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Daedra
PoiPoi Mod.
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Posts: 2276
Location: Canterbury, Kent
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 Posted: Tue 18th Dec, 2007 3:03 pm Post subject: The Guide to Poi and Tricks! |
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Well everyone I was bored at work! So I decided to start a mission to gather as much poi knowledge as humanly possible into one thread! This will be mostly a beginners guide to poi spinning basics. But!
I'm also planning on having a full Trick List so to speak. So when all you advanced spinners say "Yeah I know everything" You can search through this post and see if there's something in fact you haven't learned yet! But for the record saying you know everything is dumb...so don't do it!
Right here goes...
Note if anyone has tricks they wish to add or some poi knowledge they wish to extend to the board please feel free to do so and I will include it in this first post for all to see!
Right well, we'll start of with the Poi Acronyms and terminology.
People do sometimes get confused when other more advanced spinners say thing like BtB Augmented Fwd 5bt
People do get confused as to what the hell it means.
So here's a small key of all those Acronyms!
Fwd - Forward
Rvr - Reverse
BtB - Behind the Back
BtH - Behind the Head
TtN - Thread the Needle
UtL - Under the Leg
Iso - Isolated
1.5bt - One and a half beats, or, Pendulum
2bt - Two beats, or, figure of eight
3bt - Three beat
4bt - Four beat
5bt - Five beat
7bt - Seven beat
9bt - Nine beat
Terminology
The Ugly Trick - "The Ugly Trick" Refers to tricks that just make you look ridiculous when you do them. A prime example of this "Ugly Trick" would be anything above a 5 Beat Weave. So 7bt's 9bt's and any other ungodly number! It involves much wrapping of the arms, elbows and wrists! It's more of a set of tricks that you cross off the "List of tricks to learn" List. But! There's always hope! If you keep practicing them again and again and again! It can be a good little bit of flair to chuck into your performances when you come to do them! But one thing to remember. I quote this from our good friend Mr Xan!
| Invader_Xan wrote: |
Use them sparingly. Kinda like punctuation in a sentence. It. Doesn't. Look. Good. To. Over. Use. It. |
Families - No I don't mean your Brothers or Sisters or Parents etc. It refers to Categories of poi tricks. Each Family of tricks revolves around a core trick. An example of this would be the "Crosser" family. For you have several tricks associated with the Crosser. Crosser Weaves, Crosser Butterflies, Straight Jackets, Cocoon (what ever the hell that is. I only just found out about it today).
Here's a list of the "Families" of poi currently known:
- Weaves
- Butterflies
- Crossers/Huggies
- Flowers
- Hybrids
- Stalls
- Pendulums
- Wraps
- Tangles
- Throws
- Atomics
- Isolations
- Anti-spins
- Contact
- Negative Space
- Grabs
- Trinity
- Inversion
Terminology Contd.
Augmented - This is a weird style I think most commonly found in the Weaves and sometimes Butterfly family. Say for example your doing a 3bt Weave, as you bring your poi up to make the third "Beat" you grab your other poi handle and bring it across to the other side of your body to repeat the process.
Polyrhythm - this refers to the context of the speed of the Poi. basically you can slow down one Poi so it does less beats or speed up a Poi so it does more beats for example a 3bt weave has the ratio of 2:1 (2bts on one side 1bt on the other) if you speed up one Poi you can get a ratio of 3:1 as there is time to add an extra beat. This applies to both Weave and Butterfly Families.
Vertical - Tricks done Vertically. IE a stall.
Drop - What it says. When you drop your poi from a point.
Horizontal - Again see stalls.
Float - When you Stall and you let your hands drop with the poi afterwards. This is known as a Float.
Kickback - Giving your poi a little kick to change direction.
Tap - This refers to when a single or both Poi is tapped of a part of the body to change the direction of it. For example "Wrist Tap". This would mean that a Poi was tapped on your wrist to say go from Butterfly to a Weave.
