THE METEOR BOOK CONSTRUCTION MANIPULATION AND . PERFORMANCE Rhys ThomasTHE METEOR BOOK CONSTRUCTION, MANIPULATION, AND PERFORMANCE by Rhys Thomas Illustrated by Zephyr NelsonTHE METEOR BOOK CONSTRUCTION, MANIPULATION, AND PERFORMANCE by Rhys Thomas Illustrated by Zephyr Nelson 10987654 ISBN 0-943292-26-3 © 1999 Rhys Thomas All rights reserved. Notes on Fire Meteor Safety © 1999-2006 Eric Bagai Flaming Sparrow Press Box 82289, Portland, Oregon 97282 (503) 653-2614 http://www.foreworks.com NOTE: In any fire manipulation there is a real chance of injury and property damage no matter how "'safe" or experienced you are. The author, publisher, distributor, and retailer will not be held responsible for any damage or injury resulting from the practice or performance of any feats described in this work. Purchase or use of this, book constitutes agreement to this effect. iisaw meteors for the first time when Rhys performed with flaming hubcaps at the Oregon Country Fair many years ago. Eventually | prevailed upon him to show me a few basic moves, and how to build a practice set—and ever since, I've been tying myself in knots. Starting with a background in gymnastic Indian Club swinging, and with an interest in Chinese staff manipulation and fire, | quickly discovered that meteors can combine all of these elements—and more. They let you accomplish some flashy things very quickly, but it can take years to feel like you are at all in control. They are one of the most complex forms of object manipulation I've encountered, and have provided me with endless hours of fascination and frustration. The possibilities seem endless. Tim Furst (Fyodor Karamazov) ‘Autumn, 1998Meteoric thanks go out to Eric Bagai for the gentle nudges and occasional kick in the pants, to Judith Bagai for her eagle eye and lovely red pen, to Zephyr Nelson for the inside-joke flaming head illustrations (will | never live it down?), to my loving family for never suggesting | get a real job, to Rob Brown for showing that any average genius can lear all this faster than | can write it down, to Leif Olson for his "Scooby" thoughts, to Tim Furst for the inspiration of his interest, and to K'an’e, the Hawaiian pagan saint of jugglers.viCONTENTS Preface Introduction Constructing Practice Meteors Terminology, Notation, & Learning Tips Section 1 — Static-Grip Double Circles Jump Rope — Parallel Synchronous Side Circles Hamster — Parallel Asynchronous Side Circles Saturn — Horizontal Overhead Circle with Vertical Front Circle Satellites — Asynchronous Horizontal Opposite Overhead Circles Kooch — Asynchronous Opposite Front Circles Twist ~ Asynchronous Opposite Side Circles Traffic — Synchronous Front Circles Ninja — Asynchronous Side Follow Circles Fountain — Asynchronous Side-Front-Side-Overhead Follow Circles Pinwheel — Asynchronous Front-Back-Overhead Circles Miscellaneous Double Circles Section 2 — Active-Grip Single Circles Helicopter One-Handed Helicopter Helicopter Around Body Helicopter Behind Back Helicopter Through Legs Windmills One-Handed Figure Eights Wrist Wraps Section 3 - Uncategorizable Tricks Poi Meteors — Parallel Opposite One-Handed Vertical Circles Mixed Circles — Simultaneous Horizontal and Vertical One-Handed Circles Throws and Catches Constructing Performance Meteors Water Meteors: Fire Meteors Other Meteors Afterword Suggested Reading About the Author Notes on Fire Meteor Safety Sean aw 4 12 13 14 16 18 20 21 23 24 26 27 28 28 30 32 33 35 36 37 38 40 40 a 42 45 47 49 51viiiINTRODUCTION Several years ago | bought a booklet on fire eating featuring Bruno Nolo, the incombustible Australian body builder. The last trick in the booklet was "Revolving Fire Bowls." | built the prop from some scrap rope, chain, old torch wicks, and two chrome hub caps. After cracking my shins and the back of my head the correct number of times, I'd not only learned Bruno's trick, but discovered several entirely different and even more impressive ways to make six-foot circles of flame dance around myself. Had invented a new juggling genre? Hardly. The Chinese meteor originated in prehistory as a bolo-like weapon of stones and cordage. Approximately 1500 years ago this hunting weapon began its transition into a performing art, Since then the Chinese circus tradition has featured meteors performed ina number of interesting variations, including substituting for the stones such objects as brightly colored balls, glass bowls filled with colored water, and balls or pans of roaring fire And roar it does. As an insider | can assure you that the sound is impressive; nearly as impressive as the psychedelic arcs of flame that shift patterns, describe Saturn-like circles around circles, and course through the familiar fountains and follow circles of club swinging. My version of the meteors owes a lot to club swinging. If you have a loose grip on club swinging or staff manipulation, then basic meteor swinging should come easily. Like torch swinging, the fire meteors are a relatively safe fire manipulation where the prop is never fully released and is thus less likely to be dropped, roll under a curtain, and really bring the house down. In my opinion, fire meteors are the biggest, safest, most fiery trick possible. Unlike swinging torches, flaming devil sticks, fire staff, yo-yos of death, etc., meteors with bowls under the wicks do not spray fuel. The bowl shape, wicking, and centripetal force contain the fuel cleanly and non-explosively. An ideal finale, fire meteors have drawn "oohs," "aahs," and applause from audiences of mine: dozens at birthday parties, hundreds at trade shows, thousands at outside festivals, and over 10,000 at an NBA game. ‘As an added incentive to play with this fascinating juggling form, I've found that the meteors are a great warm-up for regular juggling. Just as club swinging is excellent for the rehabilitation of wrist and arm injuries, the meteors also exercise the muscles of the hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, and trunk. The faster you move and the heavier your meteors, the more strenuous the workout becomes. Truly, the meteors offer levels of exercise ranging from warm-up to burnout. An audio-visual delight with the tension of fire and the grace of dance, easy to build, relatively easy to learn, and worthy of a workout video! What's the catch? Did | mention cracking my shins? R.T. INTRODUCTION3 LI LI byw LI Ld LI CJL Woo vd Ld WI LD LD |CONSTRUCTING PRACTICE METEORS Why a distinction between practice and other meteors? Performance meteors are usually made of harder or more expensive materials than practice meteors. Your shins will prefer the softer practice meteors and your pocketbook will prefer the cheapo practice materials. A quick set can be made by attaching weights to each end of a piece of rope. Braided cotton or nylon rope is preferable to the rougher sisal or polyester rope, which will rub your index fingers raw. | prefer 3/8 inch Samson spot cord (lariat rope), but 3/8 to 1/4 inch nylon rope or cotton sash cord is cheaper, more readily available, and perfectly fine for non-flaming meteors. Ball-End Practice Meteors You'll need: 2 \ —ten feet of 3/8" to 1/4" nylon or cotton rope © AY — two tennis balls: — tape (colored plastic, electrical, or athletic) Ps) \@ =100 pennies \ a sharp non-flexible cutting implement (X-acto, box knife, etc.) Melt the ends of your rope (if i's nylon) or tape them to prevent fraying. Double the rope into a long "U" and mark the center with a piece of tape. Tie two overhand knots two feet apart, centered on the center tape (wider if you're a wide or broad shouldered person). The knots can be adjusted as needed. You may prefer an overhand knot on one side and an underhand on the other. This will give you mirror- image left- and right-handed knots. Some prefer to use two small strips of tape instead of knots to mark the hand positions. What you wart is a means of visibly and tactilely identifying your favorite, balanced, hand positions. Cut two holes opposite each other in your tennis ball. Careful, it's easy to cut yourself, so grip the ball by its sides from above and cut down towards the floor. An X-acto or utility knife works well. (A single-edged razor blade or a kitchen knife is more likely to take your thumb off.) Try to make the holes just a trifle wider than your rope Thread the rope through the balls by squeezing the holes open and pushing the rope in. Tie another overhand knot below each ball. Squeeze the center-facing (top) hole open enough to feed 25- to 50-cents-worth of pennies into each ball. You can add or subtract weight to whatever amount makes cents. Too heavy and you risk pulling shoulder muscles, but if you're in it for the workout you can build up to doing the water meteors by adding more and more pennies. Too light and there isn’t enough weight to pull the meteors smoothly through their paces, although they do work without any more weight than the tennis balls alone. If you prefer a more gentle workout, add 3- PRACTICE METEORSonly a quarter's worth of pennies or less. The more finesse you develop, the less you need weight to help execute the tricks. Onee the pennies are on board, you can add or subtract knots above the ball to customize rope length. Experiment. If the balls are hitting the ground, tie a pair of knots to shorten the rope. If you're tall, leave it unknotted. If you're Watusi, start with 12 feet of rope. I'm 5! 