|
|
epsilon97
Regular user
105 Posts
|
Posted: May 5, 2012 10:19am
I have just started learning coin sleight of hand, and I have noticed that my hands seem stiff, inflexible, and sore at times. Do you guys know of any exercises or warmups I could do to get my hands in better shape?
|
ottphd
Regular user
182 Posts
|
Posted: May 5, 2012 10:24am
You might want to visit your local golf store and pick up a Grip Master to work the muscles in your hands. I use it all the time.
Just my thoughts!
Jim
http/www.jimsmagicshop.com
|
Atom3339
Inner circle
2180 Posts
|
Posted: May 5, 2012 10:45am
Well, as a piano instructor, I'm going to suggest---you guessed it---piano lessons!
TH
Occupy Your Dream
|
Angel1998
Regular user
Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam
138 Posts
|
Posted: May 5, 2012 11:16am
Check this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRF4EICO2G0 . More information here: http://www.handhealth.com/
"Learn, learn more, learn forever"
Lenin
|
Lawrens Godon
Special user
chalon sur saone / france
850 Posts
|
Posted: May 5, 2012 11:25am
Try this : http://bit.ly/ILPyQM
website
Contact Juggling
Cups and Balls
Linking Rings
|
cablerock
Veteran user
350 Posts
|
Posted: May 5, 2012 11:54am
I have a lot to contribute to this. I'll chime in a bit later today or something and talk about this.
|
Atom3339
Inner circle
2180 Posts
|
Posted: May 5, 2012 12:00pm
Also, tension in your hand may be related to tension elsewhere. Make sure your shoulders are relaxed---many of us hold our stress there; and that your arms are not strained. A friend can help point these things out to you, as this type of strain can be unconscious and even a habit. And pamper your hands. Use hand cream, even if you haven't up 'til now. Rubbing the cream into your hands will help find any strain and massage it away. I tell my students, "If something HURTS, you're doing it WRONG."
TH
Occupy Your Dream
|
critter
Inner circle
Spokane, WA
2334 Posts
|
Posted: May 5, 2012 11:15pm
You might try this:
http://ironmind-store.com/Strong-Hands-Healthy-Hands-Booklet/productinfo/1428-C/
And these:
http://ironmind-store.com/Expand-Your-Hand-Bands153-10-Bands/productinfo/1376/
Although you can do this exercise with ordinary rubber bands, these have progressive resistence to a very strong level.
DO NOT rush it with these as it can hurt your hands to go straight for the biggest band.
What's good about these is that they can help to correct strength imbalances by working your hands in the opposite manner than they normally work.
Wrist rolls are good too, as are those metal Chinese dexterity balls.
I throw stuff.
Follow Critter on Twitter: @Critterdun
Ichi-go ichi-e
"Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage."
-Theodore Roosevelt
|
harris
Inner circle
Harris Deutsch
6115 Posts
|
Posted: May 9, 2012 11:33am
If all else fails.
a. check with a physician
b. check with a physical therapist
c. check with a chiropractor.
As I get older, my hands, especially fingers react differently than they did when I started my journey of coin magic.
Trigger finger (clicking and pain) sometimes occurs when I play a stringed instrument or practice magic for a long time. Things that have worked for me include:
a. massage
b. putting water in a bowl, adding ice cubes and soaking my hands for a while.(if you let the ice cubes sit in the water, it will quickly become to cold to have your hands in for very long.
c. stretching
Harris
not a medical doctor, just a doctor of laughology
Harris Deutsch
aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com
music, magic and marvelous toys
http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u
|
MaxfieldsMagic
Inner circle
Instead of practicing, I made
1964 Posts
|
Posted: May 14, 2012 2:23pm
My guitar teacher once advised me to submerge my hands for a few moments in a basin of warm water before picking up the guitar, followed by a good scrub. It helped to limber up the fingers a bit, plus kept the strings (or props, in respect to magic) clean and new.
I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
|
alibaba
Loyal user
Hawaii
280 Posts
|
Posted: May 14, 2012 2:45pm
I, too, had a music teacher (5-string banjo) who recommended placing my hands up to the wrists in a bowl of water as hot as you can stand it for about five minutes. This technique was used by the wonderful pianist Glenn Gould before recording or performing. -Alibaba
I'm as real as you think I am
|
critter
Inner circle
Spokane, WA
2334 Posts
|
Posted: May 14, 2012 3:06pm
In one Iron Palm Gung-fu book I read, the author recommends putting your hands in cold water, and then starting a slow trickle of hot water as you swirl your hands.
I don't know about all of his esoteric arguments for it, but I am a big believer in cryotherapy.
I throw stuff.
Follow Critter on Twitter: @Critterdun
Ichi-go ichi-e
"Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage."
-Theodore Roosevelt
|
BuddhaStephy
New user
Nevada USA
79 Posts
|
Posted: May 14, 2012 5:07pm
As a Massage Therapist (13 years)/Piano Player (25 years)/phtogrpher/graphic designer (14 years)/ magician (6 years), I use my hands A LOT! I have also had 2 surgeries on my wrist and have learned many things to keep my hands healthy through all of this.
