Forums > Technical Discussion > Feelings about teaching people???

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KatincaSee my vest.... see my vest...
693 posts
Location: Adelaide - South Australia


Posted:
Recently Josh and I took a fire-twirling course, and taught some kids and adults how to use staff and poi in a 12 hour course run over the weekend. By the end of the course all of the students had a burn and loved it. And some had progressed really really well.

Josh and I were talking about teaching people, as alot of the time, we (well Josh mostly.... ) end up whenever we are twirling somewhere teaching a move to someone. If you are patient enough, the person will get that move, with in reasonable period. It's great to teach people. But at the same time its difficult and can be a little frustrating.

Both of us have been twirling for about 2 years now, and for the first 6-8 months, we didn't even know about HOP, we just fumbled along, working out new moves, and going through alot of pain, and frustration. HOP came along and Josh learnt a whole lot of moves from that, then he then taught me or I watched him and worked out how to do some of the moves, now that I could see them and know they were possible.

Now two years down the track, give us about 6-12 hours with someone who has relatively little experience with poi and we can teach you a lot of moves. Moves that I remember taking me 6-8 months to work out and finally perfect. And I guess that something that gets to me a little. I can teach someone a move that took me soooo long to get, and they can get in within a few hours. I only wish that I had a teacher that could teach me a stack of moves that they have learnt....Sage?? Can I borrow you for a few hours However, both Josh and I don't have that here, we are always the ones teaching new moves to people that have taken us ages to perfect. So we have all these people who probably think that poi is pretty easy....but everything is relatively easy when you have someone there telling you exactly where and when your hands should be and what you are doing wrong.

I really like teaching people new moves, it's really great to see people get these moves, but I guess at the same time I have a little resentment?? ( I don't think this is the right word, but it will do for now) because I know how long some of these moves took me to learn and if I had a teacher when I was learning them then I would have got them pretty quick too.

Although I have to say, even when people are new to poi, and learn all the moves, there is certainly a grace? fluidity/ style that comes with time. Alot of people who have been taught all the moves in a short period of time, can do them all, but still have a problem in transitions between moves, they tend to look clunky and a bit yo-yoie and I guess thats ok if you like your style like that, I guess. Josh and Myself can teach a few tricks in 12 hours, the grace, and transitional fluidity doesn't happen over night, I think that is the thing that takes time to work on. But then again...maybe that's just me/us?

Although I know myself I choose to practice in front of a mirror or with my shadow to the ground so I can see what it looks like, that way I can move my body, in directions that are more pleasing to the eye, or try and move much more gracefully. This is something I have only been doing for probably the last 6-8 months. As now I am confident enough with all the moves that I know, I can start really fire *dancing*. And I have to say my style has improved alot since I have started doing this...

Just some thoughts....and ramble. But has anyone else found this with teaching people?

Kate

Love and Light

~*~ Katinca ~*~


Kinudin (Soul Fyre)veteran
1,325 posts
Location: San Diego, California, USA


Posted:
Teaching people takes extreem patiance. Sometimes even to the extent that I don't have. But you're thinking 12 hours?!! whoa. Kudos to you and Josh.

But when I do teach them a move, I feel self satisfaction. It's a great feeling. Like I can sleep perfectly (maybe not that good... but you get the point heh)

What goes around comes around huh?

becBRONZE Member
member
521 posts
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia


Posted:
...lots of great thoughts and I do agree...

Elke and I have had the same kind of experience, as have many people who start by themselves - hours and hours of discovering new moves opver the first few years (or months whatever) and then being able to teach much of it in just a day workshop or at least a short course...
(like I remember the point, years ago that we realised that anything you do forwards, you can do backwards - such a huge revelation at the time, but is a concept that you can teach in just seconds)

but, then I guess there is so much satisfaction in having taught yourself, and there is definitely a flow, a confidence and as you mentioned, the fluidity that is much harder to learn so quickly (although there are exceptions... I have taught people in a day and they look like they have been doing it for years!)

but...and as with anything.. you learn things by teaching too... sometimes in having to explain something really clearly, it becomes clearer for you too and it may lead to other new discoveries that evolve from that deeper understanding...

...and, (just as a side note) I guess all of the things that you pointed out reflect some of the reasons why I feel fine about charging for lessons (I remember reading a thread ages ago and some people believed you shouldn't for all sorts of other reasons)...

