Help from my fellow Theory11 cardists

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Cardz95

Oct 11, 2007
7
0
41
Top of the day my fellow Theory 11 peeps I was wondering if you guys could help me out please... I am very much a fan of flourishing and cardistry but can't seem to nail any of the routines down and I practice like all hell also I know that Dan and Dave's personal message when reading the Triology book it states "the flourishes are difficult and within time you will get it" or something of the nature and I practice all frickin day and cannot seem to get any of the down and it is a tad frusurating and I am thinking of intesifying my practice, can the forum help out one of it's fellow members please and thanks Dan and Dave if you have any personal insight that would help out alot as well it would also be graetly appreciated thanks for your time forum and good day to you all.:D
 
alexcameron

alexcameron

Oct 9, 2007
11
0
34
Amarillo, Texas
I was actually thinking the same thing today, I am the same. I practice a lot and I still struggle with them. I guess it just takes getting used to and mastering the movements.
 
L

Loz

Oct 5, 2007
94
0
Northampton, England
I have just the thing for you. If you e-mail me with your interest I'll consider selling a small vial of my "Cardistry potion." What it does is basically enhance your hands for about an hour and it allows you to watch a video of someone doing a flourish and then you can do it immediately. Once you have the muscle memory sorted (it only takes about 30 seconds) you will be able to perform the flourish blindfolded. This stuff is pretty hard to come by, but since you're from Theory11 and hey, so am I, I'll sell it to you for $4000 for a small vial about the size of a thimble. The things I do eh?

Or for the slightly cheaper option, you guessed it: practice more.
 
Tyler Johnson

Tyler Johnson

Oct 24, 2007
314
0
Question

The question is not, how much do you practice? BUT, how do you practice?

Practice always makes better (not perfect, no one can reach perfection), but, it's true. Practice always makes better, so if you are practicing and practicing and not getting any better, you must be practicing wrong. This isn't a horrible or hard thing to fix. I mean, I never got "The System", and I just started working on the 1st Phase of Jackson Five from "The Trilogy" yesterday and I already have it down well and going pretty fast.

So, how did I do this? How did I get "Madonna" down in one day? Watch the moves, not once, but over and over! First you want to know in your mind exactly what is to happen. You need to see what exactly is supposed to happen.

Okay Tyler, I did this, but I still can't do it fast!? Don't try to do it fast! When I practice, I watch the teaching over and over, then once I have what I'm supposed to do engraved into my brain, I do the moves SLOWLY. Do the moves as SLOW as possible, making sure you have the move correct and right. Keep practicing SLOWLY over and over.

I usually practice SLOWLY over and over for about a day and that consist of practicing while watching television, while online, anytime I'm sitting down anywhere. Once you have practiced a lot, SLOWLY for a day, then try to speed it up a little bit. If it's choppy or you have trouble, go back and do it slowly again!

Basically, build it up! Start slow, then go a little faster, then faster, then faster. All of a sudden, you can do it at full speed! That's the only suggestion I have. Peace!

Tyler
 
T

trashmanf

Sep 1, 2007
1,005
3
You've been practicing... how long?

you need not to practice, you need to TRAIN. set aside a time and a place where you can focus exclusively on what you are trying to get, and put 100% of your effort and concentration into it. don't work on it half-azzedly while watching TV or something. although that does work for some.

also do lots of finger stretches first, running your hands under warm water while you do it, and your hands will be limbered up and ready to kick some card azz.
 
D

DaveTang

Sep 2, 2007
71
0
Deryn said:
I have the same problem. I've been doing the basic sybil for over 2 years (also other flourishes) and I can't seem to find the speed. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...


two YEARS on sybil? if after two years you can't speed it up, then either you've reached your maximum speed, or you're doing something wrong. like someone else said, watch the video again and make sure everything is right.
 
Corey

Corey

Nov 29, 2007
46
0
33
Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
An idea

Another good idea is to watch those finger moves constantly, every time thay do something, make sure you are paying attention to what they are doing, try folowing along and pause the dvd every couple of seconds, pick the cards back up and try to get EVERY finger where theirs are.
Aswell you could watch the trick 30 times over, if that helps, once for each finger... And I agree with the above post, warm water and finger exercises before during and after practice.
 
