Forums > Beginner Poi Moves > the best spinner in the world... and the state of spinning today

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bluecatgeek, level 1
5,300 posts
Location: everywhere


Posted:
once upon a time, when my horizons were small, and the total number of members on hop was less than my currrent member number(aaah the good old days when i went by mineiro biggrin ), i harboured a secret(hah!) desire and need to be 'the best spinner in the world'

this year, with organising uber events, travelling the world, and being generally reinspired to spin after a year of jugglefever i have come to the following conclusion:

there will never be a best spinner in the world.

i long ago stopped thinking it would be me ubblol but now have stopped thinking it could be anyone.

why?
well. theres a few obvious reasons.
spinning is not competitive, its contemplative. this means you will never be able to judge objectively who is 'better' at spinning. and long may it remain that way.

people have entirely different focuses(foci? focal points? crocuses?). how can you compare RHD to meghan? you can't. simple as that. unless meg spends a year on throws, and antti and tommi spend a year on contact(which, quite scarily, i think they have....). or.. glass and oli. eek! what kind of comparison is that?
and, most importantly, people who have different focuses have got soooooooooo good at the individual sections of what they do that in order to catch up you'd have to give up on another section, allowing some other single minded bugger to totally forge off into the future and blow you away when you look back at what you used to do. some good examples being wibblingmatt, rhd again, meenik hug, devkev, oli... the list is long and there are so many i have not named.

one of the great things about these people, and many of their contemporaries is the new respect that spinning gains within the performing and specifically object manipulation communities. no longer can a snooty juggler(or diabolist, or staff spinner about poi, etcetc) turn round and say 'huh, poi is not worth my time because i could learn everything in a day' (and beleive me, that is an accurate paraphrase from bristol juggling convention three years ago from a top juggler). it takes time and dedication, understanding and insight, openness and a willingness to share to become a top level spinner.

Some kind of conclusion? hmmm. well, er... i don't really have one, and i suppose i'm opening this up for some kind of discussion here. i don't want replies that say 'xxxxxxxxx is the best'. i want to know how people feel spinning is developing and has changed since you started. i want to know what you respect about people that inspire you, and how you feel that inspiration is good for the community at large. i want to know what you don't like about the new spinning community, and how it has been belittled by its incredible growth.

i also recently rebumped an awesome thread of NYCs about 'the london factor' (sorry, no link, cold fingers) i'd like to hear also what you think makes a successful spinning community and why some places deliver one style as opposed to another... er. that'll do for starters. i need a cup of tea.

i one last thing: I consider it an honour that many of the most innovative and exciting spinners in the world are my friends, and choose to spend some of their time sharing their skills and inspiring me to develop mine. thank you all( i think you know who you are).

Rob

Holistic Spinner (I hope)


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


Posted:
Written by: rob

(i was young and foolish when i joined hop, now i'm old and enlightened smile )




what makes you so sure... wink

I think the thing for me, because i have a sililar background as rob, was that for a long time in the beggining, I was the best person I knew, tho not the best person I knew of.

for me stick and poi were about being on the 'leading edge', I never thought i was the 'best' but i was in the front line of discovery, possibility. In some ways it still is, but im much quieter about it, ive found my unbroken territory and am now quietly working my claim, looking for nuggets.

but also through opening up my skills in more established forms (juggling) I also have the perspecive of riding on 'my' leading edge, I know Im never going to be leading the feild like the guys who have had nine to fifteen years learning how to do contact, but the other day I got behind the neck roll, which has been bugging me for years, and no matter how many of my friends or my idols have done it before me, my personal feeling of satisfaction is the same as when I worked out and posted about anti-spin weaves.

I dont really get 'inspired' by peaple any more, maybe ive become jaded by being around so many quality peaple hug but instead of seing a great juggler and thinking 'yay! I could do that' I think 'hey this guy is great, he can help me with such-and-such a move...'

Like bluecat my motivations have changed in responce to the widening world of experiance, but this has also widened my motivations outside of being recognised by my peers to getting paid by my auidence. and apreachating my peers for the wonderfull source of amazement and tricks to steal.

