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


Posted:
I feel a long one coming on... but I've been quiet lately so I'm due.

OK, I went to Uberpoi and saw the worlds most amazing poi spinners yet one of the most fundamental points that I learned was... "Wow, these guys have put a ton of time and effort into this!" (I mean do you KNOW how long Arashi's been spinning wink )

So firstly, tons of respect and love to all the Jedi in the world. Those guys and gals who are busting their butts to rock my world are some of my favorite artists in any field.

But... I'm never gonna be them. I don't WANT to be them. All of the poi spinners that I respect have a level of obsession that just isn't me. I've always been a very balanced person. If I sit for a few hours, I wanna dance, if I dance for a few hours, I wanna sit. If I go out on Weds, I wanna do quieter hobbies on Thursday. And if I stay home Friday night, damn sure I'm out on Saturday.

I'm not a flake. I follow through. I'm not lazy. BUT I don't spend 8 hours a week on any given hobby.

In fact, I'll be honest, I spend an average of hour a week on Poi. For the last 4 years. Some months I might spin more and then don't touch my poi for months.

So my question is this:

What's the most effective way for a fair weather firespinner like myself to progress and stay inspired?

I accept the fact that I'm never gonna be great. It's honestly not a goal. I think I've suffered a bit of a plateau lately because I've been looking to the Jedi for lessons and inspiration... but I'm not on the Jedi path. If I spent my 'one hour a week' drilling planes or ironing out microscopic timing differences, I don't actually think I'd progress.

I respect that there is a Jedi path. Concepts like "there are no moves" and "there are no beats" and "unconsious flow" and "ideal form" and "the mariage of dance and musicality" are all milestones along that path...

(TIme for an analogy no?)

When I was at university there were several different chemistry courses.
There was "Chemistry for Chemistry Majors" which I took.
There was "Chemistry for Other Science Majors" which didn't QUITE go into the depth but was still pretty darn hard.
Then there was "Chemistry for Non Science Majors" which really just gave an overview and focused less on theory and more on general ideas and simpler applications. None of them were actually any easier or harder, they just focused on different things.

There were great professors for "Chemistry for Chemists" but those weren't the same professors who taught the other courses. There were different professors who really focusd on the Chemistry for non scientists". These professors were equally brilliant but more in the area of making it accessable to all, rather than the minutia that only a chemist could understand.

I feel like for the last 4 years I've been running a C- in a 'Poi for Jedi' class and maybe that isn't the best course for me... since I'm NOT on the Jedi road. I mean NO disrespct for my heroes that are pushing the envelope. Those '4 hour a day' guys deserve every accolade they'll ever get and more. I don't want a hand out or a magic pill that will make me them.

I feel like I actually understand what the major theories in the "Poi for Jedi" sylabus but have no shot or desire at passing the final.

What's in the sylabus for the "Poi for Non Jedi" class? And who are the master teachers in that area? What are the lessons, concepts and thoeries? How can I be the most effective NonJedi? Because "Doing 20% of what the Jedi do" isn't the working for me.

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


simian110% MONKEY EVERY TIME ALL THE TIME JUST CANT STOP THE MONKEY
3,149 posts
Location: London


Posted:
do not fear mr nyc,
i am here to ramble incoherently in response to your question

do you mean:
who's good at teaching poi moves in a non-techy way?

did you miss drew's (not)poncing-about workshop at uberpoi?
that was most effective advice for spinners of any level.
Well, except for the spinners with malcoordinated feet that is... rolleyes

You could hang out with funky girls too. Most poigals i know can talk about poi without any recourse to numbers, diagrams or philosophical texts. Confuses the hell out of me, but they manage it somehow.


or do you mean:
what moves are cool but not hard?

i recommend low wave. i like low wave. Turning around with low wave is also good, if you want me to get jedi on yo ass wink


about your point of practice time
Most awesome poiple i know practice about the amount you say you do. Or less. If a person spends one hour a week drilling planes or ironing out microscopic timing differences, they DO progress, just not in a terribly visible way. It's an ok way to stay inspired though. Getting a pattern cleaner gives me the same feeling that learning a new pattern gives me.

but the most effective way to 'progress'. Toward what? or is that your question? confused2

"Switching between different kinds of chuu chuu sometimes gives this "urgh wtf?" effect because it's giving people the phi phenomenon."


