Juggling Blind
Has any one seen juggling blind behind one's back, or overhead?
here's a video that contains a clip of juggling blind on the waist.
(i.e. move left hand behind the back to the right side of waist)
http://www.jugglethis.net/files/videos/EJC2005ptuj.mpg
about 40 or 50 megabytes.
Xah Wrote:
i don't think blind low 3-ball juggling behind the back is difficult. Practice it one hour a day. I bet in a month you can do at least 12 throws. I'd say more likely 50+ throws. I bet anyone $5.
Alon Erez wrote:
I got curious and looked up the JRDB survey results. This is the best effort done trying to estimate tricks difficulty to my knowledge.
http://www.bogleg.com/records/surveys.phpThe 3 ball blind behind the back is ranked at 7.47 Just to compare 3 balls blind is 3.64
Thanks for the difficulty survey site. Though, i think it has lots of room to improve for accuracy.
it's rather ridiculous to say 3ball blind behind back is 7.47, while 5ball cascade is only 2.6.
The ridiculousness can easily be verified. Take someone who is at the level of only 3b cascade. I bet that if he practice blind behind back 1 hour a day, in a month he can manage 12 catches. Meanwhile, if he practice front juggling, i doubt he'll do 5 in a month. Not even 3 months.
Really, trust me. I bet you'll realize it in just a week.
The reason people rated it so difficult, is precisely because they never tried to do it. (while every joe see and learn 5b) It's a perception and mentality thing.
See: Perception of Difficulty Levels of Human Feats.
To train to juggle behind the back: in the first few days, just use 1 ball. Use a spherical, heavier ball. (e.g. those bouncing balls) Throw it from left hand to right hand and vice versa. Do this 1 hour every day. Then, progress to 2 balls next week. In a month, i bet you'll do 12 catches at least.
who would in the world to be the first to juggle 5 balls blind!
for those who can do 6 or 7, i'd bet this would done within half a year practice (for, say, 20 catches), and you'd be in Guinness World Record.
Ways to Practice Blind Juggling
As for ways of practice juggling blind… perhaps one way is chronically practice in a very dark room. Another way is to habitually juggle without much visual concentration. For example, juggling by looking at a mirror, juggle when watching TV, juggle (5 balls) without head raised. Then progress to somewhat by looking at your hands. These are some progressive ways towards blind juggling.
A cold-turkey way, is to start by totally blind. In this way, practice always with eyes closed. So, perhaps starts with mastering of 3 balls cascade, column, and reverse cascade. Then, obtain total mastery with 4 balls columns. (practice 2 balls) I think continuous flash of 3 balls is also a must before 5 cascade. In this total blind way, one concentrate a lot on the tactile sensation immediately.
It is not clear whether gradual or cold-turkey is more effective.
Juggling in Weightlessness
Yes, heavier balls help the tactile sensation greatly. The weight helps one to feel the direction the ball takes off, and when it lands the gravity gives a sense of where it came from.
my blind juggling experience is that, i've never done it until about when i started this thread. Blind juggling in particular behind the back is something i had in my mind for a long time. I always thought it is possible, but never seen. (i'm out of touch with juggling community for over 15 years, where i started juggling seriously for about only 1 year in 1989) But since i saw it first time in the juggling convention video in this month (mentioned in the beginning of this thread), and saw the discussion here, i've managed to do 66 catches (3 ball cascade). That's just only one session of practice, in less than 30 minutes!
i believe it is once mentioned in a Scientific American article on juggling, that much of the skill lies in the tactile reflex.
i'd imagine, if the ball is practically weightless as to eliminate the sensitivity of tactile sensation (and suppose it still falls down by some artificial means such as magnetic force), then juggling'd be a different game.
imagine juggling in weightlessness. (in space) Then, the balls don't fall. So, the juggling would be like throwing the balls towards each hand, or, the ability to re-arrange balls in spacial locations in some skillful and showy manner. A different way is to bounce against walls. These would be of interest in themselves. (now, who'd be the first to do some non-trivial juggling in space?)
one way to get the idea in juggling in weightlessness is to juggle a 3-ball cascade, but with arms as wide as possible. So, literally one throws the balls towards each hand, and little gravity is involved. This is rather hard. And, it must be done very fast on earth, else the ball falls.
now… in space, contact jugglers would be fucked.