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The Ungodly Jose
Contributed by FerretThis is a combination of both a 'Flyaway, and 'Ball' or 'Body Rolling'
The description is from the Yahoo 'Contact Juggling' Club post #935, and #936
The video is 730KB in size.
Ferret
"Ungodly Jose" by Ferret
The Ungodly Jose.
I had been doing a trick that Williamfrantz described for years, that being a right hand toss behind the back, so the ball just pops up over your left shoulder, with enough added spin and momentum that it drops to chest height about a forearm length in front of you. Catch it in a left handed cradle and do an instant stall, and for some reason the kids seem to Love this. Was never sure why, it was a fairly easy trick, why all the fuse? I found out recently from a magician friend, he called it ‘miss direction' I think, Hey, there's Magicians on this Club Site someone help me out here!
Armed with this previous trick, A picture in my mind, as to what I perceived, and a hard headed determination. I set out to toss the ball to my shoulder and catch it there. Trust me when I say that I gave myself quite a few classic right hook blows to the chin, with the ball! Jose and I had discussed the odd, almost deformed position you present, when walking the ball from cradle to shoulder, and I wanted to avoid that as well. Here's what I came up with.
With the ball in your right hand palm, and gripped in a comfortable position, palm down. Extend your right arm straight out 90o to your side. Show the ball in your finger tips, and thumb, with your thumb towards the audience. Send your arm down quickly but smoothly to your side and behind you, do not bend your elbow as you pull your arm down. When the ball and your hand are no longer visible to your audience, using only wrist movement throw the ball up the left side of your back and with just enough force, so that it apexes at the height of your shoulder. Turn your head to the left, chin up slightly, so you can,
#1 watch the ball as it glides ( hopefully ) onto your shoulder, and #2 gently bring your chin down and trap the ball, as it rolls up against your neck. I'm going to warn you guys and gals, this is a muscle memory movement! The only way to develop muscle memory is to do it over and over and over again, until you get it right, and then do it right! over and over and over again, until it's a familiar movement. Where did this get me? In the same stupid looking position, Jose and I had spoken about! So I started experimenting with different catching arm positions, and found a nice one.
If, as you throw your right, ( tossing the ball ) arm down, you bring your left arm up, at a 100o angle, to your side ( as in slightly greater than 90o ) fingers spread and extended, and flex your shoulder, you create a ‘pocket' between your anterior, posterior, and median deltoid muscles. *note the Kelvin pictures* the man's median delt is a little better developed than mine, hence the lower elbow level, but that's the position I'm talking about. How do I get the ball to this ‘Delt Pocket'? Back to the chin trap again. Toss it up, trap it under your chin, and quickly nudge it into that pocket. Hold it steady, till your sure it's balanced, ( your speed in doing this will decrease with practice ) and remove your chin, and look back at your audience. Move slowly, and remember to FEEL the ball as it sits there. Just yesterday I started experimenting with some body isolation concerning this move, and can now hold the ball in the left shoulder pocket, and do a simple right handed windshield wiper with another ball.
What do I do with the ball after it's sat on my shoulder pocket for a couple of seconds? It's got to go somewhere. Stalls look good if done right, but you shouldn't hold them very long as your audience will quickly become bored. So you move it again, either to a movement trick or to another stall, on another part of your body.
In the PBS special, "In Motion with Michael Moschen" at the beginning of the film, Mike happens across two young lovers on the street, and parodies them with the ball. He throws the ball up to his left shoulder, with his left hand, and traps it under his chin, a tougher toss control trick in my opinion, but then again it is M.M. we're talk'in about. He nuzzles the ball for a moment, and then pushes it off his shoulder with his chin, into a "Freefall Flyaway" back into his left hand, still waiting in the same position it was after he tossed it. Well, not to be one to copy M.M's moves. I couldn't do the same thing, so I had to come up with something else. So my left arm is pointing out away from me, and I think Hey, tilt your arm and let the ball roll down the back of it and stall it again at left hand cradle. It worked! Eventually. But I discovered a few things along the way.
#1 I need to bend at the elbow, pulling it towards my chest, as the ball rolls down my upper arm, This forces me to make the ball make a hard right turn when it gets to my elbow, but it makes it easier to control the speed of the ball, and give me a smoother stop when it reaches cradle. And #2 you can create a very nice illusion, using a bit of foot work. With the ball on your left shoulder, in that pocket, and your chin not touching the ball, slowly bring you Right Hand up, and point at your left hand as if telling the ball where you want it to go. At the same time push up onto your right toes, this will tilt the balance holding the ball on your left shoulder, and cause it to roll down your arm with no jerky movement to get it started. As the ball rolls down your arm, follow through with your step ( right foot push off, step, right foot in front of left ) Your audience will see you stepping forward in a natural movement, and will completely miss the tilt movement that occurs in that step and you will create the illusion that you really did ‘Will' the ball to go from a dead stop to movement on a level surface. Some will even swear the ball rolled UP your arm to the back of your hand! Stall it on the back of your left hand. Give them a wink and a smile. And That's the "Ungodly Jose"
"Ferret"
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