Oh and my votes for best spinner in the world today go to....

poi: rohonapotomous (orhoweveryouspelliy) ubblove
staff: ohh i dunno, one of the wushu guys, thats what stick was made for.

oh and you guys getting sidetracked about wether you can judge an artform or not *yawn*

of course you can have a competition and declare a winner, and that winner would probibly be the best in some sence of the word, but i think by arguing about this you are missing the whole point of this thread.

and i hate 'sport' juggling.

T wave

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


PyrolificBRONZE Member
Returning to a unique state of Equilibrium
3,289 posts
Location: Adelaide, South Australia


Posted:
mm the main thing thats changed in the time I've been spinning is me and my approach to it smile There always were people I looked up to and there always will be. There always were new moves to learn and there always will be. Awareness grows and was always there. It flows like a river.

I think that my learning went through a long stage where language was the bottleneck that my thoughts and the thoughts of others had to be pushed through. Im not sure I value the results of my language based learning; talk about missing the forest for the trees! I still enjoy the moves that feel nice and I learned because they feel nice, so perhaps I'll keep going in that direction? I find my poi movments on the dancefloor these days, and sure they arent tech (and neither am I) but they give me pleasure - and as my approach to twirling is mainly internal (I do it for me most of the time) thats what I'm after.

Id like to see in the future more fusions between meditation and twirling. Many people are doing it but who is talking about it? hmmm that damn language thing again smile

Josh

--
Help! My personality got stuck in this signature machine and I cant get it out!


dawn2duskBRONZE Member
member
34 posts
Location: Italy


Posted:
I' m gonna reply fastly coz I read the post of bluecat and the one about London spinners, and I was talkin about something similar in another topic, but now study is calling me @_@ so I don' t have time to read everything, but I think what I read is enough to express my opinion smile



The best poier of the world? Mmmm... I agree with bluecat, everyone of the "best" is focused on a precise part of poi-juggling (the wonderful thing is that this discipline can be divided in lots of points of view on which you can concentrate - swinging, tossing, contactpoi, wrapping and so on) that become the real point of his-her technyque. When you formed your style and come and watch this art from other points of view (ie. learning contactpoi after making isolations the base of your style), you get inspired and continue to change and develop. So it happens when you watch somebody GREAT at poi spinning. You can' t know every poier in the world, if one day your myth is xxx for some reasons, some months after you can see somebody else that makes your eyes twirl, or your ideas about poi develope and something inspired you once can' t inspire you again.



Written by: bluecat

one of the great things about these people, and many of their contemporaries is the new respect that spinning gains within the performing and specifically object manipulation communities. no longer can a snooty juggler(or diabolist, or staff spinner about poi, etcetc) turn round and say 'huh, poi is not worth my time because i could learn everything in a day' (and beleive me, that is an accurate paraphrase from bristol juggling convention three years ago from a top juggler).






