Yaaaaay - I just became a fire juggler

I took me ages to get the hang of ordinary clubs - took lots of tips from here, earned lots of bruised hands (well.. actually the same two, over and over again).. lots of crashing noises coming from the kitchen that upset my pets no end. And then there was the nervy bit.. actually moving onto the torches too.... all those litres of wasted parafin and the neighbours chuckling laughing at me dropping them all over the place... but finally... on Monday evening at approximately 1900 hours BST - I did it! I did a perfectly executed five minute fire juggle with a little throwey up in the air and catch to finish it off.

Sorry I know that to many of you this will seem like beginner stuff but I am CHUFFED

<--------- me being all "chuffed" earlier today

:congratulations:

Club juggling was my intro to fire arts, many, many, years ago.

I remember it well; being pretty experienced with club (unlit) juggling, I was happy when a friend said he'd just bought some fire clubs and invited me round to try them.

He insisted I start with one club, and I was expecting no difficulties; so I was very surprised when I threw it up and missed it! My hand basically refused to go near it cos it was on fire

But it didn't take long to get the hang of it.

Unlike poi, staff etc, you'll find that fire juggling is considerably more difficult in the dark, as it's hard to see the handles; on the plus side, I think that fire juggling in daylight looks better than spinning in the daylight.

A good way to get into juggling at night is to have a session in the late afternoon as the sun is going down so you transition gently between juggling in light and juggling in the dark.

Thanks Dave - that's probably why I had my first success at twighlight.

Before that I'd been hopelessly chucking them around in the dark.. and, as you say, fumbling for the handles (being used to that level of darkness for staff is no preparation for this)

I shall keep up regular twighlight sessions until I'm super confident.... that way I shall feel fully confident before dropping them in front of a REAL audience!

I made some clubs specifically for Fire Breathing, and as I ginished them I realized I had a strong urge to start juggling them...

however, they are not weighted correctly to be juggled, and they are made of thick and painful aluminum...

i have attempted to juggle thema few times, because i am impatient... but next on list of things to buy is some beginners juggling clubs...

hey did you get black hands from catching the wrong ends? (Reason i stopped juggling fire - takes an age to wash off!)

Congrats tho, fire juggling at night very difficult - practise using the torches during day since most torches have odd balance, very different to clubs.

Welcome to the land of the unburnt hands...
yeh.
I'm just starting to learn blindfold juggling with balls and find it akin to fire torches.

Black hands are the curse of club juggling; even if you don't make many 'wrong end' catches, you'll get filthy hands.

Years ago when I used to busk with clubs for 3 to 4 hours, my hands would be filthy for days afterwards.

Luckily, there's a practical solution; it sounds bizarre but I've used it for years and it leaves my hands cleaner than they were before juggling.

You'll need to buy sets of yellow washing-up gloves (marigold?) and cut them off at the wrist.

They're cheap, so buy one of each size so you can experiment- I use 'medium', which give a nice tight feel.

Unlike using gloves in most pursuits, these don't make it harder to juggle, just different.

For example, they increase grip, which has both positive and negative aspects.

Personally, when I'd got used to them, I found they made it easier, and juggling fire without them feels weird now.

***********SAFETY*************

Is it a good idea to wear rubber gloves whilst juggling fire; can they ignite etc?

I think you have to be careful- I wouldn't want beginners using them.

However, having done many, many hours fire juggling with these gloves, I've never had an incident.

That doesn't mean they can't go wrong of course- anyone using this idea does so at their own risk.

I tend to be wary and not take risks; others on this board don't care so much- if you're one of those then think carefully before using gloves.

---------------------

*********burns************

To an extent, they will protect from small burns, especially those that can occur when juggling in wind, when the flame can get blown onto your hands (although it's a good idea to not juggle when it's windy).

One thing to watch out for though, is the fact that they can retain heat; so, if you catch the wrong end of the club, it initially feels like you can hold on, but, the rubber heats up and then you get a lot of heat on your hand a second later.

In extreme cases you'll feel like ripping off the glove, but there won't be time, and you'll just have to bear it.

I soon learnt what situations this would occur in, and learnt to not let them happen; but, when first using them, it's worth having this at the front of your mind, cos it can hurt.

Well, about 1000000 hours of practice behind you, I learned my first 3 ball ball juggling catch last night.. so I can relate to the

God yeah.. my hands have been filthy - and no amount of scrubbing seems to shift it either.

I'll try out that idea with the gloves.

Meanwhile practice, practice, practice.

..and then some