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


Posted:
i spin poi about an hour a week nowdays if i'm lucky - i spend it drilling planes wink



something smallboy said to me a long time ago that has stuck to this day:



"if every time you pick up your poi, you do one thing you've never done before, you can't help but get better."



even if this new thing is a really simple variation of a move (e.g. nick's pausing the windmill for a few beats, doing a weave with one straight arm) or just the reverse of something you have been able to do for years but never bothered learning backwards (e.g rev butterfly overhead), its worth it.



you don't need to drill things obsessively for them to get better, you just need to have the desire (and patience) to learn gradually rather than 'going safe' and spinning moves you already know you can do well.



how's this: next time you spin poi, ban yourself from doing a 3bt weave.



deny yourself the luxury of doing the things you can probably do in your sleep and you have no choice but to to find new variations and new places to spin your poi.



hug



cole. x

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


Gayle......!SILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
2,444 posts
Location: Bristol !!!!!!, United Kingdom


Posted:
This is an exceptionally good post and i feel i would be in NYC's class. Instead of learning new moves, which at the moment i feel i have no choice but to venture into stupidly head messing moves which i have no desire to learn or understand, i'm finding i'm playing with other moves i can do in my sleep and finding different ways of doing them. This enables me to still feel i'm progressing but not spending hour upon hour with it. I find at poi meets now i tend to take a back seat and watch people for inspiration. I'll see someone stick an arm out in one move and i'll transpose that into another move to give it a whole new twist. I'm also finding i want more transition ideas and not just static "tricks". I'd like my non-jedi class to look at old moves in a new ways and transitions and movement across the floor.

Overall - i'm at my most happy and fun point i've been with poi as i'm not fighting frustration learning new moves and messing with my head trying to understand technical things or spending 26 hours a day practicing, but i'm playing with what i already know and it's a lot more fun.

Gayle.....!


TheBovrilMonkeySILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England


Posted:
I reckon that watching loads of spinning videos is a good plan, it gave me alot of inspiration of what I wanted to work on after I'd decided that I didn't want to learn anything with antispin, tangles or wierd btb stuff.



Also, working on everything that I can already do, but making sure I could do it equally well in both directions gave me alot to think about. I had to make a fairly large effort to stop myself doing things the way I found easier.

I'm still working on some things that work much better turning right than left, but I reckon that being able to move just as well in any direction is fairly basic in principle but adds a hell of a lot to someone's spinning.





edit...

heh, just noticed that I've used 'work on' or 'working on' at least three times in this post, it makes it sound like a job, rather than something we do for fun.

Another suggestion - just play around and come up with the most absurd stuff you can, some of it's bound to help, either by tightening planes or letting you put a circle where you normally wouldn't, and it'll be more interesting than actually working on anything in particular smile
EDITED_BY: TheBovrilMonkey (1125057512)

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.


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


Posted:
advice from roald dahl: Stop when you're really enjoying it, that way in your mind it'll always seem fun, and you'll be desperate to go back to it.

I know it's not what your looking for, but I think it would make those one hours more fun, (even if you only remember them as more fun. wink

"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.


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


Posted:
Written by: simian



but the most effective way to 'progress'. Toward what? or is that your question? confused2




I think that's sort of my question. I'm not confused by the moves, I tend to learn them quickly when I commit to learning them. Even if they're techy.

I think my confusioin has more to do with 'why'. If my goal ISN'T perfect planes, perfect timing, intensely sophisticated flow (which I feel WOULD be jedi goals and acheivable by practice practice.)

What's an acheivable goal for a NonJedi?

