Forums > Beginner Poi Moves > Just Starting Out

Posted: 22nd Jun 2006
the online lessons r good same as the dvd they sell but free.just keep at it my brain was stupid at the poi for ages to but you just have to keep at it

Posted: 22nd Jun 2006
for split swinging you could try forward swing then try and when they're both at the top pull one of them down quicker then the other. e.g. if you chose the left then you forward swing then counting 'one...two...one...two' pull the left down on one and the right down on two and see if that makes a rhythm.

hope that helps - and yes the lessons are great, and now they're updated so you got through step by step, hear what they say and see from different angles.

my first proper move i learnt was the butterfly - took me forever to learn and understand the logic of it in my head but is a great place to start - so many moves can be done from it.

for low turn:

if you do a forward swing

then when the poi are at the top of their circles - move your right over to your left so it follows it and you've now moved 90 degrees to your left

then as they come up move your left over to you left and keep the right on the same side as you move another 90 degrees left to get you looking in the opposite direction with the pois going backwards.

try moving your poi as slow as possible to work it out in your head.

hope that helps - tell me if you need it breaking down a bit more

nat

"Be the change you want to see in the world"

Posted: 22nd Jun 2006
I'm bad at following things in my head.... I can follow it till you get both poi on one side of your body and turn 90 degrees... then what?

Sorry i'm being dimwitted....

If at first you don't succeed throw a temper tantrum.

Posted: 22nd Jun 2006
I find swaying my hips from side to side helped me with split time swinging when i first started....maybe I'm just odd.

Posted: 22nd Jun 2006
then you have to move another 90 degrees whilst the poi are going up and move the left one over to the left

your half way there so go you!

good luck

nat

p.s. you're not dimwitted...you're normal

"Be the change you want to see in the world"

Posted: 22nd Jun 2006
I vaguely understand.... but i'm still not sure....

I need to get out and beat myself around the back with some in practice I think.

Any suggestions for easy moves to get my confidence up?

If at first you don't succeed throw a temper tantrum.

Posted: 22nd Jun 2006
Turns
Butterfly
Corkscrew



Good luck, and have fun
Clare

Getting to the other side

Posted: 22nd Jun 2006
I've got the Art of Poi Dvd and it helps alot but borrowed a copy of Poi Spinning Basics with Pele's Element and it was quite a bit easier to understand

Every Day I add another name to the list of people who piss me off

Posted: 22nd Jun 2006
exagerate everything and spend hours practicing. Dont stop if you hit yourself. Ive wacked my danglies many times, head, in the eye and trying to get split time over my head a nailed my temple quite hard with a glow ball poi quite hard. I neally blacked out but its worth it!

Swing to music aswell, it makes it easier as you think about it less. Tonight i have progressed quite a lot and even managed a combo from weave to hand wrap to windmill to an air wrap to butterfly. woo hoo, it feels great when you can finally link moves.

anyway just keep practicing, oh and buy scales of poi, i think its good for beginners aswell as advanced. i bought it after 2 or 3 weeks of spinning and its great.

Posted: 23rd Jun 2006
my first proper move was the butterfly - took ages to work out, as it didnt seem to fit in my head, but was fab when i got it.

also, buzzsaw is good.

you can try doing a 2 beat weave so you do a forward swing (same time) then cross one hand over the other to do a forward swing on the other side of your body, then back and repeat. (the idea is to cross your hands when the poi are working their way to the bottom of the circle.

hope that helps

i still hit myself when doing most of these moves - so its completely normal lol

"Be the change you want to see in the world"

Posted: 23rd Jun 2006
easiest way i found to do the weave was to spin both poi in equal time then cross them over in front of me (so left is spinning on the right side and right is spinning on the left) then do 1 beat normal and 1 beat crossed. do this for a while then just do it in split time. Your brain will alter your hands after a while and it will just work

Posted: 23rd Jun 2006
Definitely start by learning to cross your poi as Geeza says - it makes all the weave moves so much easier to pick up.

The Poi Spinning Basics DVD that Zamirii mentions is also very good - they explain everything really well, including split timing, right from the beginning.

Posted: 3rd Jul 2006

 Written by: Broken_leaves


I find swaying my hips from side to side helped me with split time swinging when i first started....maybe I'm just odd.

If you are then so am i!

I still can't really split time without a bit of a wiggle. I shall use the excuse that it's my martial arts background, you have to put your whole body into it :P

You don't *need* to be able to split time to do : butterfly, high and low turns, chasing the sun, corkscrew. So rather than getting disheartened, have a go at a new move, as long as your forward swing is true there's no harm.
Butterfly is a great place to go now, and there are a load of variations to keep you busy. I finally cracked butterfly by doing a giant butterfly (which is very easy and slow) and then just bringing it in.
I do find with poi that the learning process isn't gradual. I do a move one hand at a time, get that smooth, then I try both and hit my self a lot. I can go for ages with no apparent progress, then something clicks in my brain (usually it's down to properly understanding the path the poi should take, and being able to visualise it - watching video in slow-mo helps). Once it's clicked I tend to have a move smooth and easy in about 10 mins - its the waiting for that point which is frustrating.

Posted: 4th Jul 2006
i learned butterfly split time over my head before windmills but the reverse butterfly split time over head still hasnt clicked.

-that was about 6 weeks ago!

Posted: 6th Jul 2006
The way I teach Split time, is to get the person to wiggle their derrier

wiggle it and your hands start to auto split time.