Forums > Beginner Poi Moves > how many hours to be pro

Posted: 19th Jul 2011
Worry less about becoming a "pro" and just have fun with your poi. There's no set amount of time for someone to get to a certain level in their poi journey. Some people learn faster than others, and some people need more time. Enjoy the process of learning something new.

Question everything.

Posted: 19th Jul 2011
Well, that really depends on what your definition of "pro" is.

Also, what Aura said, have fun.

On a side note, it's been said one needs to dedicate over 10,000 hours to something before someone is a master of that thing. That being said, and doing a bit of math, if there are any poi masters, there probably aren't alot. ^_^

Posted: 19th Jul 2011
10 000 hours is four hours a day for 10 years or something silly like that. Unlikely that there are many, if any, people who have done that....

'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Posted: 20th Jul 2011
i ask this question cos i had a hard time when getting 500 hours,
feel like go throug a bottle neck, exausted and losing confidence,
at the beginning i thought when i get 500 hours i will make a pretty nice fire dance, but the fact is as i learn more, it's harder and harder to get new moves, which make me tired~~~~~~~~~~

and yes, u guys right , enjoy poi is more important than hurry to a pro~~~~~~~~~~~


thanks

i love poi, even though i just start for 3 weeks , poi is my dream in the coming year.

Posted: 22nd Jul 2011
don't worry about it, that's my advice. practice until you're as good as you want to be. and don't practice just to get good - that's important, but you should also be practicing to have fun. imo the only way to be really good at poi is to love poi, to dive into poi, to make it one of the most important things in your life. although I guess that is a bit melodramatic heh

honestly I hate when people measure their progress against how long they've been spinning. it reeks of "look how talented I am." I saw a video the other day was titled something like "me at 16 months" and I was like... who cares how long you've been spinning? whether you are faster or slower than someone else is irrelevant. what matters is how good you are in this moment, how creative you are, how much you're willing to devote yourself to this art, etc. there's something so competitive about measuring your progress against your time spent practicing, and I don't like it. no sir.

anyway, I'll get off my now lol.

The dawn has come
And the wine will run
And the song must be sung
And the flowers are melting
In the sun

Posted: 22nd Jul 2011
Originally Posted By: thirteen
I saw a video the other day was titled something like "me at 16 months" and I was like... who cares how long you've been spinning?


While I understand, and do agree with most of your post, This:

I always viewed those videos as mainly "Look how far I've come since my last video." Possibly for the viewer, but definately for the recorder of the video also. In a way, looking back at past videos can sometimes remind of moves you may have forgotten, give you more ideas, or motivate you.

Posted: 6th Aug 2011
i realized it's fool to compare myself to other pro, it doesnt matter i progress slowly, the more important is i keep practising and still love poi, finally someday i will make an amazing poi show of my own~~~~~~~~~~~

i love poi, even though i just start for 3 weeks , poi is my dream in the coming year.

Posted: 6th Aug 2011
Being a pro, means expanding the word a little, into it's origin as the word 'professional'.

Professional in its simplest form means someone who is paid to do it.

In it's hardest to define form, it means someone paid to do it, who does it well and with an acceptable standards level.

Spinning and circus arts in general are hard to define using these terms, as many 'hobby spinners' are as good or better than their peers whom are paid.

Often, having the freedom to practice your art without thinking about the audience or how to make money from it, can make you a better spinner technically but can also mean your showmanship may suffer.

Conversely, those who are paid, often develop a more rigorous show, with less technical skill (or in smaller quantities) and larger more impressive or even more humouress elements.

Obviously this doesn't fit everyone in each category, some pro's are amazingly technical and some hobbiests are good with crowds but loosely it applies to most.

So to answer your question, it all depends really...

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Posted: 21st Aug 2011
Pro is obviously short for professional. A professional is someone who does something as a profession, or career. So the simple answer is: You are a pro when ever you decide to use your skills to make money, no matter what your skill level is. That's probably not the answer you're looking for though.

It really depends on how fast you learn, and how quickly you advanced. Not a single one of us here can say, "You will be an expert after 1000 hours," or even 5k hours. The more dedicated you are to learning, the faster you will learn it. If it's something you want to do just because you wanna show off or make money, I think it's safe to say you won't learn very quickly, without a good instructor. If you just love spinning and learning new moves, like me, you can become a "pro" in no time.

Poi isn't a competition. There is no rush. Everybody is still learning. If there was nothing left to learn, it would get old and boring. Take your time. The more you rush yourself, the more frustrating poi is going to be. Just have fun with it!

Posted: 26th Aug 2011
oscurochu
thank u for ur explaination,
when i ask this question cos then time i was progressing slowly and getting frustrated,
and now im learning belly dance at the same time,
it would be more beautiful to play poi with belly dance~~~~~~`

thanks everybody:)

i love poi, even though i just start for 3 weeks , poi is my dream in the coming year.