Battle poi moves

Yeah.. lightsabers for teh win..

I've seen a 'battle scene' in a show done as poi spinners vs staffers- about 20 of each, looks pretty effective from a distance even if it blatantly doesn't work close up.

Lightsaber combat is all twirling anyway. Especially Darth Maul...

I think I see what Salem Archfiend is on about.

Rather than 'attack and defence', I think 'passive and aggressive' are better terms. Kinda like yin and yang...

I do however, smell hippies.

There's a video of nick doing a kobuki/kyojen fight with double club spin vs staff that's pretty decent (actual contact fight, not just jams as you guys are talking about).
The poi spinning he did was amazing though.

I think there is no "real" difference between "battle" poi and other poi, as I have no reason to think so.

What I do know is that there's a certain energy when you mimic someone that feels really really good, and that the energy is free and expressive for me and would wither under cage and spotlight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJR6SeaWUD8 This, Lev??

From this, I think he was referring to "double chain whip" kung fu type moves, and not glowstringer/breakdancer type battling.

There is a great DVD series put out by John Su called "Rock Solid Double Chain Whip" (I've only seen volumes 1 and 2, but there may be more).
It actually covers a very unusual list of moves, as a lot of the technique is based on the 3 beat weave, but has a lot of rope-dart style through-wraps and "shots" thrown in. And, of course, there are also the standard acrobatic kung fu type moves (flips, jumping up and down while seated on the ground, etc), but this time incorporating the darts.

Of course, every serious weapons-based martial artist I've spoken to over the years has told me that using a flexable weapon (like a rope-dart or heavy chain) in a real fight is a really bad idea. Not only because your reaction time is limited to the speed at which you can bring the weapon back around (specifically 1 beat in poi terms), but also because your reach is pretty lousy (being neither a close in, grapple-friendly weapon, nor an accurate mid-range weapon like a sword).

Of course, if your friend meant dance battles, the only real guidelines are a) be able to "imitate, then innovate" (be able to copy the "opponent's" moves, but kick them up a notch), and b) look cooler when you spin (better posture, footwork, and general dance ability).
But battling is so very 2001 - which is to say, out of style for a decade and considered pretty lame these days.

- Baz

"To have one's limits dictated by choice and not by inability, this is the true source of freedom."

It is also harder to control when hitting someone than a solid weapon is since the rebound is not entirely predictable....

I don't mean to hijack this thread - but my background is martial arts long before performance twirling, and I've always loved flexible weapons, even for sparring. They do have many drawbacks, but if you train to use them for their strengths, you'll do fine. As far as close-in grappling, if you can use chain weapons to bind the arms, hands, or other parts of the opponent, you're in good condition. Most people's problem is only that they try to use it like a weapon they're familiar with. And as far as reaction times - that's just a matter of training to use your momentum effectively. Most of the "moves" you see people training in are showy and impressive, but not good for a fight.

And as for rebound - well, get a heavier weapon! One hit should do the trick, no need to worry about rebound!

I never said that they were ineffective, just harder to be effective with. Or at least that is what I meant....

A sword is fairly straight forward (hold the blunt end, stick the pointy end into the other person) but nunchaku take some getting used to. Both can be effective in the right hands.

And I was more worried about hitting myself on a rebound. But training would obviously help....

Dragging this back on topic... I do not really get the battling scene, but it could be fun if taken as a "show me what you can do and I will reciprocate" type of thing.

Hehe. I'm pretty good at using knives... ;]
But I'd rather a meteor chain than poi in a real battle any day.
If it's a show battle, then poi might be better, if you can throw. Besides, a meteor chain derived from the Meteor Hammer, which is a real one I enjoy using, and you can essentially use a temporary, makeshift one by tangling/knotting the handle ends of your poi.

Poi emulate double 9section whip FYI.

i think if there wer somthign like battle poi it would be more of a defensive type of fighting you know seen as the poi would suround you

most of my "battle moves" come out of isolations or weaves, they generally seem to be a blend of techniques at the same time, it's really hard for me to explain without having the poi in my hand to show you, the main pattern I've noticed is that I use my elbows and forearms only for range your wrist and shoulders seem to generate the power of the strike and they usually stall shortly after the follow through, it helps to reduce recoil time. It's almost identical to nun-chuku really, the hand leads while the weapon follows until the follow through then it changes for the stall. This isn't a great explanation for you but like I said I'd be better at demonstrating them than explaining them, sorry if it makes no sense to you.

this is a silly topic but I will contribute to help out Salem.

Salem, I agree with Mucky. If you want to learn "Attack Moves" I suggest looking into rope dart. it is an ancient Chinese weapon which is 6m of rope with a weight on the end. It works by making various wraps around your body which you loosen quickly to "shoot" the dart at your opponent.

It is taught as part of the ancient chinese art of Wu Shu and is the most difficult of all the weapons to master.

BUT! while it takes decades to master for use as a weapon (accuracy being very difficult to obtain) that does not mean you cannot learn to use it for similar motives to poi. It has similarities to poi and i find it really opens up a different adaptation and style of movement with your poi.

See here fore a traditional rope dart master using his incredible weapon in competition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhW67MBO8M8