Palm Spinning by Ferret

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    I have a habit of going right to the best source, when I have a burning question, and I have the capability of doing so. I used to have a Gunnery Sgt. for a boss, and he used to tell us “I don’t expect you to know all the answers, but I expect you to know where to find all the answers.” I took it to heart..and got good at tracking down answers.

    In 1993 I was so frustrated with trying to get good isolated palm spins, that I tracked down James Ernest’s phone number, called him up and asked, ‘why the hell is this so damn difficult?’ , and, ‘what the hell am I doing wrong.’

    James gave me 4 tips:

    Start off by keeping your hand still in space, and rolling the sphere around your hand from thumb to finger tip to finger tip to heel of palm, and back to thumb. Or opposite direction, if you are so inclined. Thumb to heel to finger tip..to finger tip, etc….etc…

    Get used to the feel of this move. There is no need to watch it, just feel it.

    Once you have a good feel for the movement..and I do mean ‘Feel’, Use your shoulder alone to move your arm and hand under the sphere, and look for the same feeling. Only now the sphere should be still in space, and your hand moves under it.

    Oh…and the last three tips?

    Practice. Practice. Practice.

    But you knew that was coming…didn’t you?

    I was finally able to nail down my palm spins in one day at the Fort Meyer’s Medieval Faire, January 1995. It was rainy all day, crowds were very thin. I was getting paid $450 a day just to walk around and be seen. I’m not afraid of the rain or getting wet, and I always honor my contracts…especially for that kind of money.

    So I walked around for 8 hours in the rain, with a sphere in each hand working on my palm spins. Fulfilling my contract…despite the crappy weather.

    By the end of the day…I was very happy with my palm isolations. My shoulders were sore, but my palm spins were solid. I believe that practicing with one in each hand, gave me a better balance and helped out immensely with getting them both down.

    Practice. Practice. Practice.


    Ferret

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