Juggling

Malabarista with 5 balls.

Juggling is defined as the art of manipulating and performing shows with one or more objects at a time by alternately flipping, balancing, or throwing them into the air, usually without letting them fall to the ground. Juggling is known for its difficulty and visual beauty, and for this a certain psychomotor skill is needed on the part of the person who performs it, who is called a juggler. To do this, the juggler uses various parts of the body, mainly the hands, but also the feet, arms and/or head. Juggling is one of the classic circus attractions. The most common accessories are balls, sticks or rings. Some jugglers use more dramatic objects, such as knives, fire torches, or chainsaws.

History of juggling

From antiquity to the 20th century

This ancient mural painting seems to represent jugglers. It was found in the tomb number 15 of the area of Karyssa I, Egypt. According to Dr. Bianchi, associate curator of the Brooklyn Museum "In the 15th tomb, the prince is looking at the things he enjoyed in life and wants to take to the other world. The fact that the jugglers are represented in a tomb suggests a religious meaning."... "The round things were used to represent large solar objects, birth and death."

The earliest record of juggling is suggested by a panel from the Beni Hasan tomb of the 15th century (1994 to 1781 BC) of an unknown Egyptian prince, showing dancers and acrobats throwing balls. Juggling has been recorded in many early cultures, including Egyptian, Nabatean, Chinese, Indian, Greek, Roman, Nordic, Aztec and Polynesia.

Another source of information is the Talmud, where reference is made to Rabbi Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel who juggled eight flaming torches and also glasses of wine, without spilling a drop

Juggling in ancient China was an art performed by some warriors. One such warrior was Xiong Yiliao, whose juggling nine balls in front of troops on a battlefield reportedly caused the opposing troops to flee without a fight, resulting in complete victory.

In Europe, juggling was acceptable entertainment until the decline of the Roman Empire, after which the activity fell out of favour. Throughout the Middle Ages, most stories were written by religious clerics who disapproved of the type of juggling performers called gleemen, accusing them of low morals or even practicing witchcraft. The jugglers of this time only performed in markets, streets, fairs or houses of drinks. They would perform short, humorous, and bawdy acts and pass a hat or bag through the audience for tips. Some kings and nobles' bards, ghosts, or jesters would have been capable of juggling or performing acrobatics, though their main skills would have been oral (poetry, music, comedy, and storytelling).

In 1768, Philip Astley opened the first modern circus. A few years later, he employed jugglers to perform acts along with those of horses and clowns. Since then, jugglers have been associated with circuses.

At the beginning of the 19th century,. Troupes from Asia, such as the famous 'Indian jugglers' referred to by William Hazlitt, came to tour Britain, Europe and parts of America. In the Salem Gazette, dated October 5, 1819, describes an apparition of the leader of the company of Indian jugglers, Ramo Samee.

In the 19th century, variety theaters and music halls became more popular, and jugglers were in demand for fill the time between musical acts, performing in front of the curtain while the sets were changed. Artists began to specialize in juggling, separating it from other types of performances such as sword swallowing and magic. The gentleman juggling style was established by German jugglers such as Salerno and Kara. Rubber processing developed and jugglers began to use rubber balls. Previously, juggling balls were made from balls of string, stuffed leather bags, wooden spheres, or various metals. Solid rubber or inflatable balls allowed bouncing juggling. Inflated rubber balls made ball spinning easier and more accessible. Soon, in North America, vaudeville theaters employed jugglers, often hiring European performers.

Luca Pferdmenges making juggling with 7 rings

In 1930, in much of Europe and North America, the "variety show" became very popular among the upper-middle classes, which brought jugglers from the streets and prisons of Europe and made them work in theaters and circuses. The tables and stages set up a wide variety of tricks such as juggling, quirky people, and balancing, which quickly became popular and spread throughout the West.