Stop - Using your limbs to stop the movement of both of your poi. Allowing you to switch planes and / or change tricks
Grabs - This is where you grab the head of the poi in your hand. Usually done from stalls, as with most poi moves you can grab one poi both poi both in split and same time. The funky thing about grabs is that it gives you the freedom to place the poi where ever you want i.e you can change direction and plane
Anti-spin - When your poi move in the opposing direction of your arms. IE. If your doing a clockwise flower, your poi will be moving Anti-Clockwise. Hence Anti-spin!
Same Time - When both poi move together like in a butterfly.
Split Time - When you split the movement of your poi. See "Split Butterfly" for further definition.
Tangle
Carry
Alternate Another name for Split Time.
Throw
Quarter Time - Ok Quarter Time is very hard to practice and grasp. If you think of Split time as Half time and the Poi will always be and a 180deg angle. Quarter Time is where the poi are at a 90deg angle to each other.
Long Arm - When you have your arm outstretched while doing a trick. For example doing a "Big Windmill" This is a "Long Arm" trick example.
Goofy - Goofy is where you would take a move like a Butterfly but move it in the way of a weave making two styles (normal spin and Anti-Spin) come together. For example Butterfly Flowers (arms move opposites) a Goofy would be Butterfly Flower but the arms move Split Time forward not opposite. the result is that one Poi will be normal spin and the other Anti-Spin.
Isolated - When your poi handles follow the movement of the poi head. The most common example of isolation is the "Isolated Buzzsaw"!
Contact - If you have seen Contact Staff or Contact Juggling it is much the same idea being that you manipulate the Poi with parts of your body instead of holding them. *note counterweighted poi are needed for contact moves. If you want to make your own Counterweighted Poi for this exercise. Follow This link.
Outside Spinning - The Poi swing around the outside of your body.
Inside Spinning - The Poi swing on the inside of your body. Commonly done in Buzzsaw Plane
Next we have Planes! Planes can also be quite confusing to the new comer to poi! As when we say things like:
Yeah that needs to be done in your Buzzsaw plane, or, yeah you should be doing that in your front plane!. New people to poi may be slightly baffled!
Planes, you could say, dictate where your poi need to be, what direction they need to be spinning in and are the key to your smooth spinning ambition!
You have 6 different planes technically speaking. You have your Front and Rear Wall planes, you have Side or Circle plane to your left and right. Buzz saw plane and you finally have your Vertical plane
Using the latest technology in the field of imagery and spending pain staking hours in it's creation. I finally formed an accurate interpretation of all the planes and their locations around the human form. This unique one of a kind image should help you understand just where these planes actually are!
Ok first off you have your Front Wall Plane. Which is the Red Line in front. Poi tricks in this plane will be spun in front of you, for example, a Butterfly
Next the we have the Rear Wall Plane. This plane is located on the Red Line behind of you. Tricks will be done in this plane will be done exactly the same way as tricks like the butterfly...just behind you! An example of this would be Angel Wings.
Now we move to the Buzz Saw Plane. This plane is the line marked Green on the image. This can also be done in front of you, behind you and even above you! But for now we'll stick with in front of you!
An example of a trick done in this plane would be...The Buzzsaw! It's called the Buzz Saw plane because the poi are spinning as if you are doing a trick in either your Left or Right Side / Circle Plane.
The next plane is the aforementioned Side or Circle Planes! These are shown in Blue on the image above. Tricks done in these planes would be done like a trick done in the Buzz Saw Plane. An example being The Three Beat Weave.
Finally we have the Vertical plane. This is shown as the Violet circle on the image above! These tricks would be done over your head or just in front of you, like a Rotated Buzz Saw Plane!
An example of a trick done in this plane would be the CorkscrewAs it is done above your head and also in front of you!
You can combine tricks using the planes to form various trick combinations! So say for example I was going to do a Barrel Roll the trick would shift from my Left Side/Circle Plane, into my Buzz Saw Plane and out into my Right Side/Circle Plane!
Next we go more into a little more detail about the various Vertical Planes.
Here's an Image I prepared Earlier
This Displays the various planes in front of your body.
We have Over the Head Planes marked in Black, Front Circle Plane Highlighted in Orange, Side/Circle Planes marked in Violet, Buzz Saw Plane Marked in Green, Over the Hand Plane Marked in Red and Under the Hand Plane marked in Blue!
Finally you have the more advanced planes. Atomic Theory, Trinity Theory, Box Theory, Inversion Theory and Plane Shift Theory...Crazy wacky plane shifts that boggle my fragile mind! But thanks to the master of poi knowledge on this forum! We have them explained!
Atomic Plane Theory
This is where your Poi spin two different Planes together. So for example one Poi would spin on the Vertical Plane and the other on the Horizontal. But! You can mix any two Planes together to create all sorts of crazy Atomicness! Atomics are also linked with Plane Shifting as you have to shift the Plane of one or both the Poi to get into this move.
Trinity Plane Theory
This is an advanced type of Plane where the Poi do not move parallel to each other but rather in triangles. So from your Side/Circle Plane you have to shift the Poi 45deg inwards towards each other so the heads meet this is the point at the top of the triangle.
Again using our advanced imagery it is shown in more detail!
So imagine yourself in the middle of the triangle. Your Poi can only be shifted across the three sides/planes of the triangle. the arrows show the direction you will be facing in retrospect to the plane... Still confused? It hurts my brain to! 
Box Theory
This theory is much like Trinity Theory except instead of a Triangle your standing in it's a Square. So you have 4 different Planes to play with!
Here's an example of Box Theory in action! Performed by the talented Mr Go1die!
But, with the application of some Stalls and wraps etc. You could potentially change your box into a Cube! Utilizing Twelve different points to shift your Poi about in!
Inversion Theory
To grasp this you you think of moves like weaves and Butterflies as 'Outside Spinning' meaning the Poi swing around the outside of your body. Inversions are where you create a space on the inside of your body usually in between the arms, it could also be classed as part of 'Negative Space'. The main difference is 'Negative Space' is created by using the Poi where as inversions are created by using your body. Example moves are Barrel Rolls. If you notice on this clip how the Poi are brought into the Buzz Saw 'Inside Plane'. Other tricks include Straight Jackets and Notcolemans.
Plane Shift Theory
This is where you manipulate the Poi to shift from one Plane to another. The more time you practice means the quicker and smoother the Plane change i.e you want to aim for the change in under one spin of the Poi. If you can competently Plane change, you can do it anywhere! Mix all the planes together and if you add direction changes it looks rather insane.
Now that's hopefully all of the Planes Explained! Hopefully I made it easy to understand!
Moving onto the almighty tricks list! Explanations will be added later on but appreciate the fact that I'm doing this at work!!
Here's the list I came up with...
*Please note that this list is on going and more tricks will be added in due course! Also that this is a currently unfinished article! So you'll have to bear with me while I finish it!
Neutral Spins
When your standing in neutral (if this should happen) your Poi will be Spinning in neutral:P This would be done in any of the planes mentioned above. Even this can be made to look good with adding a little something to it.
Weaves
Butterflies
Flowers
Crossers/Huggies
Hybrids
Hybrids were a set of moves where any move combining two driving styles are used. By "driving styles" I mean that each poi does a different style. IE. One Isolated and one Long Arm, or one Anti-Spin and one Long Arm. So if you think of all the individual styles you can do with your Poi. IE. Isolating, Long Arm, Anti-Spin, Stalls, Carries, Pendulums etc. You can make a hell of a lot of combinations and stuff to play with that comprise "hybrids".
