Forums > Beginner Poi Moves > How do you start a butterfly in one hand?

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AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
I've heard;-flick of the wrist.thats not enought detail for my tastes. smileJosh

Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
I assume you mean without using the other hand at all... so that you can have 2 butterflies going?Well when I first started doing any one handed stuff I used to have one poi spinning around anticlockwise in my right hand. Then I used my left and threw the othe one around clockwise. It is a pretty sloppy technique that I only use now if I want to teach someone what one handed stuff feels like. I'm thinking if you have a butterfly going in your left, and can get one poi spinning in your right, could you kick the 4th into action?Otherwise, I would think that a forceful push downwards would hopefully split the two poi, with your hand going between them then it is a matter of keeping them spinning.These are both theoretical, however, I have not tried them out. I'll try tonight, but after hurting my back I am unsure if I might be out of action for a bit frown------------------Courage is the man who can stop after just one peanut

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


jonathanenthusiast
210 posts
Location: new zealand


Posted:
i start them off like this, its not too hard or anything, but it is a flick of the wrist!!the poi i use are tied togetheranyway to start off, put your poi in you right hand out in front of you with the palm facing up, with the knot or whatever in the middle. then bring the side of the poi that is closer to you thumb (is that the index finger?) over in a anticlockwise direction. when that side of the poi has gone past the top of its arc, you kinda have to flick you wrist and whip the other poi up to rotational speed going in a clockwise direction. it might take a bit of trial and error to get them going with out having them tangling up. god knows it took me a while!!but its not to bad........ its good fun when they're going too!!!!

MiSsFrOgmember
187 posts
Location: Oceanside, CA USA


Posted:
ok those are reallly confusing... i guess everyone does it differently but the easiest way that it was tought to me is:start out by doing a regular butterfly,then have your right hand come over your left, grab the lower chain and hold it with your right hand pinky finger (smallest finger) and hold the top one with your pointer finger.Its all rythem and a flick of the wrist.
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------------------"come with me to a land of fantasy, take my hand down into techno wonderland"

Its not easy being green....


Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
MiSsFrOg19 - that is how I do it when I have both hands available. I guess the trick is to get a butterfly going with only one hand (ie the other hand is holding a staff or even another butterfly)I tried my suggestions, and they didn't work. oops! But maybe... just maybe... I am too unco! I'll keep trying various things - I wanna get it before you do Josh!!! tongue

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


TranceKujamember
68 posts

Posted:
wow...I feel really special! i can do a one handed butterfly and Josh can't...Go me!here's how i learned it...1) practice doing two hand butterfly then move one string to the other hand so that both poi are on one hand.2)once you've got that good, try having the poi split then bring them together, up and around.I guess that's kinda confusing so...

Live by honor. Kill by stealth. Only the unseen survive.~peace~


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
TranceK, you are special because you are who you are, not becuase of what you can do that others cant (especially when they can) smileBTW - TK and Missfrog, I was referring to *starting* a two poi in one hand buttefly without using the other hand (so I can get into some of this crazy 4 poi action John has been talking about).Josh

Shouden-CrDSILVER Member
Veteran Member
495 posts
Location: Tampa, FL, USA


Posted:
Josh,that's on my immediate list of "To-Learn" (: As for doubles performances it sure as hell would be cool to do something like this to have one person light up a set and do some funky move off another person and hand them off that set(Without stopping spinning). Then they light up another set...and do the same and hand them the second set. This would also be helpful for continuing a performance without putting your poi out.PLURRCRD

-=ÇrazyRaverÐude=-


jonathanenthusiast
210 posts
Location: new zealand


Posted:
keep trying to start them with one hand josh. you can start them by letting them dangle over your right hand (hook youre handles around your fingers ect, but make sure youre comfortable with them) so they are hanging down at about the same length. whip the right one over in an anti clockwise direction, and as thats falling, jerk the other into motion. the left side of the poi should pass closer to your body as youre standing there practising the move once its going!. it is possible to start a one handed butterfly in any hand position you will move to as your skill improves (thats mainly speculation though, there are some pretty contorted wrist movements for some of the double spins)i found that was the easiest way to start them, it took me a while though............

Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
Woooo - yes wooo indeed!I got it with that last suggestion from jonathon. Only problem is my naughty practice poi have rather large heads and maintaining the one handed butterfly is difficult. I gonna practice with my fire poi sometime to be sure I can keep it going.I find it easiest if the two poi have a bit of pendulum like swing in them, then the anticlockwise twist of the wrist flicks only the poi closest to my thumbover my hand. There is then enough swing in each of them to start the butterfly. I find it is also easiest to use my index finger to really give the one that goes over a push.------------------Courage is the man who can stop after just one peanut

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


phuzzzmember
160 posts
Location: saltspring island, bc , kanada


Posted:
as evryone has a different way of doing it i'll throw mine in to. start by doing a one handed weave from side to side. kinda like a staff figure 8. the get the other hand and give one of the balls a good calculated whack! flick flick flick. or at least that how i do it.

poiwondermember
21 posts
Location: Washington District of Columbia


Posted:
ok my two cents:I grab both poi in one hand holding the strings with my pinky and ring finger. I slip my index and middle between the strings and start moving them front to back, this causes the strings to do a swinging thing. When they are both swinging about a foot apart i give the strings a flick and instant butterfly. thats how i learned

Hey chicky chick, check slick Nik flick sick tricks with glow sticks and lit wicks real quick!...;) (IM:cmsnr grdn)


stiltfiremember
19 posts
Location: Chicago, IL USA


Posted:
This is kind of cheating, but I do four poi stuff by having someone else do a reverse butterfly and hand it off to me after I already have a one handed butterfly going.

jonathanenthusiast
210 posts
Location: new zealand


Posted:
its a bit harder getting 4 going by yourself, but if you can move about with them then starting them shouldnt be to much of a problem. hey stiltfire, got any moves you could teach me with 4?

stiltfiremember
19 posts
Location: Chicago, IL USA


Posted:
The only two I know are butterfly and corkscrew. Corkscrew is really fun, though. Right now I'm a bit sloppy with it, but it's getting there. Unfortunately, I don't know any trick to learning it other than brute force. Actually, that's not entirely true. I usually just work with two, but pretend to have the other two in my other hand. That way I don't always have to have someone else feeding me poi. That'd get pretty boring, I'd imagine. The key is to get really solid with each hand before trying to do both. After that point, hmmm, well there isn't really a trick.

jonathanenthusiast
210 posts
Location: new zealand


Posted:
ive never tried 4 poi doing anything other than butterfly, ive had a bit of a play around with various bits of wood on string fashioned so they can be moved like a staff........i bet two one handed corkscrews looks pretty stylee thoughyeah i guess theres no magic wand someone can wave to make you able to do a move, but practise generally has the same effect (usually on a more protracted time frame though- dammit)

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
you buggar Bendy! you beat me to it! smileBTW - no twirling this Friday.Josh

Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
You need some more time to practice Josh?? tongueGot any homework assignments for me? grin------------------Courage is the man who can stop after just one peanut

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


protozoaGOLD Member
member
148 posts
Location: Baltimore, MD USA


Posted:
Hey Josh!I'm definitely no master of the one-handed tricks, but I can get a one-handed butterfly going for a few seconds. I've found the best way is to do a two-handed butterfly and then carefully switch one poi off to the other hand, so that they now are both in one hand. Then switch back quickly, because I can't keep it going for very long. smile-prote

Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
As said before, one handed butterfly is not the problem. I can keep it going with my fire poi no probs, and I have seen Josh do it too. The tough bit is doing 2 butterflies, one in each hand.Getting one started is fine the way you have described it. That is exactly how I do it, but then have you tried to get another one going in the other hand? I recommend you try it, a lot harder than it sounds!! smile If you have trouble keeping one going while you start the other - put one hand in a pocket, and try to start the second.Meanwhile, I am trying to teach my left hand to keep a one-handed butterfly going.

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


Organized Kaosmember
238 posts
Location: Thornhill, Ontario Canada


Posted:
It's not so difficult, it's just a lot of practice to get it fluid, this is how i do it and in the club people go wild for it. I usually do it with four glowsticks (two as handles and two for swinging) start off with a regullar two handed butterfly, then put the stik in your left hand between yor index finger and middle finger on your rite hand. this way, one glowstick is btween your thumb and index finger, while th other is underneath it between your index finger and middle finger. then just move your hand with both stix in them in the same way you would with a two handed butterfly...hope that made sense and it helped you...------------------Do You ever Question Your life? Do You ever wonder Why? Do you ever see in Your dreams, All the castles in the Sky??

Every morning I wake up and hit the ground yawning...



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