Head rolls and Spinning a ring on my ankle?
Sam Malcolm
And I saw gatto spinning a ring on his ankle in his kooza warm up video I
think. I thought this was cool and have been tring to do it while I juggle
everything and have had some trouble. I can get it started spinning and
juggle while it spins fine, the problem I'm having is that it either moves
up my leg or falls down my foot. Is theyre a video anywhere that will help
me learn to do these things right?
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Little Paul
> Does anyone have any advice on doing headrolls with clubs?
I can't help with the headrolls, sorry.
> And I saw gatto spinning a ring on his ankle in his kooza warm up video I
> think. I thought this was cool and have been tring to do it while I juggle
> everything and have had some trouble. I can get it started spinning and
> juggle while it spins fine, the problem I'm having is that it either moves
> up my leg or falls down my foot.
My top tips for spinning a ring around your ankle (assuming you're doing
leg-behind-you rather than the much harder leg-infront-of-you)
1 - Use the biggest ring you can fit between your ankle and the floor. I use
babache jumbo rings. The larger the ring, the more momentum it has, the less
effort you have to put in to maintain the spin, the less corrections you have
to do. If you only have standard size juggling rings, cut down a hula hoop.
2 - Go as slow as you can. The faster you spin the ring, the more it will
amplify any errors you make. Faster is not better. You want to go just fast
enough that the ring stays in contact with your ankle.
3 - Point your toes. I'm not sure if this actually helps, but it looks nicer
so is worth doing anyway.
4 - Kick *down* to put energy into the ring, it's much less effort than
kicking up.
5 - Keep you leg horizontal. I think this is probably where you are hitting
problems. If your foot is nearer the floor than your knee is (on average)
the ring will work its way towards your foot. If your foot is higher than
your knee (on average) it will work its way up your leg
5 - Remember that you are now in the realm of combination tricks. All good
combination tricks benefit from a certain amount of "practice the components
individually as well as combined" - so work on spinning that ring without
juggling until you can do it and hold a conversation at the same time.
I also found that Orinocos "how to stand up" web page gave some really helpful
exercises for this sort of thing. It was written as a joke, you may read it
and think "that's stupid" - but it actually helps.
http://www.twjc.co.uk/standingup.html
> Is theyre a video anywhere that will help me learn to do these things right?
I'm not aware of a tutorial video about this, but Aaron Greg had some very
useful things to say about ring spinning when I attended his "combination
tricks" workshop at a BJC a couple of years back.
-Paul
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paulseward.com
Sam Malcolm
Hey, Thanks a lot. I tried to keep my leg straighter and my knee bent 90
degrees and it helped a lot already. Now if only I clould get the forehead
ball bounce to click....
clintonh
Probably more than you want but....
There are many options so do not feel limited by the advise below.
An initial factor to consider is the size of the prop (ring/hoop) to be
spun. The size depends in part on the part of the appendage (foot, ankle,
leg, arm) that will do the spinning. The most important consideration is
the inside diameter (ID) of the ring/hoop and the outside diameter (OD) of
the appendage. While it is possible to spin a large hoop on an ankle, it
is not possible to spin a small ring on an upper thigh (unless you are a
stickperson). The greater the difference between ID and OD the greater
the effort or force necessary to maintain the spin.
Another important thing to remember (and I’ll repeat it a few times
through the post), The spin is created by the hand while starting the
ring/hoop. It is not necessary to spin the appendage to maintain the
spin. The spin will be maintained by a small kick or up and down movement
of the appendage.
#1 Spinning a ring/hoop on an ankle…. While standing on one foot, bend
the other leg at the knee so the lower leg is behind you and parallel to
the ground. Place a ring/hoop on the ankle of the raised leg, start it
spinning with the hand (or a short circular impulse of the foot) then
maintain the spin by kicking up and down. The flat face of the ring
should be vertical. The amount of kick is probably smaller than you
initially use. The speed of the kick depends on the speed of the spin
which depends in part on the difference between the OD and ID. The
position of the leg means that the ring can’t fall off easily, but the leg
behind means visually the object is partially obscured to a viewer looking
at the juggler from the front.
#2 Spinning a ring/hoop on an ankle….. While standing on one foot, lift
the other leg and bend the knee so that the knee is in front of you and
the lower leg perpendicular to the ground. Place the ring/hoop at the
ankle and start it by spinning it with a hand and maintain it by doing a
kick to the front. The flat face of the ring/hoop will be horizontal. IMO
this is more visually appealing but tougher because the ring/hoop is
inclined to fall with gravity if the speed and forces are not correct.
#3 Photos of Brunn and Montego suggest that they hold their leg in the
position described in #2, but actually spin the ring/hoop around the foot
with the flat face of the ring/hoop more or less vertical.
#4 Spinning a hoop around the upper leg...the position necessary is
similar to that described in #2. I doubt if you can do it with a ring.
A few years a go the Renegade Juggling distributors started making and
selling
larger, semi-wide ring/hoops that were great for this move but I am unsure
of current availability. I use shortened hula hoops. (Buy the big hula
hoops, figure out the diameter and thus the circumference you desire, cut
the hula hoops then place it them an oven at the lowest possible
temperature for a short while before bending. I generally turn the oven
on lowest setting for a while, turn it off then come back ten minutes
later to bake the hoops. It gives good curvature while avoiding kinks)
When doing the spin the flat face of the hoop will again be vertical.
#5 Here’s where the fun begins. While doing #4 add a ring/hoop to the
ankle on the same leg and start it spinning in the opposite direction. It
is possible to keep it going because the force is a small kick and not a
circular motion. It is probably not necessary to even think about
maintaining the upper hoop because the kick required to maintain the lower
hoop should be adequate to keep both going.
#6 Since you probably have rings lying around the house and not hoops
(yet) try this to get an idea of what makes ‘em spin... Put three rings on
an outstretched arm. Start one spinning between the elbow and the
shoulder (This will be the most difficult one because the arm motions are
more restricted here). Start a second ring, spinning in the opposite
direction, between the elbow and the wrist. Then, start the third ring,
spinning in the same direction as the first, on the hand. It is possible
to get six rings total by doing three on each arm simultaneously.
A final word. Spinning rings/hoops on your legs may use muscle groups
that aren’t typically used.
Keep it up,
Clinton
(Cut and Paste)
Sam Malcolm
Wow thanks. That's a lot to take in but there is a lot of helpful thingsin
there. Now I just need some advice on headrolls...