Forums > Other Toys > Juggling Ring?

Posted: 27th Apr 2005


Yes.
I wanted one of these after I saw someone at school with it.

Any ideas anyone?

Posted: 27th Apr 2005
My girlfriends little sister has one. Can buy them in Lymington, between bournemouth and southampton

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.

Posted: 27th Apr 2005
...what are they called? xxx

tHeReS gOoD aNd EvIl iN EaCh InDiViDuAl fIrE, iDeNtIfIeS nEeDs AnD fEeDs OuR dEsIrEs.

Posted: 27th Apr 2005
It's called a Gyro-ring. I saw one in the toyshop the other day and thought of Falmouth again! (happy times)

Because ActiveAngel sounds like a feminine deodorant

Like sex, I'm much more interesting in real life than online.

'Be the change you want to see in the world around you' - Ghandi

Posted: 27th Apr 2005
oooo thank you!!!! xxx

tHeReS gOoD aNd EvIl iN EaCh InDiViDuAl fIrE, iDeNtIfIeS nEeDs AnD fEeDs OuR dEsIrEs.

Posted: 27th Apr 2005
Holy! I didn't expect to see this mentioned on here..haha

Ok, these are kind of a pet hobby of mine, so don't mine if I go on a bit..

The original was the Gyro-ring with big plastic beads (with metal on the inside edge of each) on a metal ring, made by Fascinations:
https://www.fascinations.com/Gyro.htm

Legend has it that at some point in New Zealand, a person's house burnt down with a ring in it, melting away all the plastic, leaving only smaller metal beads on it. People found that ring and started to use it. They found it was better and faster and eventually someone started to build their own.

Eventually that would be refined and be made officially as the Jitter Ring by Island Edge Inc. in Hawaii. Those got more and more popular and I think attracted the attention of High Performance Kites in Hawaii which had both a kite team and yo-yo team and created a ring one called Team Jitter Ring, recruiting players mostly from New Zealand.

Eventually that would also get wrapped into Bandai's big skill toy push in Japan in the late '90s. They produced their own Jitter Ring with Island Edge (mostly the same except for Bandai printed on the sides of the beads) and held contests, etc.

In Japan, the level of play went crazy and all kinds of amazing tricks were created, including lots with two rings at the same time. Unfortunately in the years since, the interest really died out while yo-yos was able to keep going. I think Island Edge finally went under, as well as the various knock-offs (like the Chatter Ring).

However, some time during all of that, Fascinations made their own metal-beaded ring called the Gyro-ring Pro, which they are still manufacturing. While I've heard it isn't quite as good as the Jitter Ring was, it can work well once broken in.

Takubo had the best instructional site (also in english!) and while it seems partly down, the tricks are still up:
https://idobata.dokidoki.ne.jp/takubo/jitter/e-jitter/tricks/

This might also have some of the rest backed up, though I can't connect to it at the moment:
https://www.idobata-company.com/jaringa/

This old site also has some info:
https://www5.wind.ne.jp/takachi/jenglish/

Last but certainly not least, check out the videos I had captured a while back:
https://yoyoing.com/shawn/videofiles/jitter/

Quality isn't the greatest, but I'm working on re-capturing the freestyle footage and hopefully making a new site to promote the rings. I'm really afraid that it is going to totally die out, but maybe it can be revived somehow..

For anyone that's going to use one, try to keep it clean. You can wash it with warm soapy water and run some cloth or a paper towel through the beads to clean the inside edge. Some people wear thin stretchy gloves to both cushion the hand and keep your hands from getting black (which I think has to do with sweat reacting to the steel or something). Though the black stuff washes right off, so no big deal anyway.

As time goes on, the ring will become "faster" and you can slow it down again by scraping the large ring evenly on a surface like concrete. The breaking in period will eventually even out the beads so that they stay togeter as a bunch instead of separating out. Just move a "slow" bead (rises up above the rest on a normal jitter) to the bottom and clean the ring when it gets weird, and it'll even out over time. Can also do lots of supersonics and tomahawks and stuff to break in faster.

I'd love love love if some of you take a liking to the rings! It is one of those things that isn't as impressive to look at but is really fun to use and has dancing possibilities. I even have footage of a person putting one on fire. Also one of the few skills that works well for someone who is blind since the sound and vibrations through the ring give a lot of non-visual feedback.

Shawn

Posted: 27th Apr 2005
judging by the amount of interest at Falmouth 3, i'd say you have some scope for people being interested! would be nice to see footage of someone who's been doing it for a while, and having the rings on fire sounds awesome!

Because ActiveAngel sounds like a feminine deodorant

Like sex, I'm much more interesting in real life than online.

'Be the change you want to see in the world around you' - Ghandi

Posted: 28th Apr 2005
Hey Shawn,

That was really helpful - and very much appreciated! thank you! xxx

tHeReS gOoD aNd EvIl iN EaCh InDiViDuAl fIrE, iDeNtIfIeS nEeDs AnD fEeDs OuR dEsIrEs.

Posted: 1st May 2005
Ahhh that's so exciting! They sound like something someone handed me at a new years party a few years ago, and I've been on the look out ever since! Didn't manage to do anything clever with them, but even so- it was MESMERISING!

I want one please!

Practice as if your hair was on fire...

Posted: 3rd May 2005
Anna ive PM'ed you

me and minimaniac actually bought 4 gyro rings in Bristol on saturday! haha

(Nice avatar by the way! - isnt that off the literature flyers?)

tHeReS gOoD aNd EvIl iN EaCh InDiViDuAl fIrE, iDeNtIfIeS nEeDs AnD fEeDs OuR dEsIrEs.

Posted: 4th May 2005
Wow that's exciting! Have you learnt any exciting tricks?

(Yup it is, took me bloody ages to get it the right size though, and now loads of it's been chopped off- I'm not the greatest with computers!)

Practice as if your hair was on fire...

Posted: 4th May 2005
If only I lived in the UK! When I get some sunny days out, maybe I can try filming some tutorial vids. In the mean time, I did re-encode some old freestyles from japan. Footage was blurry so 320x200, but I de-interlaced to 60fps, so smoooth motion.

https://yoyoing.com/shawn/videofiles/jitter/new/

Shawn

Posted: 13th Sep 2008
Wow--I just stumbled across this while looking for some info on the Jitter Ring which I just spent an hour with outside for the first time in AGES to de-stress and relearn.

I think part of the problem with the selling of the Jitter Ring was that it was challenging to learn--and not a lot of shop clerks picked it up quickly.

I had one--and a girl stole it before going on a jamband tour and it never came back. Then I bought another on eBay and I still have it...And I want to use it as an illustrative point for an upcoming series of programmes and lectures I am doing on HDR photography (https://www.amazon.com/Practical-HDRI-Dynamic-Imaging-Photographers/dp/1933952326 )

The point being--neither HDRI or a Jitter Ring makes sense until you get it--then you get it.

Those VHS videos--man those kids were good. I can do some silly stuff with it, but nothing like the videos!