How to do a 360, 720, 1080 and More...

by Crazy Ivan

It's among the first moves we teach in the world of Myachi.  It's one of the most familiar and most recognizable moves in the game.  It's one of the most common moves that you'll see done and it's also one of the most common moves you'll see done incorrectly.

The 360 is a relatively simple move to learn if you know how to do it.  Adding rotations is one of the most common and rewarding challenges in the game and it's also a great way to master your split second catch as well as building up some incredible hand speed.

But it's also really easy to do this move incorrectly.  Far too few people just toss the Myachi up in the air, swing their hand in a quick circle and then catch it, calling the move they just did a 360.

But for a true 360, your hand must go around the Myachi.  It's not enough just to move your hand in a tight circle as the Myachi is in the air; your hand must actually orbit around the sack so that it is left of, above, right of and finally below the Myachi.

So let's start with the basics.  Begin with the Myachi in Lotus Position on your strong hand.  Toss the Myachi about a foot to eighteen inches in the air and be careful to make sure that throw goes straight up and comes straight back down.  Just try that a few times, trying to keep the toss at the same height every time.

Once you're getting that consistently, you're ready to do the actual 360.  The key on this move, more than any other, is to separate the motions.  Toss up just like you did before and make sure that Myachi is going straight up before you circle around it.

Notice the arrow there.  It goes up a bit and then makes the circular motion.  That is exactly what you want your hand to do.  You want it to go straight up (the throw) and then around (the 360).  You should have more than enough time to get around the sack and be ready for the catch.

It's important to separate these motions as well.  In all there are three steps to the 360 and they should all be done consecutively (and separately):

1. The Throw
2. The Circle
3. The Catch

For many people, the hardest part of this move is slowing their hand down for the catch.  Your hand will have to be moving quickly to get around in time, but you'll want it to be moving nice and slow as you make the catch.  This transition between fast and slow is the most common stumbling block in this move.

But that's pretty easy.  Heck, you could probably learn that move and have it mastered in the time it took me to write the first part of this article.  The real trick is when you start pushing it for multiple rotations.  For most people the 360 is pretty easy.  The 720 is pretty tough.  The 1080 is super tough.  Anything higher will require some serious effort and practice.

Again, remember that your hand must completely circle the Myachi in every rotation.  A 720 with a brief wiggle of the wrist at the end is not a 1080.  You must get a full orbit on every circle for the move to count.

The first thing you'll need to do is maximize the time you get in the toss.  Normally, you could just toss higher if you needed more time for a move, but since your hand has to move over the top of the Myachi in this trick that option is off the table.  If you throw too high, you won't be able to circle it at all.

Instead, you'll want to add height to the bottom of the toss.  That might sound ridiculous at first, but the picture below will show you exactly what I mean:

Notice that in this pic my hand is only about 6 or 8 inches off the ground.  For a 360 I would just throw from waist high, but for the higher rotation moves I have to start and end really close to the ground.  This allows for a lot more time going around the Myachi.  Obviously if you're throwing from a few feet lower, you have that much more time to circle the Myachi.

When I go for high rotations, I lock my wrist and spin at the elbow, but many players have more luck by keeping their wrists loose and using them to augment the circular motion.  Try this both ways and see what works for you.  Just remember, if there's any question in your mind as to whether or not you got all the way around the Myachi, odds are that you didn't.

You'll want to move through the ranks in order.  No reason to try a 1440 before you've hit the 720.  So as soon as you master one move, it's time to work on the next one.  Got the 720?  Time to work the 1080.  Got the 1080?  Time to work on that 1440.  Got the 1440?  Ice down that arm and get ready for the 1800.

Remember that height does really come into play on this move.  It's all but impossible to do a 1440 if you're under five feet tall.  Somebody who is Kid Myach sized (really tall) will have more time to make their rotations than somebody Pinky sized (really small).  The important thing when you go for the high numbers is to fully extend your arm at the top of the throw.

That being said, I have no doubt that eventually someone will crack the 2160 barrier and hopefully someday 8 or even 9 rotations will be commonplace amongst experienced jammers.  Until that day, focus on crisp, quick motions.

And like every move, you need to learn this one on both hands.  It will also help to learn to go clockwise and counterclockwise with both hands.  A person who has mastered the 720 both ways with both hands has opened up at least 26 tricks that I can think of:

1. The 360
2. Reverse 360
3. Weak hand 360
4. Weak hand Reverse 360
5. 720
6. Reverse 720
7. Weak Hand 720
8. Reverse Weak Hand 720
9. Wolverine
10. Double Wolverine
11. Reverse Wolverine
12. Double Reverse Wolverine
13. Sonic
14. Double Sonic
15. Reverse Sonic
16. Double Reverse Sonic
17. Butterfly
18. Reverse Butterfly
19. Double Butterfly
20. Double Reverse Butterfly
21. Alternating 360s (Strong -> Weak)
22. Alternating 360s (Weak -> Strong)
23. 360 Rewind
24. Reverse 360 Rewind
25. Weak-Hand 360 Rewind
26. Reverse Weak-Hand 360 Rewind

...not bad for a days work.

PS If you think of any other derivatives of these moves, leave them in the comments section and I'll add them to the list.  Thanks!