Learning to Juggle
Date:
[]
I bought the book “Juggling for the Complete Klutz” back when I was in college, but I didn’t stay with it.
A few years ago I finally decided to give it another try so that I could cross “learning to juggle” off of my list. This time I got hooked, and have been juggling ever since.
Juggling is a lot of fun and a great exercise. When I started, I was surprised at how physical it was; it took me a while to build up some stamina. But more than physical, juggling is a serious mental exercise, and I figure my brain can use all the help it can get. There have been studies on juggling and brain health; I included a few links at the end of this post.
The Klutz book is a good place to start learning, but now that I’ve read a few other books I’m surprised that the Klutz book doesn’t use any standard juggling terminology. The book teaches the basic cascade pattern, but it never names the pattern, which seems odd. Maybe they didn’t want the book to read like a textbook?
I wanted to learn the basics only from the Klutz book and not use other resources like YouTube. There was something about finally fulfilling what I had attempted so many years ago. I felt certain that if I persisted I could learn from the book, and then maybe turn to other resources if I was still interested.
It took me a while, but I finally got it! And it turned out to be so much fun that I’ve stuck with it, learning a few other three-ball tricks and now learning to juggle clubs. Clubs also seemed to take forever, and I thought I would never get it, but I’ve found that I’ll learn if I don’t give up, even if it takes much longer than I expect.
I still have a ways to go with juggling clubs; I can do it, but I need to improve my accuracy quite a bit. (I’ve given myself a black eye twice). When I’m ready, I’ll try learning rings, which I think will be a little easier than clubs.
I did go to other books, the Internet and YouTube after learning the basic cascade and found some excellent resources. In a separate post I’ll list my favorite books, web sites and YouTube channels.
Here are links to some articles on juggling and the brain:
Wired: Here’s What Learning to Juggle Does To Your Brain
Juggling Enhances Connections In The Brain
TED Talk on the neuroscience of juggling