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Dj Masta Killamember
4 posts
Location: Staten Island, New York


Posted:
I've been practicing poi since the beginning of August and i've tend to notice the shorter my poi are the more moves i can do without wacking the balls together or getting tangled. I just wanted to get eveyones opinion on whether they like short or long poi..

preambledmember
53 posts
Location: auckland


Posted:
both! both!short are great for some things, long are great for others! grin

skaguye4allmember
1 post
Location: upstate, ny, usa


Posted:
20 inches bro....i can hit any move w/ 20 inch strings. good luck...

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
long, and learn how to shorten them while you are twirling...best of both worlds...Josh

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


Posted:
Short.Lock the thread, I have spoken.

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


Kosmik Lunatikmember
58 posts
Location: mass


Posted:
Measure from your arm pit to the palm of your hand. That always works for me

PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
I like both and like Josh said, I wrap the long to make them shorter. But my version of long is 14 inches from handle to wick bottom! And I go as short as two inches of chain between my flesh and the wick. I have tried 4 foot long chains though, and it is interesting too.It is all personal preference...so experiment and have fun with it until you find what suits you best!------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...https://www.pyromorph.com

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


Maelstrommember
135 posts
Location: Akron, Ohio


Posted:
This summer Knagi and I were playing with 6 foot chains. Great fun!(Granted I'm 6'5".) By the end of the summer we had added one wick per foot. In order to kind of help with the swinging motion, we added towel wicks at the ends (whole dish towels). It was alot of fire and ours safties had to pay real close attention. The last I heard someone was spinning them while two others blow fire off of them. Knagi said he stood and watched holding the fire extingisher. How far is too far? ------------------Nothing good ever comes from hanging out with "normal" people.

Nothing good ever comes from hanging out with normal people.


Neekomember
68 posts
Location: Seattle, WA, USA


Posted:
I will use shorter poi when I am in the mood to do a lot of inside moves (moves that come in between my arms toward my body). I like the look of longer poi though.

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
there are moves that you simply cant do with short poi...so you are also choosing to limit the repetoire you can bring to bear on any one set if you choose either short poi or two pair of poi (1 long 1 short)....Josh

AdeSILVER Member
Are we there yet?
1,897 posts
Location: australia


Posted:
Josh, you've piqued my interest - are you able to share some of the moves you can't do with short poi?Ade

so_sumimember
7 posts
Location: japan


Posted:
well it's easy to shorten lon poi mid twirl but can you do the other?go 4 long poi.

FrenzieBRONZE Member
member
515 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
You cant do "the saw" which is what ive seen it called, where the poi are shortened and spun hand over hand in a forward or backward motion in front of you ...

- Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the milk crate -


AdeSILVER Member
Are we there yet?
1,897 posts
Location: australia


Posted:
Frenzie, by 'saw' do you mean hand over hand, INSIDE your arms (that is the poi stay inside your arms and spin towards or away from your face)? I can certainly do this move with short poi (or long poi that's been shortened to allow this)... Or have I got the short end of the stick regarding your description (very possible, I'm working at home alone today, and going a bit stir crazy...) winkade

Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
I find the long ones are easier to learn with since you can spin them so slow but retain the momentum. However to learn to make the trick smoother I need the shorter ones!My practice poi had temporary heads whilst I was designing the current heads. They were big wool pompoms (about the size of a cd) and were on about a 1-1.2m cord. I would wrap the cord around my hands to shorten the cords, but spinning them at full length was awesome - not being able to lower my hands much below my shoulders was the only downside.[This message has been edited by Bendy (edited 07 November 2001).]

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


Ithacamember
45 posts
Location: Bath UK


Posted:
I am beginning to move towards longer fire poi (80cm) and short glowsticks (55-60cm)so that wraps are easy. I think fire looks better with large sweeping movements and glowsticks are light and bounce back when you wrap them, so more impressive moves can be done with shorter poi.

------------------
errrm I intend to live forever, or at least die trying.
Voltaire


Whiffle Squeekaddict
416 posts
Location: Hartford, CT USA


Posted:
i love long poi, i just find it more impressive, and as someone already hinted at, the longer the poi, the more smooth your moves become, so it might be good to practice with short poi, to acheive smoothness with your moves, but during preformances id recommend longer ones just so things look better

Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!


