Diabolo (play equipment)
Diabolo ( old Gr . Διαβάλλω diabállô "I throw over", from διαβάλλειν diabállein 'to throw together', 'to throw over ') is a piece of play equipment that can be juggled with .
description
It consists of a usually made of plastic , rubber or wood , more rarely also of metal or even glass -made double-cone or double-hemispherical shells (opening outward), which is connected in the center with a metal or wood axis. The diabolo is placed on a rope that is attached to two hand sticks at its ends. By moving the rope, the diabolo is set in rotation about its longitudinal axis. The gyroscopic movement stabilizes the diabolo, so that it can be thrown up and caught on the rope, thrown to other players or performed other tricks .
Throwing and catching high is one of the easier tricks with a diabolo. There are much more difficult ones. For example, you can play with several pellets (two to five) at the same time on one string.
There are different types of supplements for diabolos, such as: B. Weight sets that increase the diabolo weight, wide axes, ultra-light kits or additional LEDs that illuminate the diabolo.
Accessories and supplements
Various leading diabolo manufacturers offer a range of accessories and modifications in addition to the basic equipment diabolo, sticks and cord:
- Wide roller: An axle that is wider than the one originally installed. The length of the axis can vary from 5 mm to 35 mm. It is used to let the diabolo turn on the fingers and for less friction when "sliding" (let the diabolo turn on the stick).
- Wide hubs : A part that sits on both sides between the roller and the half-shell. Due to the increased width, the friction of the cord on the diabolo is reduced and the diabolo has a more stable run.
- Weights: Two metal rings that are built into the bowl of the pellet. They give the diabolo better guidance and smoother running. The weights can be from 6 g up to 12 g.
- Ultralight kits designed to reduce weight
- Light sets: battery-operated LEDs are built into one of the two or both shells of the diabolo. This can create interesting and exciting effects at night. Some types of diabolo also have translucent shells.
- Fire diabolos of metal. In each of the two conical halves there is a wick in the middle. This is usually soaked in paraffin , a liquid fuel or something similar and then ignited. Thus, impressive effects can be achieved in the dark.
- Diabolo sticks are usually made of wood, but are also made of aluminum, plexiglass or plastic reinforced with carbon or glass fibers .
- Line: There are a myriad of types of line, each with different levels of adhesion, which can have an extreme effect on the way you play. For example, it is very difficult to play with two diabolos when you are playing with a string that has very little adhesion. In addition, line is available in many colors that do not actually affect the way you play.
history
Finds from the Stone Age suggest that a game of this kind was known in prehistoric times (diabolo made of bone or wood, sticks made of wood, cord made of plant fibers, sinews). According to tradition, there was 1766 BC. Diabolo player in the Shang dynasty . The diabolo was introduced to Europe by the English ambassador to China , Lord George Macartney , at the time of Emperor Qianlong around 1794 . In France, where the game was particularly popular in the first half of the 19th century, it was called "le Diable" - the devil (because of the derivation of the word for "devil" in the Romance languages (Italian diavolo , Spanish diablo , French diable ) from the same Greek word as the game today it was also called “devil” in these countries). In China it is called Kouen-Gen (to whistle the bamboo) or (Dǒu) Kōng Zhú (empty (shaker) bamboo ( Chinese (斗) 空竹)) and was made of bamboo (diabolo like sticks) or chased metal (diabolo) . During the rotation in the air, the diabolo double cones or double discs made of bamboo whirred because of the speed and the holes on the outer edge. With the appropriate speed and construction, diabolos made of metal or plastic can also buzz. In Southeast and East Asia, creating a whirring sound is aimed at as the first learning goal before learning the actual art of playing. While double hollow bodies (cones, hemispheres) are used in Europe, double hollow disks on a slightly longer axis are preferred in China, also known as "Chinese yo-yo". At the beginning of the 20th century, the French publisher Gustave Philippart and the British Charles Burgess Fry created the word “diabolo”, under which the game became fashionable in Germany. In France, the diabolo game has since been reinvented. It was also widespread in Germany until the 1950s. It has been played more and more again since the 1980s.
The diabolo is also said to have been played by the Eskimos . They made the necessary utensils out of animal bones and tendons. Much of the historical information comes from Todd Strong's standard work.
Tricks and categories of tricks
Most people limit themselves to throwing the diabolo and catching it again. However, a multitude of different tricks are known in the diabolo scene. Probably the most famous and easiest trick is the so-called trapeze . The diabolo is swung around a hand stick so that it is wrapped up and caught on the string again. The different tricks are divided into different categories:
- Suns
Sun or world travel: tricks in which the diabolo is swung in a circle around or between the bars.
- String tricks
String Tricks: These tricks are used to create a pattern with the string while the diabolo is on it. These tricks are based strongly on the yo-yo.
- Body tricks and body combos
Body tricks: With these tricks, the diabolo is thrown or swung over or around different parts of the body such as the arm or leg.
- Suicides
So-called suicides: With these tricks, one or two rods are released and immediately caught again. There are various possibilities. The simplest is the Chinese Suicide . In this trick, you first perform the trapeze and then throw the loose stick around the other stick and catch it again. There is also the Integral Suicide . They are tricks that have become popular recently. The string is used to form a loop around the diabolo, on which the diabolo is held while the two rods rotate around the diabolo either in the same direction (normal) or in opposite directions ( butterfly ). With the Genocides , the diabolo leaves the string and is caught again by letting go of a stick and swinging it around the diabolo.
Playing styles
- Vertax
The diabolo is brought into a vertical position and thus kept in rotation by constant rotation of the body. Many tricks from the above categories are possible in vertical play. Tricks with two and three Vertax pellets are also possible (Alexis 123 Vertax).
- Several diabolos on a string
- low: the diabolos are thrown in a circle on top of each other due to their own weight. Again, many tricks from the above categories are possible. (Record: five diabolos “low” on a string, e.g. Robin Spinelli in The Black Sheep).
- high: the pellets are also thrown in a circle, but higher. In contrast to playing low, there is always only one diabolo on the string. Several pellets are possible. The record is five diabolos on stage, in training some artists are now playing 6 diabolos on a string.
See also
literature
- Todd Strong: Learning to play diabolo , Edition Aragon, Moers, (lots of information about the history of the game) ISBN 3-92469-054-5
- Ralf Runde: The big diabolo book. Over 100 tricks for beginners and advanced users . Dumont Literature and Art Verlag, Ostfildern 1993, ISBN 3-83213-120-5
- Ralf Runde: The big diabolo book . DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2000, ISBN 3-77013-120-7
Web links
- Diabolo Tricks (English)
- Diabolo Tricks (English)
- Diabolo instructions
- All about the topic
Individual evidence
- ↑ Diabolo - History ( Memento from April 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ chinalink.de: Folk arts and customs
- ↑ The game is z. B. Mentioned in "Die kleine Berlinerin" by Robert Walser (Sept. 1909, Neue Rundschau ): "Last year all children, including many adults, played diabolo".
- ↑ kupris.de: Diabolo ( Memento from October 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Todd Strong: Learning to play diabolo , Edition Aragon, Moers, (lots of information on the history of the game) ISBN 3-92469-054-5
- ↑ 6 Diabolo High - March 2019 (Current World Record). Retrieved on October 21, 2019 (German).