currently i have been juggling 3 nine pound iron balls for several months… so far the tricks i got down are shower, cascade, mills mess, cross-armed, and every other off the head. juggling in itself improves brain function, reflex, hand-eye co-ordination, mental clairity, peace of mind… it is a form of mediation, a cardio-vascular exercise, and relieves stress. juggling was once an olympic sport, yet in the 1936 berlin games, hitler hacked it because the prominent contenders for the gold were jewish… it’s been out ever since.
now taking a perfect exercise of 3 ball juggling(3 is that magical little number) and adding the 27 extra pounds(3 nine pounders) and [b]wa-la[/b], an instant classic. now you can juggle them in stances, while circle walking, in zazen… iron ball juggling truly will enhance any style of martial arts… not to mention the effects on your hands, grip, forearms, shoulders, upper back, lower back, perinium, chest, blah, blah… and then, to rival the likes of classics like the tendon exchange, iron ball juggling can be refined to any of the 7 breaths to create a most wonderous breathing exercises… priceless.
please share the comments. and here’s a pic of me juggling them sitting on one leg… although when this pick was taken i was still higher in the stance then i am now… like my babyred fro yo? peace.
I’ve always encouraged juggling as a way to enhance proprioception and reflexes. Adding the weight is a wonderful idea! As well as the benefits you mentioned, sensitivity, structure, and power are trainable too!
If you know someone who can juggle those, you can do 6-ball partner juggling! Start close, and increase the distance proportional to comfort. Imagine having to deal not only with gravity, but with a strongly vectored force on the incoming. Also, launching the balls across the gap might even allow for fa jin training.
Well, I know what’s next on my list of training equipment.
Thanks a bundle.
CSP
P.S. throwing weights at another person is dangerous. Make sure everyone’s competent and trusts one another. Also, be prepared to deal with any accidents that may arise (loss of consciousness, broken nose, loss of teeth, bruising, broken fingers, kneecaps, feet, toes.)
Have fun!
[QUOTE=Xiao3 Meng4;877212]
Well, I know what’s next on my list of training equipment.[/quote]glad you like the idea. you can do a variety of exercises just holding two balls also… examples of some stuff.
hold ball in each hand, now do push ups, rotate wrist on way up and down for added arm twist.
you can hold them while doing form routines
you can use them like tradtional hand balls for increased hand, wrist, finger, and forearm strength… do your best not to make them touch while you circle them in your hands with fingers.
lay on back, shoulders and heels only on ground. hold the balls parallel to the ground at your hips… lift alternating legs.
Thanks a bundle.
no prob. just spreading the light.
P.S. throwing weights at another person is dangerous. Make sure everyone’s competent and trusts one another. Also, be prepared to deal with any accidents that may arise (loss of consciousness, broken nose, loss of teeth, bruising, broken fingers, kneecaps, feet, toes.)
Have fun!
yeah really… i was crossarm juggling and while coming out of it i undercompensated my catch and another ball smashed into the tip of my ring finger as i was still holding a ball. ouch… i nearly puked from the pain. happened two weeks before i went to maui… i had a great time save for my smashed, swollen, and throbbing finger. took nearly 5 weeks to heal to the point where i could touch it with out getting watery eyes.
imagine if you could catch them on your forehead and do the headroll!!! talk about a neck
workout. i juggled 3, three pound iron bars for two years before i got the balls… a good way to strengthen the wrists is to do push ups on the back of your hand.
