Twisthem's guide

From ContactJuggling.org

Hello, I’m Twisthem488 (aka Crazy Joe) Nice to meet you. Seeing that your new to CJ (Contact juggling) I figured I’d write this up specially for you. Well, you and anyone else who cares to read it. I must warn you, that I myself am not an expert at CJ by any measure. What I’m going to do in this thread is merely point you in the direction of information that you’ll want to know. Feel free to formally introduce yourself here

CJ is a great form of meditation, and has been known to help people with hyperactivness and hand-eye coordination. Besides all that its great for meeting new people, or just for something to do in your freetime. If you put into it, it can become very rewarding for you.

So that you know what I mean when I talk about the different forms of CJ, here are some example vids of the 3 main forms

• Body Rolling
• Palm spinning/multiball
• Isolationism

First off, you’ll need a ball. There are several possibilities, and that can make things a little confusing, and I know how hard it is to try to learn something without a proper prop. Learning to CJ with a bad ball is like learning to drive a sports car by using a 1980 Ford LTD. Keep in mind that everybody is different, and will have their own preference.

To start off with, read Ball_theory_by_rich Taking that into consideration, I consider a 4” stageball the best thing for learning bodyrolling. A 3” or 4” acrylic is good for learning isolationism, and some 2.5-3” acrylics are good for palm spinning. Heres a quick pro/con section for each type of ball.

Acrylics Pro:

• Can be used for any form of CJ
• Are visually appealing
• Have a good weight to them

Acrylics Con:

• Their expense is second only to silicons
• They break things
• They scratch fairly easily, although you can get some novus plastic polish.
• They can burn you in the sun

Stageball Pro:

• Good for bodyrolling
• Ok for isolations if there are no marks or seams
• Cheap!
• A 4” is probably the best learning ball
• If you cant find one get one of these at your local pet store.

Stageball Con:

• Too light for some people
• Some brands pick up stains rather easily

Lacrosse Pro:

• Cheap!
• They bounce so you don’t have to bend over quite so much.
• Have a tackiness that will help with body rolling.

Lacrosse Con:

• They are small and light
• They often times have brands printed on them
• Aren’t good for palm spinning because of the friction.

I realize that I’ve left out several types of balls (steel, silicone, Babache practice ball) but I have no experience with these and don’t fell like I can properly evaluate them until I do. If anyone wants to write up a little something about them feel free to and send it to me in a PM and I’ll edit it in :D As for where to get balls, check the shop reviews thread for some good shops. Some sample stores would be yoyoguy.com jugglingstore.com dube.com renegadejuggling.com along with Rich's store, bobhughescompany.com

Ok, now that you have ball lets get started! First off you’ll want to read The Fist five steps of CJ and the next five steps written up by the famous Ferret himself. You might also find Rich's First lesson helpfull as well. Ryan has blessed us with an article on basic isolation's, and while you at it, check out the learning pages from Silvers website here. After you Get those down, take a trip to the moves section and start learning any trick that catches your fancy.

After you get some moves down, or if your having trouble with some moves, make a video of it so we can see what you’re doing right/wrong and encourage/help you out! You can edit it with windows movie maker which comes standard with most computers, and host it at youtube.com if you don’t have your own site.

If you have any questions go ahead and post them and someone will surely have an answer for you. The CJ community is filled with great people willing to help and wanting to teach. Good luck, and have fun!

Twisthem488