8" and my overall practice length is 8' (measured meteor end to meteor end with knots tied for center grips and knots both above and below the balls). Holding your meteors by the grip knots, elbows at your sides and forearms at 90 degrees, the meteors should hang at about mid-shin level. Bag-End Practice Meteors You can make another version of meteors by taping or tying a cloth bag or bundle to each end of the rope. A simple bandanna loaded with a plastic bag full of pennies or popcorn will work. Just fold the comers up and tape the whole mess to the rope with good old duct tape, being sure to cover all holes, so the change doesn't fly out at high speed. The popcorn version is softer when you klonk yourself. Then again, you could also substitute sand for kernels and essentially make Siamese sandbags, joined at the rope. believe sand is traditionally used in China, You can then wrap the ugly tape with colorful yarn to make the join pretty. PRACTICE METEORSTERMINOLOGY, NOTATION, & LEARNING TIPS The difficulty in recording juggling tricks is first creating a notation to describe the feats and then teaching this notation to others. I've kept the descriptions as clear and concise as possible, yet thorough enough to allow for different learning needs. Some folks prefer verbal "walk through” descriptions, some would rather rely on illustrations, and others love abbreviations. | attempt to please all. Redundancy in pursuit of clarity. Circles are the primary shape that your meteors desoribe when you swing them about They can be made in any of several orientations: Clockwise Counterclockwise Horizontal Vertical Meteor positions relative to each other are further described as: Parallel: The circles face each other. Edge-on: The circles are at right angles to each other. Opposite: One meteor travels clockwise while the other travels. counterclockwise. Synchronous: Meteors make same- or opposite-direction circles but reach their apex together (get to the top at the same time). Asynchronous: Meteors describe same- or opposite-direction circles out of synchrony (one at the top when other is at the bottom). Body positions are usually described as "facing the audience" or "R. side to audience,” but may also include cardinal directions: North, South, East, West. Footwork is only rarely mentioned, other than to describe a basic starting stance. Learning The important thing is to flail about with your meteors. Look at the picture for each trick, then read enough to get a general sense of it. Flail. Approximate. Play. Read more thoroughly to troubleshoot. If you get stuck on some trick, move on and come back to it later. Start with either section one and its more club-swinging style, or section two and its more staff-like style. Either style offers plenty of variations. Avoid section three at all costs. -5- TERMINOLOGYSECTION ONE STATIC-GRIP DOUBLE CIRCLES Forgive the silly names in this section. Some of you will find these names easier to remember than "staggered side-front-side-overhead follow circles.” Notice that the first several tricks flow from one to the next. You can learn them in order, using a previous trick as the entry to a new trick. Or you can jump start most of the tricks by lightly swinging the meteors along the bottom arc of your desired path, then suddenly giving them a kick so they swing up into their full circles. The tricks in this section are all performed with an unchanging or static grip: you never release the rope. Each meteor draws its own circle so you end up with double circles. Safety Notes: One difference between meteors and club swinging or staff twirling is that meteors require more gradual transitions. Because they are flexibly joined, the meteors tend to resist change of direction and lag behind the hands. Consequently, if you move your hands suddenly, the change you're reaching for may not come as expected and you can get blindsided by a meteor. This is especially dangerous with heavy water meteors and fire meteors. Therefore, for safety's sake, lear your transitions slowly before you start paring them down to their fastest forms. -7T- SECTION ONEJUMP ROPE Parallel Synchronous Side Circles Swing the meteors as though they were a jump rope: rising behind you and falling in front. Explanation: Stand with your left side lel and about shoulder width apart. Hold the meteors by the grip knots with palms up, thumbs to the outside, and elbows at your sides. This is your basic beginning position. Some may prefer to have the knot nestled in the palm, others may prefer to have it just outside the palm and snuggled up to the pinky. Regardless, do pinch the rope between your thumb and index finger so it doesn't rub your fingers raw, but is instead guided by your fingers. ‘Swing the meteors forward to about knee height, pause, and as they arc back to bottom continue the arc backward, giving it extra force so they rise behind you and descend in front. Jump rope-like, no? Keep this circle going by giving extra impetus (or "oomph if you prefer), using a subtle forward/backward pumping motion of your arms and a little wrist circling. Troubleshooting: You may find the circles tilting unevenly, perhaps angling toward your vulnerable shins. Don't panic, This is due to (and corrected by) angling of your forearms and wrists. Visualize the arc desired. This may sound too New Age for you, but it works, man. The circles may tilt in at the top, bottom, back, or (most common) front. Check your wrist and forearm angles. If you're angling inward toward your shins it's probably because you're either cocking your wrists inward (instead of keeping them straight out from your forearms) or you're angling your forearms inward. Of course, cocking them outward will make the meteors toe in at the back. Experiment! Your body is undoubtedly different from mine (no hump, fewer scales) and hence has different tensions and areas of greater or lesser mobility. These differences will create different arcs.If you're holding your hands with palms more inward and thumbs more upward, you'll find the ropes rub your index fingers in an irritating way. So keep your palms up. Variations: Speed up and slow down for effect. Purposely tilt your circles in at front, in at top, at rear, at bottom. Vary forearm and wrist angles and observe the effects. HAMSTER Parallel Asynchronous Side Circles ‘Swing the meteors as in jump rope but stagger the rhythm so one meteor is at the top when the other is at the bottom. My wife, Maria, says | look as if I'm in a hamster's exercise wheel when | do this one. | find that strangely exciting. Explanation: Once you've got the basic jump rope going, give extra impetus to one meteor so it speeds up and passes the other. Once it gets a full half-circle ahead, cease speeding up and find the groove of the asynchronous pattem. The meteors should now be at opposite points in their circles; e.g., one at apex (top) when the other is at nadir (bottom). Voila. You may elect at this point to make little rodent-like running steps if you'd like silliness to surpass suavity. Troubleshooting: Watch those wrist and forearm angles. Work arms and wrists together. Keep your elbows in close to your sides and marvel at how subtle the arm and wrist pumping can be and still work. Try to feel the rhythmic difference between synchronous and asynchronous. Variations: Vary speed and segue from jump rope to hamster and back. Practice using right and left hands to make the transitions. Do the transitions both as slowly and as rapidly as you can. -9- HAMSTERSATURN Horizontal Overhead Circle with Vertical Front Circle One meteor describes a vertical circle while the other bisects it with a horizontal circle. Explanation: The Saturn grows easily out of the hamster. So, with an imaginary audience on your left, do that hamster thing (counterclockwise asynchronous vertical side circles as seen by the audience). Keeping your left hand circle parallel to the audience, slowly make a quarter turn to your left by stepping forward with your right foot and slowly pivoting both feet leftward until you face the audience in a comfortable stance. Keep your right circle parallel to your right side as you tum so it describes a circle that heads straight at the audience. Your right circle should now intersect your left circle at a 90-degree angle. If you are still in an asynchronous rhythm, the circles should not collide. This is a trick in itself. Now, lift your hands to about face height, keeping the circles intersecting. Tilt the top of the right circle inward toward the top of your head (eek!) until it is desoribing a horizontal circle. You should now have a right circle parallel to the floor intersecting a left circle parallel to the audience, thus describing a good Saturn. Your hands should be in front of your face with the right hand slightly above the left. Troubleshooting: Visualize the desired arcs. Remember to tum your body without altering your left circle. It's hard to keep the left hand from mirroring the right. Maintain the asynchronous rhythm of the hamster to avoid collision. Try this and all tricks in front of a mirror or a large window, and fine-tune by observing your reflection. You want a good Saturn shape, so keep your hands close together so that the circles intersect close to their middles. It might help to just do the right hand transition from side vertical to overhead horizontal. Later, add the non-changing left hand. SATURN —10-Variations: Learn with right side vertical and left side horizontal. Work on transitions in and out of hamster, jump rope, and Saturn. Experiment with moving and turning while maintaining these tricks. What variations can you find by combining turning and raising one arm or the other into horizontal circles and dropping back to verticals? How close to a synchronous rhythm can you come without collision? Can you raise the right hand to Saturn, then continue over to the left side and return to right? Safety Tip: When working with horizontal circles, a mishap can bring the meteors streaking toward your noggin. Itis often he’pful to slide your hands off the grip knots and out toward the meteors at the first sign of disaster. This shortens the swinging length and may help you to steer the meteors away from you. It also helps to turn with the meteors as you crash so they don't tangle around you, SATELLITES Asynchronous Horizontal Opposite Overhead Circles Swing both meteors over- head, parallel to the ground, in asynchronous orbits with one going clockwise and the other counterclockwise. Explanation: Out of Saturn, keep the right meteor horizontal while raising and tilting the left into a second horizontal circle. Easy, if you've got the Saturn figured out. Troubleshooting: Collisions can occur, especially if you stray from a well-defined asynchronous rhythm. Keep your hands above head height so you don't garrote yourself (that trick comes later). Notice that the meteors are traveling in opposite directions. It's difficult to get a good horizontal circle unless you really concentrate on wrist angle and flexibility. In cruth, the circles must be slightly tilted or they'd take up the same space-time coordinates, and Uncle Einstein says that's a no-no. Variations: Turn while under your satellites. Watch those angles. How fast can you turn? Dizzy yet? Can you tit down into hamster and then back up into satellites? Tit one side down, then back, then the other side? Play! -1- SATELLITESKOOCH Asynchronous Opposite Front Circles This is the same trick Kooch Dancers are rumored to do with tassels artfully glued to their, ah, mammalian pro- tuberances (as Frank Zappa used to call them). Two meteors traveling in opposite directions in front of you is the goal. veoh Explanation: Just tit your satellites down from overhead until they're both in front of you and almost parallel to your chest. Or from Saturn bring your right horizontal down to nearly the same plane as your left vertical. The circles don't collide, because they are asynchronous and angled slightly outward in front, like a very shallow X with yourself right behind the intersection. Troubleshooting: Wrist motion is of paramount importance. It’s easy to end up with circles weirdly angled unless you use your full wrist flexibility. It is most common to have your subordinate hand angle too far outward in front. Variations: Again, vary speed for effect. Extra Credit: If you're really brave and flexible, try tuming