la_genie
member
Member #66027
Reged: 17/01/08
859462
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Re: New To Poi? ASK ME ANYTHING!!!  find similar
20/01/08 07:26 PM
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thanks Imbalance, many years ago i took tap dance and i had a stupid foot also... but so did everyone in class, so i wasnt alone. Because its only me and my daughter doing poi and she is a teenager and is picking it up much faster, it made me feel broken... lol thanks again
Genie
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Be aware, the evil flowers may eat your toes....
Have no friends not equal to yourself...
Feed your mind, read a book
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Emma_Williams
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Member #71846
Reged: 01/05/08
875232
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11/05/08 09:46 PM
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hey,
me n a friend have just started using fire poi, but we're having trouble keeping the wicks alight. we soaked them for quite a few hours as they were new. did we soak them for too long or not enough. could you give us some tips on fuelling in general please. we are using parrafin as home of poi suggests.
cheers
em
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hamamelis
Groupie
Member #25357
Reged: 22/09/05
875282
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12/05/08 04:17 AM
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What'ya mean trouble keeping alight?
Did they sort of catch fire, but then go out (sparking?) or just not burn for very long?
or not catch fire at all?
I don't think you can soak them too long- the first time I used fire poi, I wound up soaking them for 2 days, as it started raining just before I went to start, so I stuck them in the shed corner 'until the rain stopped' and forgot them..
Likewise soaking them not long enough seems unlikely- you can just pour a bit of fuel on, and they still burn.. People recommend soaking them a long time before first use as it's thought (not sure with how much justification) that this helps the kevlar take less damage.
I tend to recommend it anyway, just because it means people are more likely to think and plan ahead before their first spin, rather that just have a go after a few drinks 'cos it seemed like a good idea at the time..
The wicks weren't damp were they? That's a good way to make them hard to light, and sputter out fast.
--------------------
'I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky..
I left my vest and socks there, I wonder if they're dry.'
Proundly Owned by FireTom.
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Sarah_P
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Member #72561
Reged: 13/05/08
Loc: Southern California
875876
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15/05/08 04:09 AM
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Just this last weekend I saw my first fire spinning at a renfaire in Ojai. A friend of mine spins but omg wow, it just looked SO GOOD. So I quickly learned the 3bt and butterfly from him, and am now at home learning from the HOP site's videos. 
I've got a pair of (ugly, but soft) sock poi and some cathedral fire poi chains coming (no fire for a long while but I want to do it eventually so I figure I should get used to those too).
How long did it take you guys to get really good at this? I was told a martial arts background is good (which I don't have, woe) as is dancing (double woe). I think I'm doing pretty good since I've only been doing this a couple days (literally) but I have so very far to go that it's intimidating. I know the butterfly, alternating butterfly, 3bt, reverse 3bt, and am trying flowers now (making those things go straight is harder than it looks!).
Damn, I don't even know if there's a question in there! :P I guess, well, what course of action (aside from practice practice practice!) or sequence of learning things/moves/patterns do you think a n00b should go?
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 Durbs
Classically British
Member #659
Reged: 23/09/01
Loc: Guildford, Surrey, England
875978
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15/05/08 08:29 PM
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Emma - How long do they stay alight for? 2-3 minutes is about normal for small-ish poi, 8 mins for pretty hefty wicks.
If it's a matter of seconds, make sure the poi are properly burning before you start spinning them. Erm, other than that, unless they're wet, as Hammelis said, I can't think why they would't burn. Unless you've got some dud/poor quality paraffin.
Sarah - How long? All depends on what you call "really good";) It also depends on how much you practise, natural talent, perserverence and availabilty of good teachers. The wonderful thing about poi is you can never know it all, there's always stuff to learn.
Also, you can learn 2 moves and move well and look as good, if not better than learning loads of moves.
Aside from coordination, I don't think martial arts would really help. Likewise with dance, you'll have good coordination, stance and balance, but with regards to learning moves I don't think it's really a help
--------------------
"It's times like this I wish I'd listened to my mother"
"Why? What did she say?"
"I don't know - I wasn't listening"
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Sarah_P
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Member #72561
Reged: 13/05/08
Loc: Southern California
876079
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16/05/08 03:54 AM
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Well let's see, I first saw spinning poi on Saturday and got to learn the 3-bt Sunday night from a friend, then made my own poi on Tuesday when I got home. I'm now practicing the 5-bt weave (thanks to Nick/meenik's Youtube video) but am having problems with the crossovers - I've got the move but whenever I pull right (I'm left handed) I get really floppy and lose momentum. Should I add a little more weight to my sock poi or is there a trick you can suggest to keep the tension steady?
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Durbs
Classically British
Member #659
Reged: 23/09/01
Loc: Guildford, Surrey, England
876088
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16/05/08 04:20 AM
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Well, it depends how heavy your poi are to start with 
Orange/juggling ball weight is a good average.
A good exercise is to see how slow you can just spin them at your side without them going slack.
It's possible the floppiness is coming more from a change of speed rather than spinning to slow or the poi being too light. Try and keep it smooth, work on each side at a time... If things keep going slack, try speeding things up a bit, at least till you can keep the tension there...
One bit of advice is to use your shoulder to push the crossover across rather than your wrists/arms, kinda hard to explain with text though
--------------------
"It's times like this I wish I'd listened to my mother"
"Why? What did she say?"
"I don't know - I wasn't listening"
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Sarah_P
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Member #72561
Reged: 13/05/08
Loc: Southern California
876094
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16/05/08 05:50 AM
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Oh cool. I'd been focussing too much on keeping my hips out of the way that I hadn't thought about my shoulders. Using them has also helped the same tension problem I was having in the backwards 3bt. Thanks! 
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