Ring juggling

thumb|360px|right|Ring juggling tutorialthumb|360px|right|Ring juggling can be painful if you don't use the right techniques
Rings are flat, circular objects,http://www.juggling.org/records/rules.html usually big enough to easily be placed around a juggler's neck. Their shape makes it possible to do tricks with them that can't be done with balls and clubs, such as pull downs and pancakes. Most jugglers consider balls to be easier to juggle than rings, but for some people rings are easier for numbers juggling, because they're lighter and very thin, so they collide less, and they are the easiest prop to collect.
The earliest known record of juggling with flat rings is from the instructional book The Art of Modern Juggling, written in 1904 or earlier.http://ezine.juggle.org/2015/09/01/unanswered-juggling-history-questions-part-1/ Previously, jugglers had used other circular objects such as plates and hoops.
The highest number of rings that have been qualified (at least twice as many catches as objects) is 10, and the highest number of rings that have been flashed (same number of throws and catches as objects) is 13.http://www.juggling.org/records/records.html
==3 rings==
thumb|360px|left|3 ring tricks by Takaaki MatsumuraA 3 ring cascade is a little more difficult than a 3 ball cascade, because rings are much bigger than balls, so they have to be thrown higher, and the technique for throwing rings is different from the technique for throwing balls. The 3 ring endurance world record is 3 hours, 10 minutes, and 45 seconds by Max Kuschmierz.(video)
==4 rings==
thumb|360px|left|4 ring double blind kick by Jacob Weiss 4 rings are most commonly juggled in a fountain pattern (2 rings in each hand). The wimpy pattern is impractical for rings and clubs because of their size, though the reverse wimpy pattern with the rings turned sideways is less collision-prone. The world record for 4 rings is 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 5 seconds by Max Kuschmierz.(video)
==5 rings==
thumb|left|360px|5 ring competition routine by Doug SayersThe basic pattern for 5 ring juggling is a higher (and/or faster) version of the 3 ring cascade. 5 is the minimum number of rings used in the intermediate and advanced WJF competitions.https://www.thewjf.com/ioc/https://www.thewjf.com/aoc/ The overall championship includes a 5 ring freestyle (best trick) competition, and until 2015 it also included a 5 ring 360s competition (most 5 up 360s in 1 minute). The world record for 5 rings is 58 minutes and 22 seconds by Caio Stevanovich.(video) Thomas Dietz claims to have juggled 5 rings for 1 hour.(claim at 1:15:00)
==6 rings==
thumb|360px|left|6 ring breakdown by Jason GarfieldSeverus Schaffer, who was performing with 6 plates in 1903, is the first person known to have juggled 6 ring-like objects.https://www.juggle.org/numbers-juggling-with-plates-and-discs/ The WJF overall championship includes a 6 ring freestyle competition (first held in 2006). In 2008, the overall championship also included a 6 ring 1 minute 360s competition with only 360s in asynch patterns allowed (winner: Thomas Dietz).http://www.thewjfstore.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=62_75&product_id=84 The world record for 6 rings is 6 minutes and 55 seconds by Eivind Dragsjø.(video)
==7 rings==
thumb|360px|left|7 ring routine by Sergei IgnatovFrank Le Dent, who was performing with 7 plates in 1908, is the first person known to have juggled 7 ring-like objects. Until 1984, the IJA Numbers Championships usually had no more than two divisions - one for 7 objects (competitors could use either 7 balls or 7 rings in the same division) and one for 5 clubs. Since 1984, the IJA has had competitions with a separate division for each prop, where competitors are scored higher for juggling higher numbers.http://www.juggle.org/ija/championships/ The WJF overall championship includes a 7 rings freestyle competition, and until 2015 it also included 7 ring isolated endurance (an endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns).http://www.thewjf.com/allevents.php The world record for 7 ring juggling is 15 minutes and 6 seconds by Anthony Gatto.http://www.juggling.org/records/records.html(video)
==8 rings==
