Forums > Beginner Staff Moves > Helicopter staff moves (horizontal spins)...

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CharlesBRONZE Member
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
I've finally admitted a big gap in my repoitre which is that of using HELICOPTER spins more often. Normally, I need to be thinking about HELICOPTERS to put them into a routine, as when on autopilot, I regress back to ROTORS (vertical spins) and find it hard to break out of them again.I have a couple of helicopter moves, one is like the CORKSCREW. By HELICOPTERING above my head, then bring it down in front of me and lift up over my head again. I exaggerate how dangerous it is by pulling my abs in (well, stomach really) and jumping backwards when it spins in front of me. Tends to get a few gasps and murmurs from the crowd, coz they think I almost burnt myself (hee hee). Been working on the HEADSPIN for a long time now and can still only do three spins max, one on average.Does anyone have any HELICOPTER moves they would like to share, or hints on learning new ones (especially headspins)? smile grin wink blush------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

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spritieSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
2,014 posts
Location: Galveston, TX, USA


Posted:
I have one that the crowd seems to like. Now, let's try to explain it. Start off spinning horizontal above your head, then bring it down to spin on the outside of your left leg (will use your left leg as the center of rotation) out between your legs, up over your head again, then in between your legs and around your right leg. Make sense? Essentially, it is up above your head, then you go around your left leg instead of around the whole body, then up high again, then around your right leg instead of whole body.

CharlesBRONZE Member
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
Thanks Spritie, good to hear fromy ou again too, haven't seen you post in a while...Still a little confused, I'm guessing you swap hands during this as well?So, do a HELICOPTER in left hand above head, bring it down and through your legs to circle the left leg and then up above your head again, is that right? smile grin smile------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

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spritieSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
2,014 posts
Location: Galveston, TX, USA


Posted:
yeah. I forgot to mention that I do swap hands right before I bring it back above my head. You can also do the same thing without bringing the staff above your head. In that case you swap hands in between your legs (you need to have them spread out so your body looks like a peace sign to do this) and sort of do a half spin in between your legs before going on to the next leg. It also helps if you bend your knee and do a slight lunge when going around each leg if you choose not to go above your head.

spritieSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
2,014 posts
Location: Galveston, TX, USA


Posted:
There is also a helicopter toss where I spin it around my body and then toss it into the air with my right hand and catch with the same hand.

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
heli moves I know (prepare to be so NOT blown away Cantus wink)1) BTB Waist passFrom Heli pass above head bring down to waist level in less than 1/2 a turn (otherwise you cant do it with the staff centre close to your body the whole time smile) pass behind back in 1/2 a turn and then back up to heli in less than 1/2 turn. Looks best with PIROETTEs in there to maintain the staffs speed.2)BTB ground level passsame as above but pass behind the calves3) fwd BTL passsame as above but lift one leg and pass under that one and around the planted leg much easier with PIROETTEs as the move doesnt need to be done as quickly.3a) rvs BTL passsame as above but while turning in the same direction lift the other leg and pass under - this will feel a bit like a reverse version of the last one. These two are really nice when used in combination.4) Palm spinFrom helicopter pass overhead open your hand and let the staff spin on your opened hand. You can keep it going by kinda doing a drumming action with your fingers5) Straight arm BTB passFrom heli, bend at the waist till your upper body is level with the ground, then pass with straightened arms behind you.6) Heli tossFrom Heli do a above head pass then push straight up to make the staff fly up in the air in a flat spin. Catch with the same or the other hand. Catching can be a bit tricky with fast spins I find.7) Heli Behind the Head Pass (Neck wrap)From Heli pull the staff down onto the opposite shoulder of the arm thats holding it reach up and around the otherside of your neck with the other hand (so both hands are crossing to the opposite side of your neck and reaching around aka Full Nelson position) grasp the staff with the second hand and complete the pass.8) Heli Neck hold(?)From Heli place the staff on the back of the neck and then PIROETTE at the rate of spin that the staff WAS maintaining in order to cancel its rotation relative to you. Piroette til you get bored, stop, and the staff will start spinning off the back of your neck at the same rate your body WAS spinning at.9) Heli Neck hold chin catch reversal**Dangerous if attempted with heavy staff**From the Neck hold, stop your piroette so the staff starts to rotate off the back of your neck, as it comes over your shoulder on its way to the ground pin it down with your chin, and absorb the spin with some body TWISTING. TWIST back the other way, thus reversing the direction of the spin of the staff, release the chin pin and let the staff spin back over the back of your neck. Stopping a fast spinning staff with a chin catch MAY hurt your neck. Also - if it slides while in the chin pin, you will get a flaming new hair style smileThats about all I can think of at the mo. Hope this helps.Josh[This message has been edited by [Josh] (edited 07 November 2001).]

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
Also - you know how you can do a kind of shoulder roll thing to get an extra turn out of the staff on either side without using fingerspins? I think the technicque is in Bec and elke's book. Anyhow - you can apply that with Heli's too. makes your arm feel like its rubber tho..and you need flexible thumbs to get it smooth and relatively pain free smileJosh

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
did you want doubles heli moves too?Josh

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


Posted:
I've been doing some double heli stuff in the last few days.Including a double BTB pass.------------------C@ntus

Meh


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
Cantus, descriptions please!Josh

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


Posted:
Erm why would I be blown away Josh? It's the wraps I cant do. Passes are easy.Right. Details. Double BTB waist pass.------------------C@ntus

Meh


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
um - I meant you wouldnt be blown away...cuz its basic stuff.tis all tis all.Josh

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


Posted:
Ok Josh, then am I to take it that you're under the impression that I'm any good? tongue

