Bodymove notation

This article is about topological notation systems for describing throws that go around parts of the juggler's body, first developed by Denis Paumier in 2001.
thumb|right|480 px|Body moves by Ameron Rosvall
==Denis Paumier's system==
===Notating throws with numbers===
A throw normally starts with a prop held in one of your hands in front of your body. If you just do a basic throw, the prop stays in front of you, but if you throw it so it goes around any part of your body, the prop goes behind you and then comes back in front of you. (The division between front and back is flexible, so you can make a prop go "behind" your leg by holding your leg out in front of you and throwing the prop under your leg, or by keeping your leg on the ground and actually bringing the prop behind your leg before you throw it between your legs.) Whenever a prop goes from being in front of you to being behind you or vice versa, it has to go through one of these five spaces:
*"0" is the space between your legs.
*"1" is the space below the right arm (between an arm and a leg).
*"2" is the space above the right arm (between an arm and the head).
*"3" is the space above the left arm.
*"4" is the space below the left arm.
A throw is notated as two (or four or six...) numbers that indicate which spaces the prop goes through. Throws are always notated as if the prop starts and ends in front of the body, although you might not actually do them that way in patterns where an arm is always reaching through the same space(s) every time it throws or catches.
===Notating throws with letters===
To avoid confusion when working with siteswaps, body moves can be notated using letters instead of numbers:
*"BOL" is the space between the legs (BOth Legs).
*"AL" is the space between an arm and a leg (Arm-Leg).
*"AC" is the space between an arm and the head (Arm-Cranium).
*"OP" means the prop moves over to the OPposite side of the body (left or right). If the prop hasn't yet gone through any AL or AC spaces during this throw, "OP" means it moves to the side opposite the hand making the throw. Otherwise, it means the prop goes to the side opposite whichever side the prop was on the last time it went through one of those spaces.
These can be put together to make words like "albol" and "alopac" that represent different kinds of throws. When combining this notation with siteswap, a word is written after the siteswap number representing the same throw. 423 with the 4s done as shoulder throws can be written as 4alac23.
Using letters, throws are defined independent of which hand is making the throw (or catch), so a throw now has the same notation regardless of which hand you do it with, unlike the number version of this notation.
===Examples===
(The number notations here are for throws made from the right hand. The letter notations are hand-neutral.) 
*00 or bolbol: Froggy style juggling
*03 or bolopac: Body throw or under the opposite leg
*10 or albol: Under the leg or back-to-front body throw
*12 or alac: Shoulder throw
*13 or alopac (crossing): Backcross or pass up the back
*14 or alopal (crossing): BBB, behind the back looking, behind the back pass, contortion throw, or contortion catch
*20 or acbol: Quasi-blind catch
*21 or acal (non-crossing): Penguin catch or reverse shoulder throw
*23 or acopac: Behind the neck throw
*24 or acopal (crossing): Reverse backcross 
*32 or opacopac: Behind the neck throw from the opposite side
*34 or opacal (crossing): Penguin catch or reverse shoulder throw
*41 or opalopal (crossing): Body wrap throw and catch
*42 or opalopac: Body wrap
*43 or opalac: Under the arm
*1004 or albolbolopal: Throw and catch under the leg
*1034 or albolopacal (crossing): Under the leg reverse shoulder throw
*1414 or alopalopalopal (crossing): Contortion throw and catch
*4321 or opalacopacal (crossing): Throw and catch under the arm
*102304 or albolacopacbolal: Behind the neck throw, thrown and caught under the leg
*042310 or bolopalacopacalbol: Behind the neck throw, thrown and caught under the opposite leg
==Daniel Simu's system==
In Daniel Simu's IMBO (IMproved BOdy trick notation) system, each of the spaces between body parts is notated with just one letter:
*"H" (for High or Head) is the space between the head and an arm.
*"M" (for Middle or Midriff) is the space between an arm and a leg.
*"L" (for Low or Legs) is the space between the legs.
These letters can make throws simpler to read and write compared to the original letter notation, though IMBO notation may be more complex to pronounce.
A tilde ( ~ ) after a letter means the prop goes through a space on the side of the body (left or right) that is opposite the throwing hand, and a letter without a tilde means the prop goes through a space on the same side as the throwing hand. This way, the side that the "opposite" symbol refers to is consistent throughout the notation describing a throw.
In the original bodymove notation, any given pair of numbers is ambiguous, and can actually be interpreted as six different kinds of throws, because the prop can be thrown and caught in different positions:
*Throw from the normal position in front, reach around and catch the prop in front, and carry it around the body.
*Throw in front, reach behind you and catch in back, and bring the prop back to the front.
*Throw in front, let the prop go behind you and come back in front of you while it's in the air, and catch in front.
*Bring the prop behind you, throw and catch it behind you, and bring it back to the front.
*Bring the prop behind you, throw from the back, and catch in front.
*Carry the prop around the body, throw in front, and catch it in the normal position in front.
IMBO distinguishes between these variations by putting two additional symbols in the notation for a throw: A forward slash showing when the prop is thrown, and a backslash showing when the prop is caught. Letters before the slash mean the prop is carried through those spaces while still in the hand, letters between the slash and backslash mean the prop goes through those spaces while it's in the air, and letters after the backslash mean the prop is carried through those spaces while it's in the hand again after being caught.
Examples: 
*M/\~M = BBB
*M~M/\ = Contortion throw
*/\M~M = Contortion catch
==Alex Lubker's system==
Instead of using a tilde to specify a space relative to the throwing hand, this variant of improved body trick notation uses the letter X to mean the prop crosses over between the left and right sides of the body, treating the plane between left and right like another space the prop can pass through. The X has a meaning similar to "OP" in the original letter notation system, rather than specifying a space on a certain side of the body like the tilde in IMBO does. This way, the spaces are defined in a more hand-neutral way, so the notation for something like a reverse shoulder throw doesn't change as much depending on whether it's a crossing or non-crossing throw.
A vertical bar between two letters means the limb (or head) between those two spaces is held out in front so the prop can go around it without actually going behind the juggler.
Examples:
*XM/H\ = armpit throw that comes forward on the side of the catching hand
*XM/|H\ = under the arm throw
*/XH\M = reverse shoulder throw
*/XH|\M = penguin catch
*M/L\ = back-to-front body throw
*M/|L\ = under the leg throw
*/HXH\ = normal behind the neck throw
*/H|XH\ = over the neck throw with the head bent down
Category:Notation
Category:Body moves