thumb|left|360 px|8 ring 8 up 360s by Anthony GattoFrank Le Dent, who was performing with 8 plates in 1908, is the first person known to have juggled 8 ring-like objects. 8 is the minimum number of rings used in the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF.http://www.juggle.org/ija/championships/files/2015/04/NumbersRules2015.pdf The 8 ring juggling world record is 1 minute and 17 seconds by Anthony Gatto.(video) The following people have juggled 8 rings for at least 100 catches on video:
*Anthony Gatto - over 300 catches(video)
*Willy Colombaioni - 147 catches(video)
*Pavel Evsukevich - 127 catches(video)
*Eivind Dragsjø - 122 catches(video)
*Jonah Botvinick-Greenhouse - 117 catches(video)
*Junming Lin - 104 catches(video)
*Patrik Elmnert - 104 catches(video)
*Aramis Gonzalez - 102 catches(video)
*Jason Garfield - 100 catches(video)
Other jugglers reported to have done at least 100 catches of 8 rings:
*Sergei Ignatov - 140 catches(claim)
*Emil Dahl - 120 catches(claim)
*Scott Sorensen - 110 catches(claim)
*Alexander Kiss - 100 catches(claim)
Tricks that have been done with 8 rings include:
*Transition from asynch fountain (qualified) to synch fountain (qualified) and back to asynch (qualified)(video)
*Fountain with ring balance - qualified(video)
*Fountain with head bounce - qualified(video)
*Duplexes - qualified(video)
*97 (qualified) to one-handed pull down(video)
*Breakdown to a qualify(video)
*Full reverse - qualified(video)
*Overhead throws - flashed(video)
*6 up 360 to a qualify(video)
*8 up 360 to a qualify(video)
==9 rings==
thumb|360px|left|9 ring 9 up 360 to a collect by Samuel PauwelsFrank Le Dent, who was performing with 9 plates in 1908, is the first person known to have juggled 9 ring-like objects. The first person to win the IJA's numbers endurance competition by juggling 9 rings was Albert Lucas, in 1984. The following people have qualified 9 rings on video:
* Anthony Gatto holds the 9 ring world record with 235 catches,(video) and claims to have done 9 rings for 275 catches.
* Daniel Lysenko - 79 catches(video)
* Aramis Gonzalez - 49 catches(video)
* Junming Lin - 47 catches(video)
* David Yemishyan - 44 catches(video)
* Sergei Ignatov - 40 catches;(video) 298 catches(claim)
* Vitaly Miranov - 36 catches(video)
* Patrik Elmnert - 32 catches(video)
* Eivind Dragsjø - 32 catches(video)
* Dominik Harant - 30 catches(video)
* Pavel Evsukevich - 29 catches(video)
* Scott Sorensen - 29 catches(video)
* Laido Dittmar - 29 catches(video)
* Jason Garfield - 28 catches(video)
* Dana Tison - 25 catches(video)
* Samuel Pauwels - 23 catches(video)
*Spencer Androli - 23 catches(video)
* Alexey Isamukhamedov - 21 catches(video)
* Cody Harrington - 21 catches(video)
*Rudolf Levitskiy - 21 catches(video)
* Danny Hodge - 20 catches(video)
* Christian Hauschild - 19 catches(video)
* Delaney Bayles - 19 catches(video)
*Willy Colombaioni - 19 catches(video)
* Jian Wen Qian - 18 catches(video)
* Daniel Eaker - 18 catches(video)
* Earl Shatford - 18 catches(video)
* Nikolai Gerasimov - 18 catches(video)
* Sean Blue - 18 catches(video)
* Jack Denger - 18 catches(video)
* Owen Dobbyn - 18 catches(video)
Tricks that have been done with 9 rings include:
*Super pancake pull down from a qualify(video)
*Pull down with head bounce - not from a qualify(video)
*Blind kick start - not to a qualify(video)
*Pull off neck from 8 rings to 9 rings - qualified(video)
*Cascade with ring balance - not qualified(video)
*Duplexes - not qualified(video)
*Halfshower - not qualified(video)
*Full reverse - flashed(video)
*(ax,8)* - flashed(video)
*9 up 360 to a collect(video)
==10 rings==
thumb|left|360px|10 ring qualify by Albert LucasFrancis Brunn is generally considered the first person to have flashed 10 rings, though there is one earlier report of another German juggler, Freddy Zay, having juggled 10 rings on a unicycle.http://ezine.juggle.org/2014/12/03/juggling-firsts-part-three-rings-hoops-and-miscellaneous/https://dev.juggle.org/history/archives/jugmags/34-2/34-2,p14.htmhttp://www.juggling.org/help/numbers/records/rings-10.htmlhttps://www.juggle.org/the-greatest-juggling-tricks-of-all-time-part-1/ 10 is the highest number of rings that have been qualified in any of the numbers endurance competitions at the IJAhttp://www.juggle.org/ija/championships/numbers-records/ and the WJF. The following jugglers have qualified 10 rings on video:
*Anthony Gatto currently holds the 10 ring world record with 47 catches, and claims to have done 68 catches.
