IJDb ...
Resources ...
Community ...
Search ...
Why name a trick?
What it was, was...well, what was it? Was it Windmill, or Spiral, or False Shower, or Ventilator, or Perpetual Motion, or some other name? What patterns go by more names? What pattern goes by the most names? Why? The one called Windmill does have all arm and ball motions in the same general direction; and there is something of the Shower pattern done very differently; but there is nothing of a spiral (or helix) about it; and, aren't all juggling patterns perpetual? Were various people, from different languages, searching for a better name?
If more people know Cascade than any other pattern, why, when it does not resemble a stepped waterfall, hasn't there been a better name?
Even with siteswap "names", such as the now generally understood and applied 441 (is there any other pattern with more same-named variations? Mills things perhaps?), people still are almost desperately determined to attach a label to every slightest something. The notion of alliteration has been roundly rebuked with mockery at this newsgroup, yet here comes Penman's Pandemonium. Has anything that Karas has contributed been at all "insane"? Jugglers are so loathe to, and so commonly inept at, using words ("duh, I can just show you a lot easier") that the attachment to attaching words to patterns is rather oxymoronic, if not so moronic as the general language impairment.
Does a name ever help people learn, or remember, a pattern? Shower looked to me just like a water drinking "fountain", which made that name for another pattern rather confusing, and still looks nothing like water from a washing shower. The name Rainbow inspired me to learn it; but after doing it, and trying feverishly to make it look like a rainbow (to selecting ball colors to make sure it was doing the best I could manage), it remains a resounding disappointment. It is an attractive pattern in the one video I saw. But it is really just Double Tennis; and understanding that, is what made it possible for me to do it. Hey everybody, how about using that name instead?
Although I agree that many of the names attributed to patterns are not descriptive of their appearance at all (I'm still wondering where the name Fountain came from - I've been told that Cascade refers to the peaks of cascading mountain ranges), I have found that using the different names has allowed me to remember more tricks than I otherwise would have been able to categorize in my limited mind. My website (soon in database format) lists tricks by their names (and alternate names) and allows jugglers to find videos of certain tricks with common names and to easily find them again. If we simply labeled the tricks "Trick #1" or "That variation of that one thing" like I've seen on some websites, we would be insanely inept at communicating one with another. Additionally, having names has allowed me to teach tricks to other performers by referring to an unnamed trick as a variation of another trick. For example, while demonstrating the trick, I can say "this trick is a variation of the Boston Mess - the only difference is the Reachover catch becomes a Reverse Chop on each side" and the juggler I'm teaching can then learn the trick much quicker - and he now has a way to remember the trick.
The same problem exists in other venues. For instance, why are KKK 22 and 888 55 both referred to as a Full House in Poker? Why is a certain footbag trick called a Jester Kick when jesters probably did no such thing on a regular basis? Why do we "dribble" a basketball? Why are patterns given names in Chess when no one but an avid Chess player would never even recognize the pattern as familiar? The whole point is so that we can communicate one with another by establishing a common paradigmatic idea the same we do when I refer to an object as a table or chair when speaking to you instead of referring to une table et une chaise (French for the same thing). Your question therefore is founded upon the very essence of our purpose for establishing language in the first place - grammatical or "radical" subjectivity a la Soren Kierkegaard. Once a trick has a name, we can all "tag" a pattern with a name in our memories and then refer to the tag when teaching other jugglers so that we can communicate more effectively.
That however leaves the second element of your question unaddressed. If we are going to name a trick, why not name it something that describes the pattern? Rubensteins Revenge doesn't look angry to me. However, it is a memorable tag and I've never forgotten the name since the first time that I saw it performed in the entrance of a corner juggling store in Provo, Utah. We could call that trick "Right hand Orbit followed by a right hand Reverse Chop - repeat both sides and twist your wrists to make it more flashy" but somehow, that just would be rather inconvenient as a "tag" - and maybe it would make Rick feel badly! Similarly, Mills Mess doesn't look messy - it looks like a sideways figure 8 if you perform it well. But - if we called it "Sideways Figure 8", what would we call Mills Mess 441 or Mills Mess 561 when they don't look like a Sideways Figure 8? They are unmistakably variations of that trick to any juggler who has learned them but would we call them Sideways Figure 8 Variation on the Siteswap 441? That's too messy.
Lastly, perhaps we could - as an international juggling community - make more effort to standardize how we name tricks to be more descriptive of their appearance but my impression is that if we did that, it would not fit well with all of the various personalities that are so integral to juggling. Let's rejoice in our diversity and rejoice that Penman's Pandemonium is now available in our juggling repertoire and not dampen our appreciation of this very creative upcoming juggler by focusing on the choice of the name if it doesn't fit our personality. Myself, I don't know what Penman's Pandemonium is but now, since he gave it a name, I'll bet I can find it really quickly on the web and then I'll have another juggling trick to add to my repertoire - and I'll have a tag to remember it with that I will likely never forget!
Until then,
Keep Throwing Up!!!
Drew Briney
http://jugglingtricksunlimited.com