NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
I've shifted my emphasis to teaching poi lately. It's what I'm good at. I'm sure we've all found that there is a natural progression in learning a new move but haven't seen anyone put it down in writing. Of course there are going to be some exceptions to this list, and sometimes steps can be skiped, but I thought we'd try.

So a newbie learning a new move. From easiest to hardest.

Do it with your good hand.
Do it with you bad hand.
Do it with both hands once.
Do multiple attempts with both hands.
Do multiple attempts on cue (with someone watching or on fire).
Be able to do it in different places (higher, lower, etc.)
Be able to transition out of it.
Be able to transition into it.
Be able to incorporate it in between a number of moves (or improv routine).
Be able to use it naturally while 'flowing'. (This is the whole 'A game'/'B game' theory)

OK, honestly, I'm just thowing that out there without a proofread or rewrite... it's a work in progress with anticipated help from you guys.

What am I missing? What should be worded differently? How can I make my headache go away?

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
That sounds great.

What age range are you working with?

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
Um... just whomever shows up to our local gatherings. Not a real organized thing or nothin'. 18-40?

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


ElannaSILVER Member
Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.
2,293 posts
Location: NJ or DE, USA


Posted:
sounds pretty good to me...*pats NYC on the back* good job!

PS - and about that headache...try some tylenol or advil. that usually does the trick...

Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

Pies Jesu Domine *whack*
Dona eis requiem *whack*

Come join us and chat - we're bored! irc.newnet.net #homeofpoi


vanizeSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA


Posted:
that's pretty much the way I teach poi, except I emphasise flow sooner (somewhere just after they get the move down) and let people figure out their own progression of moves. I basically end at teaching a few transitions and let them fall into the rest on their own.

-v-

Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!


GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
If you are looking for paid teaching there must be a huge market in schools and also senior citizens.

Seniors have joint flexabilty issues that poi have got to be good for and government spends heaps of money on keeping them active. Mum picked up the practice poi and is now a convert and is working on her mates as well.

Schools here are always looking for new ways to get kids active . In Aust now they are banning all sorts of sports and equipment due to litigation scares so poi might be good.


I enjoy teaching in that I am still in a steep learning curve and watching newbies thrash in and out of moves usually teaches me stuff too.

I hope that once my life settles down that I can tap into these markets to earn a little extra cash.

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


caz86Twister Fire Starter ridin on a tratter
156 posts
Location: Bristol/Exeter UK


Posted:
I've only just started and I tend to do a move with short cords and soft poi then progress to hard poi and chains. Cept for that its very good. Good luck with the teaching!

Caz


_pOp_BRONZE Member
Playing OldSchool Poi
593 posts
Location: amsterdam, Netherlands


Posted:
don't forget to start with teaching them to do everything SLOW...

my experience is that newbies often swing too fast (I've been teaching a LOT of beginners this past summer). and if nothing is said, they'll never learn to go slow, and for me slow helps to feel and understand a move better...

eric pOpsteric.

meditate eRic.

I'm not normally a religious man, but if you're up there, save me, Superman!


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
I try and teach it slow as well. Hey, never said I practice what I preach.

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


alleykatmember
49 posts
Location: Brooklyn, NY


Posted:
Resurfacing after a ridiculously long absence...

I have a proposed step:

Somewhere between "multiple attempts with both hands" and "be able to transition out of it" I would say "be able to do it clean." As in, without scrunching up face/saying hail marys/narrowly missing a bop on the nose. I've learned that forcing myself to work a new move in isolation until it's really solid spares me the frustration (and pain) of trying to integrate it while I'm still shaky.

Thoughts?

this little light of minei'm gonna let it shine...


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
NYC, if I may disagree with you very slightly,

I believe you should do it with your bad hand first. I find that people who do it with their good hand first have serious issues getting their bad hand to do it.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


KristieEBmember
108 posts
Location: Oakland, CA


Posted:
i have been using the "bad hand first" method as well and i find i get much less frustrated. when my good hand learns it fast and then it takes forever for the other, it is harder for me to take than the other way around.

NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
YO ALLEYKAT! GET YO BUTT TO SARA ROOSEVELT PARK THIS THURSDAY!!! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN FOREVER!!!

Lightning, that's a good idea to do it with the bad hand first. I often find myself trying to have a newbie do the hardest thing first. Then, if it's not working, I'll have them back up and try something easier. So in terms of ease, I'd say that the good hand is obviously easier to learn (and therefore should remain lower on the list)... point well taken though.

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


RonopotamusGOLD Member
addict
412 posts
Location: Ireland, but floating around at the moment...


Posted:
I agree with you NYC on the whole good hand first idea. I find it much easier to find the "feel" of a move with my good hand, and then knowing this go on to learn with my bad,
but that's just me whatever you find works best

Don't bolt your door with a boiled carrot...


PaliGOLD Member
journeyman
84 posts
Location: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia


Posted:
It's a good list, but you should add
a couple steps near the beginning for the beginner who just can't seem to get his hands to go together: Do it with your right hand while moving your left hand as if you are doing it with your left hand, and then with your left hand while moving your right hand.

I needed this for 3/4 beat weave when I learned it the first time, and chanting what my hands should be doing: "over under" in this case.

Genuineness only thrives in the dark -- like celery.


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
Indeed.

That's how I teach a two beat weave. In time first, then split time. Also works well for the four beat.

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


[Nx?]BRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,749 posts
Location: Europe,Scotland,Both


Posted:
another thing...

patterns, learning is a constant progression of getting yourself into patterns untill you can repeat them at will. The trick comes when you plateau, and have to break patterns in order to learn new ones. I think it is good to always have several different patterns being worked on at once.

this relates to the whole a/b game thing.

T

This is a post by tom, all spelling is deleberate
-><- Kallisti


soldaribusy-tofu!
133 posts
Location: montreal: bagel capital


Posted:
There are also some moves wich are easyer taught with both hands at the same time but no poi... this stage would go between the one hand at a time and two hands at the same time. I found it easyer to teach where the hands were relative to eachother, or the motion that they both follow together.
Then again this is only applicable to certain moves. rolleyes

there is no better way to say I love you than with the gift of a spatula!


Armoured_RavenGOLD Member
member
35 posts
Location: LV, NV, USA


Posted:
I learned the 3 beat weave that way, soldari. I used pencils to simulate the movement because i just could not figure it out with the poi swinging out of control the way that it was. ubbloco I also agree with the 'bad hand first' and the 'do it 'til it's clean' comments. These 3 things have helped me to figure things out faster and to do them with greater ease...if i can get something 'clean' with my left hand, my right hand picks it up all the faster. weavesmiley

"I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive." -Albert Einstein


PyrolificBRONZE Member
Returning to a unique state of Equilibrium
3,289 posts
Location: Adelaide, South Australia


Posted:
what if you believe that to teach poi using the cookie cutter move method is actually likely to reduce the amount of 'Love' for poi in the student?

I've taught a lot of beginners, and spoken to a lot of twirlers out there, and often as not the people that really 'Love' it are the people who dont do it just to own a collection of moves, but do it because they enjoy the flow...

eh - I think I need to develop this in another thread...

Josh

--
Help! My personality got stuck in this signature machine and I cant get it out!


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
Indeed Josh... good point.. Though I am speaking of my teaching experiences which mostly consist of people coming up to me and asking to learn a specific technical move. I'm glad that in New York, most of the newbies really do take a technical breakthrough and then go and play with it. I'm definitely one of the least dancy folks in my community... so the dancers can come and pick my brain for a technical querry and then go back and make it beautiful.

My initial post is dealing with teaching technical moves to groups of people in a 'cookie cutter' environment.

It's how I learn everything and why I'll never be good.

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]



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