Juggling is the art of throwing things in the air and catching them again so that there is always at least one thing in the air. This description might sound a bit too physical for this amazing mixture of sports and arts but it is still used by many jugglers and it really sums up what juggling is about, physically. Of course, in reality it is more about elegance, talent, fascination and fun. It is something nearly everyone has seen in a circus, on TV or as part of street art shows. People juggle balls, clubs, rings, foulards, diavolos, lunasticks, burning things, row eggs and many more things.

Watching a good juggler can be very fascinating but juggling isn’t an art which is only practiced by a few circus and street artists. More and more normal young people start to learn juggling and train it like any other sports. There is an increasing number of juggling associations which are organized like many other sports clubs. In many cities there are special stores for juggling equipment and there are many national and international juggling conventions and meetings in several European countries.

Juggling is a very special kind of sports because there are no real rules. It just has to look good. There is no limit for the juggler’s fantasy, for the level of difficulty of the tricks, of the items people juggle with or with the number of items. People juggle alone or in groups of two and even more persons and juggling is not as difficult as it looks like. In fact some people mean that everybody can learn to juggle three balls in one hour but I think it’s better to say in one day as it is much easier to learn juggling with a teacher than without one.

You want to try it? Here are some tips for beginners:

Let’s start with two balls. This is just a pre exercise. Hold one ball in every hand. Now throw the ball you hold in your right hand diagonal left. When it starts falling down again, throw the ball you hold in your left hand diagonal right. Catch the first ball with your left hand and the second ball with your left hand. Now repeat the exercise beginning with your left hand and so on.


If you are able to do this a few times without dropping a ball, you are ready to learn juggling three balls. This is the basis of juggling. Juggling three balls in the now shown way is called the cascade. If you are able to do this you can start to learn existing or even create new tricks.

You have now three balls. Hold two of them in your right hand and one of them in your left hand. Start by throwing the first of the two balls from your right hand diagonal left. When it starts falling down, throw the ball you now hold in your left hand. Catch the first ball with your left hand and watch the second ball which is now in the air. When the second ball starts falling down, throw the third ball (which has been remaining in your right hand until now) diagonal left and catch the second ball with your right hand. When the third ball begins falling down, throw the first ball again and so on. There must always be one ball in the air.


If you can juggle three balls, you ready to learn a lot of tricks or even create new ones. There are a lot of websites and also books or little movies which inform about juggling tricks, equipment and juggler meetings. Try for example: http://jugglewiki.org

But juggling is not only a sport which looks good and makes you move your Body. It also helps you to improve your power of concentration, your reaction rate, your physical coordination, your endurance, your spatial sense and your feeling for rhythm as juggling is something rhythmic. By juggling you train many of your muscles and you get more agile. Because of its rhythm it can be like a meditation and for this reason it can help you to relieve stress. Juggling is a very good and simple way to get back your concentration when you have to learn a lot for school or university and you feel tired or need a break because it is hard for you to memorize new things because you have already memorized a lot today. So, just make a learning break and do some juggling. After fifteen minutes you will feel fresh again and be able to learn much easier than before your break.

So have a try if you like! I wish you a lot of fun and good luck with juggling!