Need advice!poi too heavy!!any answers??

quite new too poi,but find my chains,too heavy and cumbersome.i am only a little person,and the poi i use are homemade,chains attached to a metal tube with the kevlar wrapped around(hope this makes sense)Any advice on how too make them lighter?cheers

hey tricken
i only started doing fire poi about a month ago, but i also found the chains real heavy (borrows a freinds self made set)so i just ended up having to buy a proper set with the wire chords. it meant scraping money together but its worth it because theyre well balanced and not to heavy and you get a much better momentum with them then with chains. hope this helps
lolli x x

cheers for the advice lolli.

Take as much of the hardware out as possible. The tube that you wrap the kevlar around probably weighs a relatively good bit. Keep the design simple. I have heard great things about ball chain, and I have heard bad things about wire.

I personally went to a pet store and got some thin dog choke collars for my first set. They go all the way down to an ultra fine thickness that is about 3/16" (sorry, maybe 6-8mm) diameter. If they are worth a flip, they should have a warranty against breaking. You should be fine.

Try making pure flame heads using just your wick and a little bit of thin gauge wire.

Practice a lot with the heavy weights and move slowly. It will help you build up the correct muscles. I used to spin with single glowsticks, and when I would pick up my comet poi for a good hard spin, it would leave my arms feeling like jelly. I have photon poi that I use out at clubs now that are too light for most people to use, but I have gone from them straight to triple-headed fire poi on heavy gauge chain and spun my butt off for an hour with no ill effects. It's just building up the endurance. Eventually your arms won't get tired anymore, and your body itself will collapse from exhaustion long before you get sore.

Hope that helped.

Lighter poi is the realm of all the experienced poiers here (I'm a staffer predominantly).

One thing I would suggest thoug, is to practice lots with heavier and lighter and medium weight pois. They don't have to be fire ones...

Some people love heavy poi, some people don't. But all of us had to build up stamina and strength in a whole range of 'new' muscles.

I used to get exhausted after a few minutes playing with staff, and now i can easily go for hours at a time.

not to say lighter poi isn't a good idea, but a combination of stamina and different poi will give you the best of both worlds...

Play safe...

My fire poi are a lot heavier than my practice poi, but to be honest, it makes some moves easier, because the momentum just keeps going.

it also does great things for my shoulders

Here are a few tips my firey matey!

1. shortening your poi makes it easier (4 me at least) as it minimises centrifugal weight increases at the cost of performing with smaller circles of fire.
2. Short poi also allow for less space to worry about for complicated under-the-leg shenanigans
4. it is quite easy to insert list comedy *anywhere* (anywhere 'cept funerals! - and don't ask why!)
3. if weight is an issue, eat vegan! only kidding - if *poi* weight is an issue, then practice ya heavie firey poi with socks or big condoms over them during the day so that you build the strengf for em while not performing wif them! I was gunna make a big condom joke here but I'll leave it up to you...
5. if you play with different wighted poi, it opens up the avenue of twirling correspondingly different length poi! why? well have ya ever seen concentric circles in a butterfly? have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? and where does he get those wonderful toys?
6. there is no point 6! meeep!

Yeah, Rozi has shot-putters shoulders!

The fact that they're home made may mean they're haevier. Try small cathedral wicks as they don't have a heavy metal core.

Or tie helium balloons to you poi, that'd make 'em lighter!

All the better to carry the weight of the world with !!! Just call me Atlas.

They might be big & muscly, but they ain't green

Actually, I practice with lighter poi than I spin with.

It hurts less when you hit yourself
Less strain on shoulders and such (esp. when doing wraps)
It's actually harder, you've got less time to think.

And don't forget, the less weight you spend on metal chain and metal wick parts, the more weight you can put into kevlar!

Reason # 342 why I like my ball chain...

I swear by 1/8 inch cable. It is lighter than chain.
*decides to bystep cable vs. ballchain debate*

You can also try spinning more slowly. Many beginners spin way too fast at first, thinking that every move has to be at full speed.

Maximus

Personally I prefer very heavy poi to practice with...I actually used poi to tone my muscles for wrestling before I started getting into the dance scene with it, and I found that if you start with 5 pound weights on the end and go for about 20 minutes every day you'll be golden. I just started the fire poi and I have to keep on slowing them down because I'm used to hauling around 10lb ones for training. Other than that though, the heavy weights are phenominal. However, THEY HURT. YOu can break bones with them, so be careful, but its worth what it does to your physique.

WTF?!?!?! ....10 lbs poi?!?!?! are friggin insane?!!! omfg! i dont even wanna imagine what a hard shin or shoulder shot would do!!...even worse a friggin nad shot!! omg....*runs away to padded room*

[ 17 May 2002, 04:53: Message edited by: XTREMRAVR ]

The best poi are the types that make your arms twich under the insane weight. Nothin like grunting when the poi reaches the bottem of it's arc.

you guys ar nutz!! im scared of a wimpy beaming poi!! and you guys are swinging weights!!

WACKOS!!

j/k!! what ever floats your boat...err sinks it for this matter!! lol

Hehe guess you should change your name then extreme shoulder and nad shots don't happen. It's when they tap your shin and don't have enough momentum to reach the top of the 15 foot high arc and come raining down on your head. I've had many a "The sky is falling" Sessions