Extending Juggling Blocks with Jim's Passes

 

Extending Juggling Blocks Template Syntax

Up till now I've only used symmetrical passes in the templates for my Juggling Blocks system or considered the case where all passes were Jim's with one side Mild and the other side Mad. I'm now extending the syntax of the templates to include mixing Jim's passes with straight passes and crosses. Note that when you mix passes this way and want to keep things stable (i.e., adding and removing people doesn't change the pattern), you need an even number of Jim's passes in a row in the template. That's because after one Jim's pass the sides are mirrored and you can't have a straight pass or a cross without a collision or hand-across until the mirror is resolved with another Jim's pass. This guideline doesn't apply to the situation where one complete side is Mad and the other side is Mild. In that case you don't keep things stable, adding and removing people changes the pattern, and it may be necessary to do hand-acrosses.

Upper case is straight passes, lower case is diagonal passes (crosses), upper case italic is Jim's Mild (Bottom throws straight passes and Top throws crosses), lower case italic is Jim's Mad (Bottom throws crosses and Top throws straight passes).

Pass - self throw is self

cross - self throw is flip

Mild - self throw is flip for odd, self for even

mad - self throw is self for odd, flip for even

(Note last two are Bottom juggler. Top juggler is reversed.)

For pronunciation, I add -y to the end for crosses, -o (o as in toe) for Jim's Mild, and -oo (oo as in shoe) for Jim's Mad.

Easy Dozenits as RMLM

I wanted to apply Easy Dozenits to RMLM. The template for Bottom jugglers is designated. The template for Top jugglers is derived from that.

As a reminder, Easy Dozenits is a combination of The Usual Suspects for four passes (symmetrical pass cross pass cross), Jim's Mild for four passes, and Jim's Mad for four passes. Each round of four starts back on the right so each can be practiced separately and combined in other ways. The template is:

RmLm RMLM rmlm

These Juggling Blocks may help in visualizing the different jugglers:

6-pack (III):

⬜⬛⬛⬛⬜

⬜⬛⬛⬛⬜

IJ:

⬜⬛⬜⬛⬜

⬜⬛⬛⬛⬜

V:

⬜⬛⬜⬛⬜

⬜⬜⬛⬜⬜

RmLm (The Usual Suspects)

I - self cross self cross

A - pass flip self flip

B - self flip pass flip

J - pass cross self cross

L - self cross pass cross

V - pass flip pass flip

T - pass cross pass cross

RMLM (Jim's Mild, Bottom is Mild)

Mild I - flip pass flip pass

Mild A - poss self flip self

Mild B - flip self poss self

Mild J - poss pass flip pass

Mild L - flip pass poss pass

Mild V - poss self poss self

Mild T - poss pass poss pass

Mad I - self cross self cross

Mad A - crass flip self flip

Mad B - self flip crass flip

Mad J - crass cross self cross

Mad L - self cross crass cross

Mad V - crass flip crass flip

Mad T - crass cross crass cross

rmlm (Jim's Mad, Bottom is Mad)

Same as RMLM, switching roles.

Further Extending Juggling Blocks Template Syntax

Note that mixing straight passes, crosses, and Jim's passes in Juggling Blocks templates yields natural passes. It may never be useful but to describe all the possible exchanges, instead of using upper/lower case and italics, the number of the exchange in hexadecimal can follow the letter of the direction. For example, a RMLM template for The Unusual Suspects btbt would be:

RdMeLfM0

Bottom I - flip crass slip scrass

Bottom A - scrasso self slip zelf

Bottom B - flip self crasso zelf

Bottom J - scrasso crass slip scrass

Bottom L - flip crass crasso scrass

Bottom V - scrasso self crasso zelf

Bottom T - scrasso crass crasso scrass

Top I - slip posso flip sposso

Top A - sposs zelf flip self

Top B - slip zelf poss self

Top J - sposs posso flip sposso

Top L - slip posso poss self

Top V - sposs zelf poss self

Top T - sposs posso poss sposso