RULES FOR THE WJF 10 WORLD RECORD BREAKERS EVENT
Organizer: Bob Maier (605) 521-3122 thebobmaier@gmail.com Skype ID: thebobmaier
The World Record Breakers shows will happen during 2, 90 minute sessions on the Main Expo Stage at Skillcon in Las Vegas, Nevada sometime between Dec. 28, 2014 and Jan. 2, 2015. Exact schedule will be produced by WJF before the beginning of WJF 10 but will be subject to change. Rules listed below are also subject to change. This document will be kept available to all prospective participants and will be kept updated. An email list will be maintained by the Organizer for notifications. Below the Rules are the Definitions.
Valid Records
Records to be attempted have been filtered to only those that can be reasonably attempted in 10 minutes and are not so high as to preclude any hope of besting them. No record that includes anything other than toss juggling will be allowed (e.g. head bouncing a ball while juggling, spinning a hoop on a leg while juggling, balancing on a rola-bola etc.). If anyone wishes to attempt records other than those listed below they may submit a request to the Organizer (Alex, if you’re out there, call me). There may be more than one participant trying for any given record.
Qualification
In order to be included in the shows on the Main Expo Stage all prospective participants must submit a continuous, unedited video showing at least 80% of the current record to Organizer on or before 12 PM Dec. 15.
In order to make submission, prospective participant must contact Organizer via email with what record they wish to attempt. They will receive a response with a link to the Dropbox folder being used to accumulate all submissions and be added to the Dropbox permissions list. In this folder will be a spreadsheet with all of the records, their current amounts and holders. The higher of either http://juggle.wikia.com/wiki/World_records or http://www.juggling.org/records/records.html will be used to compile this list. Please include your count of successful catches/time/rounds with your video.
All videos submitted are done so with the understanding that they may/will be used in whole or in part for the purposes of promotion of the event. WJF/Skillcon may, at their discretion, use these videos or not in televised segments, promotions and advertising, post them on video, social media or other websites and/or modify them as needed. Organizer will be responsible for viewing videos and verifying counts and will have final say as to whether or not a prospective participant has met the requirements.
Shows
Shows will begin promptly at the scheduled times. All participants for each session must check in with the judges no less than 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Failure to appear may result in removal from the program.
Participants will be given no less than 30 minutes prior to the scheduled show times in an area nearby in order to warm up. Each participant will be introduced along with the record they are trying for and its current holder and amount. Participants will be given 10 minutes on stage in which to make their attempts. 2 volunteers will be available to chase props as needed, particularly in the case of ring juggling.
Participants may use stands, holders or volunteers to hold or hand them additional props. A run must be started with all props required for a given record. You may not continue a pattern of lower numbers beyond the initial throws and then add additional props. As an example, you may start with 8 rings in your hands, make 8 throws and then grab two more from a holder to add to the pattern for 10 rings. You may not make more than 8 throws and then add rings.
Participants attempt time will begin with the first throw of the first attempt. If a participant succeeds in less than 10 minutes they will be given the option to either accept that result and forfeit the rest of their time or try for a longer run. For no reason will any participant be given more than 10 minutes.
If a participant is in the middle of an attempt when their time runs out, they will be allowed to continue that attempt. No signal will be made by the judges during this time so as not to distract the participant, they will let you know at the end of your run.
Participants may use the entire stage, as needed, except in the case of isolated records where a chair (or other appropriate stand) will be provided. If a participant leaves the stage for any reason during an attempt, that attempt will be considered a failure. Participants may rest (or not) between attempts as they see fit. Your 10 minutes is yours, use it wisely.
There will be two judges counting catches/rounds/time. The Organizer will maintain the attempt clock. There will be a camera connected to a monitor for the purpose of adjudicating disputes. If there is a question as to whether or not a record has been broken, participants attempt time will be stopped and the video reviewed in real time. If, at the sole discretion of the judges, the participant failed to break the record they will be given the remainder of their time to continue their attempts.