It seems like the early rush of "Hey look, I can do a really sloppy weave!" and "Oh neeto, I'm threading the needle!" has worn off. After hyperloops and isolations and multibeat weaves and splittime multibeat TTN... the reward/effort ratio seems to seems to shrink. I'm wondering what my goals can be to make the effort worth while? The Jedi curriculum would be to go back and perfect the fundamentals.

Good points Cole.. I'll stick them in the back of my brain for the next time I'm holding poi.

I think it's further amplified by my annual summer UK exploits. Two years ago I learned a 4 beat TTN and spend the WHOLE YEAR finding places I could vary and flow into and out of from that. Last summer it was isolations and a few hyperloops which gave me a lifetime of inspiration. This summer I feel like the theme that I'll be taking back to the US will be things like 'drill your planes' and 'dance with the music'... not quite the fun toys that I usually have spinning in my head on the airplane.

Or have I just reached the border between NonJedi and Jedi and my choice is 'buck up and Jedi or put down your poi'... because I'm afraid my response will be the latter. frown

This is a nice discussion and I'm thankful for those who've posted so far.

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


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


Posted:
try polyrhythm poi and speed variation tongue

and learn to juggle bitch!

oooh sorry, did i just spoil the vibe redface

hug


cole. x

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


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


Posted:
Oh there are lots of nonpoi things that are inspiring me before juggling. But maybe that's my point too. smile

And I would learn to juggle but then that make me a juggler. *cold shivers*

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


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


Posted:
humm, goals in poi....

be happy? have fun? be the best there is? no, maybe not that one... be the best you can? maybe thats too jedi. get pretty girls/boys? definatly!

frankly, youve already done the non-jedi course, and this itch you feel is a wanting to do the jedi course but thinking (or fearing?) you have neither the commitment, time or insperation to do the hard work, thats ok, put it down, persue thease other intrests, thats what i did with staff, got so far (to the matrix in fact) and thought "well, i can spend six months hurting my back to learn this trick or maybe I can do something else..." so now im a competent staff spinner, good enough for performance (which is my goal) and so im moving on to become competent in other feilds.

I aint no jedi, unless its jedi-of-all and yoda-of-nothing, but my goals in each feild have been satisfied, and then i move on to the next.

You could teach the non-jedi poi class, but dont get too upset if that means you got nowhere else to go, thats your choice.

T (not meaning to sound harsh) hug

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


GlåssDIAMOND Member
The Ministry of Manipulation
2,523 posts
Location: Bristol, United Kingdom


Posted:
"Thread discussion good, it is." smile rolleyes

You want something to take back to NY at the end of the summer, how about a Molly? They'll love her in NY. smile

oliSILVER Member
not with cactus
2,052 posts
Location: bristol/ southern eastern devon, United Kingdom


Posted:
obviously you find poi fairly interesting because youve been spinning them for a while judging by your member number. do not worry about why you find them interesting, just be happy that you do. as long as spinning them makes you happy and keeps your mind busy for as long as you want then all is well. i find progression comes by itself, and the more i progress the less bored i get. i would definetly avoid practising (see revs post) at all costs aswell and just take them for walks in the park every now and again.



also you talk about jedi and nonjedi.. and im slighlty confused about why? there are spinners who are interested in tangles there are spinners who are interested in tieing knots in thier poi and thier are spinners who just want to do the 3 bt weave really slow/really fast. and i doubt many of these spinners think to themselevs, 'im not a jedi because i cant do move x' - they just think what they are doing is cool and they enjoy it.
EDITED_BY: oli (1125068504)

Me train running low on soul coal
They push+pull tactics are driving me loco
They shouldn't do that no no no


RevBRONZE Member
Bastard Newbie Messiah
1,269 posts
Location: Apparently lost in my ego, USA


Posted:
nyc- I feel you, yet feel completely disconnected at the same time... I mean.. I spend maybe.. maybe an hour a week spinning.. hell my lazy ass is lucky if I can find more than 30 minutes a week to spin.. I dont drill planes.. don't really give a shiat about planes.. I dont work on my timing.. I work on the timing it takes to do the move.. whatever that may be.. In fact, the only thing you listed that I could say applies to me, is the fact that I'm obsessed.. but I'm like a small child.. you put something else in front of me that's bright, flashy, or woman.. and the obsessive poi attention just went elsewhere..

I think there's a bit of a misconception in the idea of what it takes to really push things.. I mean look at einstein.. he was just a swiss patent officer or something.. or as my philosophy of language professor showed me yesterday.. "Dusty Rhodes was the son of a plumber and he became one of the highest paid atheletes in the world.. "- Jon Cogburn, phd.

To me it just sounds like you are frustrated with where you are and where you are going.. and thats something we all have to deal with.. I have no doubt in my mind that I suck ass.. and I often sit back and wonder 'what is it I'm trying to do here?' I think one of the main reasons I practice less than an hour/wk is because practicing more does nothing for me.. I think abotu things like matts 6 minute hyperloop or arashi's atomic inverted contour gradiated quadruple flip 30 bt spider with twist wink and wonder why I even bother..

for me at least.. the answer lies in the small rewards. I do it because I like to spin and I feel that quitting now defeats the whole point of starting.. I knew when I began that I wasnt going to be a poi god.. I knew that no matter how much I drilled, my planes wouldnt be perfect.. and so I just didnt care about those things and moved on.. and I think, I'm better because of it.. I mean sure you can drill planes.. but drilling planes has never helped me accomplish anything.. nor have pretty much any of the other features people talk about.. and I think that's because everyone else says these things.. I had to find what it was that I wanted.. that I felt.. I had to find out why I did it or wanted to do it.. and that's not really something that you cna ptu into a goal.. I mean.. there are so many things that I want to learn.. and I just cant.. and then al of a suddeen one day.. I can.. and so goals tend to be unreasonable.. because they are either to short in that its not really a goal but an agenda.. or they are so long term that its not something I can scale down..

so how do you spin with no goals? you just spin.. sometimes I spend days, even weeks spinning the same things I've alwas spun.. some weeks I spin something and it sparks this little fire in me and I play with it and its variations for how ever long it takes.. and when things die down or when I get too excited, I just put the poi down.. poi is a hobby.. it passes time.. its something fun to do.. and sometimes all the goals and training excercises that people do make them forget that.. they tend to forget that the reason most of us began spinning in the first place was just to have fun.. and if your not having fun then maybe its time for a break.. maybe you are burnt for now.. or maybe you are burnt for good.. who knows.. I somehow doubt that you can be burnt for good.. wink but one thing is for sure.. when you are burnt, no amount of desire or inspiration will help.. because sometimes you just need a break.. taking a break lets you get back a little of the pleasure you took in spinning.. when it seems like less of a 'job..' because that's all being on a path really is.. its a job.. no mattter how much you do, there's always more to be done, and you are trying to do it before some deadline.. blah blah..


anyway.. I've rambled for quite a while.. and probably to the aid of none but myself.. I really need to stop coming striaght to the forums when I wake up in the morning..

More useless information courtesy of Rev...
Confusing the masses, one post at a time...
"Obviously, you're not a golfer.."- The Dude
"Buy the ticket... Take the ride..." -Raoul Duke
"FEMA has never done catastrophe planning..."-Michael Brown


StoutBRONZE Member
Pooh-Bah
1,872 posts
Location: Canada


Posted:
Sometimes I find it better to think of poi as a process that's happening in the here and now, rather than a means to an end ,,like becoming a poi god.

It doesn't need to be all about the amount of tricks you can do, especially when you find yourself on the shallow section of the learning curve, you know, the section where you HAVE to spend the hours drilling and practicing if you want to consider yourself improving.

I'd suggest a different style, like glowstringing, but I know you've already been down that road.

Tap into your inner chick, and go with the flow. smile

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


Posted:
Written by: Glåss


You want something to take back to NY at the end of the summer, how about a Molly? They'll love her in NY. smile




Indeed they already do. And yes, make no mistake, my summer has been grrrrrrrreat. biggrin And perhaps my lack of poiness is only a testiment to the joy of Mollying.

Thanks for all the insightful words so far... I'm really enjoying this thread.

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


RicheeBRONZE Member
HOP librarian
1,841 posts
Location: Prague, Czech. Republic


Posted:
NYC do you remeber the moments with people like you and I.
I do and I'll never forget. When you smile with them, when you spin with them, the fun, undestanding each other, happyness, small momonts in our life when we feel happy.
Thats why do I do Poi, because of the moments in my life when Im happy.

I'll remeber you as a young man with Poi and Headphones smile,

love nad light,

:R

POI THEO(R)IST


_khan_SILVER Member
old hand
768 posts
Location: San Francisco, California, USA


Posted:
Written by: NYC



So firstly, tons of respect and love to all the Jedi in the world. Those guys and gals who are busting their butts to rock my world are some of my favorite artists in any field.

But... I'm never gonna be them. I don't WANT to be them. (snip)
I accept the fact that I'm never gonna be great. It's honestly not a goal.




So NYC, let me ask: if these things are true, why all the angst? It seems to me that if you really truly in your heart of hearts feel as you say in the quote above, it wouldn't really matter that you only pick up your poi occasionally or don't care to perfect your planes or learn how to do some crazy 10 beat isolated btb thingamajig. But clearly, it matters.

So that makes me wonder -- and I may be projecting some of my own stuff here -- but it seems to me like perhaps you're feeling some sort of obligation to become jedi, to become "great" (whatever that is) and the angst is springing from not meeting that obligation. In other words, this issue is an issue that springs more from external factors like the capabilities or what you perceive to be the expectations of others that you've internalized rather than your own actual internal experience. Am I making sense?

Clearly you're at a crossroads. I've been there myself with two other artforms -- music and writing. For years I devoted myself and hours practicing or working out line breaks or finding the perfect word. I wanted to get as good as I could get because I don't believe in doing anything half-assed. With music, I started having physical difficulties that forced me to stop. When I was healed and could start playing again, I asked myself why? I knew I wasn't going to be a professional musician or perform in any capacity greater than the coffeehouse gigs I was doing, so why put myself at risk of injury for that and devote so many hours to playing scales and running arpeggios? So I decided to quit.

And with writing, well, ever since I was little I wanted to be a writer. I was constantly "honing my craft" as the saying goes, basically sacrificing having a life so I could sit alone at my desk working out plots (when I wrote fiction) and the perfect line breaks (when I wrote poetry). But then it started feeling like a chore and I realized damn, I don't really have anything to say in this medium anymore, so what the hell am I doing this for? It was very difficult because it was such a part of my identity, but I stopped. The decision to do so felt like ending a relationship that enriched my life and I valued, but I'd gotten all I could from it and there was nowhere else to go. It helped me grow a lot, but the new growth that I was ready for had to happen somewhere else, with someone/something else. Right now, that place for me is spinning poi.

Maybe for you it isn't anymore and you just have to own that and go with the flow, so to speak. Or maybe, if you are feeling some kind of obligation/expectation as I explained above, it's that you need to let go of so you can just spin when you feel like it for as long as you feel like it and what does it matter that you're not busting out jedi moves? If it really doesn't matter as you say, then why does it matter?

One last thing -- maybe for non-jedi track spinners, the thing to keep engaged isn't perfecting moves or nailing complex tricks, but, cliche as it sounds, just flowing with the set of movements you already have. Find new transitions and new combinations. I mean, eventually ballet dancers know all the moves/positions there are to know. What keeps them going is doing different dances, which are simply those same set of moves/positions combined in different ways, set to different music, done at different tempos, etc.

I hope I wasn't being presumptuous in my attempt to analyze your experience, it's just that your questions resonate with me and I identify, based on other non-poi experience. Anyway, crossroads are hard. I hope you figure out the path that's right for you. hug

taken out of context i must seem so strange
~ ani di franco


fNiGOLD Member
master of disaster
3,354 posts
Location: New York, USA


Posted:
Written by: [Nx?

]
You could teach the non-jedi poi class, but dont get too upset if that means you got nowhere else to go, thats your choice.





But then in teaching others, there is a (from my point) very satisfactory interaction, and it can lead to someone suggesting something that you never thought about, simply because they have a different outlook on things.

If you really feel that you've reached a plateau, maybe instead of trying to find new tricks, try to find something that moves you. One of the most satisfying experiences I've ever had was spinning socks (c'mon you know me~~socks?), to music that I liked, in a gorgeous sunset, that there was no pressure at all in, and it was incredibly exhilirating (sp?) My point is, find something that moves you, gets your blood up, and when you're spinning, your hands will know what to do, and you can just enjoy the moment.

kyrian: I've felt your finger connect with me many times
lou kitten: sneaky little meatball..
ezz: please corrupt me more


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


Posted:
Written by: blueboy


So NYC, let me ask: if these things are true, why all the angst?




Actually, I think you're a bit off of what I was trying to say... but I apreciate your words.

I'm not actually angsty.

Maybe another analogy... Let's say you hang out with world class soccer players. They wake up at 5AM and train and play every day with the best of the best. Now you like these guys but you don't really want to wake up at 5AM to train, nor do you want to be the best soccer players in the world. They tell you that you should run 20 miles a day so you'll have the endurance to play an entire soccer game. But you don't want to play an entire game. You just want to kick the ball around because you think it's fun. What you're really looking for is someone to come along and say "hey, let's see how many times you can bounce it off the top of your head" or "hey, I wonder if you can balance the balll on your nose" ... stuff that won't actually help you become a world class soccer player but may actually be more fun than running 20 miles a day.

The 'Right' jedi answer is 'run 20 miles a day'.. but I'm looking for other areas that would be more fun if I just want to kick the poi around for an hour a week.

I don't actually think I'm at a crossroads. I know what my priorities are. I was just wondering how I can stay inspired WITHOUT walking down the Jedi path.

I hope that clears it up blueboy.

I was reflecting on it today and, as silly as it sounds, I don't think I'm listening to enough good music. I absolutely refuse to spin to no music and now I'm adding 'monotonous drum soup' to my list of things I won't spin to.

And all the helpful things that y'all have been saying as well.

See, Richee's right, I need to put those headphones back on. wink

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


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


Posted:
[By the way, I'm feeling guilty because I'm taking up molly's 'pay by the minute' phone line but I am reading all everyone has to say and am absorbing it and enjoying it... I'm just keeping my responses short and simple.]

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


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


Posted:
yo

rev, that was my favorit post i ever read from you, very nice.

fun stuff with poi!!!??!?!

you wanna have fun?

get a nice slim girl

and get really close.

and make big flames kiss

;-)

other than that, start leaning how to lindy hop and kick them, or one short or one club one poi and catching the poi on the head of the club. or kickbacks and kickups
or vertical to horisontla throws
or juggling three poi
or using buttons (ask Andy)
or suicides on inamate objects

if your not a Jedi (thank god, they are SOOO booring) then you got time to do ANYTHING!!! biggrin

love,

T wave

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


RevBRONZE Member
Bastard Newbie Messiah
1,269 posts
Location: Apparently lost in my ego, USA


Posted:
Written by: [Nx?

]

rev, that was my favorit post i ever read from you, very nice.





glad that had meaning for someone other than myself.. weavesmiley

More useless information courtesy of Rev...
Confusing the masses, one post at a time...
"Obviously, you're not a golfer.."- The Dude
"Buy the ticket... Take the ride..." -Raoul Duke
"FEMA has never done catastrophe planning..."-Michael Brown


Dragon7GOLD Member
addict
625 posts
Location: Aotearoa (NZ), New Zealand


Posted:
Noone really cares if your Jedi...



They only care if your a good dude smile and if your going to skin up ubblol



Staying true to yourself is tough. I found that my path is telling me to clean my planes and fix my style. Its only up to me how far i go, i mean you cant compare yourself to other people because noone is the same or has the same goal.