Well... here we come... as I was saying in a topic of Rev in the section "video", I couldn' t still find in Italy a successful spinning community. I read the London thread and this agrees with my idea that there are a lot of places abroad (as I can say from this whole site) where poi culture is highly developed. Here, most of juggling people think like your juggler of bristol. Poi is seen as a toy for girls (only now I see some more guys starting to learn it, and I m amazed by the number of guys I ve seen spinning on this site) and something very easy to learn. There' s no philosophy nor discussions about it (at the level of those you make here), we (that is the group I' ve known through an Italian juggling site) are starting to talk it "professionally" only now, after some times of developing. Here we call them KIWIDO (that are those toys with long long long tails that most of girls buy coz they re beautiful under the sun) and when you meet somebody and say "I juggle with POI" he just watch at you and says "What the hell...?" (POI in Italian means "after"). That makes difficult for Italian spinners to reach a very high level, while here I ve seen more and more videos from different places of the world where people sparkle *__*. Here, many feels very cool by only making a three beats weave, and people watching doesn' t want more. When I started, I didn' t know HOW MANY THINGS I could do with this toy, as I saw it like people around me saw it. I learned everything in the HoP guide (I registered two years ago, I discovered the forum just now smile this can make you understand how my poi philosophy changed) and then I was searching for something else, but I couldn' t find it since I met some people with my same interest (and they are all far from me - I' m learning everything alone, sharing tricks only with few people that I meet around sometimes - that' s why I' m developing my style so slowly). Some months ago I reached what we call a "death-time"... I couldn' t find some inputs to make me advance. Nowadays I changed my ideas again and I can say NOW I started poi swingin' seriously, but that' s because something in Italian poier' s philosphy is starting to change and poi culture it' s beginning to spread smile I think the ideal qualities of a spinning community are the respect for each other, newbies and high-level, the NEED of sharing tricks and philosophy, and the common SERIOUS interest in poi. I think also friendship is important (you can understand better the ideas somebody is trying to tell you if you know the person), and I think a spinning community is fundamental to open a poier' s mind and helping him develop in a shorter quantity of time than juggling all alone with his-her doubts. I opened my mind when I started to watch around me, I found people of all levels inspiring me and I think it' s not important to know people at HIGH level, but to know lots of people using different styles and having different ideas. For all these "different", it' s impossible to say who is the best. I think the best is who shares smile



IMO, sharing is the key of one' s poi spinning development.



(Sorry for how much I write and if I may have been OT, but seeing all this stuff about poi makes me crazy *___* and makes me say all those things I had inside 'till now smile)
EDITED_BY: dawn2dusk (1142262346)

***Feelings are anarchist - I feel - I am an anarchist***


AcciaioSILVER Member
Tangled into my spins
187 posts
Location: Italy


Posted:
Ok Duskola...I'have wrote the same things before reading this post in the "Rev vid" thread...
We must take inspiration from Rev and begin a "Poi goes Italian" ...

You know that in our country only 'till 1 year more or less someone of the good jugglers begin to consider a "real" juggling stuff spinning...
I hope in the future we can speak about advanced arguments, philosophy and more in poi spinning in our community but if the dialogue is only between 3 or less people it has no sense umm

Acciaio devil

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


Posted:
There are lot better people to take inspiration from than me.. we just need to light the fire under them to make more videos.. haha..


and dialogue between 2 people is better than dialogue with one's self.. so if you have three, then you have a recipe for sweetness.. a lot of us turned to hop, because there aren't others around.. its like Tom said, I was the best I knew, not the best I knew of.. and its the ones that I was better than that kept pushing me forward, while it was those that I wasnt better than confused me so much that I learned something new.. wink


one of the beatiful things I think that rob was getting at in this thread that applies wel to you guys, is that since poi is so new to your community, you will each develop extremely unique styles rather quickly.. and this will help you all grow much faster.. each person that joins your group will have new tastes and natural tendnecies that will have them learning even more varied stuff.. and so, even with but a few people, you will have rich diversity and discussion..

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


DutSILVER Member
lurker
380 posts
Location: Nashville, TN, USA


Posted:
as far as competition goes, there's no format that will give you the undisputed "best poi'er" in the world, just like no olympics will tell you who the "best ice skater" is trying to compare across racing, figure skating, hokey, etc. same tools, different competitions. same with skate boarding (started as downhill racing or slolam, then flat land, then street and vert) or other judged sports.

But somehow the Kennel Clubs come to a decision on "best in show" from all the different types of dogs competing, no matter how tough or controversial that decision is, and that dog is considered the "best" until the next competition, and a grand chapion or whatever for all its life. so anyone who thinks it's not possible to judge is deluding themselves. i can't imagine where skateboarding would be if noone ever invented the half-pipe for competitions, even as far as individual moves are concerned. the competition format is everything tho. tell me your conditions, and i'll tell you who i think is the best at matching those conditions, but if the conditions are just "spins poi in circles", it's that much harder to determine a "best".

so if you want a competition, you have to have a format difficult enough that not every spinner could make it into, yet the top spinners are similar enough to judge who executes their moves the best. that might involve short and long programs, compulsory elements, etc, but that's all codified for other sports already waiting to be cribbed by us. it's just up to whoever wants to start to define how they want to start and take it from there...

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


Posted:
I think there should be a competition for best person in the world. And just to avoid dispute, the winner should always be me. biggrin ubbloco ubbidea ubbangel

"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.


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


Posted:
I second the motion and move to dismiss.. wink

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


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


Posted:
dont you think a more credible winner could be selected? wink

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


dawn2duskBRONZE Member
member
34 posts
Location: Italy


Posted:
 Written by: Acciaio

but if the dialogue is only between 3 or less people it has no sense



I don' t think so.
A year ago, there was nobody. Yesterday, there were three or less poiple. Nowadays, there are five six seven or MORE poiple.
We are growin' wink we cannot be defeated by a loss of self-confidence. Listen to what Rev replied you. Very nice guy wink I subscribe everything he said ^_^

***Feelings are anarchist - I feel - I am an anarchist***


AcciaioSILVER Member
Tangled into my spins
187 posts
Location: Italy


Posted:
...You are rigth!!!
And I thank to Rev for his post!!!

We must grow up!!!
I'm sorry but reading some posts I became sad...and I vent my sadness here :P

Let'go spinning!!! lolsign

Acciaio devil

DutSILVER Member
lurker
380 posts
Location: Nashville, TN, USA


Posted:
"I don't want to grow up.
I'm a Toys'R'Us kid.
There's so many toys at toys'r'us that i can play with..."

why limit ourselves to non-competiton poiing only if we don't care what other people think of us and want to stretch our limits? seems like a bunch of dogma with no reasoning other than fear.

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


Posted:
humm, actually i disagree with you there dut, sure fear can be a motivating factor when it comes to weather you compete or not, but i dont think is pivoltal, or even a major reason.

I say the main reason would come under the vauge heading of 'being a hippy'

I.E. not being of the nature that you have to prove yourself better than someone else in order to feel worth in what you do.

insulting? to say that peaple dont compete out of fear is as damaging a generalisation as saying that peaple only compete because they need to put others down to feel better about themselves.

Both are aspects of competeing, both are driving underlying needs, but as with all things human, its o-so-much more complicated than that.

I recon most peaple compete because its fun to do so, because they wish to test themselves, as a good excuse to keep in shape and be sociable, because they grew up with siblings.

but what of the single child, do artists do what they do for the same reasons or in that same spirit as the athlete?

we are in a dicipline caught between the athlete and the asthete, like many others. and as i said before, of course you can compete and be a winner with poi, but that dosnt nesecarly mean you want to, or that you believe point of practiceing poi is to compete.

Sure, why limit yourself. but we are just making a choice, we are not limiting YOU! (tho me might flame you for it later! wink )

what you REALLY have to look out for are performers, freaks. ubblol

T wave

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


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


Posted:
and as you can see, i never come-peted in any spelling b's

ubblol

T wave

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


DutSILVER Member
lurker
380 posts
Location: Nashville, TN, USA


Posted:
 Written by: [Nx?

]
insulting? to say that peaple dont compete out of fear is as damaging a generalisation as saying that peaple only compete because they need to put others down to feel better about themselves.

Both are aspects of competeing, both are driving underlying needs, but as with all things human, its o-so-much more complicated than that.




that was my point. is it more 'damaging' than saying people who like to compete are childish? wink that's what i was kinda sarcastically replying to. if people were claiming they don't individually want to compete, then your arguments about individuals might be valid, but some people here are talking bad about the very idea of competition for everyone else, which leaves one less VERY strong proven motivator for future growth. I think that that growth is what some people are afraid of, as without any current competitive spirit or mass audience appeal, they're left looking better to people who have never seen fire spinning. same with hippies who think that they're cooler because they were there first and that trendy things are bad on general principle. all i see is fear of change -- which is just something to work against, not something that makes one a bad person. no flames here... i haven't even soaked up! smile

PyrolificBRONZE Member
Returning to a unique state of Equilibrium
3,289 posts
Location: Adelaide, South Australia


Posted:
as someone who has been there from early on in a scene (the Rave scene for eg) and seen it deteriorate to a useless state over time due directly to popularisation and dilution of philosophy I simply cant agree with Duts sentiment that the only reason people want to keep the fire scene in the background is cuz they are afraid someone better will show them up. Everytime a scene gets well known it gets crap. Ok the tricks might get more complex but the heart goes out of it. Ego gets involved and well basically you get more d*ckheads involved. smile

--
Help! My personality got stuck in this signature machine and I cant get it out!