The attempt clock will not stop for lost props so if you want additional help in gathering dropped items beyond the two volunteers that will be available, bring them with you at check in. All volunteers must be known to the judges in advance of the start of each show session.
In the event a participant succeeds the attempt clock will stop. Judges will verify the count by video and an announcement will be made to that effect and the participant will be asked if they wish to make further attempts with their remaining time. The remainder of participant’s attempt time will begin with the first throw of the next attempt. Excessive delay during this time for the purpose of resting will not be allowed.
Once a participants time is up they will be expected to gather their props and exit the stage in a timely manner. Successful participants must remain in the area until the end of the session so as to be included on stage during the final announcements.
Video:
A camera will be set up and running without stopping for the entirety of each session. This video will be the “official” video used for submission to record keeping organizations. Video will be of a resolution and format suitable for detailed viewing of juggling moves. There will be a second camera connected to a monitor for instant reviews as needed. In all cases, the video generated is considered the property of WJF and may be used by them (or not) as they wish.
A copy of each participant’s portion of all sessions performed in will be provided to them by the Organizer on a thumb drive or other portable storage device between the time the last session is finished and the end of WJF 10 on Jan. 2, 2015. This copy may be used by the participant to submit to record keeping organizations or post to publicly viewable websites. It is the sole responsibility of the participant to submit their video to any record keeping organization where they wish to be included.
DEFINITIONS
These definitions are taken directly for the JISCON website (http://www.juggling.org/records/rules.html) with a few modifications. Full attribution is given to them for these definitions. While not all definitions apply here, they are all included for the sake of completeness.
PROP SPECIFICATIONS
Clubs, balls, and rings are the recognized categories of objects juggled. Balls, which include beanbags, must be roughly spherical objects. Clubs, which include sticks and batons, must be long roughly cylindrical objects. Rings, which include plates and hoops, must be flat, roughly circular objects. The Committee shall determine the acceptability of any object in the category claimed for it.
No object may be thrown in such a way as to have aerodynamic lifting qualities, such as a flying disk, nor be so light as to be significantly affected by air resistance, such as balloons, scarves or feathers.
DEFINITION OF A GATHER
A gather is any controlled and sustained physical contact between a juggler and a prop after the prop has been thrown in the air by the juggler. A gather can be made with the juggler’s hands or any other body parts. The juggler may not employ a pocket, net, or other apparatus to make a gather. In the following definitions, any part of the juggler’s body used to make a gather will be referred to as a hand. When a prop is gathered using parts of the body other than the hands, it is considered to have been gathered by the appropriate hand for that pattern.
Any thrown props that are not dropped are said to be gathered. If a juggler makes nine throws with nine balls, three balls ending up on the floor and six in the juggler’s hands, armpits and mouth, then six gathers were made regardless of the order in which the drops occurred.
DEFINITION OF A DROP
A drop is a sign of egress from a flash, juggle, or pattern, and is a failure to catch an object that, as a result, hits the ground or any foreign object. A drop is considered to have happened at the moment the object should have been caught or touched, not when it hits the ground.
DEFINITION OF A BOBBLE
A bobble is any uncontrolled or unsustained physical contact between a juggler and a prop after the prop has been thrown in the air by the juggler, which subsequently results in a gather by the same hand.
DEFINITION OF A CATCH
A catch is one of a series of gathers made from consecutively thrown props, all gathered prior to the occurrence of a drop. For team events, only passes – that is, gathers of props thrown by a different juggler – are counted as catches.
DEFINITION OF COLLECTING
Collecting, or stacking up, is the process of catching the remaining props that are in the air, after throwing has stopped. Collecting begins with the first catch that follows the point in time when a prop would have been thrown, but wasn’t.
DEFINITION OF A MULTIPLEX
A multiplex is throwing more than one ball at a time from the same hand or the presence of more than one ball in a juggler’s hand during the time period beginning with the first catch and ending with the last catch before collecting begins.
DEFINITION OF A FLASH
A flash occurs for a given number of objects in an explicitly stated pattern when the number of catches made is at least the number of objects being juggled. The first catch to be counted cannot be made until all props but one, or one per team member, have been thrown. All props must be thrown by the juggler(s) and caught in the order and to the hand dictated by the chosen pattern. Multiplexing is not allowed.
