Forums > Beginner Poi Moves > How to do a 3/4/5 beat weave, clear, easy step by step instructions

Login/Join to Participate

MiGGOLD Member
Self-Flagellation Expert
3,414 posts
Location: Bogged at CG, Australia


Posted:
all right. at the risk of being flamed and beaten and blown up and hung and having paper planes thrown at me, here is, what i think and hope will be the easiest description of a 4 beat, then a 5 beat weave.

Now, my definition for a beat in a weave is when the poi hits the bottom of the circle. it may not be technically correct, it may have shortcomings when you start playing jedi mind tricks, but it works for weaves, and thats what im trying to teach.

ok, so you're doing the three beat weave, right? now, and this is for the left side
THREE BEAT WEAVE - LEFT SIDE
1)right hand comes over, poi starts going down. at bottom of circle, (beat 1)
2)left hand comes over, when the poi of the left hand gets to the bottom of the circle (beat 2)
3)right hand is at the top of the circle. when the right hand gets to the bottom (beat 3), with the left at the top, the left swings across the body, and the cycle starts again.

Thats the three beat, as i see it

If i have lost anyone, pm me and let me know, and i will try, really, really hard, to get a movie, or a gif or something. with different coloured sock poi, and in a very exaggerated way of doing things

Ok, to clear up the confusion as to how 3/4/5 beat weaves happen, yes, you can do a sustained four beat weave. no threes, no fives, no tangles. It happens like this:

FOUR BEAT WEAVE, LEFT SIDE
1)right hand comes over, poi starts going down. at bottom of circle, (beat 1)
2)left hand comes over, when the poi of the left hand gets to the bottom of the circle (beat 2)
3) right hand is at the top of the circle. when the right hand gets to the bottom, (beat 3) with the left at the top, instead of moving the left over to the other side, go towards the bottom of the circle again.
4) At this point, if you are anything like me, you're going 'nope, thats gonna end in tears'. dont worry, it wont, and this next bit is important
5)as the left hand starts travelling down, try to have your wrists cross at about a 90 degree angle, with the right arm parallel to the body, and the left running front to back.
6)as left is getting toward bottom of circle, and right getting towards top, kinda 'push' the left hand away from your body, while at the same time, bringing the right hand across the body. (beat 4)

(I found, when learning, that it helped to 'flick' the right hand across, and hope for the best. a cricketer's box may be handy, if you are worried and/or using hard poi.)

now, for the other side of the four beat weave.
FOUR BEAT WEAVE, RIGHT SIDE
1) right hand is coming across, poi heading downward. (beat 1) The left hand comes across at the same time, because its crossed with the right hand. the left poi is still on your left side, doing the fourth beat.
2) as right poi hits top of circle, left poi comes across, just like the three beat, but the hands come across in a different order. (beat 2) At this point, your hands will uncross.
3) as hands uncross, the right hand comes down to the bottom (beat three)
4) bring the left poi to the bottom of the circle (beat 4), then cross the right poi over, to begin the cycle again.
if you complete it all without recrossing (basically doing a 3 beat, but with the extra uncross beat), then you will have a four beat weave.

The assymetric part comes from the fact that on one side, the hands cross over, (left side, in this example), then on the other side, they uncross, without recrossing. And yes, you can do this the other way around, but im more comfortable with it on my left side. just swap left and right around

Now, from a four beat weave, a five beat weave is rather simple.
FIVE BEAT WEAVE, LEFT SIDE
1)right hand comes over, poi starts going down. at bottom of circle, (beat 1)
2)left hand comes over, when the poi of the left hand gets to the bottom of the circle (beat 2)
3) right hand is at the top of the circle. when the right hand gets to the bottom, (beat 3) with the left at the top, instead of moving the left over to the other side, go towards the bottom of the circle again.
4) At this point, if you are anything like me, you're going 'nope, thats gonna end in tears'. dont worry, it wont, and this next bit is important
5)as the left hand starts travelling down, try to have your wrists cross at about a 90 degree angle, with the right arm parallel to the body, and the left running front to back.
6)as left is getting toward bottom of circle, and right getting towards top, kinda 'push' the left hand away from your body, while at the same time, bringing the right hand across the body. (beat 4)

Yes, that is only four beats. dont worry, that will change. The first side will have to be four beats, as you will see soon.

Now, on the right side, the five beats start.
FIVE BEAT WEAVE, RIGHT SIDE
1) right hand is coming across, poi heading downward. (beat 1) The left hand comes across at the same time, because its crossed with the right hand. the left poi is still on your left side, doing the fourth beat.
2) as right poi hits top of circle, left poi comes across, just like the three beat, but the hands come across in a different order. (beat 2) At this point, your hands will uncross.
3) as hands uncross, the right hand comes down to the bottom (beat three)
4) bring the left poi to the bottom of the circle (beat 4)
5) now, the right hand crosses over the top of the left hand (beat 5), and the left hand flicks over to the left side of the body.

Now its just a case of uncrossing your wrists, giving you the extra beat to make the original four into five, like this:
FIVE BEAT WEAVE, LEFT SIDE (2)
1) left hand is coming across, poi heading downward. (beat 1) The right hand comes across at the same time, because its crossed with the right hand. the right poi is still on your right side, doing the fifth beat.
2) as left poi hits top of circle, right poi comes across, just like the three beat, but the hands come across in a different order. (beat 2) At this point, your hands will uncross.
3) as hands uncross, the left hand comes down to the bottom (beat 3)
4) bring the right poi to the bottom of the circle (beat 4)
5) now, the left hand crosses over the top of the right hand (beat 5), and the right hand flicks over to the right side of the body.

