Hi i have been off penguin for many months i have benn paying more attention to juggling lately than magic but i will prob get back into it. Anyway, anybody hear of this thing called fushigi? its a contact juggling ball but i think its different! anyone know ? post if you do!! thanks

Anyone?

It's just contact juggling with a focus on a certain set of isolations. I already use pretty much all the moves in my routine as it is. I think someone just slapped a snazzy marketing term on it and bought an infomercial.

"let's sell them contact juggling"
"ok...contact juggling isn't a marketable name though"
"just give it an Asian sounding name. Americans love that kind of stuff"

As I think about it (which I was honestly trying to avoid doing) the first time someone comes up to me and says "hey fushigi!", I'm probably going to cry a bit inside.

I truly hope the response in the test market they're showing those commercials in doesn't justify showing them nationwide.

Fushigi is the brand of ball, but it seems Amazing Kenny is trying to reinvent the art by giving it a new name (Though he says otherwise). The commercial makes it look like any other fad, sadly. Just to edjucate those who are buying into Fushigi, the artform is called contact juggling. If you are interested in the ball, get one. I'm not sure how reasonably they are priced, but I think CJ looks ALOT better with a clear acrylic ball. Fushigi also offers to teach you the art form, for a fee. The truth is you can easily learn to CJ by searching for tutorials on YouTube, but learning takes effort and time (I STILL can't do arm rolls very well). There's even a free website community, which I won't advertise, that can help you learn and connect with professionals from all over the world for free.

So your choices seem simple. If you like the ball and it's priced fair, go for it. If you want to pay to learn how to use it, go for it. If you want to learn for free, search the web (It's out there).

It's an attempt to market a certain brand of ball. ($20 each) It has a hollow metal core surrounded by acrylic. The site makes them look pretty, and if I was in the market to buy a CJ ball, I'd consider it.

Don't buy the rest of the hype though. It's contact juggling like anything else and requires just as much practice. The ball doesn't improve your abilities one bit.

Get a contact juggling acrylic ball. There is really no reason that you should get a Fushigi. The only thing they do better is advertise. The Fushigi is less durable, can still start fires (One thing they say is that crystal acrylic balls can start fires and this is why you should get Fushigi. Fushigi is no worse at setting your house up in flames), and is no better than a normal crystal acrylic ball from Penguin. I have nothing against the folks at Fushigi, but avoid this failshigi, as contact juggling legend Michael Moschen calls it, at all costs.

I actually just picked up Fushigi. I've been wanting to learn contact juggling for a while but it's a bit costly. Fushigi is a great intro as you get a ball and dvd teaching plenty of intro moves for $20. Once you've mastered what's taught on the dvd, you can decide if you want to move into more advanced dvds and more expensive contact juggling balls.
If you're just learning, you will drop the ball many many many times (as I'm learning). There's no reason you should be starting with anything to expensive.

Sit or kneel and practice over the sofa.

Fushigi is NOT a good starting ball and it's not that much cheaper than a regular acrylic ball. Just do some looking on the web and you can find something cheaper. Yes, if you are starting out you will drop the ball. In fact, if you aren't dropping the ball you aren't learning. But just because you will drop the ball doesn't mean you should buy a crappy ball.

The reason you want a good ball is balance. You want that ball to be centered to make your manuevers more accurate.

-ArchAngel_G

The correct way to begin is to watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX7xruR12YA

Get one (maybe two!) of these:
http://www.dube.com/balls/stage-juggling-balls.php

Then go here:
http://www.contactjuggling.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

The acrylic ball is performance only.
-...not ONLY... but you don't want to scratch your Acrylics during practice. Get it solid on the stage balls first, then move over to the pretty balls.