DEFINITION OF A JUGGLE
A juggle occurs for a given number of objects in an explicitly stated pattern when the number of catches made is at least twice the number of objects being juggled. The first catch to be counted cannot be made until all props but one, or one per team member, have been thrown. All props must be thrown by the juggler(s) and caught in the order and to the hand dictated by the chosen pattern. Multiplexing is not allowed. A juggle may also be referred to as a `qualifying run’.
DEFINITION OF CLEAN
A juggle or flash is clean if no props are dropped.
PATTERNS
Individual shower patterns shall count only the catches of high throws. In team patterns, at least every fourth throw by each juggler must be a pass.
ASSISTANTS AND ASSISTING DEVICES
Jugglers do not have to hold all the objects in their hands at the start of a run. The start may be achieved in part by picking up and/or kicking up any of the objects. For instance, objects can be pulled out of holsters, off of prop stands, or out of the hands of assistants. Assistants may also pick up dropped props, but may in no other way assist in the progress or finish of any attempt at a record. Objects may be thrown or catapulted into a pattern by an assistant or device. A juggler can choose to achieve a pattern by first juggling a smaller number of objects and then picking up or kicking up additional objects to get up to the desired number. The first catch to be counted will be the last one to be made before the final prop is thrown into the pattern by the juggler’s hand.
DEFINITION OF A RECORD
Records will be tracked for selected numbers for each prop. For example, there will be a five-club record, a six-club record, a seven-club record, and so on. The minimum record for any given number of objects shall be a clean flash. Thereafter, the record for any given number of objects shall be the highest number of catches. The record of greatest significance for each prop will be the greatest number of that prop with the longest run that is at least a juggle.
In solo events, runs over 250 catches will be compared and listed on the basis of time alone. Time will be measured from the moment the first throw leaves the hand to the moment the last valid catch touches the hand. Fractions of seconds will be rounded down.
The Committee shall also publish validated sub-flash feats that it considers of interest to jugglers, but these shall not be considered records.
World records will be kept for the following events:
Individual: 5 Clubs and Above / 7 Clubs and Above / 7 Rings and Above
Team: 9 Clubs and Above
Only those props and events that elicit enough interest to generate competition will be tracked. The Committee shall modify this list from time to time as the interests of the juggling community change.
VALIDATION
The following will be accepted as evidence of achievement:
- A feat recorded in an official competition sponsored by a national or international juggling organization or affiliate, provided a video review of the feat is available at the time, and provided it otherwise satisfies the rules and definitions of the JIS Committee on Numbers Juggling.
- A feat recorded on video that is then made available to any member of the Committee. `Video’ means any method of recording continuous motion, including film, video tape, or digital or analog medium. Submitted videos must be originals of an entire performance or practice session, and should not be edited or curtailed in any way.
The Committee may reject a video for which any counted object is outside the camera frame at any time from the moment the attempt begins until the attempt ends.
The Committee may require confirmation of a feat by having a Committee member or a designated witness view one or more of the juggler’s performances or practice sessions. In such instances the juggler need not duplicate the feat, but must demonstrate its probable accomplishment.
The best way to record a feat for the purpose of validation is to place the camera in front of and above the juggler, and to leave the date/time stamp visible on the video.
DISPUTED RECORDS
An attempted feat that is accepted by some but not all members of the Committee shall be recorded as `disputed’. Disputed records may be changed to records of regular standing by the submission of further evidence of that feat. A disputed record is an indication of the inability of the Committee to reach unanimity, and should not reflect on the achievement of the competitor or performer.
Any person may challenge an accepted or disputed record, and request further investigation. The challenger must agree to pay all reasonable expenses that the Committee may incur in additional investigation.
This event is organized by Bob Maier (605) 521-3122 thebobmaier@gmail.com – any questions or requests must be submitted through the Organizer. Nobody else will respond to questions regarding the WJF Record Breakers event.
Record Events Available at WJF 10: