| Flash | At least n catches of n objects. | |
| Juggle | At least 2n catches of n objects. |
It is not necessary for the objects to be caught clean.
See also the official Numbers Juggling Rules & Definitions.
Our web page can be found at
http://www.juggling.org/records/.
E-mail can be directed to
<world-records@juggling.org>.
To the best of the committee's knowledge at this time the records are as follows:
| Prop | Flash | Juggle |
|---|---|---|
| Rings | 13 | 10 |
| Balls/Beanbags | 12 | 10 |
| Clubs/Sticks | 9 | 8 |
The only passing records we are tracking at the moment are club/stick passing. The most that has ever been passed to our knowledge is 14 (flash) and 12 (juggle).
For more information about these records, please consult our web page.
We review the records that we track annually, and consider adding new ones based on interest in the juggling community. There is no doubt that clubs passing is a more popular numbers activity than ball/ring passing which is why we decided to start tracking it first. We are willing to add new categories as the interests of the juggling community change, however, it is surprisingly difficult to find and verify results for the categories we have.
Although the committee is not currently tracking these records we are certainly interested in video evidence of attempts.
Perhaps. No one really knows. There are many stories in juggling history of varying degrees of believability. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing for sure which ones are actually true. Because of this it is the decision of this committee to take only verifiable, unambiguous evidence in the form of videotape as proof of a record. Records that exist only as hearsay (even those widely accepted as historical fact) are not acceptable.
None of this is meant to diminish in any way the accomplishments of the jugglers of the past. There is no question in the minds of the committee members that Rastelli, LeDent, Jaeger, and others represent some of the finest juggling talent that has ever lived.
Sergei Ignatov has definitely flashed 11 rings (for evidence there is the IJA 1991 Festival Highlights tape). Although it is widely believed that he has juggled 11 rings (i.e. 22 or more catches) there does not appear to be any video evidence of this. Barry Bakalor, a committee member, asked Ignatov if he was aware of any footage of this feat. According to Ignatov he never performed more than a flash of 11 rings. He said that he had made longer runs in practice, but, to the best of his knowledge, these were not recorded. We would welcome video evidence to the contrary.
Again, none of this is meant to diminish Ignatov's accomplishments. He is unquestionably one of the very greatest jugglers of all time and richly deserves his near-legendary status.
For practical and historical reasons.
The committee is aware that this is a rather controversial decision and we hope that the reasons listed above go some way towards explaining our position.
Many of the reasons given in question 6 apply here. In addition there is a problem unique to balls and beanbags. Small, tightly packed, single color beanbags look very much like balls on video recordings. Determining which prop was used would be very difficult.
Although plates were a very popular prop around the turn of the century they seem to have fallen out of popularity. If there is enough interest in the juggling community to track records with plates we will consider doing so.
The committee has not yet considered the question of if plates and disks should be considered similar props and if they should be considered variations of rings or distinct props in their own right.
Although the committee is not currently tracking these records we are certainly interested in video evidence of attempts.
It is the decision of the committee that, as long as the juggler has control over the prop, it can be caught by other parts of the body (e.g. the back of the neck or cradled in arms for balls, pulled over the head or hung on the arms for rings). We do not consider a record where the props were caught in the hands only to be "better" than one in which other parts of the body were used in the same way that we would not consider 11 rings started from the hands to be "better" than 11 rings started with a holster.
We would point out that there is a long tradition of finishing rings by pulling them down over the head. These have traditionally been considered catches.
Send one of the committee members a videotape. Contact information is available for all current committee members.
Once two of the members have verified the record it is validated. We will make every effort to return the tape to you but would appreciate a copy for our records.
Because we are not Guinness. The tracking of juggling records in Guinness has been somewhat haphazard over the years (although this has improved greatly in recent editions) and has relied in some cases on generally accepted (but unverified) historical records.
Guinness has, in the past, only tracked the largest number of objects juggled (with a few exceptions). In general the length of the runs are not listed (again, with a few exceptions) and the distinction between a flash and a juggle was not made in all cases.
The committee is attempting a more complete tracking of juggling records at all numbers (not just the highest).
Because we are not the IJA. The IJA has generally not kept track of records set outside its competitions. In most cases the world mark is significantly better than the best record in the IJA Numbers competition (although there are some exceptions).
At the moment, no. We hope to make videos of the records available to the public in some form in the future but there are various legal and technical issues that have to be resolved first. If there is sufficient interest in the juggling community for such a tape we will do our best to make one available.
However, the technical quality of the tapes we receive, while sufficient to validate the records, is often not suitable for commercial reproduction.