'Combat Juggling' Is Not Only a Real Thing, But Its Intensity Is Also Annoying Traditional Jugglers (Video)

Combat Juggling Anyone who has ever invented a game in their backyard or basement and then played it to the point of creating an entire imaginary tournament has dreamed of the day that their “sport” would become real.

Jason Garfield has seen such a dream come true.

Garfield, who founded the World Juggling Federation, recently treated the folks at BuzzFeed to an explanation of combat juggling, which is as good as its name sounds. While normal juggling is entertaining in a neat kind of way, combat juggling takes it to the next (read: awesome) level.

In combat juggling, jugglers not only have to keep their pins flipping at all times but also have to move to knock their opponents’ pins from the air. This involves batting, diving and a good bit of contact. A birthday party this is not.

Garfield established Major League Combat in 2010 to formalize combat juggling games, according to BuzzFeed, and ESPN even streamed a recent competition. Combat juggling can involve several different types of competition, such as sumo combat (two competitors juggling within a sumo circle), 360-degree combat (competitors spinning around in place while combat juggling) and zombie combat (different team members being “frozen” at different levels if their pins get knocked away).

Garfield also has a site where he shows off his juggling skills.

While combat juggling is no doubt awesome for those who have found that they’re way better at, say, through-the-legs, behind-the-back H-O-R-S-E than normal basketball, Garfield has also received some pushback for the new sport.

“Garfield says that in addition to trying to win over skeptics who assume that the idea of athletic juggling is a joke, he also fights traditionalists within the juggling community who believe Combat undermines the nature of juggling by making it a competition,” Logan Rhoades of BuzzFeed writes. “He thinks anyone who finds juggling uncompetitive is kidding themselves: ‘It’s hard not to be competitive in juggling. You want to be recognized. The reason [jugglers] work so hard is they want to show off.'”

Check out the non-joking jugglers in the video below from the competition that streamed on ESPN.