5b [53] and [64] Multiplex Lists

I have been using 3x5 cards with siteswaps listed on them during my practice sessions since last spring when I got serious about 4b multiplex patterns. The most recent card I made has 5b [53] and [64] multiplex patterns listed. Up until now, the only 5b [53] trick I've done is [53]25.

In order to make the list, I used a multiplex generator and then selected the patterns I felt were within my reach of ability or looked interesting enough to engage my focus.

*I have edited this post. The information below is updated.

I took my list to practice and realized I had no clue how to enter the patterns. So I brought my list home, plugged the patterns into a transition generator, wrote the 'In' and 'Out' numbers, and noted which patterns appeared to have a squeeze. I think that an 'In' of a 1 is like a squeeze, but it is easy to get around... just throw three high 5s before you throw the 1 to enter the pattern. Also, some of the patterns have more than one 'In' and/or 'Out' but I chose to put one of them in most cases (the one I thought looked easiest for me in the animator). The patterns where there are more than one 'Out' I used a / to seperate them. 'sq' = squeeze in the pattern, in case you want to avoid squeezes altogether. Cut and paste. Create your own practice cards!

Transition generator: is called ulbox; Danny Marden shared it with me

The actual siteswaps are big. The numbers before the bold ones are the 'In' and the numbers after the bold are the 'Out'.

Here are the results of the 5b [53] list:

Period 3

4647 [53]07 [54]0 sq
25 [53]25 [53]
1 [53]34 [54] sq
1 [53]52 [54] sq
25 [53]61 [53] sq

Period 4

725 [53]165 [75]500[54] sq
27 [53]327 [43]4/[53]3/[54]2
25 [53]345 [53] sq
25 [53]363 [53] sq
25 [53]525 [53]
25 [53]561 [53] sq
725 [53]705 [75]500[54] sq
25 [53]723 [53]
25 [53]741 [53] sq

Period 5

27 [53]3527 [43]4/[53]3/[54]2
25 [53]5525 [53]
25 [53]5561 [53] sq
25 [53]5723 [53]
27 [53]6227 [43]4/[53]3/[54]2
25 [53]6425 [53]
25 [53]6461 [53]
25 [53]6722 [53]
25 [53]6731 [53] sq

Here are the results of the 5b [64] list:

Period 3

624 [64]14 [54]50[54] sq
1 [64]23 [54]
1 [64]41 [54] sq
624 [64]50 [54]50[54] sq

Period 4

26 [64]271 [43] sq
1 [64]424 [54] sq
1 [64]451 [54] sq

Period 5

626 [64]1626 [42]
626 [64]1671 [42] sq
26 [64]2526 [43] sq
26 [64]2571 [43] sq
1 [64]4344 [54] sq
1 [64]4524 [54]
1 [64]4551 [54] sq
1 [64]4623 [54]
1 [64]6324 [54]
1 [64]6351 [54] sq
1 [64]6621 [54]
626 [64]7026 [42]
1 [64]7323 [54]
1 [64]7521 [54]

Let me know if you see one in there you have done or tried, should be on the list, etc. Thanks.

Great Michael Moschen Video

Link to the video.

Siteswap Workshop Handouts

Do you have any siteswap workshop handouts? I am collecting them out of curiousity. I want to see what kinds of information workshop instructors are putting on their handouts (if they use them). I'd also like to learn from them.

If you have an electronic file of the handout, could you email it to me?

eddie_provencher at hot mail

4.25 years of juggling

I have been juggling for 4.25 years. There have been ups and downs in the learning process. At times I've wondered if I was learning anything, since I was clearly unable to do the tricks I was working diligently on. It must be true that learning occurs far beneath the surface of visible progress.

Out of nowhere, it seems, my last few juggling sessions have been on a whole new level. My 5 ball pattern is more stable than ever before and I'm consistently hitting new 5b siteswaps. My 4b stuff is going for longer and longer runs without drops and lots of variety of tricks.

With this new level of stability in my patterns, I am set to learn a lot of tricks this summer. This is one really happy juggler.

645 Tutorial

(6x,4)(4,6x) Tutorial

5b Mills Mess Tutorial

744 Tutorial

5 Ball Tutorial

Part 1: Getting started

Part 2: getting past the flash

Yomay Juggling Tutorials

A juggler by the name of Yomay has been putting together juggling tutorials. You can find these videos on his YouTube page. I will post the videos on this blog also.

5b Multiplex

On the practice list yesterday were these tricks:

25[53]
26[43]
71[43]
21[65]6
24[54]5
24[65]3
26[43]5
25[65]61
24[22]3[543]

The easier patterns for me were:

26[43]
25[54]5
24[65]3
26[43]5

I couldn't get 21[65]6 because it is an "excited state" siteswap and I was unaware at the time. Excited state refers to a pattern that requires particular set up throws in order to enter into the pattern. I've since put the 21[65]6 into a siteswaps transition generator (which I think is extremely important to use if you are serious about learning siteswaps) and found several entries into the pattern and a single exit:

666 21[65]6 2
675 21[65]6 2
756 21[65]6 2
774 21[65]6 2
855 21[65]6 2
864 21[65]6 2

There's bound to be one of those I can manage to do, so I'll give them a try next time out.

Up until recently, the only 5b multiplex pattern I have really tried was 24[54], also known as the Gattoplex. So, there is a lot for me to learn in this area of juggling.

5b Period 4

Yesterday I had a great time practicing some 5b Period 4 patterns. Here's what I had on my notecard for the practice session:

7742
6752
7463
7562
6662
6734
7445
7 5681 44
6 6671 4
6 8246 4

I was able to get two rounds of half of the list. It blew my mind as I was doing them because, well, they're five ball tricks with lots of variability in throw heights, trajectory, and timing.