...and as a friend of mine has said to me a few times - if you have put in (ie the hours, the time, the frustration of getting to a point where you get stuck for new moves, working on new ideas/toys/moves/concepts etc) then it's only natural that the balance will happen and things will come easily to you too...

...and I think twirling can either be an art or a sport... what you teach in a workshop is mostly technique (although it doens't have to be limited to this obviously) - but to find the extension of it becoming an creative expression, an artform is what you do with that technqiue - like you said... taking it into firedancing rather than just the dry moves...

perhaps we can just ask people who have had a chance to learn from a good teacher to try to help take it to another level again... I always suggest our students try and extend what they have learnt... to go out and discover more - to integrate new ideas and then come back and show me... (and even though I haven't had much back yet, I have faith...*)

well... this post feels all over the place.. I guess because I have felt like you about teaching many times (and still will I guess) but then, I really love teaching now... the sense of discovery, the satisfaction I get from watching others find their passion in it, the renewed enthusiasm I feel from their contagious energy... and the push it gives me to keep expanding my technique too...

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


Posted:
See, nobody ever tought me, so I don't know how to teach somebody. I've "taught" a few people how to do a simple weave, I guess, but that's about it.

Once I can get them there, I kind of go "Now you just have to practice and play until you figure stuff out. I'll be happy to perform any move I know for you so that you can watch how I do it, but I don't know how to teach you to do them."

I just learn by hitting myself a lot.

Peace.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


TranceKujamember
68 posts

Posted:
I've gotta agree that teaching takes a lot of patience. I was trying to teach my friend how to do a 3 beat instead of a 2 beat weave...took me a week of about 1 hour each day.

I personally find that it's easiest to teach people who have some martial arts experience, but not too much. If they don't have any, it's like they're brand new people, and the instructor has to start from basics. If they have too much, they sometimes are discouraged if they cannot do a certain move, and they will just simply go off doing some butterfly kicks or aerials etc.

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


Kendermember
33 posts
Location: Springfield, MO. USA


Posted:
Teaching people is soooo much harder than learning them yourself. Karen (my GF) and I have had to basicly teach each other. One of us would figure out how to start moves or finish them, then show the other one. I think it helps if you have someone else to bounce ideas off of. Its just the two of us here in Springfield, MO. so we were kinda stuck until we got the COL & COL2 viddies. Congrats to those of you who have the patience to teach people! I've tried to show my friends who dont spin how to spin, but most of them think its cool to watch but crazy to do.

-= Kender =-

arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
well, i started off not wanting to teach anybody. i still don't teach very many people. i feel i learned a lot by making up the moves myself. it connects me to them more. when sage and zarah and baru (and others) and i ran into "poi" which we call chains, we were only shown about 5 moves! (i think that's all there were!but probably not) now there are hundreds, and we taught ourselves 98% of the ones that we know. it was a long process. and we had to try and dance with the few moves that we had at the time. now, a new person can just go to this site and pick up all the moves that they want, and immediately skip to the middle, which is complexity. they skip over the beginning, which is control. i feel like learning complex moves is a crutch. it will slow your progress in the end. if the energy is spent on the moves and not on the flow, then how can you evolve your own style? i can immediately tell if someone picked up a move from me, because they do it in my style and i can pick up on it because likely i made it up myself. the frustrating part for me is when i see people doing more than that. like at this one show we did, i know what moves i was doing because i generally move from area to area- sometimes i'm more into bfly, sometimes i'm into behind hte back stuff, you know, i go through phases. and i generally stick to stuff i've made up lately, because i do a lot of improv fire dancing and i just go with it. well later i see this guy, and he's doing all my moves, even down to the transitions, that i did in the show! stuff that i know noone else can do besides sage or baru, esp. a beginner. i could tell he taped my routine and studied it. how do you react to something like that? all my life i've had "issues" with people plagiarising me, this kid in first grade took credit for one of my drawings and got to kiss the girl i had a crush on. now i get real miffed when somebody does it. not because i want whatever reward they will get, but because it seems dishonorable. is it flattery? or is it copying? i realize that a lot of people here watch videos of pros and get moves from them, and i don't want to be misunderstood. i think that there is a diference between copying and learning. it's the copiers that scare me away from the whole teaching thing. it's amazing- when i practice now, every time, i find some new move, some new fractal - this comes from having to teach yourself. if you understand the theory, the mathematics behind the chains, then you need no instructor. that is what i think people should shoot for. so i teach people how to teach themselves. i guess i'm weird. i'm a scorpio, so i'm kind of protective about my art. but i don't know what to feel about some things. anyone else out there like me? or am i neurotic? i try not to care but it's hard! i actually get stressed about this sometimes. it's probably my biggest "issue" i'm dealing with right now in interacting with other fire dancers. what happens now if this guy gets a gig that i could have gotten, using my hard work? am i too sensitive here?

