New in cardistry and some questions to the pro's

[Nick W.(2)]

hi! first, sorry for my bad english, i am from germany and my last english lesson are 15 years ago..

i started "playing" with cards, like the charlier, 15 years ago, but with cardistry since 6 or 7 month!
i want to getting better but its really hard.

-what ist the hardest part in learning cardistry? the first weeks, month or year? i cant practice more than 2 till 4 hours a day, work, wife, children and so on...

-as a pro, do you learn new and hard flourishes faster as in your beginning as a newbie?

-whats the longest time you need to learn a new, complex flourish?

in some cut/flourishes i getting better really fast,so i do a really good bullet, twitter and versace from andrei jikh,and a really good clipshift.
i do a good flourish from the papercut dvd, my cylinder from andrei is ok, my flicker from the virts is ok,
but some flourishes,they going to make me crazy,like the squeeze cut by daren. i practice this cut since 6 month every day, but i cant do it really better as i started to learn it.
or my spring, i practice it every da 50 till 100 times, but i cant extend it...

so, whats the key to getting better, getting a pro? everyday pratice, i know. how time i need to getting really good? 1 year, 2 years or 10 years? (i am 34 years old, so i have no time to wait...;-))
should i practice many different things every day or only a few cuts/flourishes to getting better?

big thx for the replys and i wanna thanks to andrei jikh, the virts, zach mueller, patrick v. and all the pro's and excellent cardists who inspire me. Thx

 

[Purple_Spades]

Hi ill answer the questions in the order you asked them and keep in mind this is my personal experience from my two years in cardistry, so you might need to tailor some of this to you.

The hardest part for me was the first couple moves and cuts I learned. I believe it was because my hands weren't used to the motions yet, to be honest.

Personally, I do, just because most of the little moves or pieces of a bigger sequence are muscle memory at this point, so the hard part is just chaining them together and remembering the order.

My time for new flourishes varies from one week to a month

And that question is pretty unique to the person, I would say. Personally, at two years I can do most flourishes after some practice. So I guess that all rests on your skills and how fast they are progressing I normally pick out four cuts/sequences/moves/whatever it may be, and do those until I'm satisfied with the quality, then move to some more.

Hopefully this helped, welcome to the world of cardistry, it's a fun place to be

 

[yyyyyyy]

It's always nice to see new people taking an interest in cardistry. I'll try to answer each of your questions if I can.

-what ist the hardest part in learning cardistry? the first weeks, month or year? i cant practice more than 2 till 4 hours a day, work, wife, children and so on...
For most people, in any hobby or activity, the beginning is the hardest part. Beginnings are often challenging, but you can't let slow progress throw you off course.

-as a pro, do you learn new and hard flourishes faster as in your beginning as a newbie?

I wouldn't consider myself a "pro" in cardistry, but I'm not a beginner. I learn newer cuts much faster than before.

-whats the longest time you need to learn a new, complex flourish?

This question is tough to answer. I never really know when a flourish is finally "done". Learning the move is the easy part, but making it look great is hard. I can learn a move in a day or two, but the time it takes to make the move look great depends on the move itself and how comfortable I am with it. It can be weeks, months, you may never be "finished" with a move.

So, whats the key to getting better, getting a pro?

Man, do I wish I knew the answer to THAT question. That'd make things much easier. In my experience, the best thing to focus on is how you start cardistry. Avoid developing bad habits, don't skip the basics. LEARN ONE HANDED CUTS. I can't stress this enough. Based on what you've told me, you jumped from the Flicker to Squeeze. That's a pretty massive jump in difficulty. Most two handed cuts are comprised of two one handed cuts and a single connecting packet. Scissor cuts, Revolution Cuts, Charliers, Thumb Cuts, READ THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CARD FLOURISHES.

So many people skip past the basics and waste their time working on material they shouldn't be looking at yet. I said earlier that beginnings are often difficult, and that's true. But you have to decide whether or not you want to take the easy way, or the right way. Take your time, this isn't something that you can rush. Muscle memory develops on its own, you just have to wait and practice.

As for how much time you should spend practicing, spend as much time as you need, not how much time you think you should need. If you follow these points and be patient, I'm sure you'll have no issue with cardistry in the future.

So good luck, lovely to have another cardist.

-Patrick Varnavas

 

[Nick W.(2)]

ok, thx a lot! now i know what i should do! i think i order the encyclopedia of card flourishes. i germany its realy hard to find good or excellent teaching stuff, but now i think this book is an must have. 35 $ for shipping but what happens, my next birthday ist comming next year...
so i try to practice more on my single cuts and slowly extend to bigger flourishes. at moment i can do the charlier, tripple charlier, scissors, thumb, revolution, brian tudors revolution and index cut, some in both hands and i'm going to spend more time in these basics!

 

[Easem]

If you are getting the EOPCF then get the companion dvd's that go with them. The tips and tricks will help a great deal. Also you get to see how each move should look. Practice is the only thing that will make you better, remember to learn slow. Speed and fluidity are learned slow and build up to a performance class manipulation. You cannot rush, always learn slowly and build speed to produce quality flourishes.

 

[ckchromatik]

Tbh, I have mainly done cuts for the past few years and started getting into twirling recently. Of course I mastered and still practice 1 hand cuts DAILY. Never go a day without doing a few charliers, revos, thumbs, scissors,etc. They keep your hands limber and muscle memory primed.

As many others have said learn not only the one handed cuts first, but any one hand utilization such as fans and twirls. I mainly did only packet cuts for the past few years and recently learning twirls has literally opened up a completely new venue of card cut sequences. I honestly regret not learning to master the twirls at an early stage because the diversity and perhaps my entire style of cardistry would be different. The key thing in cardistry is that a majority of the cuts you do can be broken down into the basic one handed cuts, merely just given a twist or used as a transition cut in sequences.

Genesis by Andrei and Motion by Daniel Madison are two great dvds that i highly recommend because of the basic principles they express in their tutorials. The Encyclopedia is great as well for a variety of cuts from beginner to mastery level . Just remember to not give up. I honestly still am never satisfied with the speed or smoothness of my rolling charliers or fans so I encourage you to never look for "Did i master this?" but instead always think that your material can always be improved. The moment you think you "Mastered" a cut, is the moment you lose progression in the art.