your body by ducking under your arms while maintaining the kooch in one area of space. You'll have to turn 180 degrees and bend backwards a bit as your arms come over your head, then continue around to where you started—all while keeping those asynchronous opposite front circles whirling, Curiosity: If you start with both meteors traveling the same direction on either side of you (jump rope), stagger them (hamster), turn 90 degrees left while you raise and tit one to overhead (Saturn), then drop it to the front (kooch), you'll find you've gone from perfectly matching circles to perfectly opposite circles. A topological groovatude! KOOCH —12-TWIST Asynchronous Opposite Side Circles From kooch, turn 90 degrees to the left, bringing the left meteor to your left side and keeping the right meteor exactly where it was. Maintain opposite circles, one on either side of you Explanation: This is an exciting trick, since you essentially insert your body between the meteors. Fun, no? So, get that kooch koochin'’, take a deep breath and turn left as, your left meteor comes up, then allow it to come down at your left side. The circles remain in the same plane; it is only your body orientation that changes. You go from opposite asynchronous circles in front of you to opposite asynchronous circles on either side of you. Troubleshooting: Visualize those circles, keeping a strong fix on that left hand. Draw your slowest circles. If you keep the circles the same, all you're doing is tuming your body and widening the space between the circles so you can reside there. The common mistake is to try to pivot the left circle so it goes from parallel to the audience to perpendicular and back to parallel again. Unfortunately, that's not the trick. The trick is easier than that. Simply relax and tun 90 degrees to the left. You don't even have to move your feet—just twist from the waist, like Chubby Checker. If you're having trouble, just let your right hand hang and do the left side transition only. Once smooth, add the right-hand part. Variations: From the kooch, tum left (twist), then return to center (kooch), then turn right (twist). Keep shifting: twist left—kooch—twist right—kooch - twist left. . Find how fast you can switch. It's possible to turn after only one circle in the twist stance. This is a great sequence that's well worth exploring, since it begins to hint at the dance possibilities of the meteors. Extra Credit: kooch—twist right—twist right again so that now you're kooching with your back to the audience, but the meteors are now rising up at the center instead of descending, as in the regular kooch. Twist right twice more and you're back to normal. Kind of a kooch pirouette, which is well worth a fiver in the G-string. —13— TWISTTRAFFIC Synchronous Front Circles I've run out of names, but this is somewhat like the motion used to direct _ traffic, Describe identical circles nearly parallel with the chest, with their centers about a shoulder's width apart. Explanation: The easy way first. With your right side to the audience, perform jump rope. Then, as the right meteor descends, you simply turn one quarter turn right and bring your left hand slightly in front of you. The meteors should now be parallel to your chest and traveling in synchronous circles. The interesting way is to start in a kooch, twist left, then change from asynch to synch by speeding up one side until both meteors are reaching the bottom at the same time This will feel strange, since they're essentially parallel, yet traveling in opposite directions. Once this rhythm is achieved, keep your right circle where it is and bring the left meteor to the front by turning the whole left circle to the right (like a coin spinning on its edge) until itis parallel to your front. Note that your left meteor changes from traveling in the opposite direction of your right meteor, to traveling in the same direction. Now they should be traveling in identical clockwise circles with your hands about a shoulder's width apart. Troubleshooting: The shift from twist left to the necessary rhythm is a bit strange, but once you feel the groove it’s obvious. You might try starting the trick at its end result by simply holding the meteors in front of you and rocking both slightly to the left, then swinging them to the right and around into synchronous front clockwise circles (jump start). Then, try the “interesting” transition with just the left hand. Keep that right circle unchanging during the left's transition. Put it all together and step into traffic. Variations: Make quarter tums while keeping those synchronous circles going. Start with synchronous front counterclockwise circles (traffic), turn a quarter-left to synchronous side circles (jump rope), turn a quarter-left to synchronous front circles (backwards traffic), turn a quarter-left to synchronous side circles (backwards jump rope), turn a quarter-left back to synchronous front circles (traffic). Basically, you turn when they are at their apex and you swing them down to the new side. You can turn to left or right or even do a complete 360-degree turn by ducking under as you turn. Again, experiment with varying speed and number of beats before a transition. Dance with it TRAFFIC —14—Now the fun really begins! The next group of tricks is harder than the first, but the techniques are far more versatile. They can be performed with little adaptation using staff, swinging or regular juggling clubs, or even scarves. They are taught here using a common household broom, so scamper to the dust closet and let's clean up! —15— TRAFFICNINJA Asynchronous Side Follow Circles Circles alternating from your left side to your right side with you cowering in the middle. Explanation: This is the basic Follow Circle of club swinging, nunchaku, double broadsword, staff, whip darts, rubber chicken self-flagellation, and so on. This one trick actually cowed a large group of drunken frat-rats bent on heckling me at a street fair. Apparently they thought I'd studied martial arts alongside circus arts. First, you must acquire a standard kitchen broom. Your goal is a ninja-like extended figure-eight with you at the center. Pretend you are standing up in a canoe about to paddle across the room using your trusty broom. With your palms facing upward and about shoulders-width apart, hold your broom parallel to your chest and at belly height with the brush end to the right (fig. 1). Your grip will be loose, allowing your hands to twist on the broom, but maintaining an oarlock by making a circle with the thumb and index fingers. At no point should you overstress your wrists; if you do, bend your wrists and elbows to find a more comfortable hand position and allow the broom to roll in your arip. Dip the bristles forward and down to paddle on your right side (fig. 2). You've begun circling the broom counterclockwise with the spot between your hands as the pivot point. Continue that circle so the bristles rise behind you as the handle comes around to paddle (fig.3). Your arms will cross, right over left. You will need to sweep the bristles down and to your left side to uncross your arms (fig. 4). Circling clockwise, paddle on your left side with the bristles (also fig. 4), then the handle (fig. 5), then the bristles again (fig. 6). As your arms again wind up, sweep the handle down and to your right side to uncross them by paddling clockwise (fig. 7) first with the handle, then the bristles (back to fig 2), then the handle again (fig. 3). NINJA — 16—Nina? nine Cross to left again and continue executing three paddles on each side. In short: 1. Start on the right side by paddling with the bristles, then the handle. Cross to other side. 2. On the left sice paddle with the bristles, handle, the bristles again. Cross to other side. 3. On the right side paddle with the handle, bristles, handle again Repeat step 2, step 3, step 2, step 3, etc. Basically you are just uncrossing and recrossing your arms on each side. The trick is to create a flow by drawing your arms across your body to the other side as you recross them. Try doing this smoothly and without actually touching one arm to the other. You are tracing an exaggerated figure eight that crosses at your center. It's not a simple figure eight, however, since your left meteor makes two circles on your right side and one on your left side, whereas your right meteor makes two circles on your left side and one on your right side. With Meteors: Now it's time to try this thing with floppy rope instead of the rigid broom handle. Why? Because it’s harder this way and juggling is based on doing simple things in the most difficult way possible. Simply grab your meteors about six inches from their ends and start mzking the above arm motions. Move just fast enough to throw the meteors outwards so they arc nicely. As you find the flow, let the ropes slide through your hands until the meteors are fully extended and your hands are gripping the rope about shoulder-width apart. You can flow into the ninja by starting a jump rope (synchronous side circles) and kicking it into your slowest hamster (asynchronous side circles). As your right meteor starts down in front, bring the left meteor up and over to the right side. As the right meteor comes up, bring it over to the left side. Follow it with the left meteor to the left side. Follow through with the crossing and uncrossing arm movements you learned above. Watch your head. Watch that lamp. What you are doing is right and left follow circles. Doing this makes you cool. 17- NINJATroubleshooting: Maintain the asynchronous rhythm. Notice that each meteor describes one circle on its own side and two circles on its opposite side; e.g., the right draws one right-side circle, but two left-side circles. It's a flow thing; feel it more than think it, Be sure that you are doing exactly the same things on each side. There is a simple figure eight variation with only one circle on each side, but it's comparatively dull. Itis common to do this trick correctly on one side and then do it with a single circle on the other side. Have a friend critique for evenness, or watch yourself in a large mirror such as a picture window seen from outside on a sunny day. Variations: Instead of turning the usual way to uncross your arms, turn the other way; eg,, when both have circled on your right side, instead of turning left to uncross, turn right. This will put you in the position of doing your follow circles backwards. Turn right again and again. Pirouette, How fast can you turn smoothly? Try two right turns, followed by two left turns. 