be a proficient poi spinner

One trick I’ve never been able to do was the one handed butterfly, where you transition a normal butterfly from the regular position of one poi in each hand, to having both poi held in a single hand, and keep the two poi spinning in opposite directions.

I picked up some sock poi on Khaosan Road within the first moments of arriving in Bangkok however, which allowed me to play around with some tricks that were a bit more difficult with normal, corded poi as the sock styles don’t tangle up as badly when you mess up. So I on a whim I tried the transition to one hand, and while it didn’t work first time, it clearly got close enough I could see that with a bit of practice, I could get it to happen.

A week later, and I can do it pretty much consistently! And, half the time I can get back to two hands – so, not perfect, but hell, good enough to impress people – including myself.

Having spent a weekend around people doing Poi kind of put things in perspective as to how good I am.

Now, there is no doubt that I’m better by far then anyone without any training/practice, but at the same time when you see proffessionals doing insane things with easy, I see I still have a long way too go.

Now, that’s not a bad thing, far from it – now I can watch these people performing with a much more critical eye then I could with out the hours of practice I’ve done, I can actually see the way some of the more complex moves fit together, and how I can link simpler moves into much more impressive forms.

So I have a good basis now to improve what I can do already, rather then just reading books on it.

It’s been a while since I’ve added a new trick to my Poi moves, mostly focusing on tidying up the moves I already have. But I spent some of my holiday time outside practicing an “Under the Legs Butterfly” – Which involves spinning a normal butterfly in front of you, and on the down beat moving both hands under your legs, doing a circle behind your legs/back and then back out under your legs to continue the normal butterfly.

It’s pretty tricky to keep in flow, so I haven’t perfected this yet – I can do it with one Poi, left or right, without trouble, but doing both at the same time I need to work on.

Still, nice to know that there is something else I can show off with – particularly since its a trick you wouldn’t normally see a newbie trying out, so even less practiced Poi spinners should be impressed.

I’ve uploaded a few pictures of me spinning Poi that my sister took the other week – nothing at all fancy, and I was a bit hung over at the time…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63857441@N00/tags/poi/

Still, I like them all the same.

I nearly went to the Park to do some Poi yesterday, but it was raining – still, I promised my brother I’d go do some when I was on the phone to him, so, since when it got a bit brighter I went out into the back street, and did a bit of practice for about 10 minutes.

It was pretty quiet, but I did notice one lady up the street who was outside having a crafty fag by her gate decided to sweep up her spot beyond the gate to get a crafty look at what I was doing. – It does look a bit odd, not the sort of thing you normally see down the back streets in Warrington.

Spring is nearly here, so I need to dust of my poi and get outside to practice for a month or so before I take the plunge and get myself a set of fire poi. I know I’m comfortable enough with a healthy set of moves to be able to pull of a succession of moves without risking (to much) burning myself, and I know which things I certainly shouldn’t try because I have a tendancy to get tangled up.

My plan now is, 4 weeks practice with normal poi, 2 weeks practice with new fire poi unlit – to get used to their weight – then ready to start burning them in May and into the festival season.

It would be nice to actually have the fire poi now, as it would be a bit more motivation given the rather dubious weather right now, but it’s nearly spring, so hopefully things will turn to sun (Or at least dry) soon enough.

I’ve become pretty “okay” spinning Poi recently, I can pull of most of the basic moves in a smooth flow, and sound like I know what I’m doing by throwing off random names for moves I know from reading some websites. But now I’m sort of stuck, I’ve learnt all the moves I can easily with out some new form of tuition.

That is to say, most of the more complex moves so far have been learnt by reading a website, commiting the actions to memory, go over it in my head, then trotting outside to try and pull it off. Not ideal.

So I’m getting a book for my birthday next month, and untill then I’m brushing up on the skills I have already. I’m keeping a good 10 or so minuets of spinning a day recently, and I’m finding that little by little even the “behind the back” moves I’ve had difficulty with are comming more easily. If a little sloppy or manic in some cases, I keep the Poi moving, and thats the first step – I can tidy things up with more practice.

I spent a fair amount of time with my oldest brother, and little sister this weekend spinnng Poi, exchanging moves and such, and so fine tuned my collection somewhat.

Though I still can’t do any of the more complex weaves, I’m planning on picking up a “learn Poi” DVD for my birthday next month, along with some glowing Poi. So that should really help me tidy up tricks a lot, just reading about moves, or seeing what works in the back yard is one thing, but having a visual reference makes all the difference.

As it is now, it’s very difficult to tell the difference between moving my motions into a new move – or if it’s the same old move, and I’m just flailing my arms wildly.

But hey, as long as it looks good ;o)

Still, I’m managing to get at least 15 mins of practice every couple of days, while the weather is still good (on and off) and actually, as it gets cooler in an evening it actually helps a bit, but once the weather really turns, it’ll be a case of stealing what odd moments I can I think.

Been at a festival all weekend, I spent alot of time standing in a field learning poi spinning, to the point now I can do a few of the more complex interweaving moves with my eyes closed, and standing on one leg (Really). Not that I haven’t got a few hard bumps and bruises along the way, but it’s been worth while.

I finally splashed out and got a pair of my own too, which means I have the opertunity to practice whenever I want now, which should be good excersize as a bonus. Plus it was sort a thank you to the couple who were doing to circus skills workshops, since I spent a fair bit of time there, it seemed only reasonable I buy something from them as well. – I didn’t quiet streach to the LED Poi, something I think I might wait for, around my birthday perhaps when the nights start to draw in.

My over all goal now is to get good enough so that by the festival season next year, I’ll be able to start spinning fire Poi without risking to many burns.