Double the Fun
By Jack Liu
“The ‘hands’ will never surpass the ‘eyes’. Unless you cultivate the ‘eyes’ to discern good from bad, you cannot hope to improve the ‘hands’ that create works of art. It’s a phrase that’s often used among creators, but it applies to all kinds of fields. Those with good ‘eyes’ will improve far more rapidly than those without.”
- Jujutsu Kaisen, S1E16
To be honest, I’d never thought I would create any cardistry move. My mindset in the beginning was that I’d be totally happy if I could perform some of my favorite moves very well, as there are already so many good moves out there. In fact, I did try creating moves early on and it was agony. I had no clue how to start and what to make - I was just blindly searching for ideas and I got nothing. I gave up right away, knowing that it was not going to work that way.
I started Cardistry in 2017, and spent nearly 3 years learning, practicing and perfecting other people’s moves. I’m so glad that I started my Cardistry journey this way and am still benefiting from this experience, although most of the time, “doing other people’s moves” gets looked down upon, as I was often told to have my own material. But, in my opinion, one should only start their creative journey once they are ready - in other words, when the eyes for cardistry are cultivated. One sign of that is you don’t need to ask anyone about the move you made - you should already have a good idea about how good the move is and all the flaws in it, and most importantly, how much you like that move.
I believe there are a few ways to do that, and “doing other people’s moves” is one of the best ways. But how?
The first thing is move selection.
Some would say to learn the classic ones or the good ones; others may say learn whichever move you like. Well, the fact is, you gotta do both. Sometimes people confuse what they like with what is good. Some would consider a move “bad” if they don’t like it.
I started by learning the most iconic moves from the most iconic cardists - in my time it was the Virts, the Danes and the Bucks. By start practicing these moves, I slowly realized all the elements that make a move good, including the theme, the mechanics, the flow, the structure, the framing, the timing, etc. Some of these concepts are pretty vague if you try to explain or understand them in plain language, yet they are crystal clear once you feel them in your hands.
On top of that, I scrolled through Instagram and YouTube, and I saved all the moves that caught my eye. As I went through more, it started to converge into a certain style. After that, I started to find my taste for cardistry. Then, by learning those moves, I realized how to achieve those styles in a practical way. BUT! Learning those moves was not easy simply because most of them didn’t have tutorials. And that brings us to the second point.
Learning the move from the performance
Back in the day some of the most searched queries were, “Where is the tutorial for Trigger?” or “Liquid Paper tutorial”. It shows how intimidating it is to learn a move without a tutorial, even if the move is as simple as Trigger, that only contains 2 packets and only 1 packet is moving.
Cardistry is not a magic trick - all you see if all you get, and there is nothing hidden (in most cases). Learning from the performance is difficult in the beginning. But once you have your first success, the second one becomes much easier and so on. Because now you know exactly what to look for. Also, if you seek advancement in Cardistry, you’ll need this skill at one point anyway, so that you can better understand and appreciate the moves.
The first move I successfully learned from the performance is Kashmir by Oliver Sogard, featured in JETPACKETS.
In the process of learning from the performance, my ability to understand cardistry moves is greatly enhanced. Before, I could only describe moves in vague terms like how it felt - now, I can see precisely how packets are being moved with all the finger placements and grip changes and even the wrist motion that creates the extra flow.
Now with the ability to unpack information from the performance, it’s time to move on!
Perfectionism, it’s all in the detail
Find a good move that you really like from the list and push yourself to the limit. I decided that I want to have a very, very good Squeeze. By watching many different performances of Squeeze I concluded that Daren’s Squeeze is the best, totally unmatchable. And I aimed for it. (Always aim high.) Then, I looked at my own Squeeze, although all the steps are correct, it looks like a completely different move from Daren’s.
Like learning from the performance, this time I edited my performance and Daren’s performance together, side by side, and adjusted them to be the same speed. Playing it frame-by-frame, I started to notice all the small differences. I tried to make small changes to my performance, record it, put it beside Daren’s and compare it again. It’s not just about what you do but how you do it! The angle of the movement, the range of motion, the hand arrangement - they all matter. It took me almost a year to reach the level that I like (still not Daren’s level). Then I tried to perfect more moves, and it took significantly shorter.
What’s amazing is that when I am trying to perfect someone else’s move, it feels like I’m having a deep cardistry conversation with them. I can see their approach to Cardistry, and I can see the creative decisions. Most importantly, it’s fun! Whenever there is a difference, it’s like I’m having a debate with these great minds in Cardistry. Most of the time I was schooled and did the move in their way, but occasionally I win. And that is how I figured out my own way to perform Mockingbird.
Ready to create!
In contrast to the beginning, after trying to perfect moves for long enough, ideas came to me, and I can’t help myself in bringing these ideas to fruition and I know exactly how to do it. My eyes for cardistry are cultivated, and it becomes much easier to take inspiration from others’ great moves. Since I’ve already known how a good move feels like, it’s only a matter of time for my hands to catch up. Somehow in this way, I can make the exact moves that I want very often. Most importantly, I can enjoy the fun of performing other’s great moves and creating my own moves. If I was burned out from one, I can switch to the other one. It’s like having two portable playgrounds and I’m only getting more and more passionate about Cardistry since day 1.
About the author, Jack Liu:
I'm Jack Liu, or @liuu.jjj on Instagram. Been doing and loving Cardistry for 8 years.
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