jessejamesmember
22 posts
Location: kingston ontario canada


Posted:
howdy folksjust wondering what all this talk of spinning torchesive got juggling clubs are these simialer to what you speak ofmine are about 18 inches ive been trying to think about techineque but have been draw blanksany tips ideas would be cooljessejames

burnin down the house


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
Hey Jesse..how's it going?At any rate, I actually have torches. They are about 16 inches long and are made from barbeque tools...we cut the tool head off of them so my torches have this really nice wooden bevelled handle and heat resistant metal. At any rate the clipped end has the wicking attached. There are leather loops in the ends of the handles. I spin these on my palm as I would a staff, and am working on spinning them on my fingertips. I can also twirl them by the handles. I use these for fire eating/breathing and trailing.SOrry I can't help with the club thingy, it's a tool that I haven't really tried nor have an interest in so.... smiletoodles!------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
Hey Jesse, I believe there's a good couple threads a while back about club/torch swinging that you might dig. To make it brief, the only real difference between juggling clubs and swinging clubs is the knob at the end. Swinging torches have a round wooden knob at the end about 1.5" in diameter. I recommend those with a flat surface at the end of the knob. It may feel funny in the hand if you're used to the completely round one, but the flat surface helps enormously when stopping a torch or changing direction. Anyway, the three main grips to start are solid (holding the torch like shaking hands), ring (holding the torch between the thumb and first finger with the knob in the hand), and ball-and-socket (holding the torch with all fingers around the knob, like a clawfoot bathtub). The last two should be really loose. You may have the urge to hold the torch between you first and middle fingers instead of the thumb and first finger, but resist! The ball-and-socket grip will give you a lot move flexibility once you're used to it. Most common skills use ring and ball-and-socket grips in an alternating pattern. Try a circle at your hip with one hand to start. Kinda like a one hand upchopping butterfly at your hip. Try to keep you arm straight and focus on turning the torch with you hand in ring grip. Try alternating that with a behind the back with the ball-and-socket. Again try to keep you arm straight and just swing it like a pendulum from front to back. Then go one to two hands and try all the variants. That's a very basic start in club techinique. I recommend the Schatz book on Club Swinging. It's very in depth, though the language (it was written at the beginning of the century for phys. ed. instructors) is a bit challenging. Hope this helps. DianaPS: Pele, I like the sound of your torches. Seems like fun.

Finnmember
341 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Hi Diana,I'm so keen to learn how to swing clubs. I've had a few goes with my friends set and loved it. Just used poi moves, they worked beautifully. Heaps wristier than poi though.I purchased the Schatz book the other day. It's priceless, such a good resource. I also bought one called "Modern Club Swinging". It's by Anna Jillings. She has drawn upon Schatz for the techncal stuff but has updated the language. As a result it's a lot more accessible. Good for beginners like me. smileNow all I need to do is get myself a set of swinging clubs so that I can start practicing!Finn
Non-Https Image Link
[This message has been edited by Finn (edited 02 March 2001).]

crispyxmember
53 posts
Location: Denver, Co.


Posted:
Where did you find the Anna Jillings book? It's out of print and most places I've checked don't have it anymore. I just got the Schatz book last week and it's a pretty tough read. As far as getting swining clubs you can build a set really cheap and get everything you need at Home Depot. For the balls look in the drawer knobs, they have a 1.5" wodden round knob that works perfect by just drilling the hole all the way through.

How is it ever possible to feel safe and secure in a world in which everyone dies?


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
Good tip, crispyx. Those are the same knobs I use for building my torches, except I flattened down the round top enough to attach to the dowel and use the end that's supposed to go next to the drawer for flat top spinning techniques. I countersink the drilled hole as well so the screw doesn't stick out. Diana

crispyxmember
53 posts
Location: Denver, Co.


Posted:
Hmm, I never thought of putting them on that way, I have kept them round on the outside, what's the advantage of having a flat area? I'm not familier with the term flat top spinning techniques...And yes I learned real quick to counter sink for the screw, it gets real uncomfortable fast!

How is it ever possible to feel safe and secure in a world in which everyone dies?


Finnmember
341 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Thanks for the tips guys.I got the Jillings book from a juggling shop here in Sydney. Not much good to you over there! I have seen it for sale on the net before - maybe on the dube or renegade juggling sites. Can't remember for sure.Anyway, cheers. smile

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
Flat tops on the knobs makes for more efficient stops and direction changes. This is a little hard for me to explain, so please bare with me. For instance, if you spinning a simple forward (down-chopping) in ring grip, you can change direction (to backward/up-chopping) by flipping the grip to ball-and-socket for a second, bringing the torch back toward the lower arm. You can then switch directions by squeezing the knob a little so the flat surface braces against the meaty part of the palm just in from the index finger and push it back in the backward/up-chopping direction in ring grip again. Of course you can do that without the flat surface, by using friction, the flat surface makes it quicker and smoother. Diana


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