Ok, that about sums it up. I hope to have a movie of this on here really soon, but between now and then, if you have any problems with this post, and/or you think that i've gotten too big for my booties in saying that this is the definitve way of doing things, please dont hesitate to email me, pm me, or come around, have a cup of tea, and discuss it face to face. I think we have enough tea left..

"beg beg grovel beg grovel"
"master"
--FSA

"There was an arse there, i couldn't help myself"
--Rougie


MiGGOLD Member
Self-Flagellation Expert
3,414 posts
Location: Bogged at CG, Australia


Posted:
Ok, changing this a little.

If/when you read this, can you please, please post at the bottom whether you found it clear/easy to follow, and most importantly, correct.

If you have any problems with anything in the above post, dont hesitate to say something. I'd rather be wrong and told about it, than wrong and have people just go 'meh, its not important'

"beg beg grovel beg grovel"
"master"
--FSA

"There was an arse there, i couldn't help myself"
--Rougie


joulzenlightened
187 posts
Location: montreal


Posted:
i'm also confsued bout this i ddinteven think a 4 beat was possible.. wtv theirs a lot of confusion im about half way through your post, i'm gona print it and read it, aply it, give u feadback

it must be green


SpitFireGOLD Member
Mand's Girl....and The Not So Shy One
2,723 posts
Location: Calgary, Alberta Canada


Posted:
Here's my understanding of things:

Three beat weave: you have 3 full circles on each side. (On the right side...left hand poi swings once with left hand over right hand. Right hand swings one circle, then left hand goes under right hand for one more circle. Three circles.)

Four Beat Weave: The hand that only swings one circle will now swing two. So...on the right side: Left hand over right, Right, left under right, Right wrist wraps around left for the last swing. ON THE LEFT side, you do the standard three beat weave: Right hand over left, left hand, right hand under left. Note: The extra beat Can occur on the left side, of course.

The Five Beat Weave: Both hands spin two circles: So...on the right side: Left hand over right, Right, left under right, Right wrist wraps around left for the last swing. LEFT side: Right over Left, Left, Right under Left, Left wrist wraps around right for the last swing.

Mind you, I've only ever gotten more confused from the text descriptions of moves, and only every really learn by *watching* others show me the moves.s.

Solitude sometimes speaks to you, and you should listen.


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


Posted:
Again, as the largest proponent of 'beats' that I know, the only problem that I see is calling a circle a 'beat'.

In a 5 beat weave, you do 5 circles on each side (3 with the closer hand, 2 with the opposite). But that's not what makes it a 5 beat. It's a 5 beat because EACH hand does 5 beats before the pattern repeats.

So my only critique is in your parenthasis. (Beat 2) etc should read (Circle 1) or somesuch non 'beat' including word. smile

The reason why is when you switch to 'same time' or 'paralel' moves, the notation would become wrong.

Aside from that, it looks good.

~NYC
Beats4Life

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


MiGGOLD Member
Self-Flagellation Expert
3,414 posts
Location: Bogged at CG, Australia


Posted:
we arent going through to same time, parallel, 3/4 time, or anything like that. this is just to help people that cant spin a 4/5 beat weave be able to, in split time, so, while my beat system may fall over dead when that funky weird stuff happens, it works in this bit.

And i hope to get a video/gif up here soon, for easier learning.

"beg beg grovel beg grovel"
"master"
--FSA

"There was an arse there, i couldn't help myself"
--Rougie


Penguin SvenSILVER Member
member
185 posts
Location: Australia,Vic


Posted:
Mig Mate ....you Gun.

That is an awesome discription. Good on yu. It really helps. I have been doin Poi for bout 2 months and after readin that it really clears things up.

Hhahaha, all i need now is a lesson to do the Five beat backwards. It takes real High Hand to Hand ( if their is such a thing) coordination. I need to were a helmet coz my poi have steal washers on either end and the hurt when the hit me in the hed.

mad2

"glow bugs, to slow to resist eating, to bitter to eat more than one handfull in a sitting" toothpaste for dinner


joulzenlightened
187 posts
Location: montreal


Posted:
Written by:

Four Beat Weave: The hand that only swings one circle will now swing two. So...on the right side: Left hand over right, Right, left under right, Right wrist wraps around left for the last swing. ON THE LEFT side, you do the standard three beat weave


i posted bout this b4 and i c now tha tit makes sense smile i wasnt quite sure at first but it seemed logical that for a four beet u would do the wrist wrap thing only on one side since the unwraveling will add the fourth beat, weird that the same amount of beats are on each side without doing the same thing on both sides:) and that well the 4 spins on each side give us a 6 beat?,well since we are doing 4 spins on each side... shouldnt htat give us.. this is sucha complicated discussion there hould be a comitte of ppl and that would take all these moves and count, thats it none of us can count as we do the move wink

it must be green


MiGGOLD Member
Self-Flagellation Expert
3,414 posts
Location: Bogged at CG, Australia


Posted:
joulz, you think too much smile

you just need to relax, chill a bit, and spin slower. I find that with some really long, light sock poi, they spin really, really slowly, and you can, in fact, count them fairly easily. And, as i've said, i will get a camcorder soon, and put a nice, clear, probably very large, video up here of 3/4/5 beat weaves.

"beg beg grovel beg grovel"
"master"
--FSA

"There was an arse there, i couldn't help myself"
--Rougie


joulzenlightened
187 posts
Location: montreal


Posted:
hah! nicenesss

it must be green



Similar Topics Server is too busy. Please try again later. No similar topics were found
      Show more..

HOP Newsletter

Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more...