Forums > Beginner Poi Moves > glow poi tutorials

Posted: 4th Apr 2011
I don't really think that there is much of a difference when it comes to flowlights vs sock poi. I think the biggest difference is who is giving the tutorial.

Start with the tuts by Derek Faughn. He is amazing! He has a great way of explaining each piece of a move, then connecting them. If you're really stuck with something, ask Aston. He is also amazing. He managed to, in one sms, break fountain down for me so that I could start practicing it. The one in the learn section is pretty awful. It's just the move, no helpful explanation.

I suggest picking a move that you want to learn, seeing if there's a video tut by Derek and messaging Aston for a break down.

Good luck!

Posted: 5th Apr 2011
if you check out playpoi.com, or playpoi's videos on youtube (user meenik) he has a ton of great tutorials, some of which use glowpoi. there is also a DVD if you find you need more instruction. I like playpoi's videos because they're professionally done, especially the beginner's series, which were done in a studio with voice-overs.

derek's tutorials on this site are also good, I like that guy.

The dawn has come
And the wine will run
And the song must be sung
And the flowers are melting
In the sun

Posted: 5th Apr 2011
I am quite happy to help if you are having trouble. (Yes, I know I was volunteered already [:P @ Ash3s], but I thought I would make the offer clear.)

But yes, the biggest issue with the learn section is that some of it is really old, before (relatively) wide-spread high-bandwidth connections. Also, since there is no real oversight, the quality of tutorials depends on the ability and technology of the uploader.

Derek's are very good (of the ones I have seen at least). Meenik's (playpoi on Youtube) are also very good.

'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Posted: 5th Apr 2011
ok thx a lot, the one so far giving me the most problems is TTN, i get the butterfly and u move ur hands forwards and back, but i keep hitting them 2gether, and occassionally getting hit in the face (not fun w/ glow sticks ). i hav been watching Derek's vids, i will hav to check out Meenik's.

Posted: 5th Apr 2011
IME, tutorials done primarily with glow toys can be more distracting than helpful. Where the magic happens is the hands and the planes traced by the chains. I agree with other posters that a tutorial's helpfulness is ultimately a matter of the presenter's ability to explain and display the move. That's my 0.02USD, anyway.

p|.q|r:|::s|.s|s:|:.s|q.|:p|s.|.p|s

Posted: 5th Apr 2011


Originally Posted By: hooza angelok thx a lot, the one so far giving me the most problems is TTN, i get the butterfly and u move ur hands forwards and back, but i keep hitting them 2gether, and occassionally getting hit in the face (not fun w/ glow sticks ). i hav been watching Derek's vids, i will hav to check out Meenik's.
if you have soft poi, practice with those... if not, make cheap sock poi or something. imo nobody should try learning with poi that hurt, it's too discouraging. it's up to you of course, but I HIGHLY recommend softer poi, especially when learning new moves. then break out the glowsticks when you want to have fun with what you've learned.

and ttn + butterfly are some really frustrating moves to learn in my opinion, so don't feel bad. butterfly collisions are ANNOYING, and they'll happen a lot until you get it down. but you will get it down.

The dawn has come
And the wine will run
And the song must be sung
And the flowers are melting
In the sun

Posted: 5th Apr 2011
Originally Posted By: hooza angelok thx a lot, the one so far giving me the most problems is TTN, i get the butterfly and u move ur hands forwards and back, but i keep hitting them 2gether, and occassionally getting hit in the face (not fun w/ glow sticks ). i hav been watching Derek's vids, i will hav to check out Meenik's.

If your butterfly is solid, the easiest way to learn it is to switch which hand is on top at any given time. My butterfly is usually right-hand on top and in front. By repeatedly switching to the opposite hand on top and back, a (small) TTN appears. Once you get comfortable with that, you can start exaggerating the swap.

I think that this is meenik's method of teaching it. I wish I had learned it this way, because it is a lot easier than the way I did it: trial and error.

And seconding thirteen's point about soft poi and butterflies being annoying. I think they were the first move I learned, back in CB in early 2006.

'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Posted: 6th Apr 2011
Originally Posted By: astonI am quite happy to help if you are having trouble. (Yes, I know I was volunteered already [:P @ Ash3s], but I thought I would make the offer clear.)

It's your own fault for being awesome

Posted: 6th Apr 2011
Heh.

Would a remake of the absolute basics in the learn section be appreciated by people? I might have some time to do it, but quality might not be much better. Hmmm.... Maybe some textual help would not come amiss....

'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Posted: 6th Apr 2011
Originally Posted By: astonOriginally Posted By: hooza angelok thx a lot, the one so far giving me the most problems is TTN, i get the butterfly and u move ur hands forwards and back, but i keep hitting them 2gether, and occassionally getting hit in the face (not fun w/ glow sticks ). i hav been watching Derek's vids, i will hav to check out Meenik's.

If your butterfly is solid, the easiest way to learn it is to switch which hand is on top at any given time. My butterfly is usually right-hand on top and in front. By repeatedly switching to the opposite hand on top and back, a (small) TTN appears. Once you get comfortable with that, you can start exaggerating the swap.

I think that this is meenik's method of teaching it. I wish I had learned it this way, because it is a lot easier than the way I did it: trial and error.

And seconding thirteen's point about soft poi and butterflies being annoying. I think they were the first move I learned, back in CB in early 2006.

I more or less did it Meenik's way. The other thing I found helpful when first learning to swap hands was to do an extension with the hand that was coming on top (or to the bottom with a reverse butterfly) - I found it easier to avoid collisions that way. I gradually made the extension smaller until I didn't need it.

Posted: 6th Apr 2011
I second the extension tip... sometimes I do a ttn variant where I do an extra spin with one hand while the other hand does a big long floaty extension, and alternate back and forth this way... it's a lot of fun.

The dawn has come
And the wine will run
And the song must be sung
And the flowers are melting
In the sun

Posted: 6th Apr 2011
ok cool, will try thx a lot. i just got my flows 2day so totally gonna start practicing w/ those now.

Posted: 8th Apr 2011
i hav also found that wearing a baseball hat w/ the bill forward that i dont hit myself in the face