Technique & Patience is an Art in Sewaren on 'Juggling Wednesdays'

"There's a right way, there's a wrong way, and there's a proper technique," said Richard Kohut, a professional juggler whose hometown is Sewaren. 

He's been getting a chance to hone his skills and teach his craft in Sewaren on 'Juggling Wednesdays', a program being held at the Sewaren Public Library.

Kohut has been extensively practicing the art of juggling since 2004 and holds a personal record of being able to juggle 8 balls at once. Recently, Kohut participated in an international juggling competition hosted by the World Juggling Federation and placed second in the Intermediate Ring competition.

Kohut gave some initial basic instructions to each participant. "Don't look at the ball, don't eject it up, and don't throw the balls up and down. Instead, throw the balls using your forearms and move your arms almost in like a circular motion," instructed Kohut. The circular motion that Kohut informed his students about is called a "Cascade" and is the basic fundamental pattern of juggling.

Kohut even provided some special secrets to learning how to juggle fast. "Don't follow the ball through the air, pick a spot behind the ball. Look at the spot behind the ball and using your vision, let the balls go through and past that spot. Feel where the ball is with your eyes," said Kohut to his enthusiastic students.

Little by little Kohut taught his students the basic techniques there is to juggling with just one ball, and then moved on to teaching his students how to juggle with two balls, then three.

"We are going to learn juggling in this class or the next one, and then we're going to move on to learning tricks," said Kohut to his class.

How Kohut learned to juggle is a tale itself. "I taught myself. I watched a clip of Mythbusters on TV and paused it, and then played it over and over again until I figured out what was going on," said Kohut.

He quickly scaled the juggling heights, since he's a professional juggler whose won awards for his skill.

As Kohut observed his students, he noted strengths and weaknesses of each beginner. Bunnie Rogers was very determined to learn how to juggle. "I feel like you've been taught before," said Kohut, amazed as he was by her speed in picking up some of the crucial parts of the technique. 

Rogers, who mastered the juggling technique before the class ended, was thrilled. "I did it! That is so cool! This is the first time in my life that I was able to juggle without dropping them," exclaimed Rogers.

Andrea Borja, another determined student, had some trouble coordinating her left forearm with the juggling technique. However, by the end of the class, Borja mastered the basics as well. "I want to do this professionally, I'll make money off of this," she joked as she juggled.

Nicole Sandrik, the youngest of the students, slightly struggled but had fun nonetheless. "This is easy," said Sandrik when she practiced with one ball, but things got more difficult as more balls were added.

The Sewaren Public Library will be holding juggling classes every Wednesday at 1pm until July 27th. The classes are completely free and everyone is encouraged to attend.