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tazer

Sep 1, 2007
163
1
after i play drums or work out my flourishes are always faster and smoother, so try doing some pull ups or something first

and honestly, there is no secret thing to do. your obviously not practicing as much as you can be if your not getting anywhere in 2 years. (to the person that posted that message, not the poster of this topic)

i always have cards with me inside my house, ALWAYS, and im always flourishing
outside my house, if im walking, be it on the street or in the mall, im flourishing. only time i ever really stop is if im sitting and talking to friends or something
 
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Cardz95

Oct 11, 2007
7
0
41
As of my training I watch the certain clip from the trilogy that I wanna do over and over and over some more but then I try fo go as slow as I can to make sure all of my finger placement is good but still no dice but there is other flourishes that I have gotten the hang of like nothing but others I spend countless hrs in seclusion and in a park and still cannot grasp some of the thechniques and then become highly frusturated
 
copperfield 14

copperfield 14

Oct 18, 2007
2,567
3
31
Glendale,California
undergroundentertainmentproject.yuku.com
First off learn as much of the basics as you can. Not just the flourishws 101, but more. I remember I couldnt do sibil, till I continue watching tutorials on it and found out my grip was wrong. I had the system for a few months and I was practicing hard but couldn,yt get any of the flourishes down. So I learned some simplar flourishes and after a few weeks I understood the system. Start slow and eventually you'll get better.
 
Monkeyofmanipulation

Monkeyofmanipulation

Sep 2, 2007
78
0
London
Ok guys.

Although i have only been flourishing for a short while. I find i can learn cuts fairly easily. I dont mean to boast i am just being honest.

First thing i would say is not to overcrowd yourself withloads of stuff. And DON'T watch Video's of the moves you are trying to learn to much. oNly watch them till you know what is supposed to happen like was mentioned earlyier.

If you spend to long watching pro's (this amount of time is different for everyone unfortunatly so i cannot say a limit :p) when it comes to trying you may find yourself getting frustrated as it is not anywhere near as smooth, fast or cool as the video. Flourishes TAKE DEDICATION to master. Now some people take dedication as sitting down with no distractions and nothing but there cards. THey will sit there and do this one thing over and over again for a set amount of time each day. Being so organized with your practise you are expcecting equally steady improvements. IT DOES NOT WORK LIKE THAT.

Althouth this may sound strange. Don't believe you will master it.
With this state of mind you will find if you can even get the grip right and the first part you are doing so well. YOU ARE! When you practise (this is were i come back to watching pro's for to long) after watching a video for hours yuo are comparing yourself to master flourishers. When you performe the majority of people are laymen. A one hnaded revolution will put them on there knees.

You keep doing YOUR thing and you will feel relaxed about what you can do and as this relaxed state of mind sets in you will get better.

Sometimes not flourishing for a day can help. I am not saying set aside a day of the week where you are not allowed to play with your cards. I mean for example if you are SO BUSY ALL DAY you cannot possibly even spedn time thinking about cards. Practise when you WANT TO NOT WHEN YOU FEEL YOu SHOULD.

FOrcing yourself to practise does nothing. Flourishing requires passion, with passion comes smoothness and with smoothness comes the quality of performance.

Let cards ( not make) be on you when you do day to day things. I find that this makes me itch for card twirling.

Other than that do YOUR thing.

HOpe this helped.

-Jon
 
K

Kotoblichin

Dec 4, 2007
22
0
I feel like i get ahang of the flourishes pretty well, and thats its all due to how i practice.

this is what i generally do.

1) Watch the tutorial untill i know what i have a general understanding with what i have to do next

1.5) when i was learning de'vo's impossible stack, and a few other flourishes where you always have a few packets of similar size, begin practicing with taped packets. This helps in many ways.
  • You dont drop individual cards
  • Helps goin through entire move and aids in gaining muscle memory
  • if your like me, you end up destroying few decks in anger
  • lets you worry more about the move then failing
  • Builds confidence and helps increase speed

2) stop, rewind, play. Rewatch the video over and over while doin the move. Follow along with every step. make sure you know where every finger needs to be on each part of the card. Dont just be like "i think i spin it that way, yea lets go on" there isnt a hurry

Hint: if your on a computer, mute the sound from the dvd, and put on your own music in the background. the constantly repeating music (from rewinding) will drive you crazy in time)

3) Master pausing and rewinding while maintaining the flourish

4) Remember that they arn't lying. Cardistry isn't something that is easy, and speed will come with practice, its all in muscle memory.

5) Music. If your trying to get your speed up, play fast music, for some reason this helps me greatly

6) After mastering the technique/moves you slow it down. After i get it all down i slow it down as much as possible. What you focus on while your going slow is to make sure it is perfeclty smooth, and that there are no pauses what so ever. When going slow get everything go move smothly into the next move. Once you can make it perfectly fluid gradually practice increasing the speed.

hope this helps.

-::;EDIT;::-

7) this is prabably what helps the most for me. this part must be last, thats important. Once you have it down realy well, and smooth, practice while your not concentrating. I practice my moves while watching tv. If you can do the moves while barely paying attention, its all muscle memory and your speed will increase drasticly. it also eliminates having to see your fingers. Do it blind folded while singing to your music.

if you could read a book while doin this, you are a god. use some crazy moves to turn pages.
 
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