Forums > Beginner Poi Moves > suggestions for improvement
Login/Join to ParticipateGOLD Member
Member
7 posts
Location: USA
Member
7 posts
Location: USA
Posted:
So I've been doing poi for about 5 months now and I kind of hit a dead end. In the beginning I learned moves fast and made quick progress, but now that they take longer to learn I find myself floating between a bunch of half-learned moves.
So I was hoping for advise on what moves to pursue next, hopefully some kind of structured list, kind of like a lesson plan :
.
Here's what I can do at the moment:
Weaves-
5bt forward, reverse, forward btb, 3 bt reverse btb.
Butterfly weave, 5 bt windmill.
Butterfly-
Inward, outward, ttn, inward btb (sloppy), overhead
Combos-
Airwrap in front over the head to outward butterfly
Foward 3bt-->forward btb-->reverse btb-->reverse 3bt-->windmill-->forward 3bt
Misc.-
airwrap
corkscrew
fountain
wraps
jump overs
elbow shots
meltdowns
So I've been doing poi for about 5 months now and I kind of hit a dead end. In the beginning I learned moves fast and made quick progress, but now that they take longer to learn I find myself floating between a bunch of half-learned moves.
So I was hoping for advise on what moves to pursue next, hopefully some kind of structured list, kind of like a lesson plan :
.Here's what I can do at the moment:
Weaves-
5bt forward, reverse, forward btb, 3 bt reverse btb.
Butterfly weave, 5 bt windmill.
Butterfly-
Inward, outward, ttn, inward btb (sloppy), overhead
Combos-
Airwrap in front over the head to outward butterfly
Foward 3bt-->forward btb-->reverse btb-->reverse 3bt-->windmill-->forward 3bt
Misc.-
airwrap
corkscrew
fountain
wraps
jump overs
elbow shots
meltdowns
GOLD Member
Introverted
833 posts
Location: Norf London, United Kingdom
Introverted
833 posts
Location: Norf London, United Kingdom
Posted:
FLOWERS!!!!
You'l have loads of fun learning them, and it will open up your spinning a fair bit. There are lots of variations, forwards, backwards, anstipin, opposite directions etc.
Learn Isolations as well, you'll find yourself isolating everything after a while!
FLOWERS!!!!
You'l have loads of fun learning them, and it will open up your spinning a fair bit. There are lots of variations, forwards, backwards, anstipin, opposite directions etc.
Learn Isolations as well, you'll find yourself isolating everything after a while!
My Mind is a Ship
Emotions become the Waves
Soul is the Ocean
If a quizz is quizzical, what is a test?
BRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,750 posts
Location: Europe,Scotland,Both
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,750 posts
Location: Europe,Scotland,Both
Posted:
butterfly, and especially the forgotton time, splitime.
butterfly, and especially the forgotton time, splitime.
This is a post by tom, all spelling is deleberate
-><- Kallisti
SILVER Member
newbie
8 posts
Location: Maine & Vermont, USA
newbie
8 posts
Location: Maine & Vermont, USA
Posted:
More along the line of flowers-
heres a great video for learning them/compound circles, and it'll fill your desire for a lesson plan pretty well too, I think. It did for me at least!
More along the line of flowers-
heres a great video for learning them/compound circles, and it'll fill your desire for a lesson plan pretty well too, I think. It did for me at least!
"He had been 8 years upon a project for extracting sunbeams from cucumbers, which were to be put in vials, hermetically sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw inclement summers."
~Swift, Gullivers Travels
GOLD Member
member
55 posts
Location: Chicago, USA
member
55 posts
Location: Chicago, USA
Posted:
I would say that you've learned most of the basic moves (except for flowers--get on that!). Now your problem lies in doing moves.
Thinking about poi spinning as doing moves limits you to those moves. Put on some music and dance with the poi. When you can forget about the moves and just spin what feels right, you gain a fluidity that no ammount of straight practicing moves will get you.
Continuous transitions are the key. Don't think about what you're transitioning to or from. Just flow with it. Don't do a transition; allow the transition to carry you.
Some ideas:
Try turning everything. Figure out how to turn in reels, windmills, waves (WAIT! LEARN WAVES!!!), and any other thing that comes to your head. If you find yourself spinning the same pattern for more than five seconds, turn it, no matter how preposterous the turn may seem.
In general, though, just break patterns. You can start easy if you like--throw buzsaws into weaves, pull hands apart on the sides and spin like that for a while, or spin a different plane with each hand, thinking only about not tangling them (or controling the tangles).
If you just rock out to some music and ignore everything else, you'll think of stuff.
To more specifically answer your question, try some throws, waves, reels, straightjackets, butterfly weaves (which is less of a skill than a controlled faking of a skill), stalls, constant wrapping on random body parts, under-the-leg stuff, isolating various patterns, atoms, longarms, swinging the poi at different speeds, and RANDOMLY CHANGING THE LENGTHS OF THE POI BY WRAPPING THEM AROUND YOUR HANDS.
Dance.
I would say that you've learned most of the basic moves (except for flowers--get on that!). Now your problem lies in doing moves.
Thinking about poi spinning as doing moves limits you to those moves. Put on some music and dance with the poi. When you can forget about the moves and just spin what feels right, you gain a fluidity that no ammount of straight practicing moves will get you.
Continuous transitions are the key. Don't think about what you're transitioning to or from. Just flow with it. Don't do a transition; allow the transition to carry you.
Some ideas:
Try turning everything. Figure out how to turn in reels, windmills, waves (WAIT! LEARN WAVES!!!), and any other thing that comes to your head. If you find yourself spinning the same pattern for more than five seconds, turn it, no matter how preposterous the turn may seem.
In general, though, just break patterns. You can start easy if you like--throw buzsaws into weaves, pull hands apart on the sides and spin like that for a while, or spin a different plane with each hand, thinking only about not tangling them (or controling the tangles).
If you just rock out to some music and ignore everything else, you'll think of stuff.
To more specifically answer your question, try some throws, waves, reels, straightjackets, butterfly weaves (which is less of a skill than a controlled faking of a skill), stalls, constant wrapping on random body parts, under-the-leg stuff, isolating various patterns, atoms, longarms, swinging the poi at different speeds, and RANDOMLY CHANGING THE LENGTHS OF THE POI BY WRAPPING THEM AROUND YOUR HANDS.
Dance.
The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.
BRONZE Member
HoP mage and keeper of the fireballs
1,965 posts
Location: Palmerston North, New Zealand
HoP mage and keeper of the fireballs
1,965 posts
Location: Palmerston North, New Zealand
Posted:
May my balls of fire set your balls on fire 
SILVER Member
coming to a country near you
4,696 posts
Location: home of the tiney toothy bear, Australia
coming to a country near you
4,696 posts
Location: home of the tiney toothy bear, Australia
Posted:
we have soooooo many flowers in our house atm. they're nice, you should learn them!
we have soooooo many flowers in our house atm. they're nice, you should learn them!
"but have you considered there is more to life than your eyelids?"
jointly owned by Fire_Spinning_Angel and Blu_Valley
Similar Topics
Using the keywords [suggestion * improvement] we found the following existing topics.
- Forums > suggestions for improvement [6 replies]
Show more..
© 1998 - 2025 Home of Poi
All prices converted to United States dollars using XE.com