A new infomercial has popped up, you can check it out on youtube by just typing in “fushigi’ and “ball”. I refuse to try and post the video here. What fushigi actually is:
A $20 three inch acrylic in a shiny box.
It is hard to put to words how I feel about fushigi. Honestly the guys over at contactjuggling.org have pretty much summed up how I’ve felt since seeing the video. You can follow the thread over at:
I am disappointed that this is happening to the art form that sparked my passion and career in object manipulation. I’m upset fo the most part at two things: first is the rebranding of contact juggling as “fushigi” and second the crushing blow to the spirit of cjing. There has also been some talk about the jugglers that where in the commercial; whether or not they were sell outs. I ain’t going to touch that one.
Now the whole rebranding thing really pisses me off. If it had been a company named “Fushigi” presenting an “acrylic ball” (putting this in the smallest type face possible) that was “perfect for a new craze hitting the world by storm, CJing! Look at the magical amazingness that you can do with the Fushigi ball.” But it wasn’t. In fact they named the ball itself fushigi and went so far as to try to give it the tag line The Magic Gravity Ball. To be far according to the voice of Fushigi over at the forums they are trying to move away from the magic gravity ball thing, but it’s still plastered every where on thei site. Any way the rebranding only has as much power as Fushigi has popularity. At present the likelihood of a child coming up to me and squealing “Mommy! Mommy! He’s Fushigi’ing! I seed that on T.V.” are slim to not. So I’ll reserve myself on this till the future.
But the very spirit of contact juggling has been attacked by Fushigi. There has always been a fine line when using acrylics. From my understanding Micheal Moschen created the routine “light” to honored the passing of a friend. The art form of contact juggling was uniquely created to give a physical representation of life. Till now I had always seen some underlying respect for cjing shared by every single juggler I have met. Fushigi breaks this bond I felt we all had. It isn’t about the commercialization of acrylics; every juggling site and store sells acrylics now. It is about respect and honor which Fushigi is completely lacking. They have made an effort by going on to the forums and speaking with the community, but it looks hollow to me. Their websites even warns you to beware of imitators; like all other acrylic balls are knock-offs of Fushigi.
I don’t feel like I can ever use acrylics again and I am currently trying to get rid of mine. I’m not going to stop contact juggling; I can’t! I love juggling, it’s become my life. But I can’t pick up an acrylic. Fushigi has sucked the dignity out of acrylic contact juggling in hopes to siphon money off of uninformed people to create a new fad. The art has become a damned SHAM-WOW or a bloody Showtime Rotisserie, “Just Set It and Forget It!”. Fushigi “Magic Gravity Ball!” I for one am going over to firetoys and getting their cj stage ball.
Kudos to the playpoi crew for their efforts. This is certainly the most systematic approach to learning the poi if the trailer is anything to judge by. Other than being a very good visual tutorial, there’s plenty of personal tidbits and tips too from the pros.
Unicyclists in Southeast Asia now have a selection of Qu-Ax unicycles to choose from. Team-Uni is the first unicycle shop in the region and ships to most countries from Singapore.
Juggling props will be available too in the near future but if you’ve something specific in mind, do drop an email to try your luck – you might be able to get a good quotation for that.
Thought I’d draw your attention to a sale item at Neon Husky. The red and yellow K8 Prophecy clubs are on sale now at US$150 for a set of THREE with a charger thrown in. Instant buy for me if shipping to my part of the world didn’t cost about as much as that.
Press Start is a series intended for the juggler looking to find the best value for their new purchase. What should you look out for? What’s value for money? What is best in the long term? We tell you. If you have suggestions on props you would like reviewed please drop an email here.
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For this very first edition I will cover what I know best – Poi.
If you are just beginning on poi, a pair of tube socks with a ball in each (I prefer lacrosse balls) works best as rough-and-tumble practice sets. Those with a bit of cash in their pockets, read on.
Now there are a lot of options out there for poi, and every website will tell you it has the best quality props. However, I have been impressed particularly by Home of Poi. They have a wonderful selection of Glow and Fire equipment, as well as hardware to assemble your own. They offer discounts for repeat customers, and they have a very short delivery time relative to location (for instance, 2 weeks from Australia to U.S.).
Plenty of other sites sell cheaper products but I have found that with props that you plan on performing with, it is better to spend some money on quality equipment that will last rather than having to replace cheap equipment that breaks constantly.
Glowing With Pride
I have found that Flowlights with Crystal cases are the BEST glow poi hands down. The lights are very bright and look great, and the cases amplify this somewhat as well as giving a nice weight perfect for spinning. Here’s a video review by Nick from PlayPoi if you’re interested to see how they work -
Fire! Fire! Fire!
Monkey fist hyper-super-power-dynamo wicks!
For fire poi, you’ll do well with a set of cathedral or monkey fist wicks with twisted oval steel link chain and double loop handles. The set I bought comes with everything including quick links and swivels. The ball chain may be a lot easier to use but it breaks in time. The oval steel link chain I suggested is much more durable especially when you will be using them a lot. Get the longer set of chain because you’ll be able to shorten them to a comfortable length when you get them.
Be square and get cathedral wicks.
That concludes this first post. Have something better to suggest? Drop us some feedback in the comments below!
BONUS!
Enter the referral code StreetJuggling and recieve a 15% discount on your entire order at Home of Poi!
The Canadian Diabolo forums alert us to a new upcoming diabolo by Henry’s. It’s supposedly due for release in April and is being compared to the Circus and the Finesse.
There’s not much information out as yet but we’ll be sure to update as it comes. The colors look pretty though and the green one looks almost see through like some of the Sundia diabolos.
For those new to slacklining, this is a good beginning kit to start off with.
Slackline kits usually come in two varieties – those that make use of carabiners and knots and those that make use of a ratchet. This kit by BugsBalance belongs to the latter category. (Full review after the jump )Read the rest of this entry »
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Glowy Balls
There’s honestly nothing more Christmassy and festive than light-up props. They’re awesome for playing around with in the dark after a night of star-gazing and toasting. These are not on sale but are the cheapest glow juggling balls we can find at US$25 for a set of three. They’re pretty!
Thought I’d draw your attention to a sale item at Neon Husky. The red and yellow K8 Prophecy clubs are on sale now at US$150 for a set of THREE with a charger thrown in. Instant buy for me if shipping to my part of the world didn’t cost about as much as that.
