Who or What was the biggest inspiration to your spinning addiction?

Just wondering who or what was your biggest inspiration/motivator in for your spinning addiction?

I am not addicted. I can stall anytime....

Chuck Norris.

you should see that man roundahouse.

bender is my biggest inspiration ever since attempting to eat his own foot at the UberOz pool party

I'd say that if my two closest friends didn't spin... and if the hottest guy in the world didn't manage my troupe, there is a slight possibility that I may have quit by now.

I just loved being taught by a friend, and then passing tha knowledge on to another friend... Until we all reached different levels and can teach each other different tricks.

When i first started, i'd have to say it was everyone who was at the first big Clapham Meet - especially Cassandra, PK & Dom.

As time's gone on, it changes. More often than not the people who get me back into spinning more is the new spinners - seeing the passion of a new person wanting to learn and teaching them often sparks a little creative wave in me.
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) i don't spin that much anymore, I have developed a passion more for club juggling and hula hooping so it is rare these days for me to break out my poi. But my juggling inspiration is by far Jochen Pfeiffer (and he came to my juggling club last week!!! The only person i've ever been star struck by)

my sis, Ma'tina. She looks very pretty with her poi. On the other hand, she also looks pretty without her poi.

I suppose I should give credit where it's due.

"neon dave and his recent visit to oz"

in only a couple sessions at juggle jam, he helped me see staff manipulation in a totally different way; some of the contact play has sunk in over time, but particularly with double staff, I'm now able, not just to learn stuff I never imagined I could, but also rip off other people's moves and occasionally figure stuff out for myself.

yet another , dave...

To be honest, Ididn't know what I was doing the first time I tried to learn poi (which I suppose is the idea!) and I quit.

So I guess I'd have to say that my biggest inspiration to continue with poi was a guy who's last name I don't even know! His first name is Ian, and he runs circus-type workshops in my area.
He showed me how to use them to start off, and is teaching me little bits when I see him!

But anyway.
Many thanks to him!

All the hippies I watched fire-twirl at Confest last year. It could've been my altered mind-state, but they were just the most amazing beautiful people I'd ever seen, and I knew I wanted to learn it there and then.

Since then, I learned mostly off the internet, so my biggest heroes are youtubers (using their youtube account names):

Nick Woolsey, Yuta, Chris Rovo, Durbs, AlienJon, Insignia, Zan, Azure Feline, Thomas (Nevisoul) and MCP (for all my staffness), just to name a few... They've probably been my largest influences and learning resources.

Then I met a bunch of amazing twirlers I wish I knew about before I wasted all that time struggling to learn off the internet, these people include: BRENN, PETEY, CHRIS and of course BENDER.

Learning in person is so much better, thanks everybody for helping me learn this great art, thanks HOP, thanks everybody mentioned, I'm sorry to rattle on, but I've never really had a chance to thank everybody at once... I owe you all.

boredom.

I had always been interested in poi, but to lazy to learn. Then after I started ging to raves and seeing a lot of different styles and techniques, I was finally inspired to get off my butt and learn.

Now I learn from a few of my friends and internet (here), and am continuing to slowly develop my (all but nonexistance) skill.

I'd safetied for poi at ren faires and such but never thought I'd be able to pick it up. Then I had a friend show me the butterfly and I got hooked.

i went to a girl's hookah party at her apartment. all of a sudden she turns on cascada and lights her poi on fire. it was cool.

forr me it started as a one upmanship with a friend, he always wanted to do it but never did so i got a set of poi and started spinning was taught a few basic tricks by this girl at a campsite in newquay came back and totally p*ssed my friend right off, then i started taking them with me when i was flying power kites and spun whilse waiting for good wind. now 6 years later i enjoy teaching people new tricks and sharing in my experience plus its always makes me smile to myself when i spin well in clubs as i dont really look like the average spinner rather more like hairy biker

i saw some people spinning at the didge fest in devon . They let me have a go , i came home bought some , then set about destroying my house and body ( i've got a bit better since then ) . Unfortunately i bought a staff on thursday , let the destruction begin !!!!!

music - good music especially outdoors always inspires me to twirl/juggle/act goofy

First time I saw fire poi spun was at a renfaire in Ojai CA. A friend of mine looked so awesome spinning (he's been doing it 4 years) as well as other spinners who were also there, when they were done I picked up the still-warm poi and tried spinning - got the 3-beat right off the bat as well as butterflies but it wasn't enough for me. Went home and bought a set of fire poi, made some truly heinous beginner sock poi, and set to teaching myself via YouTube and HOP.

I also have to credit Nick Woolsey's videos, especially his "The Beautiful Thing About Ashes" video he has since I can repeatedly watch that and just marvel.

The first time I saw spinning was at a camp (proper camping this is - not the crazy type with TVs e.t.c) He was spinning staff and I vowed that when I got back home, i'd get myself a firestaff. Unfortunatly, by the time I got back I lost my insperation for it after seeing how expensive they were.

Then, the next year I went camping again, and saw a different person spinning fire staff. Then, a month later - my first firestaff arrived at home!

Rob got me into nunchucks as I was searching for firestaffing videos, and I came across his Ninja Fire Toys. I decided to learn chucks then as I already had a (crappy) homemade set.