9 a Wa ~ Pee FOUNTAIN Asynchronous Side-Front-Overhead Follow Circles Carry follow circles from left to right to overhead and back to ® left in a fountain-like pattern, Explanation: Get those follow circles down pat and play with the variations | mentioned. Start in basic follow circles. As your arms cross on the right side, instead of crossing to your left side, turn your body to the right and uncross by flowing into reverse follow Circles (clockwise on the right side and counterclockwise on the left side) Note that as you moved from regular to reverse follow circles, your meteors opened at the point you were halfway turned. In other words, they reached a point where your arms were not crossed and the meteors were diametrically opposed as though on a straight rod. Become well aware of that open moment by flowing from regular to reverse follow circles and back to regular repeatedly. This is a good trick in itself and can flow into full follow circle pirouettes (see last chapter's variations). Now you must learn to lift the right-side reverse follow circles so they open overhead, NINJA 18 —then come down on the left side as regular follow circles. To do this, get into reverse follow circles and notice that when your right arm is crossed under your left you usually uncross by turning to the left. INSTEAD, uncross by lifting upward as if the right arm were shoving the left up overhead. Continue your follow circles so you open overhead for an instant before the right leads the descent into regular follow circles on the left side. ‘Another way of orienting yourself: face North, but turn your upper body to the West where you do regular follow circles. Turn to North again and open as you turn to do reverse follow circles facing East. Lift to open overhead facing North, then drop to face West for regular follow circles. Broom Method Again: With feet pointed North, tum to face West holding your broom bristles right, palms upward. Paddle the bristles down and Eastward on the right. Circle, paddling with the handle next and continuing around until your arms are crossed with your left arm under your right. Continue circling the handle up while turning to face East and paddling on your left side with the bristles. Turn more to paddle on your right side with the handle, then the bristles until you cross with right arm under left. Now lift the bristles upward as you turn to face North. Allow the bristles to fall, starting a clockwise circle with its pivot just above your head. Your right wrist must slide under the broomstick as you do this or you'll feel pretty awkward. The bristles pass your chest, and as they again come up, notice that you are open. The bristles continue around until directly overhead, and then descend to your left as you turn to face West again, and return to regular follow circles. Troubleshooting: Whew. Believe me, it’s easier done than said, so read the above and muddle through; then just start flailing. The rhythm and pattern will assert themsatves if you try. Once you get it you can run through it nonstop over and over again or until your so-called real life intervenes. The end result is a sort of flat-bottomed circle or lazy D lying on its back. Remember that the meteors circle in the same direction throughout. It's just your arm and body positions that change—and your point of view. Variations: What, this isn't enough? —19- FOUNTAINPINWHEEL Asynchronous Front-Back Overhead Circles Stall at the top of the fountain and draw figure eights. Explanation: Once in the top position of the fountain you can perform circles that figure eight in front of and behind your upraised arms. The primary difference between this move and follow circles is that each meteor makes only one circle on each side. Get into this situation by doing the fountain up to the point where your hands are overhead and you're about to drop down into regular follow circles. Instead, allow the lead meteor to arc down and behind your still upraised arms. Keep your wrists close together and have the second meteor follow the first as they swing a true figure eight, diving down and behind from the lef, rising up from the right, and diving down and in front from the left, rising up from the right and repeating. You can bail out by dropping into regular follow circles on the left side as when coming down from the fountain. Another entry comes out of the traffic pattern (parallel front circles). While doing traffic, lift your arms above your head and go into a parallel figure eight that dives down and behind on the left, rises up on the right, dives down and in front on the left, etc, Once there, speed up one side until you're in an asynchronous rhythm (like the transition from jump rope to hamster). That's the pinwheel; don't blow it Troubleshooting: Maintain the asynchronous rhythm. Practice more and do meaningful things less. Variations: Keep one hand high and drop the other to move its circle lower and to the side some. Vary which hand drops. Learn the whole thing backwards. PINWHEEL —20-MISCELLANEOUS DOUBLE CIRCLES Clubless Club Swinging can be done if you really choke up on the ropes toward the meteor ends so you have a shorter swinging length. This is a fun way to draw figure eights. For instance, you can face North and have each meteor perform figure eights independently on your East and West sides either synchronously or asynchronously, coming up in front or down in front. Try this with the arms dropped so the eights are in front of and behind your waist, or raised so they are around your shoulders. Make a transition from lower to higher and back. Stagger the transitions so the right is higher and the left lower, then vice versa. Try figure eights over and under your arms when they're stretched out to each side Rope length absolutely must be less than arm length, From traffic (parallel front circles), lower the meteors and try figure eights from front to back with one going through your legs; e.g., left goes behind left knee from the outside, right goes between legs to circle behind you and comes back out to regular traffic. You can do a pinwheel parallel to the ground, figure eighting over and under your forward stretched arms. Make sure the meteor length is shorter than your arm length or, "Pow! Right in the kisser, Alice.” Do jump rope and let the rope slide through your hands so one side gets shorter and the other longer. You can use this technique to draw one small circle and one large. It's most effective with the small circle closer to the audience, rather than hidden by your body. ~SS= Ifyou are really flexible and use very short meteors, you can step over your arms while doing the kooch, much like the extra credit turn under the arms described in the kooch chapter. -21- SECTION TWO—22-SECTION 2 ACTIVE GRIP SINGLE CIRCLES All the tricks covered so far work each side of the rope independently, with the center span usually slack and often unmoving, thus creating two distinct circles. ‘The following tricks are closely related to staff tricks, in that the meteor is treated as a single, straight, unbending line. Because of this, the tricks require active grip changes, and the meteors draw a single, large circle. This is the more traditional Asian method of swinging meteors. -23- SECTION TWOHELICOPTER Horizontal Single Circles Swing the meteors so they are at opposite points and describing a helicopter-like single overhead circle parallel to the ground. Explanation: This is my version of Bruno Nolo's version of a Chinese movement form. Hows that for far from the horse's mouth? The hard part is giving both meteors balanced impetus so they stay in opposition. This trick is all technique, and once you've got it, requires little effort. The following method is called the Balanced Drive, because both hands influence the meteors equally. The Push Drive also works and is conceptually easier, but is neither traditional nor as elegant. The push drive is taught in the Windmills section. Learn the balanced drive first and the push drive will come easily. The reverse is not necessarily true. Balanced Drive: Starting position is facing forward, feet placed shoulders’ width apart, with one a stride ahead of the other in classic martial Bo stance. The meteors are held by their knots or tape, palms upward and both hands on the right side of your body in a sort of bullfighter-holding-his-cape-to-one-side stance. Toro, toro! Make a mental note which knot is in your left hand. Twist to your right to wind yoursetf like a spring. As you untwist to the left, lift your arms upward leading with the left hand. You are starting a circle that will be turning clockwise overhead from your vantage point. Your arms lift to a point overhead and slightly forward. Try to lift to your destination point. As with ninja follow circles, you will reach a point where your arms cross if you don't let go with one hand. So, let go with your right hand when it is directly in front of your chest. Allow the meteors to smoothly continue their circle as your left arm rotates to its full extent (your left palm will be facing approximately left) HELLICOPTER -24—With your right hand facing palm forward, grab the left side of the rope between your left hand and the center tape. Let go with your left hand. Allow your right arm to rotate to its full extent (palm is facing you). Regrab with the left (palm facing you) and drive the meteors through another turn. Regrab with the right . . . theleft . . . the right Basically, each hand drives the rope through a full turn. Both grab at approximately the same spot beside the left knot (the left hand grabs on the center tape side of the knot, the right hand grabs slightly closer to the center tape). Right grabs with palm facing forward or slightly rightward and releases with palm facing backward toward you. Left grabs with palm facing backward and releases with palm facing slightly leftward Troubleshooting: A good smooth start that keeps the meteors opposite each other is the key. Keep in mind that once you get your hands up, you want to keep the circle centered at one point in space—don't sway your arms around too much. It's helpful to track one of the meteors and assure that it completes a full circle before you regrip. If you note which meteor-end is at forward left during grip change, you'll discover that ball is always at forward left during either hand's grip change. You may even want to sleeve a balloon or colored sock over one meteor so you can follow its motion. Try the old broom technique, walking through the moves using a handy sweeper. Variations: Pirouette—simply turn around while maintaining the helicopter. Try turning both directions: with and against the meteor's circling, Kneel - keeping the meteors helicoptering overhead, kneel down on one knee and then rise back up. Lie — Keep that helicopter going while you kneel, and then lie down or cross your legs and scissor down, and then lie down. This is great fun, as the meteors will now be parallel to and over your body. Keep your arms well raised or you will hit your feet. Start from follow circles: as the follow opens on the left side, lift up to center while guiding the meteors into a horizontal circle. This is easier done at a slower speed. -25- HELICOPTERONE-HANDED HELICOPTER sda Maintain a basic helicopter with only one hand. Explanation: This is the first of several advanced helicopter variations, The required body work makes these variations tricks unto themselves. Simply perform the left-handed side of the helicopter; then, instead of gripping with the right, lift the meteor rope slightly upward and quickly unwind/regrip with the left. Repeat until dizzy. The upward lift lofts the meteors so you can regrip while they're at the weightless apex of the lift, You'll feel the meteor rope sliding across the back of your hand (with rough rope at fast speeds this can chafe). Use the "L" of extended thumb and fingers to catch the rope. Troubleshooting: Make sure you're working in a column of space, not swinging your arm out of the axis space, Keep the axis in place and feel the weightless moment when you regrip. Variations: Become comfortable enough with the "L" catch on the thumb-forefinger juncture, so that you can perform a gripless one-handed helicopter. The trick is in driving the rope with the width of the palm. You might also try pirouetting, kneeling, and lying down while maintaining a one-handed helicopter. ONE-HANDED COPTER —26—HELICOPTER AROUND BODY Drop the helicopter to waist level and circle your body once before returning to overhead. Explanation: This flows easiest out of a balanced drive helicopter. When the left hand regrips, duck under the left side of the rope, then straighten up while lowering the rope behind you to waist height. Immediately grip with the right hand on the right knot on the right side of your body at waist level. Hand that right knot across the front of your body into your left hand. Hand the same knot across the back of your body into your right hand, Lift up with your right hand to get that flailing mass back overhead before it wraps around your neck. Resume the basic helicopter. Troubleshooting: It sometimes helps to pirouette to the left as you try this. It does help to bend backwards and get your head out of the way as you raise your right hand back to home at the end of the trick. You may notice that the right meteor can lose speed rapidly during this maneuver. If it does, give it an extra bit of oomph when you go back into the basic helicopter. —27— COPTER AROUND BODYHELICOPTER BEHIND BACK ‘ Bow while you carry the helicopter behind you to hover over your back during a grip transition, then return to overhead Explanation: This is just a variation of around the body. Once your left hand grips in a basic helicopter, swing it smoothly left and back as you bend forward. This sweeping back of the left allows greater rotation of the left arm so the meteors go through two full rotations before grip change. Note which ball is to your left when your left hand grips that ball will return to your left again when your arm is fully behind and you are bent over. Then it will describe a second circle as you stay bowed, returning to your left side again at grip change time. To change the grip to the right hand, reach down and behind with your right hand facing palm upward to grip on the right side of the left hand as it lets go. As you swing your right arm out and to the right, stand straight again. The meteors will describe two more full revolutions before you're back to where you started. Whew! Troubleshooting: The key learning point is allowing the meteors’ momentum to carry them through that second circle behind you before grip change. Try it with a broom and count those circles. Variation: Practice fast and slow. It's possible to maintain the helicopter over your bowed back, though why you'd want to, I don't know. HELICOPTER THROUGH LEGS Drop the meteors to below crotch level and maintain the helicopter as it weaves through your legs while you rotate. COPTER BEHIND BACK — 28Explanation: This is a doozy. I've seen it done at thigh height, but | seem to do best at just below the knee. Greater understanding and flexibility may help me to move it upward in the future. For now, assume a twisted-to-the-right position much as you would start a regular helicopter, except bent over, holding the meteors from above with left palm downward and right upward. See, just the same, only very different. Identify and keep track of the left meteor, because it will lead. It may help to put a colored sock around it while you are learning. Start your circles by uncoiling to the left, lifting your left leg, releasing with your right hand, and guiding your lead meteor around the inside of your right leg. As you do this, be careful to keep the meteors equally driven. You will immediately tangle unless you change to a right grip after the lead meteor makes only a half revolution. Basically, the left hand just drives the lead meteor around behind the right leg and into the right hand The right hand now drives the lead meteor for one full revolution until it's about to go behind the right leg again. At this point the left foot comes down and the right is lifted up to the side so the lead meteor can pass underneath it. The left hand now grips the other knot and makes the right meteor the lead meteor. The right meteor describes a half circle, coming around the left leg, to be placed in the right hand. The right again guides a full circle, this time around the left leg The sequence is alternating half and full lead meteor circles with grip changes between. I think. Around each leg a different meteor-end takes the lead. Troubleshooting: Lift your legs to the side, rather than relying just on a bend of the knee. This gets them out of the way more rapidly. Walk through the process with a broom. Rotate your body to the left as you do it, to give yourself a trifle more time to lift your legs out of the way. You might want each meteor to be a different color so you can observe each as it takes the lead. As Yogi Berra said, "You can observe a lot just by watching.” Variation: Dive into and rise out of the helicopter through the legs from regular and behind-the-back helicopters. Lie on your back doing helicopters, and raise your legs, one at a time, to perform a sort of inverted helicopter through the legs. COPTER BEHIND BACK —29-WINDMILLS Vertical Single Circles Swing the meteors so they describe a single vertical circle parallel to your chest and in front of you. Explanation: One method is to tilt an established helicopter downward in front until it parallels your chest. Just keep pushing the rope forward and downward with each right hand revolution and forward and upward with each left hand revolution. It's difficult to keep the meteors equal and you'll tend to twist off center. The solution is to use a nontraditional driving technique that's less prone to imbalance. The Push Drive drives the meteors around with the right hand while the left merely holds the rope up. We'll learn this method overhead in a helicopter, and then tilt it down to morph into a windmill Push Drive: Start with both meteors to your right side as in balanced drive, holding knots, palms upward, body twisted to right. Untwist and lift, leading with the left meteor, to separate and speed up the meteors. When the left hand has reached full rotation, grab the center tape with the right hand palm forward and push the rope through one-quarter to one-third of a revolution. While your right pushes, your left unwinds and regrips to rewind again. Repeat until dinner. Both hands do add impetus, but the right adds more. In this drive, the right hand grips with palm facing forward and releases when the palm is facing leftward. To tilt this down into a windmill, drop your left arm as your right forces the rope downward a little with every push. Increased speed is necessary to combat gravity and impart reasonable outward motion and centripetal force along the rope. ‘Once you get a windmill going, try keeping it going with the balanced drive. The windmill can be jumped into directly by holding the meteors by the knots, left palm up and right palm down. Swing them upward and to the right until they are parallel to the ground. As they arc back downward, rotate with your left hand and drive hard with your right to push them around and into the push drive or balanced drive. Troubleshooting: Try the broom. Keep in mind that neither hand is the axle around WINDMILLS —30-which all pivots. Instead, each hand is a little way out on the spoke of the "wheel" you are driving around, and the pivot point is between your hands. Go fast. Go slow, Variations: Well, you've got to try a one-handed windmill, and if that works go for a gripless one-handed windmill. Both require great understanding of the drive pcint, and understanding of how to distribute force to both ends from one point of contact. This is black belt stuff, Grasshopper. Another winner is the windmill pirouette—turning a full 360 degrees while maintaining an unchanging windmill between you and the audience. A shorter set of meteors is best for this move, or add a knot to each side of your current set. From a balanced drive windmill, turn your body to the right while the left hand drives for one turn. When your back is to the meteors, reach behind with your right hand to perform a grip change ‘AS your right hand takes over, continue your body rotation to return to center. This is basically the balanced drive with half body rotations between grip changes. Simple, no? Side windmills, or Vertical Single Side Circles, are just windmills performed parallel to one side of your body, rather than to your chest. These are easily done by making a quarter-turn and maintaining a windmill. The side windmill makes an easy transition into and out of follow circles. To do this, perform follow circles, and when they open so no arms are crossed, immediately go into a windmill. You can even carry windmills from side to side like exaggerated figure eights. Another variation of note is the one-handed side windmill, which, once perfected, could allow one to perform windmills with a separate set of meteors on each side. That's right, two sets of meteors. Yowzal Finally, there is the theoretical gripless one-handed side windmill. | have no explan- ation for this trick, but | do have photographic proof that it was once done by humans: the shot shows a ineleor-girl performing a helicopter while standing on the shoulders of a meteor-guy, who is performing gripless side windmills with his forearms. -s- WINDMILLSONE-HANDED FIGURE EIGHTS One-handed single circles can be swung around both sides of your arms and body in figure eights, giving an appearance much like staff manipulation. Explanation: Face forward and when your follow circles reach the right side so you open (no arms are crossed), release the left hand and guide the meteors into figure eights driven by just the right knot. Just ahead of your body is the center crossing point of the figure eight. To do this, you must use arm motion to swing the left meteor while your