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


Posted:
I think my coments about where individuals want to compete aply just as well to why individuals dont wish to see thier chosen diciplin become competative.

or comercialised for that matter, see joshes post above the the 'bit of a hippy' attitude.

T wave

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


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


Posted:
Just passin through...

The best spinner is the person having the most fun smile

I like spining; i like the feeling it gives me; i love my friends and spining with them is even better smile I'll find my own path; I cut all the moves out that i dont like and keep growing and add new cool moves or fix sum till they feel gooood. The feeling is what its about for me

bye... have fun! cool hug bounce2

MeenikSAPPHIRE Member
enthusiast
272 posts
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada


Posted:
I dunno. The part scene keeps getting hijacked by money agendas and all that, but there is always the new underground where the really good parties are. Same with something like yoga. Yoga hasn't been ruined by it's popularity at all. You just have to ignore the mainstream, commercialized, celebrity yoga (if that's what you don't like), and find a good yoga class. There are lots of really good yoga classes. In fact, there are more now then there were before yoga became super popular.

The same will happen with poi if it becomes mainstream. There will be Britney Spears poi workout DVDs. Who cares? There will still be lots of great people doing good poi. If you have to give poi up because Britney Spears is doing poi... well, ...?

"They're interdimensional fractal intelligences. That's why they wear funny shoes."


PyrolificBRONZE Member
Returning to a unique state of Equilibrium
3,289 posts
Location: Adelaide, South Australia


Posted:
 Written by: Meenik



The same will happen with poi if it becomes mainstream. There will be Britney Spears poi workout DVDs. Who cares? There will still be lots of great people doing good poi. If you have to give poi up because Britney Spears is doing poi... well, ...?



Its more a case of not being left to just enjoy your poi because other people enforce their view of what poi is and what value it has on you. This forces people out of public twirling situations and makes them into twirling recluses. I need a firewall for my brain! smile

Josh

--
Help! My personality got stuck in this signature machine and I cant get it out!


shen shuiSILVER Member
no excuses. no apologies.
1,799 posts
Location: aotearoa, New Zealand


Posted:
who cares what other people think?
whats the point in that?
whether you care or not, they are still going to think the same of you. so why be bothered? do what you want to do. let others do what they want to do.

smile

those that know, dont say. those that say, dont know.


PyrolificBRONZE Member
Returning to a unique state of Equilibrium
3,289 posts
Location: Adelaide, South Australia


Posted:
a case to illustrate my point:

while having a lovely non-fire spin at a recent festival completely not performing tucked away at the side of a pumping dancefloor some dude I have never met decided to throw 1/2 an esky of cold smelly water over me. It wasnt pleasant - not the feeling of the water nor the way it happened. nor could it have been a mistake (although he jokingly made it out to be with a "sorry bro, didnt see you there" quip). As I didnt know this guy nor any of the people he seemed to be hanging out with (I watched him for a while to see if anyone I know put him up to it) I can only think he had some kind of problem with the way I was twirling - cuz he picked me out of a group of twirlers / jugglers, and other innocent bystanders.

Now if I were in a deep enough trance I might not have noticed the water - but are you really suggesting I shouldnt care about that kind of behaviour?

--
Help! My personality got stuck in this signature machine and I cant get it out!


