UCOFSILVER Member
15,417 posts
Location: South Wales


Posted:
Ive been thinking lately about what happens if you stop playing for a long time, then pick up your toys, and start playing again.

Does your brain still retain all the movements and timings, so you can spin pretty much as if you hadnt put them down,

or,

Will you be a complete beginner again with the spinning ability of a complete beginner,

or,

Somewhere in the middle?

fluffy napalm fairyCarpal \'Tunnel
3,638 posts
Location: Brum / Dorset / Fairy Land


Posted:
I'd guess somewhere in the middle.

smile

It won't be as natural as it was, but time will improve it massively faster than if I was actually learning it all for the first time like a total beginner. Methinks.

Geologists do it in the dirt................ spank


AdrillfSILVER Member
member
112 posts
Location: UT, Sweden


Posted:
You start in the middle but with a little work you catch back up with what skill you use to have. I know, I stopped spinning for about 6 months, and when I picked them back up it took me a bit to remember what I use to be able to do, but with a bit of practice it all came back to me.

missegyptology: I'm gonna be a terrorist when I grow up anyway


SCRUBSerm....can you smell parafin or is it me?
146 posts

Posted:
it'll be be somewhere in the middle
you have muscle memory to help your brain along the relearning process

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


Posted:
I think the skills are for life, I just handed my poi to my wife and asked her to spin a five beat weave, and she did it no problem,,,she hasn't spun in a year and a half.

I haven't juggled in a year so I went looking for my juggling balls ( I was never any good to begin with,,but hey,,,it was a party trick) I couldn't find them so I used eggs.

Worked just fine,,,except for the ceiling...pass the mop ooooops

flash fireBRONZE Member
Sporadically Prodigal
2,758 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
I haven't twirled more than 3 times in the last 12 months, and a good friend who has seen me twirl since the early days says my flow is so much better now than ever before. However, I personally feel my alignment is out and my repertoir has diminished, but untimately I don't think I'll ever forget.

It's ingrained.

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PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
I agree with Flash. If I put the tools down for awhile and come back my friends tell me it actually helps my flow because I forget to think or focus on the moves, I just do it. If that makes sense.

Body memory is too strong to allow it to leave altogether I feel.

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


ImmortalAngelSILVER Member
Scientist!
578 posts
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada


Posted:
Body memory = non existant.
Your mind goes back to the last time you did what ever it was you're doing, it's not your body :P
Just a pet peave, sorry about that.

And yeah, it really is like riding a bike. You can go back to it at anytime in your life and you can get back to where you were before in a fraction of the time it took to get there before.
It's like weight lifting. If you stop for a while, and start up again, it will be alot easier to start up again than it was to start period (which is a bit different because it deals with the cells involved etc...)

Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> STAY SAFE! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hug.gif" alt="" />


AdeSILVER Member
Are we there yet?
1,897 posts
Location: australia


Posted:
immortalangel - is that proven that body memory does not exist? I've just repicked up the guitar after not playing for 15 years, and the amount that I remember without thinking about it - I find my fingers doing something before I realise what it is - is a huge amount. Learning new stuff is easier and my body is more comfortable with the instrument... so I dunno, I reckon some form of body memory has helped me pick up the guitar again so quickly... very interested as to the cause of me remembering so much.... shrug

ImmortalAngelSILVER Member
Scientist!
578 posts
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada


Posted:
I read an article a while back by some scientists who found very convincing evidence that it was the subconcious memory rather than the body that was remembering the things that came back so quickly.
I'll see if I can find it again, or one like it smile
I know what you mean though. I hadn't done martial arts for a good 5 years, and when I joined, I relearned everything I knew from before really fast, and it felt really easy going through it all.

Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> STAY SAFE! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hug.gif" alt="" />


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
my guess is it's like riding a bike. You get back whatever you lose within minutes.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


FacelessjokerBRONZE Member
enthusiast
249 posts
Location: Exeter, United Kingdom


Posted:
The motions of doing poi get ingrained into your proceedural memory (the bit that makes you do things without thinking. ie the bike riding or driving.)
But thats probably only if you have been spinning for ages. If you give up as a beginner then you`ll prolly still have to work hard to get it.

flidBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,136 posts
Location: Warwickshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
Written by: Unsightly Crabby Old Fimble

Does your brain still retain all the movements and timings, so you can spin pretty much as if you hadnt put them down,






I've been incredibly lazy recently, combined with the fact that i have no indoor space to spin anymore.



I haven't spun fire at all in the last 9 months or so and poi hardly ever. When I do I find I've forgotten hardly anything, only more technical things which I hadn't quite perfected (but had a good success rate with) before I stopped. I would be wary about doing fire thou without a few hours practice before hand. Whether thats that I'm not good enough or that my fear of fire has returned I don't know smile



I started learning juggling last summer, then again got lazy. A few weeks ago I tried again and am better now, so, umm smile

GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
I still struggle with riding a bike. I still think that if you dont put your feet down when you stop, it should stand up like a horse does.

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


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


Posted:
my planes and my timing went crap.
but i remember most of the moves.
though not all of them.

muscle memory does reside in your brain and refers to the physical side of the learning process.

"its just like riding a bike - once you learn, you can always do it" is the classic example of muscle memory in action.


cole. x

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


Xtremely Flameablemember
95 posts
Location: Cairns, Queensland


Posted:
I stopped spinning for about 9 months and have only recently picked it up again.

For me though it's like I never stopped I can still do everything I could before and a bit more.

In a way it has helped me push myself to learn more of it lol.

biggrin XF biggrin

When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.


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


Posted:
ImmortalAngel,,,,I just did some research on muscle memory,,,and you're right it appears to me a widely used term, but technically it's a misnomer. Muscle memory is indeed a brain function,,,,except when it comes to weightlifting. beerchug

telicI don't want a title.
940 posts

Posted:
I'm bad and lately I spin only once every few months or so, because I've been crazy busy with other stuff. But those delays don't seem to stop me from retaining what I've learned. The problem is that I haven't been learning more!

E pluribus unum, baby.


pkBRONZE Member
Lambretta Fanatic
4,997 posts
Location: United Kingdom


Posted:
Written by: flash fire


I haven't twirled more than 3 times in the last 12 months, and a good friend who has seen me twirl since the early days says my flow is so much better now than ever before. However, I personally feel my alignment is out and my repertoir has diminished, but untimately I don't think I'll ever forget.

It's ingrained.




seconded. hug

roarfireSILVER Member
comfortably numb
2,676 posts
Location: The countryside, Australia


Posted:
I think it's like riding a bike. You never forget...

.All things are beautiful if we take the time to look.


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


Posted:
i had a go last night for the first time in a month

for some reason my contact was better than it ever, ever was before.

which is kinda nice really.

smile

Love is the law.


newgabeSILVER Member
what goes around comes around. unless you're into stalls.
4,030 posts
Location: Bali, Australia


Posted:
I think it depends a bit on what else you've been doing in the meantime to.. for instance I stopped playing guitar years ago, but then I took up middle eastern percussion, which uses fine fast finger movements. When I picked up guitar again, I was way better than I used to be!

With poi and stuff.. it's amusing me how many people are posting on forums that they' haven't spun for ages... but we're still here at the Home of!! At least our identification as spinners hasn't changed!
I'm more noticing at the moment how different people's speeds are at learning things. I mean, there's one lovely lad locally here who is great, really smooth, so much to learn from him.. and he's been doing it like a month!!!!!!!! eek eek

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....



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