The Box

   
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The basic pattern

The Box
images/TheBox.gif
is a classic three ball Juggling Pattern. In each hand, toss a ball up and down. If the Dwell Time for each hold is short enough, and the toss is high enough, there is enough time to have an extra ball that is tossed directly from one hand to the other. Each ball stays in its own part of the pattern, and the overall shape is that of a box shape, giving the pattern its name. When done asynchronously the Site Swap for this pattern is SS:612 but the much more attractive version is the Synchronous Site Swap SS:(4,2x)(2x,4) shown here.

Generalising to 4 balls

There is some discussion as to the "correct" way to generalise this pattern to four or more balls, depending on the way the pattern is thought about. Based purely on the box shape, an obvious generalisation is to have four balls "see-sawing" from side to side. As a Synchronous Site Swap this is SS:(8,2x)(4,2x)* and it's too ugly to consider doing as an asynchronous Site Swap.

The other option is to start from the description given at the top of the page. There we start with two balls in a "sprung" fountain, the balls tossed higher than usual and with a short Dwell Time. Then an extra ball is added. We can generalise that description by starting with a "sprung" 3-ball cascade SS:(6x,0)* and then add a ball underneath. This gives SS:(6x,2x)* and although all similarity to a box is lost, the generalisation is certainly valid.

Conclusion

Either way, the Three Ball Box is certainly an attractive and entertaining Juggling Pattern. If you want to see animations of the different 4-ball generalisations then please, Let Us Know.

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