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


Posted:
how did you arrive at the assumption that that situation was caused by the fact he didn't like your style of twirling josh?



that idiot could have had a million 'reasons' for doing something so rude, but i doubt it was because he didn't particularly enjoy your style or move selection.



i don't see how that (rather unpleasent) occurrance is connected to poi becoming mainstream shrug



i get your point about some people's views on poi being pushed more than others.



case in point: sport juggling.

lots of people are now of the opinion that this is 'real' juggling - that any juggling apart from the type where you stand on the spot and throw lots of objects up (and occasionally throw them all high and spin round), is not proper juggling and is somehow below sport juggling.

if you want to see it happening, read some of pre's opinions on the matter.



like nick said though, its simple to deal with - you just ignore it and continue doing the activity the way you want to and being happy with what means to you.





cole. x

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


DeepSoulSheepGOLD Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,617 posts
Location: Berlin, Ireland


Posted:
I am discovering now that poi is more than I ever thought it could be.



I had lost interest relative to earlier inspiration but have come back to it BIG time now.



This is all inspired by other spinners that I have met who have blown my preconvieved ideas about them and poi away.



I actually believe (whereas I didn't before) that I am really only at the beginning of a long learning process.



I am also glimpsing what Meenik was decoding in that interview. biggrin



Everything's connected....think real atoms, think rhythm. If music if proof of god, then what is dance?



Nix I really enjoyed your second to last post! smile I also love the person's style you mention. weavesmiley



Sport poi. YUCK!



Josh hug - esky's a silly word wink
EDITED_BY: DeepSoulSheep (1142515737)

I live in a world of infinite possibilities.


NeserGOLD Member
member
63 posts
Location: North Queensland, Australia


Posted:
 Written by: Dragon7



Just passin through...



The best spinner is the person having the most fun smile



I like spining; i like the feeling it gives me; i love my friends and spining with them is even better smile I'll find my own path; I cut all the moves out that i dont like and keep growing and add new cool moves or fix sum till they feel gooood. The feeling is what its about for me



bye... have fun! cool hug bounce2





ditto



smile I rather enjoy poi spinning, as well as staff. Normally you do something because you enjoy it. I picked up the fire arts for a number of reasons, being able to get out more (used to stay at home A LOT rolleyes), something to do, I enjoyed it, was a good way to meet up with some new people, and others... Not because I had palnned to be the best, but rather enjoy what I was doing, and be willing to pick up as many skills as possible along the way. ubbrollsmile



Slightly off-topic-ish, one thing that annoys me when you're trying to spin somewhere, some people will enjoy just watching you (no issues with them smile ), BUT when other times you get utter idiots who will hold their hands near the chains swinging behind your back, or some other stupid stunt.



One of my friends was spinning blind-folded, and one idiot was being urged by his friends to walk into the poi (unlit fire poi at the time) or throw sticks at her. They ended up leaving after I got annoyed and told them to back off and watch it (plus others who were watching told them off too biggrin), so that was good. Rather worrying though that people are so annoyingly stupid! censored



Anyway, back on topic! wink



Enjoy your spinning, stay safe, and remember to have fun! biggrin weavesmiley



*heads off to sleep*



~ Neser



~

Fuel your fascination, burn your desire and dance with flames


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


Posted:
josh-

On the one hand.. I have no clue what you are talking about... Since I'm am one of but a few stringers around here, and one of the only two that can do more than a really big (48"string) weave really fast.. most people around here at parties are rude like you say.. they come and wallk right through the middle of where we spin, simply because they don't see poi as something worth doing... the evil side of me loves those people since my strings are short enough to dodge them on the way through yet long enough to hit them in the ear..

On the other hand.. I completely feel you.. the advent of certain philosophies of poi, and the exposure of poi to the rave scene have subsequently brought with it all the horrible popularization that goes with it.. So now there are lots of people that string, but have been warped by simpleton ideologies... my friend was spinning at the last party (and considering he's my closest poi friend, he understands what glowstringing is) and while he was spinning his poi they kept ganging up on him.. doing their silly little wrap combos and what they apprently thought were just the most mind blowing grab your seat unfathomable patterns (for you non-glowstringers, these are string manipulations and fall into te same category as simple little wrap combos).. they got in his face and kept saying 'You can't deny we exist.. you can't deny this exists..'

