How To Practice
- Thread starter Jo_Vision
- Start date
Expert at the card table. That is where (in my opinion) you should learn the pass (two-handed shift) from.
Jo_Vision, the "Erdnase Shift, Two Hands" is not the classic pass. In Expert at the Card Table, he describes several shifts, the classic pass being the first, under the title "Two-Handed Shift". Just thought I'd clarify that for you.
As regards practice, there is a massive amount of confusion and misinformation among even highly-respected magicians on this subject. I've seen a Eugene Burger video where he extensively extols the virtues of "conscious practice", saying that you need to set aside time for practice, and make sure that you're focussed and you know exactly what you want to achieve in that time. I interviewed him at Blackpool this year and asked him about this, querying whether that implied that having a deck of cards in your hand twenty hours a day and just playing with moves was not a worthwhile way to practice. His response was that whatever works for you is fine, it's all down to the individual. A response which, to my mind, made all his teaching on effective conscious practice redundant.
However, I have done some research on this, speaking to teachers in various fields and my findings are as follows:
1. You can't expect to concentrate fully on one thing for more than about 20 minutes at a time, so, if you're learning new techniques, work on one thing for 20 minutes then switch to something else, then you can switch back again.
2. Develop "katas", or routines that incorporate as many moves as possible and then run through them over and over again while your main focus is elsewhere, watching TV for example. Essentially, make them into a habit.
3. Become part of a group. When you regularly meet with other magicians to show them your stuff, it inevitably creates an element of healthy competition which means that you will have increased motivation to improve faster. Plus, feedback and criticism are essential.
4. Set yourself targets, and write them down in a prominent place in your practice area. These need to be realistic, and very specific so you can be absolutely sure when you've hit them. Rather than "By the end of this week, I want to be better at the strike second deal", make your goal more detailed "By the end of this week I want to be able to deal continuous strike seconds to any number of players called for, while keeping a steady rhythm and without looking at my hands."
I've got a whole load of material on this on my old computer so I'll see if I can resurrect it. Anyway, hope some of this is helpful.
As regards practice, there is a massive amount of confusion and misinformation among even highly-respected magicians on this subject. I've seen a Eugene Burger video where he extensively extols the virtues of "conscious practice", saying that you need to set aside time for practice, and make sure that you're focussed and you know exactly what you want to achieve in that time. I interviewed him at Blackpool this year and asked him about this, querying whether that implied that having a deck of cards in your hand twenty hours a day and just playing with moves was not a worthwhile way to practice. His response was that whatever works for you is fine, it's all down to the individual. A response which, to my mind, made all his teaching on effective conscious practice redundant.
However, I have done some research on this, speaking to teachers in various fields and my findings are as follows:
1. You can't expect to concentrate fully on one thing for more than about 20 minutes at a time, so, if you're learning new techniques, work on one thing for 20 minutes then switch to something else, then you can switch back again.
2. Develop "katas", or routines that incorporate as many moves as possible and then run through them over and over again while your main focus is elsewhere, watching TV for example. Essentially, make them into a habit.
3. Become part of a group. When you regularly meet with other magicians to show them your stuff, it inevitably creates an element of healthy competition which means that you will have increased motivation to improve faster. Plus, feedback and criticism are essential.
4. Set yourself targets, and write them down in a prominent place in your practice area. These need to be realistic, and very specific so you can be absolutely sure when you've hit them. Rather than "By the end of this week, I want to be better at the strike second deal", make your goal more detailed "By the end of this week I want to be able to deal continuous strike seconds to any number of players called for, while keeping a steady rhythm and without looking at my hands."
I've got a whole load of material on this on my old computer so I'll see if I can resurrect it. Anyway, hope some of this is helpful.
If you can resurrect the rest of the information, please post it in the thread.. It sounds like good advice, and something that I (and plenty of others, I am sure) would benefit from. If it's a lot of info, it sounds like a 'sticky' to me.. something to refer beginners like myself to now and years down the road.
Idk if anyone does this but I find keeping a journal on the moves I am practicing very helpful. I know this is about mainly magic (the thread i mean) but I got De'vo's secret book and he talks about how he would keep a journal next to his bed incase he thought of anything. I find this very interesting because when I am laying inbed, about to fall asleep, is usually the time when my best thinking goes on lol. De' also mentioned that sometimes he would dream about xcm (weird eh?) and the notebook he kept was "dreams and nightmares" and one night he had a dream which turned out to be the secret to the demon clawz techinique.
So after that not so beautiful summarization of De'vo's out-landish obsession with XCM, my point is that keeping notes and the like is a very efficent way to track your progress and write down specific things you need to practice (ie- angle sensitivity) and even tips you have from yourself or other magicians on a specific sleight.
-Dan
So after that not so beautiful summarization of De'vo's out-landish obsession with XCM, my point is that keeping notes and the like is a very efficent way to track your progress and write down specific things you need to practice (ie- angle sensitivity) and even tips you have from yourself or other magicians on a specific sleight.
-Dan
I'm very much a beginner, but this is what I do:
As per many suggestions, I got a hold of Card College Vol. 1 and I am slowly working through the book. I read 4 or 5 principles (w/o skipping any, no matter how mundane), then put the book aside for a week and any free time I have, I work on those until they are second nature. Which means that for a week, I was practicing how to hold the deck. A la Crouching Tiger, "...but first you must learn to hold it in stillness." It takes time, but I think it's worth it.. I just started chapter 2.
Then, before I move on, I mentally review and practice all the principles I learned from the book as close to "in order" as I can. So every practice session starts with naming the parts of the hand, the deck, then the grips, etc.
Also, I practice three other maneuvers that I have learned. Namely, the Elmsley Count, the Classic Color Change, and the blind table riffle, which I do with a deck in "new deck" set-up and a ribbon spread after each shuffle to check for mistakes.
Not the right way for everyone, but my way. Open for suggestions as always.
(UnknownMagician93: I like the journal idea.. I might have to try that out..)
As per many suggestions, I got a hold of Card College Vol. 1 and I am slowly working through the book. I read 4 or 5 principles (w/o skipping any, no matter how mundane), then put the book aside for a week and any free time I have, I work on those until they are second nature. Which means that for a week, I was practicing how to hold the deck. A la Crouching Tiger, "...but first you must learn to hold it in stillness." It takes time, but I think it's worth it.. I just started chapter 2.
Then, before I move on, I mentally review and practice all the principles I learned from the book as close to "in order" as I can. So every practice session starts with naming the parts of the hand, the deck, then the grips, etc.
Also, I practice three other maneuvers that I have learned. Namely, the Elmsley Count, the Classic Color Change, and the blind table riffle, which I do with a deck in "new deck" set-up and a ribbon spread after each shuffle to check for mistakes.
Not the right way for everyone, but my way. Open for suggestions as always.
(UnknownMagician93: I like the journal idea.. I might have to try that out..)