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


master sodiummember
536 posts
Location: carson city, nevada


Posted:
arashi- you shouldn't be so concerned with people "copying" you. everybody has to start somewhere. for now they may be doing your routine, but in the future they might be coming up with crazy stuff you never thought of, and you can say "they were inspired be me." eventually everybody will develop their own style. but in all artforms, you must copy someone to learn how it is done.

you can't have a war against terrorism because war IS terrorism.it's not about worshipping fire. its about making the fire want to worship you.


becBRONZE Member
member
521 posts
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia


Posted:
I know what you mean arashi.. I wrote some similar things once and got (slightly) flamed for doing so...
but having thought about it lots, I guess as well as understanding that people do come up with the same things as each other completely independantly (not to invalidate your example - I'm sure that if you *knew* that you had been copied, then you probably had) I have kind of come to the place (with a bit of help from Elke - she's good at advice) that if you have the ability to create then that's something no one can take from you... they might copy a move, they might copy part (or in your case a substantial amount) of a sequence or style or routine or "signature move" that they've seen you doing... but they can never take your ability to create more...
I know this mightn't help if you've worked for days/months working something new and someone has it in minutes or however long it takes them to learn it... but you will always move onto new things and they will always be the one looking to someone/thing to source their work...
I used to feel protective about certain things (some things I still am - I didn't say that I have worked through it yet either)... but at least now I feel more that we should get out and do our thing big and loud and everywhere... that way, so what if someone copies... everyone knows they are mimicking anyhow...
and most of the time in teaching you can choose what to teach and what to keep special and sacred to yourself... until your special things get replaced by exciting new special things and you feel like you can share them...*

just my feelings...

oh oh.. and I *really* agree about teaching people how to teach themselves... some people respond to this, others don't - but then everyone's different I guess...

arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
yeah. this thing is reaching an epiphany for me. it was also good to hear black unicorn's input on the "they call him a pro" thread. i needed to hear that other people love chains as much as i do. then, copying moves is more about diving deeper. it just really gets me when someone cares so much about the flashy moves, and not about the sacredness of fire dancing. that's when i get miffed. i felt like when a newbie came to me and said, "wow, will you show me that move?" that they were doing just the same as when someone is trying to show off, by trying to just learn some fancy move and be a coolio daddyo. i figured if they were really good enough to know how to do the move then they wouldn't need to ask. they would see the theory of it. but i guess it's not that cut and dry. not that i don't show people how to do the moves that they ask me to show them. i always do. it just affects me, and how i feel about showing them. i've just seen too many folks get all ego-d out and it has jaded me. i'd just rather someone asked me "will you watch me dance, and offer suggestions on how to improve?" rather than,"will you show me how to do that crazy BTB move?" when i can see that they can barely do the reverse helicopter! so when i saw the guy doing the exact same dance routine that i had just made up, it made me feel like i wasn't inspiring him to be a better himself, but to simply want to copy flashy moves from others so he could be cool. but you're right, i guess, to learn we have to copy others. but should we copy them exactly? i mean, should the guy at least buy me lunch? he's pretty much using my work to get noteriety/make money for himself! is it any different than copying a story, or a costume? yeah, i'm probably overreacting, this happens every day. anyway, off to practice...



-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


adamricepoo-bah
1,015 posts
Location: Austin TX USA


Posted:
I've been at this less than many of you, so I come at this from a different angle.

At first, I learned my basic repertoire of moves from this site--I was lucky, because I knew about this site even before I decided to start twirling. And for a long time, my style was very mechanical--just as Arashi and Kat both suggested. It took a long time before I was comfortable enough to let things flow. But I definitely had a lot of building block to work with, and I think that helped give me a head start on getting to the point where things flowed, and getting to the point where I could figure out my own moves more easily.

