Customer Reviews

Contact Juggling

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here are the most important factors regarding this book:

1) It is written by a juggler for the juggle-minded.

2) The design is well thought out. It includes dozens of incredibly detailed, yet easily understandable, diagrams. They are all clearly labelled, and clearly show the movements of the ball and the body at all times, including angles. And it never gets complicated.

3) No having to bend the spine of the book or put a weight across it to hold it open. I have the second edition so can only refer to it when I say that the plastic-ring binding makes it easy to lay the book flat on any page so you can refer to the diagrams, hassle-free, while practicing.

4) Not only does it completely cover the basics, it moves into more difficult moves, yet it doesn't go so far as to insult your ability to create. An earlier reviewer was a bit dismayed that the book did not include what he thought were obvious tricks and so he called the book incomplete. Actually, there's enough in there to get anyone going, and it does what a good book ought to do which is to give you enough to get you going and interested enough to pursue your own unique tricks. Regarding its entry-level purpose, it is more than complete.

5) It isn't presumptuous. There's good, practical advice for all levels.

All in all, this book has not only what you need to begin, but also what can help one delve deeper into possibilities. It's worded in such a way as to put the reader at ease and to highlight areas where bad habits might show.

Honestly, it's a gem...a true one of a kind, and if you are seriously interested in contact juggling and are from beginner to advanced intermediate level, don't hesitate to get it.

Best wishes,

Eric

ps. Pier1 Imports has excellent 'granite' looking balls which sell for a few bucks or less each. And remember to practice over a rug or a bed!

This book is an excellent book if you are at all interested in getting started contact juggling. Granted, it's a bit harder to get the hang of than regular three-ball-toss-juggling, but it seems so easy to make up my own moves now too. It covers the basic move (the Butterfly), transfers, and all sorts of other tricks. It also goes over all four types of juggling (balance, gyroscopic, toss, and contact) and teaches the basics of them. I highly recommend this book. Now contact juggling is almost becoming my addiction. I'm doing it all the time!!

It's definitely worth waiting the four to six weeks for this book. There isn't another book out there that even compares with this one. It starts with the basics and uses clear directions and good diagrams (and plenty of both) to help you become a reasonably polished contact juggler. I wish I could give it 10 stars!

This book is the ultimate (and only, it seems) introduction to the magical world of contact juggling.

Every movement is described in detail, with clear illustrations and hints. The book moves from simple one-ball tricks (the butterfly) to more complex multi-ball tricks (plane-breaking in the four-ball grab).

Most of the tricks can be performed (if shakily) after only an hour or two of practice.

The only fault that I have found with it, is that it breaks off with no hint as to where to find further instruction. It is not complete. There are tricks not detailed that are obvious to a person after a little thought.

Otherwise a brilliant book, and well worth the money.

This is all you need to take your ball into your own hands, and roll it with the best of them. I won't summarize contact juggling here, but it was a lot of fun, easier than cascade juggling, inexpensive, rarely seen, impressive... and this book is one of the oldest and most complete guides to the art I've ever had the pleasure of reading. If you need videos, many youtube users have uploaded tutorial visits: but they don't make this guide obsolete because it contains diagrams and thorough descriptions to help you throughout your process of mastering this glorious artform.

This book is the best text written on Contact Juggling.
The illustrations help you to understand what is going on.
Also the binding allows you to lay it flat and look at it. COOL!

This book helps me everyday when I am reviewing old tricks or as a start to a new trick.

Rich Shumaker
The Other Contact Juggler
Rich@ContactJuggling.com

This book was good, but to tell the truth I was expecting more. Before I bought the book, I had learned the basics of contact juggling like the butterfly and different body rolls by looking at websites on the internet about contact juggling. I wanted to learn more about contact juggling, and since this is the only book out there about the topic, I expected it to teach me more.

It did teach me more, but not as much as I was hoping for. Total, I would say there were only 3 or 4 tricks that I had not seen in the past. But then again, all this could be my fault for expecting too much an learning too much from the internet before I bought the book.

THe book itself is well written. Most of it is easy to understand, and the diagrams are nice, but they go hand in hand with the text. I found that just looking at the diagrams didn't explain the trick fully enough, so just skimming over the diagrams and not reading is not something you can do with this book. The book also had a nice section on other sorts of juggling which I found to be my favorite chapter in the book...

And thats my review of this book.
(...)

THERE IS ONLY ONE BOOK ON CONTACT JUGGLING OUT THERE AND THIS IS IT, SO WE ARE SO LUCKY THAT ITS SO GOOD. IF YOU WANT TO LEARN CONTACT JUGGLING THIS IS THE BOOK....I WON'T BOTHER LISTING ITS GOOD POINTS BECAUSE IF YOU WANT TO CONTACT JUGGLE YOU'VE GOT NO CHOICE BUT TO BUY THIS. AS I WRITE THIS IT OCCURS TO ME THAT THE REASON THERE ARE NO OTHER CONTACT JUGGLING BOOKS IS BECAUSE AFTER THIS BOOK THERE IS NOT MUCH ELSE TO BE SAID...AND FOLLOWING THIS BOOK WOULD BE REAL TOUGH.