Stick and ball balancing has existed for a long time and has been performed as part of the routines of some of the world’s most famous jugglers, often holding a short stick in their mouth and balancing, throwing and catching the ball and even juggling at the same time as balancing!

One of these styles is a form of object manipulation originating from ancient Japan called Edo-daikagura. This form of traditional juggling involves many different types of balancing and spinning objects as well as toss juggling and even balancing teapots on a stick held in the mouth. Most of the historical information on stick and ball manipulation I’ve been able to find has been about this type of mouth stick balancing done by jugglers and circus performers and seems to trace back to this traditional form of Japanese juggling.

The multi-player game known as Stykball using long sticks to balance a ball was invented in September 2000 by a man called Damien James. Beginning in West End, Brisbane on the east coast of Australia, the game quickly gained popularity and was expanded upon by other people with some changes to the equipment being made such as the use of the giant tennis ball and different textures and grips being added to the sticks.

Different forms of the game were discussed and played and a decision was made to leave the game as a non-competitive freestyle game with no rules or referees to encourage creativity and improvisation. Stykball can often be seen being played on the streets, at markets, festivals and is commonly appearing at juggling meets and conventions.

Over time the complexity of tricks and skills of the players has increased but the game itself has stayed the same. Since it’s invention Stykball has gained in popularity and there are people playing stykball in places all over the world.

Here’s some interesting links to discover more information about stick and ball manipulation …

http://www.juggling.org/books/alvarez/

http://www.edo-daikagura.com/english/index.htm

The beginnings of stick and ball manipulation

Here’s some stuff about the beginnings of stick and ball manipulation taken from a book about the history of juggling by Francisco Alvarez.

http://www.juggling.org/books/alvarez/part4.html

During the Meiji Era, Katsnoshin Awata, a court juggler to the Mikado of Japan, came from Tokyo to teach and perform in Europe. He introduced the West to a unique style of stick and ball manipulation using Itomari (or “thread balls”). He performed with Sylvester Schäffer in London in 1885 and Europeans began referring to the techniques as “Awata games”. His ball work apparently impressed everyone who saw him.

Zeithen’s single account of Awata is all that I could find. He mentions that Awata balanced a ball on the end of a stick which was balanced end to end on several other sticks which were then transferred to a mouthstick. The lower sticks were then knocked away and the ball dropped to a rest on the mouthstick. Takashima, another Japanese juggler, met Rastelli in the early 1900′s at the Strepetow Circus.

Rastelli (pictured at right) was so profoundly influenced by the Japanese style that he spent most of 1915 practising these so-called ‘Awata games’ in traditional Japanese garb. This was the same year that Rastelli debuted as a solo performer in the Truzzi Circus. The rest of his career was marked by this type of stick and ball work. In fact, the rest of twentieth century juggling was marked by this style. Rastelli even referred to Takashima as the greatest living juggler when he was asked who was the best in the world. Since then, the Japanese roots of modern juggling have been buried in Western ethnocentrism and international conflict. There is virtual nothing available on the subject in the English language.

And “stick-and-ball,” which I so freely mention in this book, is far from being an official term. To be sure, the style has also been called “Japanese style,” “Awata style,” “Ball and stick,” “Rastelli style,” and “mouth stick work.” And the confusion goes on and on. Can it be that the nature of our work and the many variables defy classification?

In the European circus the Japanese influence had been considerable. Europeans began to imitate the style. Dressed in a plain silk domino or the shorts of a gymnast, performers did tricks with little sticks and large balls. But what magic these sticks possessed! They could be turned with uncanny speed or floated through the air with ease and grace. Following the sticks, the balls were manipulated in every imaginable way, sometimes alone, sometimes in interesting combinations with sticks. A stick held in the mouth increased the possibilities, making a number of moves and “breaks” available. This style of juggling, though difficult, was so flexible and challenging that it was soon adopted by European circus jugglers, young Enrico Rastelli being the most extraordinary example.

The Japanese juggler who had inspired Rastelli was Takashima. Rastelli had great admiration for this artist, and it is said that years later, when asked to name the greatest juggler in the world, Rastelli had replied without hesitation, “Takashima.” (As told to me by Carl Lorenz).

Quite a few artists were now working in the style of Rastelli. Some had learned it from Japanese influences, Rastelli himself from Takashima, Serge Flash from the Andos Troupe. Others tried to emulate the great Italian master. Still others had adopted the medium much as a painter embraces an established technique. The style soon acquired a name. The Germans called it Gummiball und Stock (sometimes Bälle und Holzstäbe). We called it stick-and-ball. The style itself raised some questions. Was it new? Was it really Japanese?

It would be an exaggeration to say that stick-and-ball juggling swept the country, but the style did revolutionize the art. The uniqueness of Rastelli was clearly that he had elevated the stick-and-ball style to heights never before attempted by man. If the reviewers were impressed by Rastelli’s performance, as we have read, how much more so were the jugglers of that period who really understood the complexities of the tricks. Upon seeing Rastelli for the first time, jugglers were awestruck.