I haven't given lessons in a formal sense, except when somebody asks me "how do you do that?" I try to teach them.

What's more interesting to me is when someone who's been doing poi for less time than me is teaching me new moves, just as people who have been doing poi longer than me have picked up new moves from me (that I may have learned from someone else, originally). I agree that flashy moves aren't an end unto themselves--but they can be fun.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy


KyrianDreamer
4,308 posts
Location: York, England


Posted:
I just wanted to say something to arashi, about people asking about the moves...

poi doesn't come naturally to me. at all. i've had to fight for everything i've learned, even just swinging in split time. but i try really reall hard. I understand the view that it should be about flow. Actually, I totally agree. I've even had people yelling at me for trying to learn moves that i wasn't ready to have a good transition into. I understand that. But it's the only way I can learn, to learn a move, and then figure out how they all go together. I'm only just starting to get any flow or dancing into my poi, and i love the feeling. But the prerequisite is that i can do all the moves i'm going between and using in my sleep. So, just because someone is asking to learn moves doesn't even nesc mean that they don't understand about the dancing. s'all i'm saying. i mean, i know some people just want to be show offs, but not everyone. things just don't come the same way to everyone. I think you might learn better if you teach urself, i'm self-taught on staff and only just now starting to pick up technical stuff, and i really move better with it. but, you can approach things frm both ends and come out with the same results. don't write everyone off.

Keep your dream alive
Dreamin is still how the strong survive

Shalom VeAhavah

New Hampshire has a point....


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
yeah, i'm getting there... plus, keep in mind that i'm not rude to anybody or anything, i just don't do a lot of teaching. i was speaking mostly about subtle energies during the conversation. whem i see somebody do something with chains that i like, i want to be their freind and get to know them and then talk theory. i don't just walk up to them and say hey show me that move! but that's just me. when people do that i just show them and let them be on their way. it just leaves me feeling strange.
also i think here is a perfect example of what i mean, for instance, given what you're saying, kyrian, you would be the perfect student! you try real hard and that's what matters. give me a few days with you and we could really go places by breaking it down. cause when you taught yourself staff, you had to break it down and understand the mechanics of it. then you grok the staff. so, when you want to figure out a move that you see someone do, you can try to see the mechanics of it, and the move reveals itself. and don't get me wrong. i have students, and i'm a natural teacher. i just don't take on too many, and they know up front how seriously i love fire dancing. all this is what dancing is about, and i see that. i guess i was just fixated on those few that are showing off. i've defintitely run into them. i needed to vent about that, i think. it's really nice to see that others are into it for the same reasons as myself... makes me even hungrier for the burning flipside festival coming up! oh my god i can't believe i wrote all of this, look at all of it...i need to go practice...

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


KyrianDreamer
4,308 posts
Location: York, England


Posted:
man and i almost wound up going to college in austin....

too bad, i woulda loved to have a local teacher!

Keep your dream alive
Dreamin is still how the strong survive

Shalom VeAhavah

New Hampshire has a point....


Maelstrommember
135 posts
Location: Akron, Ohio


Posted:
The problem I've run into with teaching people is that they are only interested in learning when I'm using fire. Unfortunatly by the time I light up I'm no longer in a teaching kind of mood. I'll tell people "Find me tommorrow (at a weekend feastival) and I'd be more then happy to teach you moves, maybe by night fall you'll have a couple down to the piont you can lite up." I'll see them the next day and they just aren't interested in twirling tennis balls. Their loss.

Nothing good ever comes from hanging out with normal people.


redragonxmember
73 posts
Location: Bentley Alberta Canada


Posted:
man you people rite some huge messages. amywho, teaching is cool, but you gotta have someone whos serious bout learnin. but personaly i think the best teacher is yourself. its ok to get mad at him, it drives you harder. its ok to congradulate him, it makes him feel good. its ok to beat on him, you gotta feel it too.

side note:i used to be skitso, but we're ok now

~A Soft Rubber Bodybuilding Smurf~


master sodiummember
536 posts
Location: carson city, nevada


Posted:
about people wanting to learn all the flashy moves, I think that can be good for them. it gives them a sense of confidence that will inspire them to continue with the art. certainly they probably dont have as much respect for the art at that point as the people who spent alot of time teaching themselves the moves, but whats to say they don't.

you can't have a war against terrorism because war IS terrorism.it's not about worshipping fire. its about making the fire want to worship you.