*Daniel Lysenko - 38 catches(video)
*Albert Lucas juggled 10 rings for 20 catches in the IJA Numbers Championships in 1996 (the first 10 ring qualify on video),http://wayback.archive.org/web/19970613223149/http://www.juggling.org/records/records.html and again in 2002. He later did 26 catches on video.https://web.archive.org/web/20010815193101/http://www.juggling.org/records/records.html
*Willy Colombaioni - 26 catches(video)
*Aramis Gonzalez - 24 catches(video)
*Junming Lin - 20 catches;(video) 28 catches(video no longer available)
*Emil Dahl - 20 catches(video)
*Eivind Dragsjø - 20 catches(video)
*David Larible Jr. - 20 catches(video)
Other jugglers reported to have qualified 10 rings:
*Francis Brunn (claim)
*David Lee (claim)
*Sergei Ignatov (claim)
*Scott Sorensen (claim)
*Jason Garfield (claim)
*Sam Hartford (claim)
Tricks that have been done with 10 rings:
*A pull down from a qualifying run by Anthony Gatto(video)
*13 catches while isolated by Willy Colombaioni(video)
*12 catches on a rola bola by Aramis Gonzalez(video)
*A flash with a blind kick by Daniel Lysenko(video) and Caio Stevanovich(video)
*A flash with a ring balance by Pavel Evsukevich,(video) Laido Dittmar(video) and Willy Colombaioni(video)
*A flash with a club balance by Anthony Gatto,(video) Pavel Evsukevich,(video) Willy Colombaioni,(video) and Laido Dittmar(video)
*A flash with a pole balance by Anthony Gatto,(video) Willy Colombaioni,(video) and Rudolf Levitskiy(video)
*A flash of a full reverse with a pole balance by Nikolai Gerasimov(video)
*14 catches with a head bounce by Anthony Gatto(video)
*A duplex flash by isaacTR in 2010,(video) Jean-Philippe Deltell in 2015,(video) and Rudolf Levitskiy in 2020(video)
*Triplexes by Robert LeBoeuf (video)
*4-plexes by Ameron Rosvall(video)
*A flash with a 10 up 360 by Anthony Gatto(video)
==11 rings==
thumb|left|360 px|11 ring flash with a pull down by Rudolf LevitskiyAlbert Petrovski was the first person to flash 11 rings, starting with the last ring held in his mouth.http://dev.juggle.org/history/archives/jugmags/25-11/25-11,p3.htm He started performing with 11 in 1963. No one has successfully juggled 11 rings in the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF, which require a qualifying run, or even qualified 11 rings on video in practice. The following jugglers have all flashed 11 rings on video:
*Anthony Gatto was the first person to flash 11 rings on video, in 1989, using holsters to hold the last two rings. He has also flashed 11 without holsters (starting with the last ring held between his legs).(video) He did 11 rings for 15 catches in 2000,http://wayback.archive.org/web/20000818120347/http://www.juggling.org/records/records.html(video) and 17 catches in 2006. He has performed with 11 rings onstage,(video at 4:30) and claims to have qualified 11 in practice.
*Sergei Ignatov regularly performed with 11 rings onstage. He officially tied for the world record (a flash) in 1991, and in a later video he can be seen doing 12 catches onstage. He claims to have done 23 catches in practice.
*Nikolai Gerasimov - onstage without holsters, all 11 launched from his hands(video)
*Willy Colombaioni - 15 catches(video)
*Emiliano Fusco(video)
*Lajos Nereus - 12 catches outdoors without holsters(video)
*Earl Shatford has flashed 11 rings on video and claims to have done 20 catches.
