When you think about juggling, you’re probably imagining a circus or a talent show, a man with clown make-up and bowling pins – not a gladiatorial battle. But Combat Juggling is just that: a fight to the last person standing, or in this case, last person juggling. 

Combat Juggling transforms the rather benign skill of maintaining three objects in the air, into a team sport where members must stay juggling while destroying their opponent’s ability to do the same. Easy enough, right? 

Actually, the advent of Combat Juggling, as with any sport, has evolved to incorporate a litany of tactics, strategies and techniques to rack up points and secure wins. 

Read on to learn how juggling turned rugged!

How Combat Juggling Works

The basic rules of Combat Juggling are as follows: The players all begin juggling three clubs at the same time. Players are allowed to interfere with opponents’ juggling patterns, typically by launching one club high into the air to give the attacking player enough time to knock out one of the other player’s airborne clubs. To make things a bit more interesting, there are a variety of ways to play Gladiator.

Aggregated 5 on 5

Two teams, 5 players on each team. Three players from each team begin combat, with the remaining players entering upon their teammates’ elimination. When a team runs out of players, their opponent wins. 

Sumo Combat

5 minute rounds. Each team lines up outside a 10-foot-diameter circle (combat area). One player from each team enters the circle, losing only if they drop a club or get pushed out of the circle. This game mode is extra feisty because pushing with your body is allowed!

Breach

10 minute rounds. A team picks a player to protect, while he or she tries to cross the end line of the opponent’s field. If there’s a touchdown, they change position. The only way to win is by knocking the runner down. 

Zombie

5 players from each team. If you drop a club, then you’re a “zombie” (you can’t move your feet). But you can attack players in range, or assist other zombies by tossing them clubs to interfere with other opponents. 

360 Combat

This one’s got a bit more pizazz. 3 rounds, one minute each in one-on-one combat. The team that completes the most pirouettes wins. 

If this already sounds quite involved, buckle up because there are even more ways to play! 

How Combat Juggling Started

Contrary to popular reports that Combat Juggling (or “Gladiator,” as it is often called) was invented by Jason Garfield, it was most likely invented by the technical and comedy juggler, Edward Jackman. 

The earliest appearance of Combat Juggling occurred in 1970s Los Angeles, CA. As the story goes, Edward Jackman and his friend, 11-year-old Daniel Rosen, attended the 1976 IJA Festival. It was soon after this experience that Rosen would officially begin his juggling career. He later credited Edward Jackman as one of the original creators. 

Rosen said: “It was Edward and us (the Los Angeles juggling community) at UCLA when we were kids in the mid-70s. I left school and juggled there all day with him. He started Combat Juggling with me.”

While it has been disputed that Edward Jackman was the sole creator of Combat Juggling, it cannot be denied that he revolutionized and popularized the sport. Jackman turned Combat Juggling into a visually striking, competitive contact sport. He even got the World Juggling Federation to air Combat Juggling on ESPN3 !!!

The “Combat” of Juggling

This game probably wouldn’t have lasted as long as it has if you were allowed to physically injure your opponent. In the spirit of good jugglemanship (is that a word?) the act of “kicking, tripping, spitting, head butting, puking, or any body contact other than arm-to-arm” is strictly forbidden. 

So, no funny business! This is all very serious… 

Think you’re up for it? Grab a few pins and see what you’re made of!

The post The Wild Sport of Combat Juggling  first appeared on History In Memes.

Film animation, from Pixar to The Avengers, is so common within modern film that its novelty tends to wear off. It can be easy to forget that animation in its early forms was actually a marvel of ingenuity, timing and technological advancement. Most notably, rotoscope animation pushed the limits of what film and photography could become.

It depicts human experience (our thoughts, emotions and behaviors) through a combination of live-action and illustration, to make the artist’s vision a moving reality. Rotoscoping in many ways is the foundation of modern animation, a technique that, in its execution, can be difficult. But in principle, it is quite straightforward.

What is Rotoscoping? 

Rotoscoping is a technique used by animators to trace over motion picture footage. The artist will draw over the footage, frame by frame, to portray realistic movement and action when played through. 

This technique was invented by Polish-American animator Max Fleischer. In 1915, Fleischer invented this with the goal of creating animation that had more realistic movement and texture. He would project photographs of live-action onto a glass panel and trace over them. 

The rotoscope is the equipment he used to pull it off (see below).