Anoukmember
2 posts
Location: wellington, New Zealand


Posted:
I have to admit I'm another long Poi fan, as they force a lot more accurate control over the movement, I've also seen some extremely non-fluid staffing/poiing primarily because the tools where too light and didn't tell the user where they wanted to go - long, heavy poi don't let you lose the flow, and it's easier to synchronise their rhythm with rollerblades as well I find, although sometimes I do shorten them a little for sprints & the like.My latest toy (not fire, just a metal rod signifying a dart) is a rope dart, about 12' long, to be used by 'capturing' segments on shoulders, elbows or neck (it's kind of difficult to swing your knees around too much on rollerblades), and launching at a target should you so desire. I don't know if I'll ever do two (though I doubt it), but the momentum you can build up in something so long is pretty impressive. My normal poi are about 4', and just heavy enough so that using them with one hand is a worthwhile workout.Does anyone know any good resources for learning to use rope darts? I found poi pretty easy to figure out, but so far I've found the learning curve on rope darts rather hard going, and although I can see the possibilities are endless, having to have everything perfect first time to know if something works makes it rather difficult...

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
Most of the interesting wraps I do (turning neck wraps, hip throw wraps, upper arm wrap turns etc etc cant be done with short poi as there isnt enough chain to do the wrap without the heads hitting you.You can still do the Saw, you just have to use one of the easy techniques for 'winding on' the chains in order to shorten them.Ive recently made a set of poi which are stupidly long, but I can sometimes pull off moves which have the potential to look really really nice.I think there is potentially a kind of twirling where the proponent remains constantly in a state of varying wrappedness (rope dart experts do this, but I've never seen anyone do it with poi).So far I can *occassionally* pull off arm and neck wrapped high and low turns, weaves and I know its possible to do wrapped butteflies, I just havent got it to happen yet.Its all very very dodgy at the moment, not a bit of grace in it - but I'm getting there slowly...so many things to learn, so little time... smileJosh

Stringsmember
25 posts
Location: Wilmington, NC, USA


Posted:
I use a lttle of both. I usually use 7 foot chains ( I am 6 foot tall), but start a set with them reaching from my hand to just past my elbow. Also I have a small piece of yarn tied on the chain equal leinght from the heads every foot. The reason I use such long chains is for horizontle butterflys. Start with them in fron of you, and slowely bring them over your head, then just unwrap the chain as they spin. When they are out a full 7 foot, it is an awsome sight, expecially if you can get people to walk under them... But this takes trust on their part. I keep them wrapped so short most of the time because then I can do all of the inside twirls, and wraps that I love. But are impossible to do with long chains. I have been thinking and can't come up with anything that can be done with long chains that can't be done on short one, but there are a lot of things that are only possible with short one. On the flip side, a lot of stuff looks better on longer chains, so just get used to wrapping, and unwrapping a lot.

Never get over confidant... That is when your chains wrap and you hit yourself in the face.


jonathanenthusiast
210 posts
Location: new zealand


Posted:
i think the length of the poi should be in some proportion to your body. but it really depends on the sort of moves your trying to do. for me, ive found that the maximum realistic length when doing 2 butterflies is to have the poi tied together in the middle, and having the total length at around head height. but thats with rocks on the ends, while i'm pretending im a powerful maori warrior (nah now im just taking the piss out of myself!!) umm, i used to think the heavier the better, but ive sort of noticed that when we used to get up to weights over a kilo, things started popping and creaking (aye nooks?). i think that the longer and heavier you want to go with your pois or any other sort of flail weapon the cleaner your moves need to be, the more flexible you have to be and the tighter you're foot work will have to be. something else i found useful when doing things like this is remembering to breathe, i had real problems with coordination doing 4 poi, and it wasnt until someone actually asked me if i had been breathing that i realised i hadn't and could start to relax and glide around a bit more

PeterBmember
20 posts
Location: Topsham, ME, USA


Posted:
I quick question. Where do the measurements on the poi start and end? Where the string meets the ball(or wick) to the begining of the hand straps? Or the very end of the ball or wick? Or does the length include the hand straps? I just like to be on the same page as everyon else when I'm reading about the lengths of strings. Peter

----------------------what is fire? Magic!