1) Stetch! Stretch! Stretch!
Here are a few:
Put your hands in prayer position in front of your chest, keeping your palms pressed together, slowly push your hands down towards the ground keeping your fingers pointed to the sky. Hold. Now with this same postion seperate your palms keeping your fingers pressed together and push further stretching your fingers.
Grip around your fingers of your left hand with your right hand. Straighten your left hand so that your elbow is facing the ground and your right hand ar pulling your fingers towards your body. Hold. Repeat with the other hand.
In front of your stomach put the tops of your hands together so that your wrists are touching and your fingers are pointed towrds the ground. Keeping your wrists together push your hands up toward the sky. You can also do this by placing your left plam on top of your right hand and cupping your fingers around your right. Push your hand down feeling the stretch in your wrist. Do this to the other hand.
MASSAGE:
Lotion your hands- make a fist with your left hand. Grip each finger of your right hand individually at the base of the finger between your thumb and curled first finger. Sqeeze tightly and work your way up the finger to the tip. If you feel pressure at the tip of your finger from the blood in your finger than you are doing it right.
Use your knuckles to massage and push pressure points on the plams of your hands.
CONTRASTING HYDROTHERAPY:
Take two bowls of water. One as hot as you can stand it and the other as cold as you can get it filled with water AND ice cubes.
start by submerging your hand in the hot water. Then switch to the cold. You want to go back and forth at least 8 times, starting with hot and end with cold. You want to do a ratio of 3:1. For example- 20 seconds hot to 1 minute cold or 1 minute hot to 3 minutes cold.
This will cause vasodilation and constriction. Basically, it opens and closes your blood vesslels to pump the blood in and out of your hands. This increases circulation and as a result will increase mobility, flexibility, and also will help to flush out all built up toxins in your hands that are causing tension and trigger points.
Stregnthing exercises:
Piano lessons will help, so will stress balls and rubberbands. Try massaging your wifes/girlfriends shoulders or feet every day for longer durations each day. This is the ultimate exercise... and earns you brownie points. She doesn't have to know why you are doing 
You can also press your thumb and your first finger together then switch to thumb and middle finger, then thumb and ring finger, etc. once you get to your pinky, go back to your ring finger and back down to where you started. Press hard and start slow. As you strengthen your fingers and increase your coordination you will get faster and more accurate with your movements. This will, like I said increase strength but also helps with your control and coordination.
I have many, many more. So, if you would like some more, let me know Good luck!!!
preceptmagic.com
Serious Tools For Serious Magicians
|
MaxfieldsMagic
Inner circle
Instead of practicing, I made
1964 Posts
|
Posted: May 14, 2012 8:30pm
Great suggestions, BuddhaStephy. Sounds like you might have enough material to publish a book or an ebook on this, given your background. Was your wrist surgery related to your piano playing?
I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
|
BuddhaStephy
New user
Nevada USA
79 Posts
|
Posted: May 14, 2012 10:45pm
Thanks. When I did massage I actually specialized in sports, injury, rehab, and deep tissue. When your hands are your tools you take care of them. I also taught anatomy/physiology and massage modalitlies including classes to maintain yourself and use proper body mechanics which included hand and wrist maintenance.
My wrist surgeries were from cysts that develpoed in my wrist and 10 years later came back.
Playing the piano actually really helps with flexibility, strength, control, and circulation. I don't think I would have made it 13 years as an MT without the conditioning I had from the piano. Actually, the average career for a full time therapist that is as hard on their hands as I was in my chosen field only lasts about 5 years before they blow their thumbs out or damage their hands. I was lucky and retired with very little damage... because I took care of them very well
I never really thought about how this topic could help magicians condition until this thread.
Hmmm.... I may see at least a pamphlet or an instructional video in the future on this topic.
Do you all think that this is something that would be of interest to enough magicians to be worth investing in?
preceptmagic.com
Serious Tools For Serious Magicians
|
MaxfieldsMagic
Inner circle
Instead of practicing, I made
1964 Posts
|
Posted: May 15, 2012 10:08am
Yes, definitely.
You might want to see what's out there now, though, if you haven't already. In particular, Greg Irwin's book and DVDs have been marketed to magicians in the past:
http://www.amazon.com/Finger-Fitness-Complete-Hand-Workout/dp/B0018TKP7K
http://www.amazon.com/Finger-Fitness-The-Advanced-Guide/dp/B005I4UZ80
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/finger_fitness.html
I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
|
Angel1998
Regular user
Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam
138 Posts
|
Posted: May 18, 2012 2:39am
Greg Irwin is one of the best Hand Therapist. You should do all exercises daily and about 2 months. You will amaze about your fingers 
"Learn, learn more, learn forever"
Lenin
|
Daniel Hatter
New user
11 Posts
|
Posted: May 18, 2012 11:55am
I can only second that, I got his book and DVD, and been exercising for about 2 weeks. When I started I couldn't bend my little finger without bending the ring finger too. And even after this short time I see great improvement in single finger movement.
And the best part is you can do the excercises anywhere ( I do mine while on the bus, or on the bike in the gym).
Just try it, it really helps a lot more than you'd expect.
