Forums > Social Discussion > The best training regeme?

Posted: 14th May 2004
Some people who perform seem to get stuck on sticking what works, and put little effort into developing new stuff, I would think this would eventually lead to a stagnateing performing career but *shrug*

The real problem is, performing may be the best regime as you say, but what training regeme do you use untill your good enough to perform?

Posted: 14th May 2004

Quote:

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The real problem is, performing may be the best regime as you say, but what training regeme do you use untill your good enough to perform?

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regular practice sounds the most advisable

depends how much time per day/week you can set aside for it

You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?" George Bernard Shaw

Posted: 14th May 2004
Regular practice is defintely the way to go...HOWEVER, just what type of practice do you have in mind?

Technical proficiency...Dance/Fluidity...Audience interaction...Fast moves/Slow moves...Individual style/Group style...Silly but entertaining stuff...

The list goes on ad infinitum.

Myself, I prefer a mix of technical practice and live performing, with more live performing if possible.

If you want to be a performer, the crowd should be your #1 focus when you are in front of them. Try to have number of routines to try ont hem and see what works. And always ask them how to make it better.

Sure, you'll get more stupid comments than useful ones, but those useful ones can be real gems!

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Posted: 15th May 2004
I agree Charles, Eye contact is my big thing. I use to get caught up in the zen of the fire spher, now I try to bring the audience into it by using eye contact. I have a few moves that this is key... for instance; a simple forward butterfly (facing away from the crowd) with an under arm swoop, makes me look at the crowd over my sholder im swooping under. You do this on both sides, swooping under each arm, and looking over each sholder. Girls like to have the attention, so I tend to look at the Girls in the front row.

Speed is a huge factor! I find myself on a rollercoster of flames, Going slowly up, then comming flying down! Regulating the speed is way more impressive, I feel, than always going Fast. Fast sometimes seems spastic! Slower movements also can become very Sexy!!

And always when you are preforming, Keep Smileing, You are having Fun Right!!! And everyone likes to get a smileing glance from a proformer.

keep it Lit,

~Fire Spirit

FIRE IS ALIVE!
IT LIVES AND BREATHS!
IT CONSUMES, AND DISTROYS!
BUT WE CONTROL IT,
AND DANCE WITH FIRE!!

Posted: 15th May 2004

Quote:

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Regular practice is defintely the way to go...HOWEVER, just what type of practice do you have in mind?

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erm this turned out kinda like a rant type thing... un-intentionally...
but just as a disclaimer... I am most likely talking out of my bum.. but it seemed to make sense as i was typing
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I reckon this depends mainly on the person in question.

Firstly how far advanced you are and/or how confident you are with certain moves.

So in that sense primarily the technicalities will take precidence.
I, personally, believe that part of the move technicality is to incorporate it into another, simpler, base-move as it were. (e.g. of "base-move" would be the 3-beat weave for poi) so in that sense some fluidity is involved.

fast moves and slow moves are a further step onto this... for the person to play around and see how different things feel. Also, some moves may only be possible at certain speeds. And so playing with this is like building on your move knowledge and finding out what speed ranges are reasonable.

from these an individual style naturally progresses... people will find it more comfortable doing certin things and finding some moves entertaining on a personal level... even if it doesn't look that pretty... it just feels nice

If the person's goal is for group performance, I think some overlap with the last few stages would be useful... so that when confident with some moves they can be built on and interactions can be worked on.



And generally for audience performance as a goal.. you would have to be happy with what you have before you start looking to adapt it and gain feedback.
So once you have your moves and so on, whether performing solo or en masse.. then try it out on groups of friends. See what they think. Take feedback and move on


I do like the eye contact thing- you can build a relationship with people based solely on eye contact and how you use it. And you want this with your audience.
But it depends on personal styles of play


So yeah... in short:
technical and so on until you stop twatting the back of yer head
then if performance is your aim round up the mates... heck have random parties to see what people think

You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?" George Bernard Shaw

Posted: 18th May 2004
Wow...there's no-one else who wants to add their 10c worth?

I thought this thread would be on page 6 by now???

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Posted: 18th May 2004
Alright, here's my 5p

My ideal training session would be

10 mins warm up
10-15 mins on rudiments - you can always get the really basic things a little bit cleaner
20 mins practising one family of moves I can already do
20 mins exploring a new family of moves
then just playing and dancing till I have to stop

What normally happens is either:
5 mins warm up
1 hour intensely technical investigation

or

playing and dancing with the odd token practise thrown in when I hit something I tried to do and couldn't

I think it's quite important to get some technical practise/discovery work in before freestyling, as it helps to stop stagnation.