Etymology

In the 16th century in India, the province of Kerala was under the control of the British East India Company. Portuguese sailors voyaging the Indian Ocean met the inhabitants of the Malabar coastal region, who performed amazing acrobatic exercises and games of skill. They adopted the name of the area as a synonym for these skills, transporting the term to the Iberian Peninsula, where both the Portuguese and Spanish languages ended up adopting it in their daily use.

Different disciplines

3 balls.

7 balls.

Malabarism with different number of balls.

Juggling, juggling or juggling in its broadest sense originally included aerial throws, that is, throws and repetitions of objects such as balls, clubs or rings thrown continuously and repeatedly into the air. Beginners are often advised to learn handkerchief airdrops. Bouncing is an extension of aerial juggling, adding rebounds off surfaces. It is usually practiced with silicone balls due to their rebound properties. Juggling and hand rotations is any manipulation of one or more objects without leaving the body or the palm of the hand.

Many disciplines that include other objects mix manipulation and juggling: hats, cigar boxes, bar juggling with bottles and shakers, and the manipulation of fountain pens. Poï or balls usually consist of two balls attached by a string or chain and are manipulated around the body, much like the long pole, twirling stick, or hula ring.

Some juggling disciplines use the feet: soccer ball juggling, small bean sack juggling or pili (juggling), a shuttlecock made from four goose feathers and a weight. Antipodism proper also very often includes juggling and manipulating various objects.

Diabolo with his sticks.

Some disciplines are specific to the object practiced:

• The deabolo has a reel shape and is manipulated with two sticks attached by a rope, sometimes it looks without sticks with a rope rolled over itself;
• the stick of the devil or golo, a biconic or straight stick manipulated by two rough sticks;
• the rotary or Chinese dishes, placed in rotation with a wooden stick that holds them in its center;
• and some small objects that sometimes resemble toys: yo-yo, astrojax, bilboquet and its variants.

Other circus and street arts disciplines are often associated with juggling:

• Acrobatics and aerial acrobatics: rag, aerial fabric, Chinese mattress, etc;
• Acts of equilibrium, either on cycles: monocycle, giraffe, last wheel, BMX or other accessories: stilts, staircase, balancing balls, funambulism, loose wire, Cyr wheel;
• prestidigitation, especially card handling;
• theater and dance.

Examples

Among the best-known juggling games include the following elements that allow them to be performed:

In general, an experienced juggler can juggle almost any object.

Juggling World Records

Balls

Number	Récord	Malabarista	Nationality	Year	References
11 Balls	34 Captures	Tom Whitfield	United KingdomUnited Kingdom	2022	(Video on YouTube.)
10 Balls	40 Captures	Tom Whitfield	United KingdomUnited Kingdom	2021	(Video on YouTube.)
9 Balls	55 s	Anthony Gatto	United States	2006	(Video on YouTube.)
8 Balls	1 min 13 s	Anthony Gatto	United States	2006	(Video on YouTube.)
7 Balls	16 min 25 s	Adolfo Esteban Almonacid Cardenas	ChileChile	2019	(Video on YouTube.)
6 Balls	25 min 17 s	Adolfo Esteban Almonacid Cardenas	ChileChile	2019	(Video on YouTube.)
5 Balls	3 h 44 min 46 s	Bence Ónodi	HungaryHungary	2022	(Video on YouTube.)
4 Balls	3 h 00 min 34 s	Maximilian Kuschmierz	GermanyGermany	2022	(Video on YouTube.)
3 Balls	12 h 5 min	David Slick	United States	2009

Maces

Number	Récord	Malabarista	Nationality	Year	References
8 Mazas	16 Captures	Anthony Gatto	United States	2006	(Video on YouTube.)
		Willy Colombaioni	ItalyItaly	2015	(Video on YouTube).
		Spencer Androli	United States	2022	(Video on YouTube.)
7 Mazes	4 min 24 s	Anthony Gatto	United States	2005	(Video on YouTube.)
6 Mazes	7 min 38 s	Anthony Gatto	United States	2005	(Video on YouTube.)
5 Mazes	53 min 21 s	Thomas Dietz	GermanyGermany	2005	Verified by JISCON
4 Mazes	1 h 15 min 9 s	Alexandr Inozemtzev	Russia Russia	2021	(Video on YouTube.)
3 Mazas	5 h 1 min 51 s	Alexandr Inozemtzev	Russia Russia	2022	(Video on YouTube.)