thumb and index push the right meteor. The circles cross center, circle once on the left side, cross center, circle once on the right side, cross, circle, cross, circle There is a definite odd feel to this trick, and it is quite interesting to drive both balls with one point of contact Troubleshooting: Rhythm and balanced impetus are the keys to this one. You must simultaneously swing the longer length of the meteor rope passively, and actively drive the shorter length. Try with a broom, then get the floppy rope to mimic the stiff broom. Variations: Pirouettes while swinging one-handed figure eights are fun, although an odd rhythm of forward and reverse follows. Another good trick is to hold your arm out and perform eights parallel to the audience on one side only, so they circle in front of and behind your arm. FIGURE EIGHTS —32-WRIST WRAPS Allow the rope to wrap around your wrist to change circle size and speed. Explanation: Performing one-handed figure eights with your body as the center, simply make an extra circle or two on one side of your body, allowing the long rope to wrap around your wrist. Then, you must cross to the other side of your body and make reversed circles to unwrap. This is more fun than difficult, but quite dangerous with fire meteors, as you can end up tying flaming apparatus to your arm. It does, however alter the size of the circles, shrinking them as the rope wraps, and it changes the meteors’ relationship to each other so they aren't always in opposition. You will also note that the meteor speeds up as its tether wraps. Don't let it sneak up on you -3- WRIST WRAPS—~34—SECTION THREE THEORETICAL AND UNCATEGORIZABLE TRICKS —35—POI METEORS Synchronous Opposite One- Handed Vertical Circles Gripping the center, you drive the meteors in opposite vertical circles like Eskimo yo- yo, Polynesian poi balls, or American "Clackers" (which were popular in the mid-'70's and can still occasionally be seen wrapped around overhead telephone wires). Explanation: From kooch (asynchronous opposite front circles), speed up one side so the meteors are synchronous (reaching apex together) and with the right side of the rope being ahead of the left side when they are crossed. In other words, when the right meteor is on your left side and the left meteor is on your right side, the right rope is farthest from you at the crossing point. You'll notice that they alternately cross and open (right one on the right side, left on left). When they are open, shift your right hand palm down onto the center tape. Release your left grip. By pointing your thumb left as the meteors go to their lowest point and pointing it up as they go to their highest point, you can drive both meteors with one hand and maintain their circles. Troubleshooting: The synchronous kooch is begging for collisions. In reality, the meteors aren't really parallel, but form a very shallow "X." There's an up-down bobbing motion in synchronous kooch as the meteors rise and fall together. This is the key motion that you will maintain with only one hand. The wrist tuming just keeps the ropes from tangling. Tune in to the up-down drive and you'll get it. Variations: Make a quarter turn to try side poi. You can carry the poi meteors overhead to your other side by lifting your drive hand up and over to the opposite side while the meteors are rising up. This side switching can be done from front to back or side to side PO! METEORS 36 —Horizontal poi can be attempted if you really have no other hobby. Torque your synchronous vertical kooch into its horizontal overhead evil twin (satellites) and then grip the middle and continue as above. With practice you can make a flawless transition from vertical to horizontal, standing to lying and re-standing. This is a real kick if you're willing to lower yourself that far, and beyond cool with flaming meteors. MIXED CIRCLES Simulianeous Horizontal and Vertical One-Handed Circles Angle your wrist to offset poi, so the meteors make intersecting edge-on orbits. Explanation: This is kind of a "flail 'til you fail" trick, as it's based on just experimenting with driving one meteor with wrist angle and the other with up-down, forward-backward, or left-right arm motion. It is possible to get perfect vertical and horizontal windmill- helicopter couplings. I think. Troubleshooting: Watch out for sudden shifts in direction that! blindside you. There are no rules, no tricks. Save yourself! This is much like one-handed figure eights in that arm motion drives one side while wrist drives the other. Variations: You find ‘em. 37 - MIXED CIRCLESTHROWS AND CATCHES Throwing and Catching Helicopters and Windmills Explanation: Heck, | don't know. It's theoretically possible if you time the release and catch correctly. The problem | have is absorbing the shock after the catch, so that the meteors go into a reasonable circle instead of just drooping and crashing. Heavier meteors maintain best in the air, but hurt most when you blow the trick. Troubleshooting: When you release entirely, you're just asking to be tangled or bludgeoned. Practice carefully. If you wear glasses, take them off, or the meteors will remove them for you. Try half turns, and then full tums before catches. Variations: Throw and pirouette. Throw and bounce by striking with a gripless palm to send the meteors back up again. THROWS AND CATCHES — 38——39—CONSTRUCTING PERFORMANCE METEORS Water Meteors Water meteors are a great tool for demonstrating centripetal force. It's the old "swing a bucket of water over your head without getting wet" trick. Science aside, it can also be an impressive presentation of meteor motion. When using water meteors you will soon notice that water is a heavy substance, and the faster you swing the heavier it seems, Consequently, remember to keep your shoulder muscles tight and in control, since relaxed shoulder muscles tend to be easily overstretched by the pull of the water meteors. Metal Water-Meteor Bowls Basically, attach stainless steel bowls to the ends of your rope, and then just add water. You'll need: eight feet of rope six one-foot lengths of chain two eight-inch-wide stainless stee! bowls or hubcaps eight lock rings tape (plastic or athletic) two carabiners Start with eight feet of rope and tape the center and ends as with practice meteors. Drill or punch three equidistant holes, each a half-inch down from the rim of a shallow eight-inch-wide stainless steel mixing bowl. Deeper bowis are less impressive because they are less likely to slop when starting and stopping, and during transitions. Attach a length of chain to each bow! hole using lock rings to make an attaching link. Join the remaining ends of the chain to each other using a carabiner, being sure the link is large enough to allow your rope to pass through. Thread your rope through the joining links. Double back the rope, making the overall length equal to your practice meteors. Tie or tape the rope to itself, thus securing the bowls and chains to the rope ends. Start splashing. Glass Water-Meteor Bowls ‘As above, but using clear Pyrex bowls held in a net so as to be visible but well supported. Glue the bowl to the net to avoid having it slip out of center and spill or slip out entirely and crash through its cousin, Mr. Window. The easiest glueing method I've come up with is to hold the net open and apply Spraymount or a similar adhesive, and then set the bow in the net. Water meteors are most visually interesting when performed with colored water in the glass bowls. Of course, you could use clear plastic bowls and get the same effect without the fear of shrapnel. PERFORMANCE METEORS. —40—Fire Meteors NOTE: In any fire manipulation, there is a real chance of injury and property damage no matter how "safe" or experienced you are, or how many times you read this book. The author, publisher, distributor, and retailer can not be held responsible for any damage or injury resulting from the practice or performance of any feats described in this work. Possession of this document constitutes agreement to this effect. The tool of choice! Build using nearly the same construction as the metal water meteors. Minor differences include adding a wicking system and using cotton rope and cloth tape, rather than nylon and plastic, to avoid meltdown. Along with ingredients for making metal water meteors, you'll need: two one-inch bolts with washer and nut four standard torch wicks Simply drill a hole through the centers of the bowls and through the wicking. Bolt the wicks to the bowls using 2 washer and nut on top of the wicks. Before lighting the meteors, be sure to have an assistant standing by with a fire extinguisher. | prefer a CO2 extinguisher, since it will put out the meteors (and meteor operator) in an impressively theatrical "whoosh!" of fog, without coating everything with powder. This means you can light up again right away without having to clean your props and costume. Fuel, Ignition, and Performance Tips: \ prefer plain old white gas (Coleman fuel) in my meteors. Charcoal starter will also work well but is harder to ignite, DO NOT use gasoline, because it would much rather explode than burn. It's also toxic. See the appendix for notes on fuel choices and safety procedures. Carefully pour enough fuel into the bowls to soak the wicks, but not enough to slop out. Cap and put your metal or plastic (NEVER glass) fuel container far away. Be sure the wicks hold ali the fuel, or colliding bowis could spray the excess on you, your pet, the concert stage including Mickey Hart's million dollar drum set, whatever. | could at this point mention the flaming head trick | performed after a particularly rowdy Portland Juggling Festival party, but that would just be admitting | learned all this the hard way, The best tip: after juicing the wicks, let the fuel soak in for a few long seconds and then dump out the excess. If performing indoors where you can't just pour out little gasoline puddles, carefully measure your fuel so you add only as much as experimentation says the wicks will hold a PERFORMANCE METEORSLight your meteors using a match or torch. NEVER use a cigarette lighter—you would have to reach into the bowls to light them, and the lighter might be engulfed in flame for moment. Cigarette lighters have been known to explode with the force of a grenade when exposed to heat or engulfed in flame. There are a few one-legged firemen who could tell you all about why you shouldn't carry a lighter in your pocket when doing fire work. Fire meteors are, of course, best performed in the dark. Itis also a good idea to use them only where ventilation is sufficient to remove most of the smoke smell. The meteors tend to warm up, producing more flame after they've burned for ten or twenty seconds. Consequently, start slowly and build as the flames build. Once you've completed your routine, or once you've executed a perfect major screwup in practice, slide