwing to yourself), "holds" (not throwing the club at all), and "zips" (grabbing a club from one hand with the other). These are set over a certain number of beats and repeated by each juggler.
A basic pattern might be "pass-self-self-self." More complex patterns might involve four jugglers. Each juggler does something like "pass-zip-self-pass-pass-self-zip-pass" all at different times. With more than two jugglers, they must also know who they are passing to on each beat.
Technical Passing
Technical passing uses the difficult skills from solo club juggling. It usually involves passing six to nine clubs, either face-to-face or back-to-back. Technical passing is very hard. So, the sequences usually need to be planned beforehand for the tricks to work. This is different from regular passing tricks.
Other Two-Person Juggling Forms
Sharing Juggling
This is also called half-juggling, buddy juggling, or Siamese juggling. Two jugglers stand side-by-side. They juggle patterns that one person would normally do alone. The patterns are often the same on both sides, but they can be different. Sharing patterns range from side-by-side numbers passing to very complex arm-weaving patterns with only three balls.
Stealing Juggling
In stealing, one person juggles a regular pattern. The other person then takes all the props and keeps the pattern going without stopping. Patterns can be stolen from in front, behind, above, below, or from either side. This form of juggling is most popular with clubs and balls.
Takeouts Juggling
Takeouts involve one juggler taking a single prop from another juggler. They then replace it with a different prop, or the same prop a few beats later. This form can also confusingly be called "stealing."
Synchronized Juggling
Juggler Thomas Dietz helped make this form popular. In synchronized juggling, two jugglers perform tricks at the exact same time. This looks very impressive and is difficult to do perfectly.
