Begining to Practice New Tricks

Having just returned to the US from my two semesters of studying (plus one summer of working/studying) in China, I find myself with a little more than a week of downtime before my fall quarter classes start. Trapped in Northern Minnesota, with none of my old friends up here in this barren wilderness of a landscape called Duluth, I find myself needing something to fill my time. This need, combined with my desire to actually become a proficient juggler, had lead me to the realization that I should practice. Let's just do a review: Arriving in Minnesota on Sunday I was able to fairly reliable do:
-3 ball cascade
-reverse cascade (plus all the little variations, like juggler's tennis)
-3 ball shower (only on my right)
-mill's mess
-one behind the back (on both sides)
-two ball multiplex behind the back (only on my right)
-a trick that I like to call "My Hands are Faster than Gravity", which is really a three ball multiplex behind my back
-flash 3 balls

And these are the tricks that I would consider to be works in progress at the time I arrived in Duluth:
-flash 3 balls 180 turn
-two ball multiplex behind the back on my left
-5 ball cascade
-3 balls in one hand

Since arriving in Duluth I have watched some excellent videos online (primarily Oli's videos of the Japanese Jugglers) which have inspired me to learn some new tricks. This, combined with getting on EHow/ExpertVillage/Youtube for some nice juggling tutorials has propelled me into a new phase of juggling. Now I practice. Before I played for fun. Now I want to really improve. Watching the smoothness of the Japanese jugglers in really inspiring, and I realize that although I am still a novice, many new tricks are within my reach if I just put in a bit of effort to practice them.

Since arriving in Duluth I have started learning:
-Chops
-Japanese back toss (a move from about 4:14 of the video Japanese Jugglers 3)
-3 ball shower in my left hand
-4 ball shower in my right hand
-Oli's behind the neck toss (I am not sure what to call this, but I consider it to be almost his signature move. I've got a video of him doing his stuff)


Today was my first day to do chops. I do it very sloppily, without much hard, fast emphasis on the chopping motion, but it is a start. With a move as easy as this, I should have it down decently before I head back to Kalamazoo (next Wednesday is when I leave Duluth). The same for the 4 ball shower. I had never tried it before, but I apparently it is just within my ability, so I should have that down okay soon too. The Japanese back toss and a shower from my left hand are a little but harder for me, and they will take some time to blend together with other moves, but it shouldn't not be terribly difficult. Oli's behind the neck toss is one of the harder ones, and I am just working with one ball for now, trying to get my throws accurate. My goal for tomorrow is to get chops better, and the be able to do the 4 ball cascade for about 10 seconds or so.

Here is my latest inspiration: