Page:
ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
So ill just start by saying that with all forms of self expression there is no right or wrong. this however is my style which i am refining in which there are rights and wrongs. everything i write here has been around for along time im simply putting it down in an ordered fashion. i plan to update and add to this post as it takes form. these are simply my current thoughts take what you will from it be it everything or nothing at all



Philosophy

Shadow contact dance is a form of expression whereby the staff and dancer interact and dance around each other led by the dancer.



There is an essence to each movement this essence is what makes it beautiful, the closer to the true essence the movement the more beautiful it is. Every movement begins with a thought whereby an intention of the whole body movement is created to perform the movement, the intension is manifested through the staff beginning its motion. From the point of origin the expression of the movement is performed and the staff finishes where the imagined end of the movement is.



Each whole body movement is like a sentence with each portion of the movement acting like a single word some words having melodic tones which others are sharp and abrasive, certain words resonate well with each other creating a pleasing structure. Other words clash with others or are jarring; a good example of this is dinosaur arms which detract from any body shape.



A sequence of movements is like telling a story with a large range of variation for freedom of expression.



Principles

Continous Rhythem - for the flow of the movement to be uninterupted it must have a constant rhythem throughout the exercusion of the movement, this manifests through the staff having sequential points of contact with the body. The rhythem must be set by the person not the staff



Transitions - the dance is a form of expression and there are appropriate points to change the direction of motion, the staff should never be force instead gently guided using two points of contact such that it is controlled



Symmetry - is beauty



Music - is a integral part of the dance



Body Movement

Every motion should be a deliberate complete body movement, alot of movements can be executed with similar body movements to those of tai chi. Correct movements begin with a thought and first occur as physical movement beginning at the persons centre as all of the limbs are connected.



Chi Ball Fishtail Exercise

Purpose being to focus on movement of the hand not performing the fishtail and to get the hand doing the fishtail opperating in syncornosity with the other hand without requiring as much conscious effort.



Pulsating Chi Ball

The purpose of this exercise is to free up movement in the shoulders as the chi ball expercise can case the upper body to become locked and ridged in maintaining a uniform chi ball.when the fishtail begins coming to the opposite side of the body to the side holding the staff the free hand opens up in a big arc to reform the chi ball as the fishtail begins to transition back to the other side.



Fluidity and Speed Control

The fluidity of a movement is best achieved through being able to perform and control the speed of rotation of the staff with different weighted staffs. An appropriate speed to spin the staff is one in which the move can be performed in a controlled manner in bother directions of rotation. Determining the level of control with one staff is very difficult, however performing movements with double staffs highlights the level of control by the degree of parallelness.



Backhand Roll Exercise

Standing with shoulders and feet facing the same direction and holding the staffs on either side of the body in the same place on the sticks roll both staffs from thumb to little finger across the back of the hand. When this can be done such that they rotate in parallel repeat the exercise but rolling the staffs in the opposite direction. Once this is solid repeat the exercise but with one staff rolling across the front of the body and the other behind



Parrallel Fishtail Exercise

Practise doing a forwards fishtail and reverse fishtail in opposite hands on both sides of the body trying to keep the sticks parallel at all times.



Footwork

Fixed stances

1 - Point Stance - feet together and parrallel

2 - Rest Stance - feet shoulder width apart and parrallel

3 - Short L Stance - whereby the feet are at 90 degrees and the back leg takes the majority of the weight with the front leg slightly bent

4 - Long L Stance - being the same as the short L stance but sitting much lower and the back leg still takes most of the weight

5 - Parallel Offset Stance - most of the weight is taken on the front leg with the rear leg being in little contact with the ground

6 - Long Stance - weight on front leg and back legs foot at 45 degrees

7 - Tree - one foot on the ground the other leg making a triangle using the grounded foot as one side

8 - Lotus - need a picture

9 - Horse Riding - Very wide parallel stance

10 - RHT Stance - feet parrallel with all the weight based over one foot with the other foot making contact with the ground using only the toes, can be done with the leg infront, to the side or behind



Transitioning between stances by touching feet together rather than randomly steping (as i do in the demo video shall rectify it soon promise smile)



Consciousness

When a move is properly understood rather than thinking the move, then doing it while being mentally blank finishing and returning to conscious thought, the move is experienced as it goes through all of its points. This loss of consciouness is most clearly demonstrated when trying a new move where the staff is not completely visible and not being able to correctly visualise it throughout the movement, causing the staffer to revert into a semi conscious state of trial and error without understanding. Twirling infront of a reflective surface helps with this alot.



Moving Doubles Patterns

'Learn to do figure of eights in both directions in every place that your hands can physically reach to sctartch yourself'

'stick your right foot out occasionally - if in doubt, jump a bit and grin'

- A wise fairy of the fluffy variety



Static Points and Transient Points

A static point is a relationship between parts of the body primarily the arms where the body shape is asthetically pleasing if the body is still and teh staff is only moving about it stationary center of rotation. Transient points exist on the paths between static points that the staff must travel through to connect the two points. Static Points can be linked together in patterns.



Static points without crossing the bodys centerline using a closed grip are shown for the arm marked with an x

Written by:




..................1.....3

.................O.2

..............------x....4

..................|.5

..................|.6....7

................./\

.............../...\








Note that no under the leg position is marked as to get the staff low enough to do a beat there requires the back to arch in a unasthetic position. Also it should be noted that each position can be done with the palm facing up or down each generating a different body shape.



Balenced Base Closed Grip Movements

When using only one staff the movement performed with each arm can only be seen seperately hence what can appear to be a developed controlled movement in actuality isnt. To test for this a simple one beat rotation (ie each end only traces a circle) should be done with a staff in each hand in parallel and mirrored for all of the static points shown above with the static points being chosen in mirrored and non symetric combinations.



Fishtail Family

The fishtail family finds its origin in baton twirling, and is usually performed on the back of the hand or wrist region, this movement is what is commonly referred to as fishtails. The fishtail movement causes the staff to move in a path such that it traces out a circle with each end of the staff resulting in two separate circles. The staff stays in contact with the part of the body that the fishtail is being performed on such that if it was performed perfectly it would be stationary relative to the body part.



Due to the dimensions of batons fishtails can be performed in front of or to the side of the body with minimal arm movements, the same is also true of short staffs. Performing fishtails with a long staff can be achieved with minimal arm movement on the side of the body however to do it in front of the body requires a much larger arm movement. For this reason when first learning fishtails it is recommended that they are first learnt on the side of the body. All of the movements can be performed in both the forwards and backwards direction, the forwards direction is where the staff is rotating away from you and backwards is where the staff is rotating towards you.



Vertical Fishtails

To learn both forwards and backwards vertical fishtails it is necessary to understand where the staff is going to be moving and how to keep the rhythm of the movement. The first step is to get a feel for the path that the staff is going to be moving. To do this first hold the staff in front of your body with both hands with your palms facing in the same direction roughly shoulder width apart. Then slowly guide the staff such that the right end of the staff creates a circle on the right hand side of your body and the left end of the staff creates a circle on the left hand side of your body. After becoming comfortable with this movement continue the motion of the staff, keep your upper body stationary and rotate your feet ninety degrees so that you doing the motion on the side of your body. These are the paths of the staff for all vertical fishtails.



Two Handed Fishtails

Resting the staff on the back of both hands spaced two hand widths apart move the staff through the fishtail movement, the second hand acts to stop the staff falling off.



One Beat Fishtails

Once you have a feel for the path that the staff is going to travel the next step is to learn the hand movement, starting with your palm facing down towards the ground trace out an infinity system in front of your body. When your palm is facing directly down to the ground this is when the staff is parallel to the ground. This is where you begin to transfer the staff from one side of your body to the other. If you try to transfer the staff to the other side of your body when the staff is not parallel to the ground it will slide off your hand this effect is most noticeable on forwards fishtails. To get the feel of how to move your hand relative to the staff start by passing the staff from back of one hand to the back of the other hand. Once this is occurring in a slow controlled manner when the staff comes over the hand that you want to learn the fishtail on turn one hundred and eighty degrees and carry the staff round on the back of your hand. Pass the staff from the back of the hand to the back of the other hand again until you are ready to turn back the opposite way with the staff on the same hand. This method can be used to learn both forwards and backwards fishtails. For example to learn backwards fishtails on your right hand the staff will be rotating anticlockwise in front of you, when the staff rolls over the back of your right hand your will turn clockwise one hundred and eighty degrees stepping either your left or right leg and carry the staff around on the back of your right hand. The staff will now be rotating clockwise in front of you, when the staff rolls over the back of your right hand you will step anti clockwise one hundred and eighty degrees and carry the staff back.



Once you have the feel for how to take the fishtail movement from one side of your body to the other you can do the method outlined above without the back hand to back hand passing in between turning from one side to the other. Once this motion has been made solid it can the same motion can be done but keeping your feet still. It is recommended that you work on increasing the number of beats you can get consistently rather than trying to go straight for continuous fishtails as this will help you to focus on good technique rather than lots of fishtails with poor technique. It is very important to get this solidly in both the forwards and backwards direction as this is fundamental to the rest of the movements outlined in this section.



Variations

Two beat fishtail - has a sneaky thumb reach under

Three beat fishtail - Moseph style requires a video

Elbow Fishtail

Forwards Elbow Fishtail Closed Arm

roll over back of hand draw hand into a tight closed horizontal elbow, then turn 180 degrees with arm. And back move arm in an arc shape so do a small throw type movement where the staff only just stays in contact with the arm

Forwards Elbow Fishtail Open Arm

Backwards Elbow Fishtail Closed Arm

Backwards Elbow Fishtail Open Arm

Shoulder Fishtail

Back of the Neck Fishtail (its do able ive seen it, its just stupidly hard)

Foot Fishtails - the secret is in the transition to the foot

Inverted Fishtails - staff is in position 5 with the fingers facing the person

Horizontal Fishtails



Vertical Fishtail Transitions



Transitions to Other Body Parts

Hand Fishtail to Elbow Roll



Fishtail to Opposite Direction Fishtail

Forwards Fishtail to Backwards Fishtail Roll

fishtailing to the side of you when staff comes infront of your body, bring opposite hand over the top so you end up back hand to back hand as the staff rolls onto opposite hand



Backwards Fishtail to Forwards Fishtail Roll

as fishtail comes behind your body place opposite hand on top back hand to backhand bring the staff up towards your head in the vertical plane behind your body then bring your hands down to your side to open behind you in a forwards fishtail



Fishtail to Angel Roll

as doing a reverse fishtail as you cross your body half way across go back to the direction you originally came from instead of finishing the movement



Transition on the same body part

Fishtail to Opposite Direction Fishtail

forward fishtail (rh) when its behind you turn right into backwards fishtail



Fishtail to propeller

forward fishtail rh propeller in front and to the right of you back into forwards fishtail

forward fishtail rh propeller in front of you into backwards

- same in reverse



Fishtail Carry

forwards fishtail carry – spin 360 with the staff on the back of your hand

backwards fishtail carry – spin 360 with the staff on the back of your hand



Fishtail fountain

backwards fishtail fountain

backwards inverted fishtail fountain



Fishtail to Horizontal Stall

– horizontal stall to fishtail in opposite direction



Fishtail pop

Throw it for ½ a spin in between changing sides





Doubles Dual figure 8s - starting with arms crossed with a stick in each hand the arm on top does opens upwards and does a forwards figure 8 and finished back in the crossed arm possition. the bottom arm opens down and does a backwards figure 8. the sticks should remain parallel all the way through the motion

Body snakes - video required







Tripples

Tripples opens up new areas in old concepts, it is a way to refine precision of singles and doubles movements



Concepts

Static Shapes - tripples opens itself to beauty in relationships



triaxis - three staffs are held in one hand such that all staffs are perpendicular

static framed triangle - three staffs are held in two hands such that there are two staffs being held by each hand such that a triangle is formed by the sticks



Dynamic Shapes - the flow between the transitions of static shapes



dynamic framed triangle - two staffs are held in one hand at an angle of approximately 60 degrees with the third staff ballenced on them held staffs

triaxis transition - starting with a triaxis in the left hand the triaxis is swung towards the person and one stick is released into a steve the remaining cross is wrapped across the front of the waist and transfered to the other hand as the steve is completed such that a triaxis is formed on the opposite hand. this movement requires control of the intention of the placement of the outcome of the steve as the finishing hand is holding a cross it is necessary for the staff to finish in the correct place




EDITED_BY: ben-ja-men (1117386784)

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


colemanSILVER Member
big and good and broken
7,330 posts
Location: lunn dunn, yoo kay, United Kingdom


Posted:
f*cking hippy rolleyes

wink kiss

seriously, it sounds like a worthwhile goal ben and should push you to develop a 'pretty staffing' style at a decent rate.

i think that keeping in mind the 'essence' (i.e. your visualistaion of the trick performed to perfection with perfect planes, body movement and relative speed through the move) can only be a positive thing - given of course that the 'essence' of the trick is physicallly attainable.

and can we get a video when you finish your first sentence/short story please? smile


cole. x

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


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
physically shmysically ive almost got the lynx horizontal shin foot stall happening and most ppl dont think its physically attainable when i explain it to them. next tricks gonna be making it pretty.

i may post some short videos to highlight ideas i have one for full body fishtails that im working on but its stupidly hard trying to get the other hand to behave correctly (harder than dual fishtails)

ill do a vid just for you cole when i get my first sentence ........ iiiiiiiiiif and its a very big if you use the smile smiley when u post rather than the grumpy smiley biggrin sound fair?

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
ooo i cant wate for a vid, this sounds good, hard but good, the best of luck to ya

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


ado-pGOLD Member
Pirate Ninja
3,882 posts
Location: Galway/Ireland


Posted:
Written by:



Every movement begins with a thought whereby an intention of the whole body movement is created to perform the movement






yup



this is exactly the lesson i got while learning lung ying. it was in the form of story, then excercise then sweating, alot. we did it though and evantually he got us to a place and a rythym of movement that made the story make sense.



its easily the single greatest lesson i learned in six years training. keeps coming back to me over and over.



very eager to hear more fred.

Love is the law.


Heronnewbie
3 posts

Posted:
Sounds good-although in general most of what you mentioned is what many staff users generally aspire to anyways...its nothing new. However if expressing what you want to do with your forms in different words helps, by all means do it. I think what your getting at is making the staff a part of your body and then making your movements come from the mind...sorta. Either way this mentality is great for connecting moves and making smooth flowing forms-that look really nice.

Kyle McLeanBRONZE Member
Living it up
363 posts
Location: Brisbane/Berlin, Australia


Posted:
smile

Nice one Ben.

This sort of stuff comes across meaning different things for different folks; I think most would agree though that laying it out a bit helps it to fester (in the good way). Would love to come down to Rainbow and trade ideas on this sort of thing, but does not look like it will happen. You said: "Shadow contact dance is a form of expression whereby the staff and dancer interact and dance around each other led by the dancer." I think I like to express myself like this, and would also be taking turns with the stick as to who is leading who. This raises some funny questions about control, and I think this is a place where you can keep the comparision to music going.



Have you tried contact dance? People will call you a F&*$ing Hippy quite a lot but damn it is fun. And very fertile for this sort of stuff.

Cheers,

K





hug

Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
added a section on body movement which ill update as i explore it more.

kyle ill have to look into this contact dance stuff whats this controlled chaos i keep hearing about?

added a short video to explain concept of chi balls with fish still very new to me and it needs practise but i just wanted to get the idea out there smile

enjoy

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


ado-pGOLD Member
Pirate Ninja
3,882 posts
Location: Galway/Ireland


Posted:
lovely

again

when did you say you were coming back?

hurry up!!!

smile

Love is the law.


mo-sephenthusiast
523 posts
Location: Edinburgh, UK


Posted:
Like the wideo. I'm sure meg will too tongue

monkeys ate my brain


mcpPLATINUM Member
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom


Posted:
yay for chi balls. biggrin

Can you eat them? confused

I liked the video, though you seem to have gone down in resolution since last time. And strangely, you're the right way up. Was the camera upsidedown by anychance?

"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.


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
lol i thought i told u NOT to watch it miss meg tongue i even labled the name of the file telling u not to watch it what more hinting do u want wink sadly due to some stupid codecs bending my laptop over in a not so nice kinda way when i uninstalled em they killed my copy of premier so i had to do it all in winblows movie maker and its only a semi proper video so show chi balls and the other bits of stuff ive been playing with, and yes the camera was upside down im wearing antigravity pants to stop me falling off into space rolleyes

ado-p ill be back in 06 ..... unless i can convince someone at uni to buy me a ticket for a conference or something

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


mcpPLATINUM Member
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom


Posted:
how could I resist when you called it that? It's like glopping anchovie paste all over a tomato and then expecting cats not to eat it.

I can't believe I've been mentioned in two videos in 1 week!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

etc.

ubblove biggrin

"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.


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
ben that is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gonna go play with the chi ball exercise, and take it to my tai chi and kung fou master, then i might get the compleate body movement, the idea being to compleatly forget about the hands, and they will just do their thing........thats gonna take a while for me!!! you look like your almost there!
again beautiful staffing, im gonna have to come to london especially when your back!!!

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


mo-sephenthusiast
523 posts
Location: Edinburgh, UK


Posted:
I think they have special cameras down under which flip the pictures upside down so they look better. Seems to make things a murky blue/grey as well - I'm guessing that's to make up for all the sunshine and red desert?

ben: love the SNES entry, will have to a) make my SNES's work again, b) learn that biggrin

the chi balls stuff; lovely idea biggrin

This is quite subtle - it's not looking bad, but at the moment it looks like the movement is starting from your wrist, which is pushing your shoulders round, and this is moving your left arm, which is a bit rigid and unconnected. Things I'd suggest trying are:

- do more work without the stick; try leading from your centre, or at least thinking about it. Try to really think about the connection going from one wrist, into your centre, and then out to the other wrist
- try it with a stable stance - some of the steps back/forwards leave you a little hunched, and some of the movement might be compensation for when it's not quite controlled.
- try with your hands quite close together to get a rolling movement
- cut that mop off your head, get a proper job and put on some smart clothes tongue
(- learn tai chi?)

Hope that's useful wink

monkeys ate my brain


ado-pGOLD Member
Pirate Ninja
3,882 posts
Location: Galway/Ireland


Posted:
ben

could you change hands mid fish

and alternate your arms over and under the stick?


some constructive critisism. this is from my own experience with learning kung fu, you might know it already or i could be completly wrong. i hope it helps you some though

+ your body movement is a bit hard to see with that big banner.

at around :14 when your double fishtailing, your twisting way more in one direction than the other. and your stepping as you twist, its putting you off balance because your feet dont seem to be flat on the ground. take a good stance and your pull in your hips, it'll help keep your feet flat on the ground and help even more with your breathing

try twisting more from your waist, let that move your shoulders. it lessens the tension on your arms... *sings* the leg bones connected to neck bone, and all that jazz

your arms seem a bit high? would having them lower help them relax?

the looking thing? if this is heading in the kung fu direction then you need to start watching your hands and increasing your awarness of the space around you. it'll help you on alot of differnt levels

open your mouth, breathe out with the movement and concentrate on losing your tension, in through our nose and out through your mouth

hugs

a

Love is the law.


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
hehe yeah was a bit of a rush job i got inspired around sunset but a big stoopid house next door blocks out lots of light normal theres so much sunshine the camera wont work tongue

ta muchly for the feedback ill be giving it all a try tommorow with the loosening of the movement, ill try the stable stance could be quite tricky may have to do the fishtails infront of my body rather than to the side. might have to start tai chi and steal all their moves

ado-p yeah changing hands is definately possible and quite easy having teh second hand already there for a backhand to backhand pass. i initially started with trying to alternated under and over the stick and its reaaaaaaaaaally reallly hard im working up to it. with the parallel double fishes im twisting cos i need to improve my forwards fishtail technique, what do u mean exactly by pull in your hips? highers a better shoulder workout wink ill give it a try lower though. i hadnt really thought about the breathing aspect ill have to have a bit of a play with it smile

feedback very greatly appriciated biggrin
hug

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
there should be a stable stance that will alow the fishtails to the side.
an idea....try the chi ball exercise with doubles, so the following hand is also doing them? might be intersting, if not insanely hard. you can keep your arms high, if you expand your sholders, and make sure you warm up you neck before as well as it will give more shoulder movement. give me a year or so, and i'll be ready to try some of this stuff smile

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
i was playing with the doubles for chi balls but havnt found a way to get into the motion yet because of the lengths of the sticks

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


ado-pGOLD Member
Pirate Ninja
3,882 posts
Location: Galway/Ireland


Posted:

Written by: ben-ja-men


with the parallel double fishes im twisting cos i need to improve my forwards fishtail technique, what do u mean exactly by pull in your hips?





The twisting is fine, its just your twisting more left than right (could be the other way around - silly inverted aussie cameras smile. your losing symmetry...

Hips in...

Its like when you take a horse stance... It pulls in your hips straightens out your spine taking that arch at the base out, it helps a lot with breathing, keeping your feet flat (heels down, always unless on purpose), twisting, keeping your torso over your hips and centered etc.

Try starting down in the horse stance and then move up into a half horse stance pulling your coxis (sp?) down and forward. Not to much mind, it's become automatic after a while. Try walking around like that (though not in front of people wink )

Mo-seph is dead right about the movement coming from the center too. That’s where the energy comes from... Even with walking you can focus on starting the move further and further up your leg and becoming more centered.

Waist, shoulder, elbow, wrist

Waist, hips, knees, ankles

No rules are set in stone though, play around with it, see what happens then come and teach the rest of us how to do it properly.

I love what your doing, its inspired me.

Cheers ben


hug

A

Love is the law.


mo-sephenthusiast
523 posts
Location: Edinburgh, UK


Posted:
Written by: ado-p

I love what your doing, its inspired me.




Yeah, what he said. You've really taken "taking the piss out of meg" to a new level biggrin

monkeys ate my brain


mcpPLATINUM Member
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom


Posted:
eek frown

"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.


ado-pGOLD Member
Pirate Ninja
3,882 posts
Location: Galway/Ireland


Posted:
ubblol

Love is the law.


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
added some stuff on consciousness concepts and a new chi ball exercise mmmm daily additions me thinks a big edit will be needed soon

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
ben i have a book for you, i'll find the name soon (it slipps my mind, by the old master of my tai chi class, (b4 i was born) depects the one truly ballenced style there is in existance, the foot patterns would prob help you a lot. as it shows transitions from even the most strange, yet still ballenced foot patterns there are (rather than having to come back to eagle (what i reckon point stance should be) but i might be wrong smile i'll post the name of the book when i get home

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
oh and one more thing. is there any chance of a tutorial video on double fishtails?

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


Fear-TineSILVER Member
enthusiast
227 posts
Location: dublin Ireland


Posted:
hey there is a video of doubles fishtails in ben's yahoo account and have you checked out the new vid not for meg.think there in that too.

Grow old but never grow up


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
got them both, but stil dont understand how to get in to them frown

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


Fear-TineSILVER Member
enthusiast
227 posts
Location: dublin Ireland


Posted:
Have you tried doing fishtails on one hand and while your doing that do hand rolls with the other hand and eventually you will be able to feel them both.

I dont know how to do them either just assuming.im still wit one staff.

Grow old but never grow up


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
yeah same, ta for the idea tho, will give it a go

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
the easiest way i found to get into dual fishtails was to move the two sticks in the path u want with a closed grip (2 beat, fishtails being 1 beat) and choose a point (for me its when the staff comes behind my body) to feed the staffs in and feed them in half a beat apart from each other.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


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