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WJF Update for May 31st, 2008
Hello everyone. Sorry it's been so long since the last update. Here's what's going on:
Topics covered in this email update:
1. New WJF Store and equipment
2. WJF 5
3. An Interview with Yuriy Pozdnyakov
4. The 2008 Italian Juggling Convention Report
5. WJF 5 Sponsorship Program
The WJF Store
www.thewjfstore.com
We have a new online WJF store separate from thewjf.com website. We also have some new products, including MMX Plus, SIL-X, SRX, and bounce juggling balls all from Play Juggling. Check it out.
http://www.thewjfstore.com/balls.php
My favorites are the MMX Plus and SIL-X balls. There's also some video of me juggling the different balls so you can see what they look like while being juggled.
WJF 5
With a little over six months to go, WJF 5 will be here very soon. I've been putting a lot of prep work into this convention, and there's a lot more work to come. I have two pretty big surprises to unveil over the next month and I think you'll all really like them a lot. In addition to everything we've always had at WJF conventions, this will add even more entertainment to the convention. We already have a lot of great competitors confirmed. The list of competitors is at an all time high, especially in the junior and women's divisions.
This year we are proud to have Yuriy Pozdnyakov teaching workshops on ball-juggling basics from three to nine balls. The workshops will cover basic technique, multiplexes, and pirouettes. For more information on Yuriy, see the interview with him later on in this update. Yuriy will also be bringing Alexandr Koblikov and Grigoriy Lovigin as competitors. More information on these guys can be found here:
http://www.thewjf.com/WJF5/competitor_profile_pages/alexandr/alexandr_profile.php
http://www.thewjf.com/WJF5/competitor_profile_pages/grigoriy/grigory_profile.php
So over the next 6 months I will continue to produce WJF 5 promotional videos (Some really cool ones are in the editing room right now), create and place promotional ads, raise the prize money, organize the convention, competitions, an opening day dinner buffet and final day video and awards banquet. I'm going to work harder than ever to not only make this the biggest WJF event to date, but to exceed what would be required to meet the minimum quota for that title.
How can you help?
There's a lot of ways you can help. I've broken it down into the different ways below:
Promotion
If you're a student or teacher, we can provide you with promotional ads via email that you can print and pass out to your school faculty and students. If you have a job you can pass them out at work. Instead of cash, next time you see a juggler street performing, put a WJF 5 flyer in their hat.
Word of Mouth
Right now we're able to produce our events and raise the current level of prize money with attendance between 200 and 300 people and some creative planning. Just think what we could do if we doubled or tripled our attendance! If each person who attends could convince one or two other people to go with them, we'd see more prize money all around, more sponsorship programs for junior and overseas competitors, and more special surprises. So get the word out. If you've been to a WJF event, you know what to tell everyone. If you've never been, talk to someone who has. This year is going to be a very special one, so this is a great year to help us increase attendance.
Air Miles
A lot of very good jugglers from overseas would like to compete, but can't afford the trip. If you have any air-miles that you'd be willing to part with, you could help in bringing over a competitor for WJF 5.
Sponsor a Competitor
Do you know someone that wants to attend and compete at WJF 5 but can't afford it? Do you have some extra cash? Is the cost of the trip worth the experience that juggler will never forget? Sponsor a competitor, for any division, and we'd be happy to give you a special mention and thanks. But the experience you'll provide for a juggler low on funds will be remembered forever.
Donations!
Of course, nothing can help raise the prize money more than cash donations. Last year we came close to 10K in prize money. Right now it's likely that we'll easily match that from registration and our sponsors. Now it's up to you to decide how much higher it goes. And you can specify which division you want your donation to go towards. Want to reward the junior competitors? Donate to the juniors prize money fund. Want to motivate more women to compete? Do the same for the women's prize money fund. Overall Championship? No problem. Don't like deciding? That's OK too. You can also choose to donate to the convention fund and simply specify "prize money". And all this is available on one page:
http://www.thewjf.com/support.php
So help us help the competitors make all the time they spent practicing in solitude worth it! Let's motivate them to train harder and keep up the excitement in juggling.
Combat!
After testing out some combat competitions at WJF 4, I've decided that combat is definitely worth putting some thought, time and money into. This year we'll have a competition arena specifically built for combat, prize money starting at a minimum of $1000.00, and some new rules to make combat more fair and exciting. If you'd like to help out with the combat prize money fund, that option is also available here:
http://www.thewjf.com/support.php
Combat rules are available here:
http://www.thewjf.com/WJF5/WJF5CompetitionRules.php#EXTREME
WJF 5 Convention Schedule
A tentative convention schedule is now available here:
http://www.thewjf.com/WJF5/WJF5schedule.php
WJF 5 Convention Packages Prices
As usual, the convention package price will start to increase on the first of July, so make sure to purchase your convention package before July 1st to take advantage of the current rates.
An interview with Yuriy Pozdnyakov
Jason Garfield: How long have you been training jugglers?
Yuriy Pozdnyakov: Since 1994 I start to training in Kiev circus school.
Jason Garfield: How did you become involved in juggling training?
Yuriy Pozdnyakov: After end of circus artist (juggler) career I became the trainer.
Jason Garfield: What is your experience with juggling? Did you ever perform it yourself?
Yuriy Pozdnyakov: In 1973 I ended circus school, specialization - juggler, teacher - Sergey Ignatov.
21 year I has worked worldwide as professional juggler.
Jason Garfield: What are the most important elements in juggling training?
Yuriy Pozdnyakov: The correct organization of trainings, system, correct technics is very important.
An ideal variant is trainings with the teacher.
Jason Garfield: Why are you interested in bringing your students to the WJF?
Yuriy Pozdnyakov: Many my students became winners of circus festivals in Paris, Monte-Carlo, etc.
WJF are competitions only for jugglers. For this reason, for us it is an estimation of our forces in juggling. And, certainly, participation in WJF is very prestigious and important for me, my students and our school.
The 2008 Italian Juggling Convention
Recently I attended the the Italian Juggling Convention and was very impressed with the skill level and dedication of some of the jugglers there. I taught workshops on 180s, 360s, backcrosses, body throws, overhead throws, the shower pattern, and 6x4 and we had a great group of jugglers who attended these workshops. There's at least two jugglers who will be coming to WJF 5 from Italy to compete, and possibly more. I also met an 11 year old juggler who has the potential to be better than any juggler we've seen, given 3-5 years of serious training. He was already doing 7 balls smoothly and was able to learn new techniques fast. He was walking around a little to save the pattern at first but after a few minutes of trying to juggle in one place, his 7 ball pattern improved and became more stable. I'm always amazed at how that simple instruction can improve juggling patterns so drastically. It seems simple, but so many people overlook it. I'm sure we'll see more of this 11 year old soon, possibly at WJF 5. I also saw Thomas and Toby again which was fun. So of course I'd like to give a very big thank you to Davide for bringing me over to meet all the Italian Jugglers. See you all next year!
WJF 5 Sponsorship Program
This is just a reminder that those of you planning on competing for the WJF 5 Sponsorships have 1 more month to train before your videos are due. Complete details are available on this page:
http://www.thewjf.com/WJF5/wjf5sponsorship.php
That's all for now. There is more to reveal but I'll save that for the next update. Keep checking the WJF 5 competitors page for updates as well:
http://www.thewjf.com/WJF5/WJF5Competitors.php
Talk to you soon and see you all in December!
Jason Garfield
World Juggling Federation
President
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