Arrow of Asai

Other Tutorials:

Daniel Marden (last trick)
Other demonstration (video clip)

     The Arrow of Asai is a three ball juggling pattern established by Daniel Marden, who specializes in multiplex juggling. It combines a stacked multiplex with rapid passes, creating a surprisingly fast-paced pattern. The speed of the trick, along with its almost paradoxical high throws, gives the Arrow of Asai an unusual juggling aesthetic.

    To learn the Arrow of Asai, start with two balls in your dominant hand and one ball in your non-dominant. Make a stacked multiplex throw from your dominant hand such that the balls are about 12 inches (30 cm) apart. As the top ball reaches its peak, make a slam throw (a pass directed diagonally downward) from your non-dominant hand to your dominant hand. The slam should be caught by your dominant hand at a height slightly greater than the peak of the lower multiplexed ball. After making the slam, your non-dominant hand should then claw catch the bottom multiplexed ball (in a manner similar to what would be done in the Shuffle pattern). After catching the slammed ball, your dominant hand will then be pulled between the upper and lower multiplexed balls such that it crosses over your non-dominant hand. The upper multiplexed ball will then be caught under-the-arm by your non-dominant hand.
    As shown, practice this on both sides. In the next step we will add in the other vertical throw and the circular arm flourish. Start by doing the same throws described in step one and then, as the upper multiplexed ball descends toward your non-dominant hand (which should at this point still be underneath your dominant hand), make a vertical throw from your non-dominant hand along the outside of the descending ball, clearing space for your non-dominant hand to catch the ball. As that vertical throw is being made, your dominant hand is going to swing around and pass between the vertical ball just thrown and the caught multiplexed ball. The vertical ball will then be caught by your dominant hand.
    Practice this on both sides. For the final step, we are going to add the horizontal pass. Start by repeating the previous step and then, as your dominant hand finishes its flourish, you are going to make a close-range pass from your dominant hand to your non-dominant hand, which should already be holding a ball. This will clear space for your dominant hand to catch the vertical ball thrown previously by your non-dominant hand.
    Practice this single cycle of the pattern on each side. To run the full Arrow of Asai, simply make another multiplex throw before catching the vertical ball. The timing between the multiplex throw and the vertical ball catch is a grey area, since it is possible to make the multiplex shortly after the other ball is caught, although this breaks up the pattern and renders it non-continuous. For the greatest effect, it is probably best that you make the multiplex either before or at the same time as the vertical ball is caught. However, when first learning the pattern it is best that you not worry about the timing until you have a good grasp on the rest of the trick.