A Breakthrough in Rotoscope Animation

Earlier forms of animation were more like herky-jerky drawings rather than the fluid movement seen in movies like in Disney’s first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

Early rotoscope animation really was a breakthrough because it allowed for more complex movements to be depicted, while saving a lot of time. Why? Because not everything had to be drawn by hand. 

Rotoscoping is also used in live-action films, when filmmakers create a matte to extract an object or individual from a scene so it can be used in a different background. Examples of this can be seen in films today like Guardians of the Galaxy or A Scanner Darkly.

Rotoscope is synonymous with Max Fleischer. He famously filmed his brother Dave dancing in a clown suit to capture the first rotoscoped cartoon ever: “Koko the Clown.”

This dancing clown was an animation marvel because Fleischer’s predecessors were never quite able to capture the realistic qualities of body movement, depth of field and dimensionality that he did with Koko. 

In this video you can see how realistic Koko’s movements are: 

Rotoscope Animation Today 

Fleischer’s patent expired in 1934, which meant that anyone and everyone was free to use his technique. Rotoscoping today has come a long way from tracing photos over glass. 

Now, there’s plenty of rotoscope animation software available for aspiring filmmakers and pros like James Gunn, who relied heavily on a real-life raccoon named Oreo to portray the precise movements of the raccoon in the film. 

This combination of live-action footage with rotoscoping techniques is where rotoscoping today is most commonly seen. Partial rotoscoping allows artists to use tracings from live- action footage and then supplement it with caricature drawings to exaggerate certain features and body movements. This enables them to create realistic animated characters while maintaining a unique drawing style. 

Early rotoscoping remains one of the most fascinating origins of modern film and illustration. The blending of drawing and live-action footage has helped create some of the most unique and powerful films to date!

The post Early Rotoscope Animation  first appeared on History In Memes.

Some things in life you need to see to believe. As World War 2 veteran and Staff Sergeant Leslie Edwards found out, a F-22 Raptor screaming over your head is one of those things.

A lot has changed since the planes of WWII ruled over the skies. Modern technology has changed the way aerial combat is fought. 

Let’s take a deeper look at the F-22 Raptor and how far fighter planes have come since WWII!

US Fighters of WW2

During WWII, the P51 Mustang was the US’s most dominant fighter plane. It performed incredibly and was said to have a 19-to-1 kill to losses ratio. In fact, the Senate War Investigating Committee even named it the most aerodynamically perfect pursuit plane during its existence.

With nearly 5,000 destroyed German planes to its credit, it has taken down more than any other US or Allied fighter. The P51 retired in 1951, making way for the next generation of aircraft. 

Tuskegee Airmen

SSgt. Edwards was part of a unit of African American military pilots called the Tuskegee Airmen. They were the first African Americans to complete training and join the Army Air Corps successfully. 

This remarkable group destroyed hundreds of German aircraft and ground support vehicles. They returned home with 96 distinguished flying crosses, 14 bronze stars, 744 air medals and at least 60 purple hearts.

The F-22 Raptor

When it comes to air superiority, the F-22 Raptor is unmatched. This fifth generation piece of art combines stealth, speed and situational awareness to dominate the air. It’s capable of both air-to-air combat and air-to-ground combat, making it one of the most versatile fighters in the world.

Capabilities of the F-22 Raptor

The F-22 can reach speeds up to Mach 1.8 and even Mach 2 with the afterburners. It can fly at 65,000 feet of elevation and can carry A LOT of weapons. 

The Raptor can outmaneuver any current or projected aircraft with its advanced thrust vectoring, aerodynamic design, and high thrust-to-weight ratio. Its supercruise capability allows it to travel at supersonic speeds without using afterburners. This permits the aircraft to maintain its pace over a tremendous range. 

The Cost of an F-22 Raptor

As you can imagine, these things don’t come cheap. The Raptor is one of the most expensive jets in the world with a price tag of roughly $120 million! The operating cost alone is enough to make your head spin at an estimated $68,362 per hour. 

However, even for those willing to spend the coin, the F-22 Raptor is not for sale. This aircraft is packed with classified technology! And in 1998, congress voted for an amendment that forbids it from being sold or exported to foreign countries.

Beyond the F-22 Raptor

If you want to dominate the air, a continued focus must be on future aircraft development. In 2020, the Air Force stated that it would look to begin retiring the F-22 Raptor to focus on its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. 

The budget space freed up in this move will allow the air force to focus on developing the warfighters of our future. 

Conclusion

Air dominance is a race of progress. The aircraft that soared over battlefields in WW2 vastly differ from the modern fighter jets that rule the skies today. And nobody can see that more clearly than the veterans that flew them!