Rings

Number	Récord	Malabarista	Nationality	Year	References
10 Rings	47 Captures	Anthony Gatto	United States	2005	(Video on YouTube.)
9 Rings	50 s	Anthony Gatto	United States	2005	(Video on YouTube.)
8 Rings	1 min 17 s	Anthony Gatto	United States	1989	(Video on YouTube.)
7 Rings	15 min 6 s	Anthony Gatto	United States	2011	(Video on YouTube.
6 Rings	6 min 37 s	Eivind Dragsjø	Norway Norway	2022	(Video on YouTube.)
5 Rings	58 min 22 s	Caio Stevanovich	BrazilBrazil	2022	(Video on YouTube.)
4 Rings	1 h 20 min 55 s	Maximilian Kuschmierz	GermanyGermany	2022	(Video on YouTube.)
3 Rings	3 h 10 min 45 s	Maximilian Kuschmierz	GermanyGermany	2022	(Video on YouTube.)

Physiological aspects

Juggling can increase physical satisfaction and mental well-being. It favors concentration, reaction speed, spatial imagination, as well as the sense of time, rhythm and balance. The even use of muscles and the musculoskeletal system increases flexibility and endurance. Juggling also increases peripheral vision and trains coordination and perception. Juggling allows you to reduce stress thanks to its almost meditative uniformity. However, constantly practicing it can also put a strain on the joints, especially the wrists. Intensive training can cause bruises and joint pain.

Cognitive Development

Although neural plasticity is most pronounced in infancy, the positive effects of motor activity on cognitive development could also be demonstrated beyond infancy. A 2004 study at the Universities of Regensburg and Jena found that regular juggling causes temporary condensation of gray matter in the brain even in adults. On the one hand, the change occurred in the visual area of the cerebral cortex, that controls the detection of spatial movements. On the other hand, the left posterior pars sulci intraparietalis, which controls the grasping of objects, changed.

Bittmann et al.(2005) stress that movement perception contributes to "harmonious bilateral brain development" (see also: cerebral hemispheres) and can therefore have a strong influence on cognitive performance. They were able to show that there is a positive correlation between balance ability and school success. In a 2005 study, students with strong learning abilities showed better balance behavior than students with weak learning abilities.

A 2009 study by Scholz, Klein, Behrens, and Johansen-Berg using diffusion tensor imaging showed similar results: Brain white matter in a region of the parietal lobe increased by about five percent after six weeks of training (three balls, half an hour five times a week), even when subjects failed to learn the three-ball cascade.

Contemplative approach

But interesting approaches can also be found in another field. In his book Zen in the Art of Juggling , Dave Finnigan, a world-renowned juggler, describes his experiences during a multi-month juggling camp in an old Taiwanese monastery. The goal of juggling is to maintain a pattern. The key to success lies in letting go: instead of following the balls with their eyes, good jugglers fixate on where the balls reach their highest point in flight or, as in the case of the game of poi, they try to perceiving the position of the poi in the lead hand, which is felt due to centrifugal force. Over time, the player learns to blindly guide the balls with this information and trusts the laws of physics, which dictate exactly the path the ball will follow.

Juggling can thus become a special form of meditation: One concentrates all his attention on a more or less simple, but perfectly periodic and generally very symmetrical pattern, which he can completely control. There is no opportunity to plan ahead or look back; if one is juggling to the limit of his abilities, he must fully concentrate on the pattern and his current state. In this way, it is possible to completely withdraw from everyday life mentally for a while and develop inner peace. This is also the core of so-called contemplation, which, in contrast to meditation, does not attempt to empty the mind, but to gently focus itself within a recurring, fundamental mindset. statement about life, a positive affirmation or emotional release from the worries and constraints of everyday life.