But really really practise those rudiments - there's always a way to refine them a little, and it'll always pay off

monkeys ate my brain

Posted: 18th May 2004
i have never really 'trained' at this stuff so i'm not sure my comments will be of much interest.

training in my mind suggests working towards something rather than just getting better at a skill in your leisure time.

training to me suggests that you would do it even if you didn't particularly feel up for it.

i only ever spin when i want to nowdays.

i juggle because i love it and i do it a lot because it makes me happy.

but i still only do about on average an hour a day.

i have drills (breakdowns of patterns into more basic exercises that are repeated a set number of times) which i use to improve my technique if something isn't working right, but i rarely use them unless i haven't cracked something i really want to.

i'd say, if you are working towards being a performer, the work you are doing right now tom is almost ideal.

but if you are working towards being good for your own benefit alone, the perfect training conditions are regular meetings with people more experienced than you (workshops) and space to practice 24 hours a day.
plus all the props you could possibly want to hand.
oh yeah, and no job and infinite weed.
and lots of money (to go to all the conventions).

"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood

Posted: 18th May 2004
First up Charles, Congratulations on being a first time Dad! Hope the young one is getting on ok.

Now on with the thread. I'm not sure what you'll be practicing (poi, staff, juggling etc) but I juggle so I will say how I practice that. I generally do stuff with four (a lower level than I can do) so start off with some easy stuff and work towards harder stuff. So basically warm up with something easy for about 15 mins or so.

Keep on trying different things. Try going from one trick to another, if that doesn't work try doing another trick into another trick. I usually focus on one trick and see what other tricks lead into/out of that one trick and find out what flows. Then from that and into something else. Being able to go from one trick to another (the harder the better) will improve the overall standard of things u do.

ie. I am currently working on 5b cascade straight into hi lo shower...last part hard enough but going straight into it without any multiplexes makes the pattern that much more controlled, and my throws more exact. So I would advise you to try things which are way out of your depth. You may surprise yourself. Things then suddenly seem easier when you try them the easy way.

Also keep on trying different things that you can't do. Right now I'm working on about 10 different 5ball patterns. The more differing things you try, the easier everything else will be.

I don't think I train though, I'm just a fanatic. Like Coleman says training is doing something even when you don't feel like it.

I hope this has been helpful and I haven't swayed too far away from the feedback u wanted.

Hex

ah wah wah wah a wah wah

Posted: 18th May 2004
Hmmmm.. thats funny... was just thinking about this question today as I sat looking at my backyard and my double staffs that I haven't touched for a while....

I have been travelling alot and found it hard to practise while always on the move.. but now I have flat... so.. no excuses.. but why do I need an excuse for not practising...???? I love playing with my double staffs... and during Jan/Feb when the days were long and sunny I would spend hours after work twirling.. throwing.. leaping.. occasionally hitting...

But now I feel a little despondent about it all and I think it is partly because I am not around people that are a lot better than me... In my area of New Zealand, not being up-myself but there isn't anyone that is able to teach me... or inspire me like when I was back in Edinburgh (yes I was lucky enough to be there and hang out with the tePOOKa crew and many others) Also coming into winter here I am not performing much ... the fire nights have pretty much died out due to the cold nights... and so I am not getting the motivation from performance... which I know always gives me a little bit of motivation for practising... nothing like dropping the staffs in front of people to make ya feel a bit dippy...

Oooppss.. now I sound like I am complaining.. but what I am saying is that for me I find practising best when surrounded my like-minded twirling crazy beings.. one that I can teach.. or be inspired from ... and that up and coming performances do make me practise more... If on my own.. like most days now... I tend to practise between 2-3 hours... starting with running through all my basic moves... moving onto the hard moves that I'm still trying to achieve followed by a last section of just moving around randomly to music .... sometimes I work on a choreographed show.

Am thinking of moving to Melbourne soon.... I miss not having that many spinners around here....

Gotta say hi to Dave... hello !! Hear u ran FirePoint this year... hope it went well.. and have a fun time around Europe....!!

keeping the fires burning....
Jo

Start chasing dreams.... one day u may catch them..

Posted: 19th May 2004
for jo... we miss you here. esp. as its starting to get sunny and busy(knockengorroch this weekend )

i'll post at length on this one soonish i promise..

smiles
R

Holistic Spinner (I hope)

Posted: 19th May 2004
I don't doubt that being put in an instensive situation, juggling all day and immediate feedback and pressure to do your best is the best training regime you could hope for. But we aren't all in that situation...



But I was talking to why about this the other day... What would be the optimal way to learn to juggle, from a sports science perspective? (and my brother is one, so I'll be asking him about it shortly, but it'll probably be more related to catching and dropping rugby balls )

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.

Posted: 19th May 2004
In the case of learning a new juggling pattern: Is it best to train for so long to start to lose the pattern from tiredness? Should you train till you get the pattern once? N times? Should you just train one hand at a time? When should you train? Just before bed so that your brain can reprogram itself? Everyday? Every other day? Several times a day for ten minutes? Can you intersperse learning other patterns into your training without reducing your learning potential? Surely somebody must have done some research on this kinda thing?

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.

Posted: 19th May 2004
and while I'm here: I find that I've always using soft focus when I juggle so that I can split my concentration on the multiple objects in my vision. There must be some sort of training for this. Like drivers use when looking at the mirrors and where they are going at the same time.... (That what they told me they did anyway...)

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.