I think the easy ones were:

7463
7445

84717113

From rec.juggling, here is a post by Will Pennman on an interesting siteswap he discovered:

Is fun to juggle. I'm a big fan of 6451, and this feels like an extension of it to me. You throw the first one as an 8 instead of a 6, and it gives you room to start two of the balls in a shower instead of just one, then do something fun with the extra 1, and add a small 3 to make the pattern work out right. And voila, 84717113. If you add a 4 at the end you make it symmetric, of course.

Does anyone else like this pattern?

Will Penman

So far, just one reply:

Just tried it in my room, but didnt have the ceiling to do see what could be done with the 1 1 3. Seems like a fun pattern though. I guess 845151 is an intermediate pattern between 6451 and 84717113.

Louis

I just plugged 84??? and 84???? and 84????? into the siteswap generator to see what other kinds of 4b "84" siteswaps are out there. It's not an area I have explored much. I have tended to stay away from throwing 8's, but I think I'm ready to see what interests me with "84" stuff.

Here is some of what I found that looked like it would help build "84" pattern throwing skills or looked like it would be plain old fun:

84??? Period 5

57/84 84017 440/530
57/84 84017 440/530
84233
84242
84413
84440
84512
84530

84???? Period 6

845124
845151
847131

84????? (exclude 0;11) Period 7

8413345
8413363
8413525
8413561

I only pulled siteswaps off the top of the list in the Period 7 group. There is a ton more and I'd like to see all of them in the generator.

If you are into siteswaps, the siteswap generator and transitions generator is essential for your learning. The basic fuctions are quite easy to use. You can find the generators here.

Another useful tool is JugglingLab. JugglingLab can be used offline to animate patterns you are working on in practice sessions.

615714 is better than 534

I've decided that I like the combination of 615 and 714 is much more enjoyable than 534 which was for a long time my favorite pattern to juggle. It was my favorite because it is a mildly complex pattern with a very nice rhythm. After playing around with 615714 during this afternoon's practice session, I think it is a little more complex yet retains a nice rhythm.

You can transition with 55 or 64.

The combination can be started with 615 or 714 giving you:

55/64 615714

55/64 714615

Another fun transition is 734.

HeatBands for Raynaud's Syndrome?

I found a website that sells special bands for people to wear on their wrists to help keep the blood vessels in that area warm and thus keep the hands warm. This product was designed, it seems, for people like me who have Raynaud's Syndrome (Disease), but is marketed to everyone.

http://www.heatbands.com/

The bands strike me as a fancy 'medical' wrist band. I think you can buy sporting wristbands at any sports store, use them, wash them, and reuse them as many times as you like and get the same effect of warming the area around your wrists. So I won't be purchasing the HeatBands, but I will give regular wristbands a try.

2008 Goals

My 2007 goal achievement wasn't great, so I'm a little weary of what to set my sights on this year. Instead of making a long list of specific tricks to learn, I will simply put general areas I want to improve upon.

I'm going to focus some of my time learning (no particular order):

Hat manipulation

Box manipulation

Flair

4b multiplex siteswaps

4b non-multiplex siteswaps

Insane 4b combinations

5b non-multiplex and multiplex siteswaps

It would be nice to:

Develop 2 stage act ideas I have.

Go to the Japan Juggling Festival.

Go to the 4th Ansan International Busking Art Festival.

New Ball Improves Stability

I've got some new balls I'm doing a product review for at the end of the month. They are a bit smaller and heavier than what I've been using for the last couple of years, and that has turned out to be a great benefit for my 5b juggling.

I've been able to have a much more stable 5b cascade out of which to do tricks. One such trick I've been hitting with frequency this afternoon was 75751.

After such a long time (4 years) of feeling stagnant in my 5b progress, I am finally feeling confident. The timing couldn't be any better... Spring is just around the corner and I will be juggling outdoors a lot.

Keep an eye out for the product review sometime in early March.

Endless Freestyle Juggling

Last Summer I produced a 4b multiplex video. It took me a few months of practice to get the tricks I used solid enough to film. The idea behind the video was to demonstrate how these multiplex siteswaps could be connected with each other rather easily. Something of which I discovered in the process of learning 4b multiplex tricks. The video was intended to encourage jugglers to explore the numerous combinations available with the demonstrated set of siteswaps.

I could do these tricks *blind folded* as they say. Well not really, but I can do them pretty damn well. I have begun to explore deeper into 4b multiplex siteswaps. I want to expand the 'families' I began with... the [54] family, [43] family, [53] family, and [64] family.

I also want to explore the combination of non-multiplex siteswaps and multiplex siteswaps within these families. For a quick and easy example, let's look at the [54] family tricks I used in the video. (Note: the [54] family is much bigger than these 3 members)

23[54]51
[54]21
[54]6122

Each of these tricks can easily be combined with these 4b siteswaps:

5550
5551
55514

These are, in fact, the first 4b non-multiplex siteswaps I've combined with 4b multiplex siteswaps. This was an exciting discovery for me in that I have come one step closer to having a bag of tricks with which I can freestyle endlessly.

You've got to find what you love.

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers and Pixar Studios, talks about never graduating college, being fired from his own company, and turning it all around. He says you've got to find what you love. You will know when you've found it. To do that, you must search for it now by following your interests wherever they lead. You can connect the dots of your life looking backward in hindsight, so just follow your heart. Life is short, live your own life. Stay hungry, stay foolish.

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

This introduction is quoted from Google Video. This video is 1:25:21 in length. It's really worth watching.

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.