Meh


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
sorry man - too many semantic switches in there, I cant justify spending the brain power figuring them out.I'd like a detailed description of how you do a double staff BTB waist pass without having 4 arms. Please.yep boring - but On topic smileJosh

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


Posted:
Erm I have one in each hand. I drop the LH one. Pass the RH one to my LH. Then catch the dropped one in my RH.At least that's the theory.I've only managed it a few times.It'll look slick in a few days tho.------------------C@ntus

Meh


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


Posted:
Or at least i would get better if it wasn't for this sodding rain frown

Meh


pozeeBRONZE Member
old hand
887 posts
Location: san diego, USA


Posted:
okay, this is my first attempt at explaining a staff move. probably pretty simple for some of you, but i thought it looked cool.lets use josh and charles terminology,doing the helicopter, go int to a straight arm BTB pass but do a palm spin(i have to use my left hand) then pass to a right hand palm spin, and then toss it up over your head to an above the head left hand palm spin.needs a lot of momentum to keep spinnig.

anyone got a light?


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


Posted:
And long arms.How long are your staffs?------------------C@ntusWe are old, we are young, we are in this together, vagabonds and children, we're prisoners forever, with pulses raging and eyes full of wonder, Kicking out behind us again.

Meh


phuzzzmember
160 posts
Location: saltspring island, bc , kanada


Posted:
hi abolutly brand new to this site, but just had to reply.a heli move that i love trancing out on is this: heli over head, then bringing it infront of you(like charles describbesin the topic opener)but righdownto inches above the ground. sp8inning horozontally to the ground then rocketing back above my head and, turningaround just a little bit, down to another spot inces above the ground. doing fluently and rhythmically to music, it can appear and feel like your spinning staff is bouncing over you and over you again. looks stunning.another:going from helli to one handed weed wacker and staying in weed wacker while you bring it to your side and then behind you so... the staff is goin paralellto the ground behind tou. remember in gymnastics they alwayse made you arch you back so your hands and feet were touching the ground and your belly was facing up? samearching of the back idea only different. does any one khow what im talking about?

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


Posted:
Yes

Meh


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


Posted:
I think you need fairly short staves for that. I know that our staves are about 110cm but they are *way* to long for me - I am not that tall. And they are a little to long for Josh to do any inside work. We are thinking of cutting them down to about 100cm or maybe less. I want some batton sized ones, because I got some cool moves in my head that I want to try with them. They are a tad on the cheerleader side mind you, but eh? You get that.Got any suggestions of what a good size if for doubles? smileLove and Light

Love and Light

~*~ Katinca ~*~


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


Posted:
My double staffs are 100cm. I think that is a good size.

Meh


CharlesBRONZE Member
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
Mine are 1.4 or 1.5 metres. Makes it a pretty serious workout...

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AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
hmm thats long charles. A lot of the doubles heli stuff I can think of wont work the same with your staves...as you cant get them 'inside'...Josh

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


Posted:
Josh.If you turn them so they're vertical, as opposed to horizonatal, then you'll be able to get thru doors. Thus you can get inside.Same rule works with ladders.*always glad to help*

Meh


CharlesBRONZE Member
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
When you say "inside work" do you mean helicopter stuff under your arms and things like that?I think this is also the reason why I don't have a lot of helicopter moves, its just so much easier to do rotor stuff.A fun one I did on Saturday night (which by the way, was one of my biggest busking takes, although I did busk for 4 hours and used 35 litres of kero!). oops getting sentences too long there, i'll start againA fun one I did on Saturday night, very basic, was to do a clockwise helicopter fingerspin above my head and piroutte anticlockwise. it felt like i was going 10 times as fast as usual and i had to adjust the fingerspin constantly to keep it smooth (my way of saying I nearly dropped it a few times).Looking up while you doing it with the staff spinning so fast made me dizzy, so i played on it, took a wobbly bow and fell over.It sounds simple and boring but it was soooo much fun. grin grin grin grin------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

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J4Playmember
24 posts
Location: Melbourne, Vic, Australia


Posted:
My staves are 80cm. I think anything longer than twice the distance from your hand to armpits is limiting.

AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
CHarles!!!35 litres in 4 hours!!!! what were you doing?!!::imagines charles dancing in a wading pool filled with kero in a kevlar suit to a dumbstruck audience::Josh

CharlesBRONZE Member
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
I'm pretty heavy on the fuel, and myself, when I'm busking. Do lots of burnoffs, dunk straight into the tin (so it bubbles and the kero stays hot) and do heaps and heaps of really really fast moves.I can stretch things out to about 4-5 litres an hour during winter and making an effort but usually during summer 8-12 an hour is my average.I guess i'm just not all that concervative (ha ha ha)...------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

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


Posted:
hireally basic but I just love piroetting with an alternating hele/weedwhacker. You can scoop right into it from a backwards figure eight rotor and when you want to stop you transfer the staff to the left and and let it swing out.Another trick thats easy but fun is the leg ballance. Its good to do this comming out of a neckwrap as you kneed to hold the staff some way toward the pinky end. When you grab the other side with the neck wrap, hold onto it and either: twist under your arm and round the waist, or: snake it back over your head and then round the body (in both cases from the back to the front).As the staff comes to the front of your waist place the middle on your thigh (you kneed to stand on one leg) and twist the body to keep the rotation before lifting off with the same hand.Other than that theres the extra spin on the neckwrap, but thats glass's move and its on the Cool moves and transitions board.Lovex

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


CharlesBRONZE Member
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
I like the leg balance finish, that's pretty cool. It's little inspirations like this that HoP can really help people with.Cheers Nix...------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

HoP Posting Guidelines
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* Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
* Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?


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