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


Posted:
It takes a very special type of person to be able to teach, from the patience and ability perspective. Then add to that the fact that it takes a remarkable person to break down the moves in a way that everyone will understand and be able to imitate and grow from. I don't like teaching swinging at all. I am not good at breaking the moves down and so therefore suck royally at teaching it. Other things I can explain through various viewpoints, but not this.
I have had people who explain things amazingly well and I can pick it up in no time. I have had people explain things and I have walked away alot more confused than when I started.
How adept the students are at the end of a session is a testament to how adept the teacher is. I agree that sometimes you have to struggle and fight to really appreciate the beauty of what you can do, and for them, that will come in time. We all know they did not learn everything in 12 hours. However, what they did learn you can have the pride and joy of giving birth to. You have imprinted your style and knowledge upon them. They paid you the money, time, attention and trust so that they could learn from someone in person instead of on the net (no offence to this site, we all know it rocks!). What you gave them is a solid beginning to their spinning journey. Maybe those of us who did not have the graces of a teacher learned the hard way, but that is what defines an art and paves the way for evolution. Instead of being a bit put off by this, you should stand up and beam with pride over being a pioneer. They will evolve, change and struggle in their own time, but think of it this way, you gave them the wings, now they can choose to follow you and fly!
Congratualtions beautiful one(s)!

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


CantusSILVER Member
Tantamount to fatuity
15,966 posts
Location: Down the road, United Kingdom


Posted:
Mostly I find teaching people frustrating.

I get kids coming up and asking me to teach them something (with staff). I show them some easy stuff - fig 8's, fingerspins, BTB pass etc - they stand there and practice for a bit, bashing themselves occasionally, generally having fun. I tell them to practice at home with a broomstick or something. They go away.

Then they come up a few weeks later and ask me to teach them something else. I say show me what you've learnt already and they haven't practiced at all. It annoys me. They want to learn new stuff.

It's happened to me several times in the last few months. 3 seperate people, all poi spinners wishing to learn staff. All the same attitude to practicing under their own volition.

I wonder about my teaching methods.....

Meh


RoziSILVER Member
100 characters max...
2,996 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Maybe you should be a bit meaner, teach them the basics, and them something harder that they won't get in one lesson. When they are at the stage of bashing their ankles, then say "you are almost getting it, now go & practice". It is a mind trick, because you have taught them something "cool" & "difficult". They will want to impress you, and show that they can do the difficult stuff too, so they might actually practice. When they come back they will either show you that they can do it, ask you to show them again because they can't (but have tried), or will avoid showing you how to do that one cos they haven't practiced. In the last case, ask them to show you "that trick I showed you last time", when they have problems, run through it again & tell them to practice again, but don't show them anything new until they have got it.

Cruel to be kind

It was a day for screaming at inanimate objects.

What this calls for is a special mix of psychology and extreme violence...


arsnHow do you change this thing???
1,903 posts
Location: Behind the couch...


Posted:
I had feelings for teaching people once... Then she told me that I her student and younger than her husband, and that high school teachers shouldn't date their pupils... I was so upset... Mrs Deere where ever you are... I LOVE YOU!!!!

Goes to cry in the conner...

[ 09 May 2002, 14:42: Message edited by: Arsn ]

I can't hear you... I have a banana in my ear.

"You mean I'll have to use my brain?... but I use staff!!!" ~ ben-ja-men


CareyBearmember
9 posts
Location: Sydney NSW Australia


Posted:
I've taught a few people - and when I started learning in early 2001 my flatmate and I were both into it & teaching each other - working it out as we went along.

I think that if you have to work it out for yourself, there is an element of discipline involved. Being shown how to do something doesn't actually inspire you since you don't visualise yourself doing it.. I know that the first time I saw myself videotaped twirling it inspired me to get myself together to learn the five beat weave and the triple corkscrew.

I think if you do it yourself, you empower yourself - the learning on your own provides a self-esteem boost and a firm background knowledge at the same time.. The disadvantage of being taught is that you are looking to someone else to provide the positive reinforcement. If you're teaching yourself, there's a self-reliant 'Yeah! *I* got it right!' that's all you require to keep going.