HappyStickermember
42 posts
Location: Lubbock,TX


Posted:
i found it easier to learn with short strings then once in got the feel of the moves down such as corkscrew etc. (ones that swing toward your body) i lengthned them as much as possible just b/c i agree they look cooler when long.

If you had a friend that was a tightrope walker, and you were walking down the street and he just fell over......that would be unacceptable.


Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
Whilst messing with my long practice poi I was trying to send them through my legs and wrap them up over my shoulders. I need to jump to stop them hitting the ground. This type of thing is impossible with my shorter (cable) fire poi so I am thinking about making some long, ball chain fire poi.Incidentally I got it once, and whacked my self in the back of the head/neck about 10 times!!

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


Anoukmember
2 posts
Location: wellington, New Zealand


Posted:
Popping & Creaking? I got told off at Wing Chun for clenching my fist whilst the sifu was speaking as it interrupted him, some residual creakyness from the staffing dayze.As far as measurements go, I exclude handles & heads, as I sometimes attach different things to the ends to try on the weight, so that varies (please make sure that sections of steel tubing are WELL fastened to the regular heads when trying this on rollerblades.)Also, is there some sort of dictionary as to what all these things are? I'm guessing butterfly is any pair in opposite directions, perhaps someone can start working on a video guide to each named move 1 at a time? There are things I wouldn't even begin to try to name, but conversely I have no idea what anybody is talking about...

Stringsmember
25 posts
Location: Wilmington, NC, USA


Posted:
Anouk,go to poi lessons on this web site, and there is a list of the 50 or so most commen moves. And most everything else is just variations on these, but if a move isn't there just ask. Anyway I measure from the end of the chain ( where it connects to whatever i am spinning) to where it leaves my palms. Wether that be a strap, or when I have them wrapped.

Never get over confidant... That is when your chains wrap and you hit yourself in the face.


PsylentzSILVER Member
member
72 posts
Location: Manville, Rhode Island, USA


Posted:
i find that measuring from my waist allows me to do more dangerous long string moves like a corkscrew, while still being able to do the effect of long strings in a weave (or chase as it's reffered to around RI)

"The Q is talkin' to me!!!"


KyrianDreamer
4,308 posts
Location: York, England


Posted:
Ahh, here's the topic i was looking for...
Lots of very old people on here... and some not so old, but not around much...

personally, i like long poi. or perhaps me should say, medium poi? 'cause they are about 32" and i'm about 67 1/2". (sorry, no metric conversions today. it makes some moves (like multi-beat corckscrewws) much harder, but i like the flow, look, blah blah blah it's all been said.

however, there is all the short poi moves... which i have finally strated working on more... altho i recently purchased a touch more of chain so i can have short and long chains for my fire and tennis ball poi, (i like detachable stuff) i think i'm gonna end up saying i'm with josh... i mean some moves even look better short... too bad i can only unwrap chain smoothly and not wrap it smoothly...

ok, done babbling. enjoy!

peace & love, Kyri

Keep your dream alive
Dreamin is still how the strong survive

Shalom VeAhavah

New Hampshire has a point....


DomBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,009 posts
Location: Bristol, UK


Posted:
Yep, I'm another long chain shortener. There's lots of really cool stuff you can do when you play with length. The wrapping takes a bit of practice, I find that I can just put my hands out flat and the chains wrap around the fingers. Voila! Short poi.

IdubIHoP Lurker
272 posts
Location: Medway, Kent, UK


Posted:
finally worked it out, I've spent 5 mins thinking about this.

I use backward weave 3 beat, drop to a 2 beat for long enough to seperate hands and put fingers in path of poi, let wrap round. carry on with 3 beat backwards

switch to a forward weave and release using 2 beat.

I'm 5' 7" tall and use poi slightly longer than hand to armpit, I'll measure them oneday.

I do prefer using short poi but since I've taken up meteor I need to start using some really long stuff.

*Oh, just for a minute,* my bed said.
"Don't lie to me," I grumbled.
*But you're so tired...*


HeedMay the fires of this world always burn bright!
38 posts

Posted:
I can understand using longer poi once you have become comfortable with a move but what about while you are learning it? Wouldn't shorter (perhaps even heavier) poi be better for control?

The more enlightened man thinks he is the more foolish he proves himself to be.


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