And everyone is good. In their own way ubbangel



I hope none of you guys fall off...cause i know alot of people who have quit. They roll through here all the time frown I dont care how bad/ good i am, as long as im still loving my spinning.



An hope you guys love yours to smile I do. weavesmiley
EDITED_BY: Dragon7 (1125107174)

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


Posted:
Written by: [Nx?

]



you wanna have fun?



get a nice slim girl



and get really close.



and make big flames kiss



;-)



other than that, start leaning how to lindy hop and kick them,






I already got me a cutie and we both already know how to lindy hop. What else do you think I've been doing this summer? biggrin



I'm NOT complaining about my life at all. It's Greeeeeat. ubblove



I'm just wondering what direction I want to take my poi. I'm not sure that following the path or intensity of Jedi is something I want and was wondering what other directions there were.

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


BansheeCatBRONZE Member
veteran
1,247 posts
Location: lost, Canada


Posted:
NYC, I think I get what you are experiencing. I have felt it before, in many of the facets of my life. I have often wondered if maybe I am just not obssessive/compulsive enough to be particularily spectacular at any one thing! Since I seem to enjoy so many diverse activities, how could I even find the time to be great at them all?



I used to make my ballet teachers nuts, cause I had all the characteristics they wanted in a prima ballerina, the high arches, extension blah blah, and they could see so much "potential" in me , if I would just "focus"( and starve, but thats a different story ;-)

But I never wanted that kind of focus. It seemed too much like tunnel vision to me... I just wanted to dance.



Likewise, hiking with a pal the other day... She had to get to the top, and was in a big hurry to get there. I was just enjoying the walk,the scenery, my breath, and did not feel like rushing so I said why dont you go on ahead, then just come back and we will meet up on your way down. She was appalled, what! How can you not go to the top! What is the point of hiking up the mountain if you are not going to reach the top! But I had no specific interest in the top, not really...Not everything needs a Point.



( thinking of you Burning Dan, while I say that! Hi! )



One approach goal oriented, the other process appreciative... Both fine as long as you dont try to be what you are not.



The answer I came to myself is just to PLAY. Nothing more or less. Be at whatever level I am at, as a reflection of all that is currently within my life, and enjoy it. I learn new things if and when they interest and inspire me, or if they facilitate a goal, but not just because they are there to be accomplished. Enjoy, let the poi bring you joy.



Right now I am endlessly amused with my own attempts to just express freely moving to the music, and not clobbering myself with the poi. I like exploring the spacial awareness in the regions so often ignored in normal movement, just cause it seems to make my brain work differently and that is refreshing. There are so many aspects of poi spinning that entertain me, I think this will be a lifelong process!



I really like oli's perspective shared in another thread, about letting the poi take you on a journey. Each person will have a different journey, jedi or no, and some people may even want to just stay home a while and dance with the familiar...

Enjoy!

"God *was* my co-pilot, but then we crashed, and I had to eat him..."


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


Posted:
amen andrea smile hug

i reckon the 'jedi path' is just in your head nyc.

everyone's path is different and where you end up is the right place for you by necessity.

i hardly spin poi any more but i don't worry about it - i still do it when i feel like it (generally when i'm around other poi spinners - spinning by yourself just seems rubbish nowdays!) and when i do, it still makes me happy smile

it seems i come back to it, i learn a few new things and i learn new ways to teach things and it might even grab me again for a few weeks or months.

but i'm learning four other arts at the moment and they are infinitely more of a pull on my spare time than poi is.
although one of those four has been a focus for a lot longer, the others are improving gradually too and its great to see the results as the different paths fan out and back around each other.

i know that i'll never 'not spin poi' and i know i can't spin poi all the time.
as long as i haven't been sitting around doing nothing, it doesn't matter to me if i've spun poi in the last two weeks or not shrug

i think that you know there's loads of stuff you could play with and learn with your poi at the moment, but am i right in saying you just don't have the motivation or desire to explore any of it in solitary 'like a jedi' or in plain terms 'by yourself'?

is your tripping point maybe that you have no contemporaries that you spin with and share ideas with (<-- that's really important) on a regular basis?

i don't know about anyone else but unless i have that, i don't feel inclined pick up my poi very often any more and that's cool smile

right, just read this back and i think i'm gonna stop there.
in my defence, i don't normally post on saturdays wink


cole. x

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


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


Posted:
Written by: coleman


amen andrea smile hug


is your tripping point maybe that you have no contemporaries that you spin with and share ideas with (<-- that's really important) on a regular basis?