Alternatively, a twirling partner is a big help if you're at the same ability level, since you have immediate feedback from someone you percieve as equal. Teaching often seems to take on a 'master / apprentice' mindset, which is very demanding on the 'master' role (ask any bondage mistress). People have a habit of deferring to someone the percieve as superior, which means the teacher has to provide what the student should be able to provide for themselves.

That 'mind trick' is a good approach Rozi.. I can see that working.

Bender_the_OffenderGOLD Member
still can't believe it's not butter
6,978 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
quote:
Originally posted by bec:
I really love teaching now... the sense of discovery, the satisfaction I get from watching others find their passion in it, the renewed enthusiasm I feel from their contagious energy... and the push it gives me to keep expanding my technique too...
fuken oath, bec!
for all the twirlers that aren't inclined to teach, bec's an example for us all!
look hard at yourself! didya get into twirling to compete, or didya get into twirling cus it's a love of fire life! of course, it's the latter!
Firetwirling is a very unifying experience for all of us, so why fret over exclusivity, elitism?
Whether that low wave static backflip move was invented or learnt shoudn't cloud the fact that it hubris to think it yer 'own'.

I have taught people who claimed to be the inventor of what they call 'the weave' on 'poi.'

It is the willing teachers who earn the karma to learn more - Everything has its price, just ask Anna-Nicole Smith! The 2003 Gathering is gunna rawk, cuz soo many insane twirlers mixing will create soo much skillz, it'll cause a rip in the fabric of space time. I wonder how many trampolines will be at Dunendin 2003....

Yes, there is a world of difference between having a move described to you, and actaully mimicing something performed in front of your eyes!
plus learning from a description does not allow for refinement - a mirror or an experienced spotter is the final touch for a smoothly move.

It will be good to see all the firey Jedi @ Dunedin ~ 2003!! we should not leave Dunedin and make our own fire republic in NZ. A NEW republic! and surround ourselves with a clone army! So together, we could rule the galaxy, as father and son!

"Impressive! ... Obi-wan has taught you well! ..but your double figure 8 is not jet complete!"

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always


TwirlyVicnorthern monkey
235 posts

Posted:
i would love to have someone teach me, i only learnt through running round my back garden, twatting myself on the head and from my luvverly neighbour anna even though we only knew 8's and windmills. But it was the nicest feeling in the world when after finding this site (i live with internet freaks but none of us thought to search!!!) i discovered several moves i'd already got down, just from messing about. However, i still dont call these "my" moves. None of them are, they're sequences i do but they dont belong to me.

anyways, i totally get what you mean about teaching, i got bruises, they got "oohs" and "ahhs". Never mind eh, i'll learn something that'll kick their ass!!

(not that im competitive or owt...lol okay yes i really really am....)

much love

vic xx

ex-hop-aholic, now inconsistent lurker...


Fairy Ladymember
63 posts
Location: fairieland


Posted:
I really tend to Agree with Rozi. I am fairily new and have found when people ask me to teach them something I am really willing since I knew how great I felt when I got that move. I also don't teach new moves until they have the last one pretty fluid, but I have a little trick though, After I teach them one or two moves I have them make their own set of practice poi, with me, so they have invested something in it. I use yarn and newspaper, so mine never hurt while learning. They get done look at what they have made and are even more determined to learn.
But I have probably tought about 15 people something or other and at this point only 4 have ever asked for more, the rest have said they laxed in their practicingor have just avoided me.

I am also a born teacher and spent the weekend before last with three amazing girls who picked up so much in 6 hours I was blown away. by the end of the night they collectively knew about 7-8 moves. They kept saying how detailed and organized I was when teaching them, but it wasn't until an expeirienced fire friend said I had a natural knack for teaching poi and that he thought I was doing a great job of teaching them that I truely felt like I was helpping them.

Another neat thing to do is to do a trust where I have someone stand directly behind me and very close and then I spin the fire. It helps relax them so they relize it ain't as hard as it looks. I even had a friend just spin them at her sides for a whole burn cause she likes the sound. Alright now I'm just rambling, so I guess I should wrap it up now.
As a final note I would just like to say that you guys are amazing and I don't think i would have ever learned what I did if it wasn't for all those late night searches. Thank you so much for bringing more fire to my life!
Molly

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


Posted:
At poi type gatherings I try to be helpful and give people tips and show them moves if they ask. It's not teaching, it's sharing. When I started I learnt almost everything from watching other people. There's a couple of people I owe a hell of a lot to for teaching me so much about poi. That outside influence was crucial to picking up poi and without other people's help I'd only be spinning a couple of basic moves. It's invaluable to have other people to share skills with.