*Rudolf Levitskiy - onstage without holsters(video)
*Alberto Sforzi - video only shows the catches, not the throws
*Laido Dittmar - without holsters(video)
*Pavel Evsukevich - 13 catches(video)
*Vitaly Mironov - without holsters, all launched from his hands(video)
*Jorge Perezoff(video)
*Daniel Lysenko holds the current 11 ring world record: 21 catches.(video) He has also flashed 11 rings onstage.(video)
*Eivind Dragsjø - without holsters(video)
*David Yemishyan(video)
*Lucas Rojas(video)
*Aramis Gonzalez - 17 catches(video)
*David Larible Jr.(video)
*Dominik Harant(video)
Other jugglers reported to have flashed 11 rings:
* Evgeni Bilyauer (claim)
*Gregory Popovich (claim)
*Emil Dahl (claim)
Tricks that have been done with 11 rings:
* 4-plexes for over 100 catches by Ameron Rosvall(video)
* Isolated flash by Willy Colombaioni(video)
* Blind kick by Daniel Lysenko(video)
* Pull down by Anthony Gatto,(video) Rudolf Levitskiy,(video) and Daniel Lysenko(video)
* Pole balance by Anthony Gatto(video)
* Ring balance by Pavel Evsukevich(video)
* Head bounce by Anthony Gatto(video)
* Flash with a 2 up 360 by Daniel Lysenko(video)
==12 rings==
thumb|left|360px|12 ring flash by Anthony Gatto12 is the highest number of rings that have been performed onstage. The earliest account of juggling with 12 circular objects is from the Symposium by Xenophon, which describes a girl juggling 12 hoops in ancient Greece. The following jugglers have flashed 12 rings on video:
* Anthony Gatto was the first person JISCON verified as having flashed 12 rings, in 1993. He claims to have done 16 catches of 12 rings.https://web.archive.org/web/20030220114516fw_/http://www.anthonygatto.com/records1.htm
* Albert Lucas is recorded as having flashed 12 several years before that,http://www.juggling.org/help/numbers/records/rings-12.html and he officially tied for the record in 1996. He is rumored to have qualified 12 rings.https://web.archive.org/web/20050119061550/http://www.bogleg.com/records/members.php?juggler=91
* Sam Hartford(video)
* Lajos Nereus(video)
* Junming Lin(video)
* Pavel Evsukevich(video)
* Rudolf Levitskiy has flashed 12 rings in a non-multiplex pattern(video) and in a multiplex pattern.(video)
* Willy Colombaioni broke the world record in 2015 with 13 catches.(video) He broke the record again in 2016 with 14 catches,(video) and in 2018 he set the current 12 ring world record with 16 catches.(video) He has also flashed 12 rings isolated on a chair,(video) and onstage.(video)
* Daniel Lysenko(video)
* Aramis Gonzalez(video)
* Eivind Dragsjo(video)
Jian Wen Qian(claim) and Scott Sorensen(claim) both claim to have flashed 12 rings, but don't have video evidence. Jean-Philippe Deltell has flashed 12 rings in a multiplex pattern.(video)
==13 rings==
thumb|left|360px|13 ring flash by Albert LucasAlbert Lucas was the first person to flash 13 rings. He succeeded on his tenth try on his first day attempting 13. He submitted the video to JISCON in 2002, and he also showed it to jugglers at the IJA festival that year,https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.juggling/MkUy-vnrioI/F2a84ec1SFwJ but the video wasn't made available to the general public until more than two decades later. Albert used a synch 14 ring pattern for 13 rings: (e,e)(e,e)(e,e)(e,e)(e,e)(e,e)(e,0), starting with 8 rings in his hands and 5 in holsters.https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.juggling/MkUy-vnrioI/C1aSuj0yKvIJ
Willy Colombaioni claims to have flashed 13 rings in the same pattern, catching all of them before falling down on the floor. He has posted a video, but it doesn't show the whole attempt continuously.
In 2024, Danil Lysenko was the second person to flash 13 rings on video. He was the first to publicly release a video of it, and the first to use the cascade pattern for 13. He started with 9 rings in his hands and 4 in holsters. About a month after that, Albert Lucas allowed his own 13 ring flash video from 2002 to be published on the internet for the first time.https://www.juggle.org/the-first-public-video-of-albert-lucas-historic-13-ring-flash/
== 14 rings ==
Albert Lucas has claimed to have flashed 14 rings on video, but he didn't want to share the video because it didn't show the whole pattern.https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.juggling/MkUy-vnrioI/bmKN3cTtXkYJ In 2013, Albert showed a video of a 14 ring flash (with an edit in the middle switching to a different camera angle) to jugglers at the Japan Juggling Festival.https://www.facebook.com/groups/JugglingHome/permalink/1520949798129631/?comment_id=1521196401438304&offset=0&total_comments=62
Ameron Rosvall can run a 5-plex pattern with 14 rings,(video) and Rudolf Levitskiy has flashed a 14 in a duplex pattern.(video)
==See also==
*Ring juggling category on Juggle Wiki
*Ring juggling world records
*Hoops
*Plates
*Ball juggling
*Club juggling
==References==
Category:Props
Category:Ring juggling