Amen andrea indeed

And yes, I don't talk poi much anymore since my posse got taken over by hoops. wink

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


mr squirrelmember
37 posts

Posted:
So my question is this:

What's the most effective way for a fair weather firespinner like myself to progress and stay inspired?



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
my thoughts on direction

1. i honestly dont think you need to feed of other spinners for inspiration. tech spinning is an art, but there are things that tech spiners would never do that beginner spinners picking up poi for the first time can.

2. spin like a beginner. forget about the patterns and all the bases of poi you know. enjoy spinning freely. forget about plains, antispin, and isolations and every technical aspect of poi youve read about. almost everyone who learns poi is captivated by the princiaps of learning that necessarily dominate sites designed to further peoples knowledge of poi. people are lead down a 'tech' orientated path due to the moves they are exposed to; neat planes, ever more complicated moves, etc. the herd complex is to follow that path.

3. find freedom in poi spinning and use your time poi spinning as a method of self expression. try acting like hunter s thompson crossed with jackson pollock while spinning - just because you can. make your body move in ways its not used to, test your sense of balance, and ways of creating motion.

4. if you can, i cannot reccommend enough; take up an art that requires you to get in tune with your body and the way it moves. martial arts, dance, or whatever. even reading books on the afore mentioned

5. take inspiration from natural patterns. take a ripple in the water and express it with the poi. trees moving in the wind. smoke rising from a rizzla (always a late favourite)

progression is really where you take your spinning. it doesent have to mean progression along a well worn track which will always be getting longer as there are peole who are walking it and discovering the uncharted stuff that would lie ahead of you if there werent loads of people already 'better' than you walking miles ahead. you could always get off the track and experiment beyond the limits of the acceptable.... if you wanted to. or take it whereever you want. these ramblings become incoherant, but anyway, thats my take on direction and not going down the well beaten path.
peace

did i leave the iron on?


GlåssDIAMOND Member
The Ministry of Manipulation
2,523 posts
Location: Bristol, United Kingdom


Posted:
What exactly is this "Jedi" thing that people keep mentioning in this thread?

animatEdBRONZE Member
1 + 1 = 3
3,540 posts
Location: Bristol UK


Posted:
I hate to say it, but, the jedi route is looking mighty good to me. Maybe the jedi route with a twist... I want to be able to do things perfectly, every time. I have fun when I get it right. (that's the twist, all drilling, still fun).



I enjoy teaching others how to do stuff. The more perfect I get things, the more i can teach others, the happier I feel.



I'm also just a bit picky about my spinning. Being a drummer does this to me. I notice when a beat or piece of music is out of time or rhythm and it bugs me, and I notice when I spin out of rhythm... if you see what I mean. I'm just nowhere near as good as I want to be, so this happens very often.



Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I want to be better than everyone else, because there's always gonna be someone better, I just want to be a good teacher, and this, for me, involves the route of the Jedi...



devil



:edit: Drew, You are one of these Jedi. (IMO) I class a jedi as someone whom is REALLY good at what they do, and pretty much every move they do is perfect. Or at least, something along those lines...
EDITED_BY: Loves the Circus (1125239525)

Empty your mind. Be formless, Shapeless, like Water.
Put Water into a cup, it becomes the cup, put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Water can flow, or it can Crash.
Be Water My Friend.


RicheeBRONZE Member
HOP librarian
1,841 posts
Location: Prague, Czech. Republic


Posted:
They are talking about life smile,

:R

POI THEO(R)IST


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