2 staffs in cross formation

I only just got my first 'asthetically pleasing' pass to crosses the other day and was thinking if anyone had any interesting ones it'd me nice to hear 'em.

The one I got was BTB waist-wrap to BTB cross. I saw on friday on Rob's new (black and blue) vid was a chasing the sun to BTH pass. I see Rob's also got a nice one on his thread from a back spin to cross. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds sweet

Anyone have any other cool ways of going in and coming out?

A throw from both in my hand (not cross formation) seems to be the only real nicish way I can come out of it.

This kinda brings me to my main point of this post though.

When I do the above BTB waist-wrap to BTB cross I have the right hand doing reverse figure 8 and left hand doing forward figure 8. (Parallel split time)

I hold the right staff funny, so that it's paralled and in between my index and middle finger and kinda hold it lengthways against my hand with my middle finger.

After waistwraping outside left hip (with left hand either up in air or out to side) and am bringing the right hand back BTB I bring left hand together at same time and pass left hand staff to right hand so that it sits on top of the one already there at 90 degrees.

I aim (not always sucessfully) to put over the staff (verticly running down hand) an under the index and middle fingers and outside (on top) of ring finger and I grip it with my thumb.

With this grip it doesn't really matter which staff is on top both works for me.

I'm wondering firstly is this the same way other people hold their crosses? If not how? If you do do you have to premiditatedly change your grip on your hand your about to pass to to accept the second staff?

The next thing I'm wondering about is....

I can figure 8 both directions but I'm struggling to turns from say forwards to backwars and back again. The weight and momentum seems to be screwing me and I'm not good enough with the cross yet to visualise if it's possible. Is it?

Thinking of the above I can't remember seeing anyone turn with a cross, they tend to pass the cross. Passing is the reason I'm asking about grips because I'm finding my grip difficult to pass from hand to hand. I'm beginning to wonder is it just practice or should I consider changing my grip.

I know most of this is probably personal preference and will depend on a lot of things, but I've experimented a good bit and would like to hear other people's opinions.



Cheers
J

To go into the cross formation i find an easy way is if you can weave with two staff in a cross formation using both hands then simply take both staff into one hand and go into a figure of 8. the only other way i know is to throw one staff up and catch it straight into a cross but it's abit tricky.

To me it sounds like you hold the cross formation the same as me and i think everyone else. as for turning from fig of 8 to fig of 8 facing the other way, me and psi were having this discussion a while back and we decided that it's impossible cos the staffs would have to pass through each other (if you start with staff one facing north when you turn it'll me facing south) saying that you can fake it and anyone would be hard push to tell (this is alot easier with small staffs)

As for passing the staff the easiest way is to pass them behind the back in a pin wheel motion. Although there are ways of passing them in front but as far as i can c you need to put the hand you want the staffs to go into the side of the cross which is furthest from your body so you need to have fast hands.

Another not to hard cross movement that looks grate is a pin wheel but keep playing about with crosses I think there is lots none thought of yet and they look grate.

i don't do any cross holds, my hands don't like them
but i've played with a 4 foot fixed cross a bit, and could do figure 8s and doublespins fine. Although doublespins made it orbit like some crazy satellite.

yo,

simian, I bow to the geeky monkey.

cross hold. yes.

cross turning. is a funny one, I do cross 3bt weave, one stick in each hand, using fingerspins to get the outside beat. turning that isnt really a problem, but theres a weird time to it, its not quite the same as turning a poi weave, sorry, should go try but its pissing it down out there (wonder if the cencors caught that?).

we kneed blue, he was doing some lovely 2bt btb staff with both hands on the cross, and a few other funky things, that boy likes two stickes too much.

T

Kinda getting them a bit smoother now...

Yea you seems to be right about passing behind you. Passing behind the body means you can easily keep the back of passing hand facing same way as back of recieving hand.

This seems important because if you don't do that, you can't seem to be able to keep the cross spinning the same direction it was going (that I can figure anyway )

Passes that seem possible to me so far (and I can't get any others working )

Right hand forwards figure 8 to left hand backwards figure 8 BTB
Right hand backwards figure 8 to left hand forwards figure 8 BTH
Left hand forwards figure 8 to right backwards figure 8 BTB
Left backwards figure 8 to left hand forwards figure 8 BTH

Nix, I'm talking specifically about one handed stuff. Sounds like you're talking about a quarter time weave?

well, I just do the BTB pass into cross hold that rob does (did?) cuz he blatantly taught it to me but the other one that I do is where you start by holding both sticks in the same hand together as one, and then use a scissor/chopsticks action to split time them into the cross formation.

I dont have any probs doing figure eights, double figure eights (the one with the shoulder rolling motion), and I can do a full body turn through the double figure eight, but I havent worked out a way of staying in a reverse figure eight in cross formation...

I reckon I've seen other people turning the cross and doing all sorts of other nice dancy moves with it...there are definitely people out there that have been doing wierdo stuff with the cross formation for yonks.

sounds like a challenge for this week!

Josh

I found an interesting little catch there the other day with doubles into cross. You can catch a staff between the pinky side of the other staff and the wrist like this here . Except you have to use a different angle. It helped me to carry the staff already in the catching hand vertically through the hand and try to catch the one in the air so it sits horizontally across the hand under the one in the hand.