Fire Chain / Snake / Rope

Hello helpful listeners,

I have recently made a fire chain (a twirling friend calls it a snake) which is made of light ally & powder coated and has fairly large links. I put some giant split rings in the ends so that i can hang onto it, but apart from a weave kind of thing, 'standard' poi moves (chain doubled in one hand) and 'silly' jumping things, i can't figure out what to do with it.

I know Pele posted something on a fire rope earlier (before the board got all spiffy - better) but i have no formal training in dance and i sort of need a bit of guidance.

If anyone has any tips tricks or cool sites related to this, please post a reply.

thanks
o-o

hi, what exactly is a 'snake'?? it's the first time i hear about this but it sounds interesting...a bit more info would be greatly appreciated
happy swinging
Simos

Hey Simos, It's the same as a fire rope, fire cable, fire chain....just without fire. Sme rhythm gymnasts use it but it's called by another name, don't ask....I don't know . Hey O, any of those 'silly' jumping things can be done with a fire chain...cross your arms around your body....brings the flame closer...looks cool, figure 8 from one side of your body to the other...puts you in the middle of an awesome sideways moving flame...a stop swing requires a healthy set of shoes with a heel...you catch the chain on your heel, do a forward roll with it there and stand and keep jumping...all with in a musical rhythm..have people hold the chains (note here..2) and you can do double dutch tricks.
If you let them hand holding one handles, other drags on ground you can spin them into some pretty interesting designs...beware of rising flames...point is to get it going fast enough that the chain spins so quickly it shrinks up and then stretches back to the ground....making a funky moving cylender(sp?) of fire. Play with a jump rope...mine has weighted end and is made of leather...yes, I know, there I go with the leather again but it helps withthe weight and feel of the fire chain without the painful reprocussions. Hope this gives you ideas.
Hey Simos...how the hell did you get to be a "senior" member? Sheesh...you must feel real special over all of us pee-on members
Oh well..*sulk...sulk*

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Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...

thanx Pele although i'll have to try and find a picture to see what you are talking about; what is a fire rope??? are you both talking about normal fire chains (Poi) or is it a single piece of longer chain? but then again that's a meteor! so many names for the same things, it's confusing ...
as for the my newly aquired senior member status Pele, it cost me £200, you basically send Malcolm a cheque for the money and the next day you are a senior member
seriously i think you are just 8 posts away from becoming a senior member yourself (must be when you have 30 posts) so stop complaining and let me enjoy it before everybody else starts becoming senior members too!!!
happy swinging,
Simos

I agree Simos, the name differences are confusing as all get out! This is what I have learned, done in my experience (actually I am trying to get to 30 posts to see if your theory is right )
At any rate, meteors have counter weights on the ends, either bowls of flaming fluid or flaming poi or whatever your pleasure. A fire "rope" can be a strip of rope that is attached to about a foot of chain at either end and to handles for use as a jump rope. I don't like using real rope so what I do is have a length of cathedral chain that I weave Kevlar bits into the mid section of...set them alight and use it like a jump rope. It has leather loop handles for a good grip. So it is like a meteor chain except the middle is on fire and the ends are what you hold on to. Does that make sense? At any rate, for a single jump rope and since I am 5'10" I use about 8' of chain for the personal "ropes" but only Kevlar the middle 5 or 6'. For the ones where there is someone swinging each end and someone jumping (such as double dutch) we use 12' of chain and cover the middle 8' with kevlar. I am American so I don't know the conversions well..sorry.
When the weather clears we want to try me jumping in the middle and doing poi at the same time...trick is to keep poi from tangling in "rope" I think.
At any rate...hope that helps clear things up a bit.
Happy Holidays!

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Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...

thanks Pele,

i don't think i'll be trying that thing with the heels just yet, i'm a boots guy...

i sort of got a figure eight going, and some jumpy things, but i just know that my chain wants to come alive with spirals and flashy stuff - guess practice is a good way huh?
thanks again
o-o

btw, what is cathedral chain?

[This message has been edited by o-o (edited 23 December 2000).]

Hey O! What I meant by heels wasn't nessecarily womens healed shoes...boots have heels enough that they can catch the chain with the right timing. Yes practice makes better...though I am far from perfect.
Spirals and flashy things aren't hard at all...just practice without fire. It doesn't have the same visual appeal but it sure saves on the doctors bills!!!!
Cathedral chain is like a crimped oval. It is essentiall oval in shape but if you were looking at it from and upright position, the top and bottom sides are pinched in to form little indents. It looks very cool, is easy to work with and the crimps help to keep the kevlar securely in place...instead of sliding about...which had happened to me when I used round linked chain of a larger grade. That's all. Do I make sense? If not it's nothing unusual for me!
Happy roping!

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Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...

Forgot to say I use Catherdral chain also cause it looks old and fits into the Ren Faire act that I do.
Johannesburg huh? From all I have seen of it, it is nice. I had a foreign exchange student from there a few years ago (more like 9 or so but hey!!!)
Take care!

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Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...