The post WW2 Pilot First Time Seeing F-22 Raptor first appeared on History In Memes.

This past week, Twitter has been blowing up with this video of these Russian dancers seemingly floating across the stage. The dance group, known as the Berezka Dance Ensemble, appear on stage with huge dress skirts that completely cover their feet.

It’s as if their legs are not moving at all. Also, all the girls are perfectly in sync to the point that they don’t seem real, rather like life-like animatronics. And no one can seem to crack how the dancers are doing it! 

So let’s break down everything we know about this dance routine and the performing group. 

1. This group of folk female dancers are known as the Berezka Dance Ensemble.

2. The Berezka Dance Ensemble was founded in 1948.

Moree specifically, the dance was founded in the Soviet Union by long-time dancer and choreographer, Nadezhda Nadezhdina.

3. They’re performing the traditional dance of Berezka.

It’s not magic or a machine making them move so effortlessly and robotically. It’s actually just the dancers taking mini and quick steps, which are hidden by their huge dress skirts. This, combined with being completely in sync with one another, gives audiences the illusion that these dancers are floating on top of the stage.

4. This movement became the dance group’s trademark.

The “Berezka” dance is now an iconic move of this dance group. It is very hard to replicate and takes a lot of training to nail the move. 

5. The dance is a “secret of the firm.” 

When founder Nadezhda Nadezhdina was asked about how this technical dance is learned and perfected to create the floating illusion, she said: “That’s a secret of the firm.” 

She explained the technical side of the dance that is now known in the Soviet Union as the “Beryozka step.” However, she even expressed that not even all their dancers can do it.

“You have to move in very small steps on a very low half-toe with the body held in a certain corresponding position,” Nadezhda told the New York Times.

Yikes. While this dance sounds easy to perform – and many may think that the long skirts would help make the moves easier to execute – it is way more difficult than anyone expects. Once this video spread across the internet, people’s reactions were shocked, confused, and also hilarious.

Here’s some of funniest Twitter theories on what’s really going on during the dance number:

The post Are These Russian Dancers Floating? first appeared on History In Memes.

Nobody likes jumping off the high diving board at a pool. It’s daunting, scary high, you usually belly flop, and your stomach gets red – it’s just a scary mess.

But that wasn’t the case for Rick Winters. 

During the 1983 World Record High Dive Challenge, hosted at the San Diego SeaWorld, Rick set the world record as the first person to attempt to successfully dive from the height of 172 feet (52 m). The height of 172 feet was an increase from the year prior’s world record. The 1982 high dive challenge height was 170 feet, which five divers attempted.

Even crazier – Rick Winters wasn’t the only preson to break this high dive world record that day! That’s right, Rick Winters was one of SIX divers that day! 

So, let’s dive in and check out these 6 daredevil record breakers!

First up, Rick Winters:

Following Rick Wniters was Rick Charls.

Looks like it was a big day for people named Rick!

Following the Ricks, two more divers attempted the record breaking dive.

The divers, Bruce Boccia and Mike Foley, both successfully completed the dive that day. 

Dana Kunze, who was 22 years old at the time, followed with the most impressive dive of the day.

Dana was already world champion high dive. He used his skills to his advantage to complete this insane and incredibly difficult dive in terms of execution. 

After Dana’s dive, things took a turn when Pat Picard attempted the final dive of the event.

Unfortunately, it did not go well. It’s hard to watch, but you can see for yourself here around the 26 minute mark:

Want to watch more cool history videos? Check them out here on our website!

The post Would You Dive From 172 Feet? This Guy Did! first appeared on History In Memes.

We all know that medieval armor was designed to protect knights in battle. But did you know that it was also surprisingly flexible? Thanks to a combination of innovative design and skilled craftsmanship, gothic armor from the 15th century was both strong and flexible, allowing knights to move freely and fight effectively.

Put on Little Dark Age and let’s take a closer look at the design of this flexible gothic armor!

This gothic armor originates from German-speaking areas of Europe during the 15th century. The armor got coined as “gothic” because the armor style was similar to the gothic style of the architecture built. Gothic suits have distinct design features that set it apart from other armor. It has a more symmetrical, slender, and elegant look than other armor during that time period.

Unlike earlier types of armor, which were designed primarily for strength, gothic armor was designed with both strength and flexibility in mind. One of the key features of gothic armor was the use of lames, or narrow metal plates, which were riveted together to form a flexible shell. This allowed for a much greater range of motion than previous types of armor while still providing ample protection.

