What is contact juggling?

Contact juggling unlike most of juggling, it appeared not long time. The general juggling dates back hundreds of years, but contact juggling, or many people call it CJ as the community of contact jugglers calls it, is only about 30 years old.

The name of juggling stems from the method of keeping in contact with juggling balls-that is contact with your body.

I never touched a contact juggler until I tried it. I spent most of time in general juggling, but after the first time I tried it and actually did something that looked very mystifying, I was hooked. I learned much of what I know now from this site about contact juggling.

Different types of contact juggling:

One Ball Tech – This is a technique in contact juggling where the juggler makes the ball appear to levitate. This is accomplished by spinning the ball around the palm or other part of the body. The illusion of levitation takes place because the transparent ball has no discernable features so you can’t tell if it is spinning. It just looks like it is still.

Bodyrolling – This is a technique in contact juggling where you continually roll the ball on different surfaces of your body; arms, chest, neck, legs, etc. Tricks can be added together for a number of different combinations. This technique is usually performed with a larger and lighter ball than a typical acrylic contact juggling ball.

Isolationism – This is a technique in contact juggling where the ball seems to float. It’s different than one ball tech because the jugglers hands and body move around the ball but it is not spinning. Some examples of different isolations are enigmas, palm isolations, and squeeze ups. The juggler can add some really cool effects after isolating the ball effectively, like pulling the ball toward the juggler or pushing it away. It would appear to be on an imaginary string.

Palmspinning – This is a technique in contact juggling where you use two or more balls in one or two hands. The balls are manipulated in the palms of the juggler. Acrylic balls are typically used for this. When you see a juggler using this technique, the balls are moving around each other and around the palms, but the juggler’s hands barely appear to move.

Contact juggling performers may focus on one style or may include several different styles. These techniques may involve one or more contacts with juggling balls.

So now you know the contact juggling ball is what kind of concept? It is usually acrylic juggling balls, used on the stage show is very beautiful.