Refining and Regenerating

OK, this is part of a thread I started at Glowsticking.com about refining your spinning (please bear that in mind if the terminology seems a little strange here and there). It is basically a few of my posts here, glued together to form my main ideas and tips on the refinement processes.

I didn't steal anyone elses posts directly (just an idea or two - thanks ) I thought this process deserved a thread of its own.

I'm really looking forward to seeing and trying other ideas about how to gain from this process - if you have any please post here I think this could be a really good thread.

Written from a poi perspective - applies to all spinning though imho and I welcome oppinions from any walk of life or object manipulation.


I have recently enjoyed a phase of my learning that I feel is under mentioned throughout the spinning community:

Refinement.

I'll try to keep this as neat and simple as possible. I will start by defining what I mean by 'refinement'

Refinement is looking back at your moves. Cleaning them up. Looking at fusing them with new footwork and combo ideas.

This stage of learning really works the moves into your subconcious, which brings me nicely onto another definition:

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Style.

I would define style as 'the subconscious expression of consciously learned moves'

That is to say, in order to release your style - to fuse it with yourself, your feelings - refinement is vital.

The more 'movement options' you practice over and over until you could do it with your eyes closed and using bags of shopping, the more creative your subconcious can be, and the more stylish you will look.

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In order to refine effectively, and give yourself the best improvements, it is worth practicing in a very structured way. You are looking to:

- Give yourself the most 'movement options' possible at any point in a move.

- Massively increase footwork 'liberty' through understanding your moves inside out.

- Improve timing awareness when dancing with your moves.

- 'Tighten up' Planes and timing.

- Move your body more naturally and effectively.

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For refining, it it worth starting from the basics - simple wraps, weaves, butterflies, or any move you consider to be a vital 'base' move of yours you feel comfortable with.

Now break those moves down to their smallest elements. Practice those elements over and over. Try to find the way your BODY wants to move to that element. Do it in the mirror one poi at a time, both, backwards, with poi, with glowsticks, same time, split time. Experiment turning your body, try doing little dances, experiment getting to and from that motion in a stylish fassion. Do it until you are bored as hell, then do it more and more...

Then move on to the next element.

And so on.

You are - basically - trying to dance. It will take many months to see the end result, but small benefits will be seen straight away(ish). Don't be afraid to repeat simple movements for the sake of the dance. It can actualy look very very cool as a change.


Ur, bit long eh?

Jo.

I agree fully.

The value of practicing a few moves over and over again is immense.

Being able to do a move is just the start, whether it's poi, juggling or whatever.

IMO, if doing a three beat weave is boring to someone, they've probably not even begun to grasp it.

Jo, I think you should open yourself up to a wilder, freer approach. Something a little more post-modern. Rather than create a framework that says variations A, B, and C are the possibilities and work on building the letters... trust your body, your instincts, and your dance to bring out new variations. You have to really BELIEVE that many more possibilities exist out there, and let your body go.

I find that when I let my body be more expressive or focus on something else, and don't even think about moves... those are the times when the most amazing things happen.

Here's an exercise I came up with... this came from my recent infatuation with tailed poi... imagine the space between the poi and try to keep them pretty much equidistant, with a few moments of chaos where they may come close to each other or fly a bit farther away... but generally equidistant. forget every move you know, and just focus on the balls. Go wild. Listen to some great music and just let your body go. If your mind tries to interfere, do the craziest thing you can think of. BAM. Suddenly I was doing transitions and moves that my mind could never imagine -- that I haven't seen in any videos or seen anyone else doing. Split time and same time, it turns out, is just a figment of our minds -- because if you just move your hands a teeny bit, you suddenly go from one to the other.

I'm still trying to harvest more conscious lessons from these wilder sessions... but I really think that this is a great way to learn and move ahead. I can suddenly empathize with some of the dancers, painters, sculptors, and writers of the 20th century who were taking similar approaches to breaking beyond the more structured forms that came before.

I say go nuts and let the poi teach your body moves instead of your body teaching the poi.

I just realized that what you're talking about may actually just be a different part of the cycle...

i actually thoroghly enjoy the way you wrote that Jo. It reminds me a lot of the way Bruce Lee wrote the book "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do" on how to learn jeet kune do(his own style of martial arts). Very well done sir!

~Z

Kato springs to mind here, how refined is his 3 beat weave and how many years has he focused on that very one move?... even though he hasnt let slide any other but i have failed to see such a refined 3 beat, technical and flowing style combined.

this summer for me will be full of refinement, creativity, style finding, thought processes, diversity, coming back to poi in full steam with so much that i have been thinking about for the last year and a half, now that focusing my thughts and time else where learning other props i will endeavour to give my poi a dusting and start over even though subconciously every thing is still there... some finer tuning is most definitly in need.

thanks jo, your posts are fully inspiring me since your return.

Thanks PK and Zim. I really hope it helps.

Orbit, nicely phrased man! Agree, agree, agree.

It is super important to listen to your body's oppinion at all times during these processes I feel.

I would say that my thoughts were mainly on 'refinement' and yours 'regeneration' . Theres loads of overlap of course.

The way you described it is spot on I think and the same words I've heard spoken by many wise heads:

Letting go!

There are NO moves - just limitations.

Jo.

I'm ging over all my old moves, butterflies, waeves and stuff, its helped with my more technical moves and ive developed a few new linkings

the refinement process opens up planar awareness in your body, expands your planar consciousness, which is what opens into the wild space...?

like with the moves you're fashioning a key, and you refine them till the little teeth match the lock and it opens and you realize that you are the lock.

is planar a word?