In addition to lames, gothic armor also featured articulated joints, which further increased its flexibility. Articulated joints are basically hinges that allow different parts of the armor to move independently from one another. This means that a knight wearing gothic armor could swing his arms and legs freely without having to worry about the rest of his armor getting in the way.

The next time you’re watching a medieval movie or TV show and you see a knight clanking around in his heavy armor, remember that it wasn’t always like that! Thanks to the innovative design of 15th century gothic armor, knights were able to move much more freely than ever before. So next time you’re feeling weighed down by your own personal armor (whether that be your job, your relationships, etc.), just remember that it could be worse — you could be wearing full plate mail!

Not only can you still buy this style of armor online, but it is also up for display at museums like THE MET.

Want to read about more unique and innovative battle tools? Click here to read about the inflatable tanks WW2 soldiers used to defeat the Nazis!

The post The Surprising Flexibility of 15th Century Gothic Armor first appeared on History In Memes.

In the annals of television history, there are few commercials that are as famous — or as polarizing — as the infamous “Screaming Kid” ad. First aired in 2004, the ad features a young boy in a grocery store who starts having a full-blown temper tantrum and screaming at the top of his lungs. The ad’s tagline: “Use Condoms.”

The commercial was an instant sensation, and to this day people still talk about how shocking and funny it was. But what made this commercial so effective? And why did it cause such a stir? Let’s take a closer look.

The Ad Itself

Imagine you’re watching a football game and it cuts to a commercial break. The tv ad that plays is a little kid and his dad at the grocery store shopping. The little boy keeps throwing candy into their cart and the dad puts it back. Little Timmy starts screaming, throwing a tantrum, and everyone in the store is giving the parent the side eye. Pretty typical situation that we’ve all seen play out IRL multiple times.

Could be anything from promoting candy to grocery stores, to a PSA about healthy eating or having patience as a parent. But it is none of the above. The ad is promoting condoms.

Yup, the ad is promoting wearing rubbers to prevent having kids! In particular, an ad to prevent having screaming kids.

The Ad’s Impact

When this ad first aired, it caused quite a bit of controversy. Some people found it to be humorous and clever, while others thought it was crass and offensive. It was even banned in Europe! However, there’s no denying that the ad was successful in getting people talking about Zazoo condoms.

It is pretty genius marketing if you think about it: Show the most stressful situation that you can be in – especially in a public setting with all the attention on you – and give the solution to prevent that situation from happening.

Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that the “Screaming Kid” ad was successful in getting people talking about Zazoo condoms. If you’re looking for an attention-grabbing way to advertise your product or service, you could do worse than taking a page from this company’s playbook.

Watch the ad and make sure you wrap it up to not get caught up in all the crying and screaming

Click here to watch more history videos!

The post Why This Condom Ad Was Banned in Europe first appeared on History In Memes.

Michael Jackson, better known as “The King of Pop,” celebrated the 30 year anniversary of his solo career in 2001 with a star-studded concert special. MJ was joined on stage by famous names from the early 2000s and beyond. However, one of the more noteworthy (and iconic) moments of the two-night special was when comedian Chris Tucker and R&B Prince, Usher, joined MJ on stage during his performance of ‘You Rock My World.’

The King of Pop performed a two hour concert special at Madison Square Garden on September 7 and 10, 2001. The recorded show was later aired on CBS. The concert special was in celebration of Michael’s 30th year as a solo performer. The special was a combination of both nights’ performances and was watched by 30 million viewers when it was broadcasted.

Both nights featured A-list guests, who introduced or performed alongside Michael. These star-studded guests included Marc Anthony, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears and Missy Elliot. But MJ’s second night gave the world an unforgettable closing performance.

Comedian Chris Tucker and R&B artist Usher came out to dance with Michael during his closing song, ‘You Rock My World.’

Usher came out moonwalking and kept up dancing with MJ from there. And Chris, well, he tries his best to give a solid impression of some signature Michael moves. MJ’s reaction to the comedian’s attempts are priceless.

Click here to watch more history videos!

The post Watch MJ’s Epic 2001 Dance-Off first appeared on History In Memes.

A short clip depicting Balo Picasso as he draws on portrait on a white canvas background

The post [Video] Pablo Picasso at work, 1956 first appeared on History In Memes.

A group of Capuchin Monks walking in Italy during the late 1800s

The post Capuchin Monks in Italy, 1898 [VIDEO] first appeared on History In Memes.