[QUOTE=GeneChing;877612]nice shirt, uki. [/quote]thanks, i thought it would be appropriate.
we totally approve!
thank you. it was time to share…
think about the added benefit of the hands always doing the equivalents of palm strikes for iron palm conditioning each time you catch the ball when juggling… i have yet to master the juggling with the crab-claw hand position… and then as the contact jugglers at the tai chi fest, you can also juggle only catching the balls on the back of your hands and throwing them the as such during the juggle; yet that’s on the goals list, the possibilities are endless.
here’s a photo of placement of fingers in 3-finger juggling; the ring and pinky remain inactive, folded over to the palm-catchs and throws are made with the thumb, index, and middle fingers… excellent for mantis and eagle stylists(amongst all others)… and fittingly appropriate to strengthen the sword mudras. i actually used to call it frozen finger juggling because they were the only fingers that worked when i was homeless in berlin during the winter where i juggled on the streets for money. average day temp was -12, night-time -24, celsius of course… i juggled alot to stay warm that year.
these two pictures detail a waist turn while juggling, rotating from one side to the next… for added fun you can rotate from side to side as slowly as possible all the while you are juggling. you can also walk in circles holding this juggling position.
this is cross-armed juggling. i have yet to perfect the opposite cross, although i can do mills mess proficiently.
[QUOTE=uki;883616]these two pictures detail a waist turn while juggling, rotating from one side to the next… for added fun you can rotate from side to side as slowly as possible all the while you are juggling. you can also walk in circles holding this juggling position.
this is cross-armed juggling. i have yet to perfect the opposite cross, although i can do mills mess proficiently. [/QUOTE]
That looks difficult.
your intent in the first pic is kind of frightening. lol
here is another two pictures of iron ball juggling positions. in the first one, my lower-mid chest is pressing on my thighs while juggling… can’t quite explain the feeling, but it feels wonderful… and this one is just another snap of basic juggling…
more to come… my girlfriend sometimes doesn’t like to play photographer…
You might be inspiring me to take up juggling again.
There’s no way I’m going to be able to get hold of 5 kg iron balls though I don’t reckon.
Have chucked 5 kg bags of rice in the air and caught them in a variety of ways all the way home from the rice store though… great for grip strength into the bargain, so may have to make some 5 kg soft sandbags.
You ever juggle with bags, Uki? What are the advantages with the balls?
[QUOTE=Mr Punch;888460]You might be inspiring me to take up juggling again.[/quote]i am glad i could help.
There’s no way I’m going to be able to get hold of 5 kg iron balls though I don’t reckon.
there’s a place 5 minutes from my house to get them… they are 18 bucks, he sells them to me for 20… if you would like i can pick you up a set.
Have chucked 5 kg bags of rice in the air and caught them in a variety of ways all the way home from the rice store though… great for grip strength into the bargain, so may have to make some 5 kg soft sandbags.
never really did the grab catch methods…
You ever juggle with bags, Uki?
not really… i am assuming you mean rice bags or something similar… i juggle bricks, rocks, soup cans, clubs, bars, rebar, concrete stakes, trowels, block hammers…
What are the advantages with the balls?
i’d say that balls have the most versitality in the amount of tricks you can do… patterns you can follow. the sphere being the most perfect shape in nature and three being the most powerful number… yet juggling akward things such as bricks for example, help you maintain more concentration because the bricks usually spin at odd axis rotations and usually have to be caught and thrown from a different angle of trajectory than the perfectness of balls… your eye and hand co-ordination improves drastically the more odd the object you can juggle… for a really mind twister… juggle some juggling scarves… they float rather than fall… it’s pretty weird.
Thanks very much for the offer sir, but the extra 6500 miles may cause a problem! I’m happy trying rice bags, or sand as that should be less volume.
Done knives (juggling and irregular household type numbers), clubs and regular sticks before. Even tried billhooks for a few minutes once, but they’re pretty dangerous for amateurs like me!
I know the grabbing techs aren’t as quick in juggling, but should be a great forearm builder anyway. Doing everything in an overhand grip should be directly transferable to fu skills (rising elbows and palms, and forearm and grip strength galore!).
another way to juggle is called claw juggling, where you do not catch the balls with palms facing upwards, but with tiger clawing motions… grabbing the ball from above… it looks like you are scaling a wall without moving. i’ll get some pics of it to better explain the concept…
and this one is just another snap of 
