Into the world of Poi

OK, so I am new to Poi and the forums. I have wanted to learn Poi for years and yet it seamed so unattainable. A few weeks ago I was at a L.A.R.P. where we had a few spinners come out to do a show. I was able to speak with one of the guys and he was gracious enough to point me in the direction of this site, and its been uphill from there.

I have decided to make a kind of Journal on here where I can post the things Im practicing, failing and excelling at, and also for others to share or get pointers (by this I mean others learning from my mistakes or the tips others may provide me with). I have had a good bit of martial arts training which has slightly helped with a few of the moves such as the two beat wave, but not nearly as much as I had anticipated.

So here we go,

Week 1
I have worked steadily on low, high, tuck and carry turns as I see these as being the most important way to learn poi control and keeping my planes correct. At this point I can perform them all 90% of the time without issue.
I have been working on corkscrew, butterfly, buzzsaw, two beat turns and two beat turns in reverse.
Reverse two beat turns have turned out to be the most confusing maneuver. I had muscle memory built for forward ones already from Arnise so Ive had to completely break it down and until tonight was having an issue with my head being in the way of the poi. Tonight I was able to get 30-40 seconds in before I would catch my side or shoulder.
Buzzsaws seem to elude my grasp at this point, every time my left poi gets off plain and instead of being this way | it goes this way \ causing a nice tangle and ending with not one but to poi into my groin this is a major problem because my wife and I would like a daughter...

Anyways, this has been my week in Poi. I will try to post in here regularly. I hope its OK to post this, I personally always enjoy seeing breakdowns of how others are progressing.

Thanks for reading,
Tony

WEEK 2
So, I havent been able to get out to practice as much as I would like this week, I was down a couple days due to severe dehydration. However I was playing around and learned how to do three beat weave turns, so I thought that was pretty cool.
Continuing to work on moves from last week while adding newer ones but im still struggling with buzzsaw and also with butterflys . I probably need to stop and dedicate time specifically to these just so they dont get overlooked.

Low Waves: these came easily enough as long as I dont stay in a butterfly for too long, and have a slight issue when i first transition from behind back into the butterfly.

Chasing the sun: for some reason I could not get this move the first night I tried it, a few nights later I moved into it with little issue without thinking. I think I was over thinking it when I first tried lol.

Wind Mills: I was playing with the 3 beat weave turns and started wondering if I could do it over my head. after a few botched attempts I was able to get a short weave and with a bit more practice Ive gotten pretty decent with it.

Today I decided to add more tape to my poi for weight. I am using tennis balls on strings with a loop I fold into a double loop. While outside doing this I decided to try some 3 beat weaves behind the back. Im pretty sure this is going to end with my arms tied behind my back lol. I decided to stop and retry tonight. It seems I do a lot better in the dark because I cant see and Im just working off of feel. I need to work on this I know, but it really does help when learning new moves.

It turns out we have a group of spinners here called Pyrokinetics of Athens (http://athenspyros.com) and they offer classes every Monday. This is awesome for me because I feel Im still a little sloppy with my moves. Hopefully these guys will be able to point out my mistakes and help learn more moves and how to make good transitions. That is if i can get time to go to a class... Two kids + wife + working over 60hrs a week = no personal time accept in the middle of the night.

Now that i know how much I enjoy spinning I want to get a set of fire poi just so I can be practicing with the same weight and materials as i will when I start burning

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