now.. I don't care about peoples choice of style.. your style is your own, and you ahve plenty to build from.. Those who opt to only use two moves (the wrap, and the string manipulation), while they have their own style, also share a strikingly similar style to everyone else who does only those two moves.. (or by analogy anyone that does two moves in general: the weave and the butterfly) What throughly pisses me off to no end, is the fact that these people are getting inundated with such a naive philosophy as to think that if you don't do these two moves only then you are doing hippie poi.. if you want to 'rave' poi.. you only use these moves.. (granted this is of course my wording.. they will want to dispute this, but the dispute realy hinges on the fact that they are exclusively 'rave' style, and we are exclusively 'old' style.. in their eyes.. the fact that I use poi to talk about them probaby pisses them off more.devil )

anyway.. this shallow view of what it is that they are doing brews hostility between style choices where there is none.. and since, my compadre was the only spinning 'hippie' poi.. they ganged up on him.. All of this is purely a part of the growth of the popularity of poi as tied to the growth of the popualrity of a scene..

F@#$ MTV!

sorry.. I had to throw that in there..

now while I agree with nick that there will alway be the underground scene, and yes, there will always be us 'real' glowstingers (cleric, and sometimes kael wink) and yes, we get more converts to the ture side everyday (idealogically speaking), I think the bastardization of its popularity has significant drawbacks..

I mean sure.. let the leeches have their own community, and let the keep to their own, and the can rape and pillage the art to their hearts content.. but the fact that I can't go anywhere without running into 5+ of these pricks pisses me off more than the occasional twit from the first category..

Now I'm sorry for this really long off topic rant.. I horrible about moving discussions in other directions, but... I think this was already being discussed quite a bit before I got here.. so maybe I'm not 'as' bad..

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


GeoffonTour04SILVER Member
enthusiast
360 posts
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom


Posted:
I only really practice with firechains so if people start getting a bit close (if they're doing it to annoy) I speed up to 'injury' level smile

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


Posted:
Cease, then, nor Order imperfection name;
Our proper bliss depends on what we blame.
Know thy own point: this kind, this due degree
Of blindness, weakness, Heav'n bestows on thee.
Submit: in this or any other sphere,
Secure to be as bless'd as thou canst bear;
Safe in the hand of one disposing Power,
Or in the natal or the mortal hour.
All Nature is but Art unknown to thee;
All chance direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good:
And spite of Pride, in erring Reason's spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.

Alexander Pope

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


KaelGotRiceGOLD Member
Basu gasu bakuhatsu - because sometimes buses explode
1,584 posts
Location: Angels Landing, USA


Posted:
 Written by: Rev



now while I agree with nick that there will alway be the underground scene, and yes, there will always be us 'real' glowstingers (cleric, and sometimes kael wink) and yes, we get more converts to the ture side everyday (idealogically speaking), I think the bastardization of its popularity has significant drawbacks..





wink Thanks rev hug I've been trying to avoid labels.



Poi, popular? Glowstringing, popular? ubblol



It was a strange feeling in clubs around the US when people would recognize me just for my spinning of glowsticks. But maybe it's because I'm such a hippie, or a slut eek that I am willing to stop spinning to wow people and teach those that want to learn (especially girls).



And maybe it's because of the unique way I spin, whenever people have wanted to compete or "battle" on the dance floor, after watching me awhile they tend to slink away. I find this strangely amusing. So I've never had to deal with that sort of bs competition.



I love glowstringing/poi so much. I'm like a vacuum constantly searching to suck in new things to integrate into my spinning. My influences run the gamut of all spinners I've ever met/seen to funk stylists(popping, locking, bboying), ballet, martial arts, etc etc. If poi ever became "popular" I don't think i'd ever stop.



The other night when I was spinning fire for the public, there was a 15 year old who came up and said he wanted to be better than me someday. I gave him a sort of smile and he didn't say anything else, but I still taught him moves.



It's nice to dream. weavesmiley

To do: More Firedrums 08 video?

Wildfire/US East coast fire footage

LA/EDC glow/fire footage

Fresno fire


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


Posted:
digression: How is it that david elsewhere or kujo the flying water buffalo ever battle anyone? That surely can't work?

"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.


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