your hands toward the bowls enough to shorten their leash so they don't bonk you. Also, be aware of where they are when you're stopped—just dangling them could result in the flaming pants routine which is best left to professionals. Horizontal mistakes are best survived by turning with the bowls so they don't wrap around you and leave you tied and burning like Joan of Arc. Extinguish the meteors by dropping them into a metal box (toolboxes work well) and closing the lid. This smothers them and also traps the considerable amount of smoke that is released when the flame goes out. For some reason, audiences get a kick out of seeing the meteors wink out as the lid closes. Alternative methods include filling the bowls with sand (you'll have to clean them out later), wrapping them in a thick tarp (which could ignite), or simply exiting with them lit and letting them burn out offstage (watch out for curtains as you exit), or using the before-mentioned CO, extinguisher. Also, it's best not to let the fuel burn entirely out, since the wicks can continue to smolder. Other Meteors Anything attached to a center rope can be called a meteor set. I've never seen cat meteors, but with today’s harnesses it could be done almost humanely. | have, however, seen Glow Meteors made by tying chemical light sticks to rope or twine, available at most safety supply stores. They're pretty cool at night, if you dig green, red, yellow, or blue tracers. You can even combine colors by tying two on each end or one above the other. Blinking Meteors made by tying blinking red LE.D. bike safety lights to rope. PERFORMANCE METEORS 42—Flag Meteors, being nylon ball covers with three foot long nylon tails that sleeve over your practice meteors and make nice flowing arcs and occasional snapping sounds. Spraying Meteors made with perforated liter soda bottles. Ready-Made Meteors: Performance-quality meteors are available for sale at some Juggling and Poi stores, and through this publisher. Fire meteors can be made from any of the commonly available fire Poi,by attaching the handles with an extra length of material to grip in the middle. Flaming Sparrow has just such a gadget. See their catalog at the end of this book, and at http://www. foreworks.com —43— PERFORMANCE METEORSAFTERWORD We, that’s the best | can communicate what I've learned about meteors in a book If this area of manipulation catches on, I'd love to throw together a video and/or series of flipbooks and temporary tattoos that further explore this pastime. | suppose | should also mention that there are tricks I've yet to encounter—especially the more traditional ones. | welcome responses to this work and input for future editions. I'd especially appreciate tips on any books or teachers that deal with similar material. Write to me in care of the publisher. —45- AFTERWORD— 46 —SUGGESTED READING Modern Club Swinging and Pole Spinning, by Anna Jillings; Butterfingers: Bath, England, 1994. A clear introduction to arts related to meteor swinging. Club Swinging for Physical Exercise and Recreation, by W. J. Schatz; Brian Dubé, Inc.: New York NY, 1908. An unclear but comprehensive demystification of gymnastic club swinging in the old style. The Encyclopedia of Ball Juggling, by Charlie Dancy; Butterfingers: Bath, England, 1994. Great, fun, clear, silly, comprehensive collection of ball moves. The Compendium of Club Juggling, by Charlie Dancy; Butterfingers: Bath, England, 1995. More tricks than you can shake a club at divulged with wit and silly illustrations. The Juggler's Manual of Manipulative Miscellanea, by Reginald W. Bacon, a.k.a. Mr. Slim; Variety Arts Press: Newburyport MA, 1984. The book that got me looking in hardware stores and thrift emporiums for props. Acclassic book that's a must for all those who can see beyond their balls (and clubs). Acrobats of The Soul—Comedy and Virtuosity in Contemporary American Theatre, by Ron Jenkins; Theatre Communications Group, Inc. New York NY, 1988. An inspiring book that will widen your eyes and broaden the scope of possible topics a juggler should address in a show. Chinese Acrobatics, by Sun Yongxue; Foreign Languages Press: Beijing, China, 1981. Tricks possible only if you start training in utero. Truly inspiring coffee table book Circus Techniques: Juggling, Equilibristics, Vaulting, by Hovey Burgess; Brian Dubé, Inc.: New York NY, 1989. A classic introduction to the technical side of circus arts The Cartoon Guide to Physics, by Larry Gonick and Art Huffman; Harper Perennial: New York NY, 1990. Oh, so that's why it works! -—47— SUGGESTED READINGThe Classical Technique of Fire Eating, by Gerald Taylor; Micky Hades International: Calgary, Canada, 1980. This is the book that introduced me to Bruno Nolo's "revolving fire bowls." Chinese Acrobatics Through The Ages, by Fu Qifeng; Foreign Languages Press: Beijing, China, 1985. Wonderful book covering over 2,000 years of circus arts in China. It turns out that most Western circus acts grew out of Chinese traditional performances. A must read for any serious circus history buff. — 48 —ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rays Thomas learned to juggle in high school to impress a girl, and then lost the girl and juggled to forget. He now claims to have an M.F.A. (Master of Frivolous Arts). His interest in all aspects of juggling, vaudeville, and related circus arts has filled his house and a shed with hundreds of books, props, and toys. He writes the juggling column "Caught in the Act” for Laughmakers Magazine. Since 1987, Rhys has made his living on three continents performing improbable juggling, unique comedy, and amazing acrobatics as "Up For Grabs." His greatest résumé entry comes from having served as Artist in Residence at The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where he arrived early enough one day to see janitors vacuum the elephant in the foyer. He once had a man die during his performance. He once saved his audience from being trampled by a four-Clydesdale hitch gone awry. Once, in an interview for a major national television news show he was asked three times to “dumb it down." Rhys lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and juggling partner, Maria, and their daughters, Isabel and Matilda, The whole family enjoys playing with the "No Problem, Easy Pick Up" Portland Jugglers. —49—50 —NOTES ON FIRE METEOR SAFETY Adapted from Fire Safety for Jugglers, by Eric Bagai This title is a contradiction in terms: there is no such thing as fire safety or being safe when performing with fire. My advice is simply: don't perform with fire. If you do, you will burn yourself and others, and you will destroy property. However, if you ignore my advice and do decide to use fire, there are a few things you can do to make it slightly safer for yourself and for others. WHAT YOU NEED 1. Large wet towel or safety blanket. If your hair or clothes catch on fire, use the towel/blanket to smother the flames. Don't beat at the flames, smother them and push away from the face. Use prewashed 100% cotton towels: artificial fibers will melt and may contaminate burns, and new cotton is full of flammable lint. Keep the towels (one towel for each pererformer on stage) in a five-gallon bucket, a quarter-full of water (one bucket for every three performers on stage). 2. Small fire extinguisher. If anything else catches fire, use the fire extinguisher. Never aim at or near anyone's face—that's what the towel is for. An all-purpose ABC- rated extinguisher is best. CO; (carbon dioxide) extinguishers work well but can freeze skin, but a quick blast is sufficient. And since dry powder extinguishers may contain anything from baking soda to very esoteric compounds, if they are used on someone, send the extinguisher with the burn victim, so the doctors will know how to treat the bums. Make sure the emergency service people know why the extinguisher is there. 3. Safety spotter. This is someone who knows how and when to use the towel and the extinguisher, who is not performing, and is there just for you. When you are in the middle of a performance it is easy to forget or ignore safety procedures. When you've kicked over the fuel bottle and your shoes are on fire, or you are panicked, you need someone (at least one for every three performers) who knows what to do and who won't hurt you more than the fire will. Many performing troupes also have one or more guards to keep the audience separated from the fuel, props, and performers. 4, Small towel for wipe-ups. The small towel is necessary to wipe up spills and dribbles on yourself, and is useful for small spills that might damage the finish or paint ‘on anything else your fuel might come in contact with. Wash the small towel regularly. Do not use the large towel to wipe up spills. (Think about it.) 5. Metal or plastic fuel bottle. Wide-mouth plastic sports bottles holding no more than a quartliter of liquid are popular, but should be checked regularly for cracks and leaks. If your bottle "sweats" fuel, replace and discard it—or it will slowly soak your prop bag —51— FIRE SAFETYwith fuel. Bottles should be strong enough to be stepped on or kicked without bursting or blowing off the cap because eventually, someone will step on it or kick it, Metal screw-top bottles or the original containers are the safest, but because their pour- spouts are small you'll also need a heavy bowl or cup to hold fuel for dipping your meteor wicks and to catch spills from pouring fuel over the wicks. Never use glass containers—they can break and scatter fuel. Even if a glass container is closed, if it comes in contact with flame for more than a few seconds it may burst, and slivers of glass and globs of flaming fuel will shoot in all directions. 