How I'm a bit better and can impart knowledge I'm really, really happy to help anyone else. You have to accept that it's often a one way exchange of moves, teaching beginners the basics, but I bet there's nobody out there who hasn't learnt something off someone else themselves. So return the favour and keep the flow going.

And to teach and share something that brings much bouncy joy is very rewarding!

the man behind the curtainmember
52 posts
Location: second star on the right and straight on till morn...


Posted:
people do learn quicker when they have a teacher. i taught my x in three days what took me a month or so. i actually enjoy it mor than spinning any more. i don't get the rush anymore but i see it when they do.
however a friend of mine who is into other skills thinks its better to learn on your own so that you better understand how its done so you can develop new things and not reach your teachers limits and cease to grow.

may you travel far andlive in interesting times.unless you a bhuddist in which case i wish you nothing


Benstickinmember
8 posts
Location: Elko,Nevada


Posted:
me and my girlfriend get to teach this summer for parks and rec. it seems like it will be tough but thats ok .We live in a small redneck town with nothing to do in the summer for kids to do .We get to sell banners and we get a cut.And we willget to teach a whole generation of spinners which is great.

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


Posted:
yo,

Intresting this, come up against it too with my flatmate who showed no intrest untill she kneeded to do it for a show. Basically she treats me like a catalouge, picking out the moves she likes and ignoring the booring ones. I have been totally self taught and often end up showing things I only learnt last week, anoying!

The reasons I put up with it are this, she does practice on her own, and she does peg at thease super technical tricks till she gets them, and I have it solid in my mind enough to describe them to her. Ocassionally I get frustrated because ity means I opften have to force her to learn something simple she cant do in order for her to transition into the complicated thing she can.

This is where long hours learning help I think, You develope the 'theory' (I hate this word) of the toy, how it is possible to move with it, when to move ect. using this theory you can envision new tricks, and it also makes everything you do much more solid as you ceace to 'do tricks' and start 'moving around the staff'.

I will teach and charge for it, but I see this as ok because a: i dont charge much and b: This is my hard erned knoledge im giving away here, and a one hour session will save you 2 weeks stuggleing. Time and Money.

I love to teach, I want more spinners here. Im not bitter about no teacher, because Im so much more solid for it, and have the framework to continue makin new tricks. come on!

Love

N

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


audaxBRONZE Member
freelance bum
286 posts
Location: Upstairs, Australia


Posted:
I have been teaching from very shortly after I started as a wa y of helping myself to discover more from my art by way of vocalising solutions. But the big challenge that most of you say there is in teaching is getting across how it's done. Like my friend PK who is brilliant at staff, a lot of people have problems explaining how it's done.
Katinca pointed it out (perhaps unwittingly) in her 1st post on this thread that people learn in different ways. She said Josh would learn from the HOP site (theoretical and literal learner) and would teach to Katinca what he had discovered. (visual learner) My sister did physics in high school so when I taught her using terms like momentum, pivot, inertia etc, it helped her learn very quickly. Others have learned from me by watching me and trying for themselves from a distance. My girlfriend Fi learns almost exclusively by working out what her hands should be doing. If I talk about what the ends of the poi should be doing, she loses me completely.
If you can work out which way a person learns, and what basis they already have for learning, it's much easier to train them in the most effective method for them. I'm a person who learns well through exercises, like as in learning a move one hand at a time once I know what it is that I want the poi to do. I can visualise the path of a poi and suit my hand movements to suit. Not everyone learns this way so I will have to work out a different way of teaching from the way I learned themselves. Don't be frustrated if someone doesn't have the same revelation you did after you tell them how you did it.
I've been reading a book on theory of mind at the moment and it's been a big insight into the way in which human minds work. It's kind of indirectly related to teaching as it's about the way people relate to each other. Have a look.

UYI wink OLDSKOOL


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


Posted:
See, I guess I learn from example.

Nobody ever taught me to spin, so I haven't the foggiest idea how to teach someone. :::shrugs:::

Peace.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


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