Daniel
|
billmarq
Elite user
but still a novice after
407 Posts
|
Posted: May 20, 2012 2:28am
Many years ago on his Magicland TV show, Mark Wilson demonstrated a couple of finger exercises. One of them was to practice crossing your fingers every way posssible, i.e. first over second, second over first, etc. With average dexterity the only one that is really difficult is crossing the little finger over the third. In my youth I was able to do these things. Stretching exercises such as described above were needed to make it happen.
If you are wondering, Mark did not reveal any secrets, just talked about magicians needing flexibilty in the hands.
So much magic, so little time.
|
jackbp
New user
57 Posts
|
Posted: Jan 8, 2013 3:01am
Daniel, did you have to do all of the moves on Greg's DVD everyday to get the significant improvement you mentioned or did you focus on just a couple of different moves each day?
|
Mano
Special user
938 Posts
|
Posted: Jan 8, 2013 11:09am
Quote:
|
On 2012-05-18 02:39, Angel1998 wrote:
Greg Irwin is one of the best Hand Therapist. You should do all exercises daily and about 2 months. You will amaze about your fingers :D
|
|
I second that,buy Greg's latest DVD and this Baby here: http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Workbook-Self-Treatment/dp/1572243759 and you're good to go for the time you have left in this planet, just check the session on the elbow,forearm, and hand pain, for any pain related. this book is the closest thing to a miracle, actually this book can change your life.
Have a Happy New Year Everyone.
Mano Tejeda
|
mindpirate
New user
Northern Virginia
69 Posts
|
Posted: Jan 10, 2013 1:52pm
Lots of really good information here. I have to looks at some things I have not seen before. As a professional musician, and music teacher the thing I really try to get across with my students is to be relaxed. Being nervous about what you are doing causes tension in the hands. Practicing with tension causes errors in technique, and possible problems with other techniques down the road. If it hurts, stop. Take a significant break. The ability to do some of these things, magic or music, do not develop overnight. Spend the time focusing on making sure things are being done properly, and let your hands/fingers build up the strength/agility/stamina to do it over time.
~MindPirate~
It can not be...and yet...it can
- Tommy Wonder
|
Hare
Loyal user
213 Posts
|
Posted: Jan 10, 2013 2:32pm
Patience is your biggest friend when it comes to any dexterious hand pursuit. The more skills you develop doing different things, the more it will help you be able to accomplish more.
As a full time cartoonist with Disney, a guitar instructor, and an amateur coin magician, I find that these various skills all help one another. Guitar requires the most physical skill. The drawing is more about getting your brain and hand working as one, and remembering what things ought to look like. Coin magic is a little of both, and it takes real time to become adept and comfortable at it.
Try mixing up your practicing holds and moving the coin around, and don't just repeat one thing too much. The real "magic" happens not in the hold or in the final destination of the coin- it's those moments between- when the coin is moving and stuff like what they describe as a "fingertip rest" is happening that you need to be equally comfortable and familiar with.
Turn "practice" into a "habit" that you do in your downtime moments- walking down the street- at lunch- whilst watching tv. Don't consider it formal practice, think of it as what you do when you are relaxing....it's smoking without the negative side effects!
I typically always have three soft matching Morgans in a pocket- pants, robe or jacket. I always use the mirror in any bathroom, at home or away. My jacket allows palming to backpalming anywhere I am. I often drive with a coin palmed.
That is, in my opinion, the most wondrous thing about coin magic- you can polish your skills more than any other magical art, more than playing an instrument, (except maybe your voice). Coin hand magic requires no props other than you and a coin or two, and frankly, great coin work is more amazing to me still, after 40 years of practicing it, than any big illusion that takes a truck and stage.
Good luck- coin stuff is worth the efforts!
"Better described in The Amateur Magician's Handbook"
|
Philip Busk
Regular user
116 Posts
|
Posted: Jan 10, 2013 8:44pm
This is a great thread with excellent advice.
Philip Busk
|
jackbp
New user
57 Posts
|
Posted: Jan 15, 2013 4:04am
I've been doing 3 or 4 Greg Irwin excersices twice a day for a month now and have already noticed a difference, plus you can do them when you'd otherwise be doing nothing (i.e. sitting in traffic). Keeping a coing close to hand (pun intended) to practice holding a classic palm regularly will also help develop the right muscles.
|
ljsviol
Loyal user
246 Posts
|
Posted: Jan 15, 2013 11:10am
You might also consider practicing sleights related to other types of magic. For example, in addition to practicing with coins, I do some one-handed cuts with a pack of cards (the type that really stretch your hand out, or require some careful finger positioning) and one-handed shuffles, that sort of thing. I found some billiard ball sleights (ball roll and some shell manipulations) exercise my hands in a different way, as well.
My idea here is like doing calisthenics - trying to exercise the hand in many different ways, to increase strength and flexibility.
And of course, it feeds my OCD compulsion to be doing something with my hands ... -)
Larry
|
madelaine
New user
87 Posts
|
Posted: Jan 15, 2013 11:38pm
Great page to find...thanks folk!
|
| The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Nothing up my sleeve... » » Exercises for Hands |
|
|