6. Travel light. Carry only as much fuel with you as you plan to use, and no more than one container per three performers. Never carry or store fuel in the passenger compartment of a vehicle: in an accident it will spray over everything, and probably ignite. For long trips, don't take fuel with you: buy it when you get there. All public transportation (planes, buses, ships, trains) has strict rules regarding fuel. Find out what the rules are and follow them. 7. Slam box. This is an airtight metal storage container with an attached, tight-fitting lid: a toolbox, ammo box, or similar container that can instantly smother the flames on your meteors by depriving them of oxygen. It will also store them safely and help keep them from spreading soot all over everything else. If you have finished your routine (or if you must cut it short), and your torches have too much unconsumed fuel left in them for the flame to be blown out easily, just dump them in the box and slam the lid shut. 8. Matches and cigarette lighters. Book matches and cigarette lighters are standard equipment. But don't put that lighter in your pocket after lighting up. If your pants catch on fire, the lighter may blow your leg off. Any time a lighter is enveloped in fiame it can explode, which is why some lighters come with the curious warning: "Do not use near flame.” This applies to both butane and Zippo-type lighters. So use matches or a torch if you have to hold the flame above a prop's wick when lighting it 9. Fire resistant clothing. Fireproof clothing is expensive. Sometimes a fireman's used Nomex or Kevlar approach suit, or a racing driver's suit can be found at surplus stores. The new ones are good for one use, or they are very expensive. The next safest coverings are leather, untreated 100% cotton, and your own skin, in about that order. Plastics and artificial fibers are very dangerous because they catch fire quickly and will melt into burned flesh. Rayon, nylon, Dacron, etc., all go up in flames instantly. (So watch who is in the front of your audience.) Loose clothing is more likely to get in the way than clothing that fits well. If your hair is long, tie it back or stick it under a hat. If you spill fuel on your clothing you must change clothes before lighting up. Even after you've carefully blotted up spills, your clothing will retain enough fuel to act exactly like a torch. Blotting up spills on clothing may save you from a skin rash, but not from being bumed FIRE SAFETY -—52-FUEL KEROSENE (called paraffin in many places outside the U.S.) is the safest fuel for all fire props. That doesn't mean that it is safe, but it is safer than any other liquid fuel. It is the hardest to light and has the least flammable fumes. After meteors are blown out, or snuffed out, they can then be lightly dipped in kerosene to stop all the residual smoldering. Even though the flame is out, flameless combustion (smoldering) will eat up your wicks. You must physically crush the embers left from all other fuels because they may ignite fumes or loose fuel. ‘Almost all of the several hundred brands and types of kerosene contain a variety of extremely toxic ingredients, principally benzene and naphtha. These additives or impurities are absorbed though the skin and mucous membrane, and accumulate in the liver and kidneys. Some directly attack the corneas, so if kerosene is splashed into your eyes, hold your eyelids open and flush your eyes with running water for fifteen minutes, and then seek medical attention immediately. If swallowed, do not induce vomiting, but seek medical attention immediately. A glass of water or milk will help prevent gastric distress. Alll kerosene should be treated as if itis highly toxic. Lamp Oil, scented and unscented, is kerosene without the bad smell. But contrary to popular belief, the additives that make fuels more aesthetically acceptable can make them more pcisonous, not less. At this writing, Lamplighter brand lamp oil is the least toxic fuel generally available. COLEMAN CAMPING FUEL, WHITE GAS, and LIGHTER FLUID (Ronsonol and Zippo) consist of naphtha with various additives to control smell and appearance. They are preferred by many jugglers because they are not as smoky or as smelly as kerosene, and they light quickly. But naphtha is much more volatile than kerosene— that is, it is much easier to light and produces more flamable fumes. You cannot dip blown-out but still smoldering torches into naphtha because that will usually set the contents of your fuel jug on fire. Instead, you must crush out residual smoldering by squeezing your wicks with a rag kept specifically for that purpose. (You can also use that rag to wrap the wicks so they don't spread soot over everything.) Naphtha is as poisonous as the worst of kerosenes. If swallowed, do not induce vomiting. If splashed into your eyes, hold your eyelids open and flush with running water for fifteen minutes, and in either case seek medical attention immediately. CHARCOAL STARTER (Kingsford and Wizard) is a mix of kerosene and naphtha. itis slightly less explosive than naphtha, and easier to light than most kerosenes. Otherwise, all the same cautions apply. GASOLINE, PAINT THINNER, AVIATION FUEL, and other highly volatile fuels are extremely explosive and extremely toxic. The fumes remaining in a one-gallon can that has been emptied of gasoline can explode with the force of a stick of dynamite. —53—- FIRE SAFETYWhen the weather is hot and humid, gasoline fumes will not readily disperse and may be ignited as much as a half hour after all the original products are capped and stored. Never use these fuels in any public performance. Similarly, it's a bad idea to use incorrectly marked fuel containers, even if the idea is to fool the audience. ANTIDOTES TO FUEL POISONING. There aren't any. Some believe that drinking milk, olive oil, butter, or other liquids will line the stomach or the skin on the inside of the mouth, and prevent fuel poisoning. This is not true. Some oils will greatly increase your fuel absorption. Milk may help prevent the indigestion, gas, and diarrhea that often result from fire-eating or -breathing, but it won't stop you from being poisoned. FURTHER FUEL AND SAFETY INFORMATION. See http:/siri.uvm.edu/msds/ for a database of Manufacturer Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). You should also be able to get individual MSDS free from any U.S. retailer or manufacturer on request. There is more information on safety practices in juggling with fire at the web sites of the publisher www. foreworks.com, and the North American Fire Arts Association www.nafaa.org, BEFORE LIGHTING UP Check your equipment. Bolts, cables, chains, clips, snaps, grommets, handles, and so on. Every connecting point is a potential failure point. Check your safety equipment. Make sure it is in place and ready for use by your spotter. Check your surroundings. Vegetation, trees, flammable materials and structures, electrical wires and cables and outlets, grease spots on the ground, curtains, ceiling height, and building construction. 1s your spotter paying attention? Are small children being sufficiently monitored and controlled? Never leave your fuel bottle uncapped. Always close the bottle and tighten the cap before moving away from it. Most accidents begin with spilled fuel. Don't leave your fuel or fire props within reach of the audience. After fueling your wicks, move away from your fuel bottle and thoroughly shake or spin off excess fuel into a plastic bag. Do not spin it off without the bag, as this creates a cloud of vapor that soaks your clothing, ruins your eyesight, and may give you chemical pneumonia Light your wicks and get rid of the lighter—don't put it in your pocket. Immediately after lighting up, rock the meteor ends back and forth gently for a moment. This burns off remaining excess fuel and insures that the metal parts of your meteor are not heat- stressed FIRE SAFETY 54—AFTER LIGHTING UP Never perform any trick or routine you haven’t rehearsed to perfection. A well- rehearsed routine always looks better than freestyling, and is much safer, too. If there is a fuel spill, if there is a grass fire requiring more than one good stomp to put out, if a stranger approaches your fuel supply, if anyone enters your performance space, or if you or another performer or an audience member are hurt or burned, ... stop the show and put your torches completely out (this is what you have a slam box for—dunking torches in the water bucket makes the wicks unusable for at least a day; smother them in a wet towel and you can re-light within an hour). Then fix the problem. WHEN THE FIRE IS OUT Wait several minutes before opening the slam box—fresh oxygen will restart the fire if the torches have not cooled off—and then open it cautiously. Crush any remaining embers in the wick, visible or not, with the small towel you carry for that purpose. Mop up any remaining spills and put your props, fuel, and safety equipment away, out of reach of the audience and ready for your next show. /hen talk to your fans and sign autographs. When you work with fire you assume a risk, When you perform with fire you share that risk with your audience. If you are performing professionally you will want to have performer's liabilty insurance. This is relatively inexpensive and may be required by those who hire you. If you are performing in a theater, you may also have to inform the local fire department. Some fire departments require advance approval and inspection of the site. Some don't, They will all be reassured by your water bucket and towels, extinguisher, slam box, and insurance. —55—BOOKS, VIDEOS, AND PROPS FROM FLAMING SPARROW The Meteor Book, by Rhys Thomas $16.00 Sf A complete guide to construction, manipulation, and performance. Everything you wanted to know about Chinese meteors. Every trick is described and illustrated simply and completely. If you are willing to spend the time, you can learn this ancient and relatively unknown art form. The only book of its kind. Sixty pages, illustrated, 11 x 8.5" comb bound. (Why, you're holding it right now!).1999, Monkey-Fist Meteor Y Ue $35.00 Seven feet of half-inch nylon rope with huge inch decorative knots on each end. All the flash of fire, but without the danger. The perfect answer to professional-looking, safe meteor performance. And unlike fire meteors, they look great under bright lights or in sunlight. Available in red, blue, green, white, or black. Solid color or striped with white. WICK We no longer make or sell fire toys, but we do supply wick by the foot and in 100- foot hanks and rolls, in a number of widths and thicknesses, both flat and round. Our prices match or beat all others. See our web site for details and prices. Contact Juggling: Part One, by Greg Maldonado and Owen Edson $25.00 The first twenty-one moves, presented in sequence, with an appendix of looped demos, and a new author's commentary track on the DVD. Parallels and supplements the only book on contact juggling, and shows enough new moves to keep experts busy for months. 2002. VHS-(NTSC or PAL): $20. DVD: $25. Oooh, pretty! Contact Juggling: Part Two, by Maldonado, Edson, and Remy Holwick $25.00 The next lifetime of tricks, far beyond Ernest's book, Moschen's video, or anything else you've seen. Includes complete routines, two commentary tracks, and subtitles in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English. 2004, DVD (area-free), 60 minutes TO ORDER: See the pretty pictures on our web site (www.foreworks.com) and order instantly with your own credit card. Postage paid to all points in North America; elsewhere, add $3 or 10%, whichever is greater. Not a web monkey? So write to us, saying what you want and where you want it sent, and enclose a check or money order made out to Flaming Sparrow for the total amount (plus shipping, if to foreign lands). Be sure all payment is in U.S. funds or drawn on a US bank. Box 33493 Portland OR 97292 USA (503) 653-2614 www. foreworks.comISBN 0-943292-26-3 Flaming Sparrow ?ress P.O. Box 33493, Portland OR 97292 (503) 653-2614 www.foreworks.com