Stalls
Stalls are an awesome looking way to shift your Planes and / or switch to a different trick. The great thing about stalls is that you can do them on all the planes and can stall them in many amazing ways! For example you can Stall your Poi Vertically and or Horizontally. Or Mix them both for an interesting looking stall combination!
Pendulums
Wraps
Tangles and Snags
Throws
Atomics
Isolations
Anti-spins
Contact
Negative Space
Grabs
Trinity
Inversion
Last edited by Daedra on Tue 15th Jan, 2008 10:52 am; edited 10 times in total |
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MagsKat
Joined: 28 Aug 2007
Posts: 673
Location: S.U.R.R.E.Y
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| Posted: Tue 18th Dec, 2007 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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Ok so here goes...
Plane/ Arm/ Poi Combinations
I wish i had learnt these before i started learning set tricks...
Arms can go...
Forwards together
Backward Together
Split time Forward
Split time backward ( harder in a side plane)
Add to this that the above can be done in a Front wall plane , or Side plane and you have some nice variations
Then we come to the poi... this is where it gets tricky..
Arms going forwards (front wall plane or side plane) poi can go..
F/w Together
F/W Split time
F/W Alternate
B/w Together
B/W Split Time
B/w Alternate
(you seeing a pattern)
They can also go in Isolation
Now for more confusion...
Poi can also go
Lft hand F/W - Right hand B/w
Right hand F/W - Left hand B/W
Left hand F/W Iso - Right hand B/W Iso
RIght hand F/W Iso - Left hand B/W Iso
Left hand F/W Split time- Right hand B/W Split
RIght hand F/W Split - Left hand B/W Split
More to follow...
Last edited by MagsKat on Thu 20th Dec, 2007 10:43 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Daedra
PoiPoi Mod.
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Posts: 2276
Location: Canterbury, Kent
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| Posted: Tue 18th Dec, 2007 11:44 pm Post subject: |
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That comes under Vertical Planes hehehe! But if I didn't make that apparent, I will note that when I get back to work tomorrow!
Thanks! |
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Felixwah
PoiPoi Mod.
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 1882
Location: Northwich/manchester
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| Posted: Wed 19th Dec, 2007 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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hahaha its looking good mate  .
wow that was crazy i went to type 'also' and i typed it backwards automatically as quick as i would have typed it forward wtf is that about?? anyway
osla yeh i think you should include pretty much what kat said because the fact that there are 8 ways of arm movement when mixed with the 8 ways the poi can spin you have 64 different ways of just movement and direction before any moves are even learnt is just madness! theory theory theory hahaha |
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Daedra
PoiPoi Mod.
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Posts: 2276
Location: Canterbury, Kent
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| Posted: Wed 19th Dec, 2007 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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| I made an amendment to the post. In regards to the Vertical Planes. Take a look (^_^) |
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Felixwah
PoiPoi Mod.
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 1882
Location: Northwich/manchester
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| Posted: Wed 19th Dec, 2007 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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mega  |
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Invader_Xan
Joined: 02 May 2007
Posts: 540
Location: In Space
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| Posted: Wed 19th Dec, 2007 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Seriously dude, I'm really impressed. |
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Daedra
PoiPoi Mod.
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Posts: 2276
Location: Canterbury, Kent
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| Posted: Wed 19th Dec, 2007 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks man(^_^) Tho I can't take all the credit haha! Felix has been a great help in areas that just confuse me every time I hear about them let alone see them! |
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Tony Doodles
Site Admin
Joined: 16 May 2006
Posts: 515
Location: Brighton
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| Posted: Thu 20th Dec, 2007 10:57 am Post subject: |
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| guys... this info is brilliant!!!!! thank you |
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Psychotic Neurotic
PoiPoi Mod.
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 1329
Location: Brighthelmstone
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| Posted: Thu 20th Dec, 2007 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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hey hey hey dave
is there a bit of html trickery you can do to make a clickable contents list so when you click the thing it scrolls to the right area on the first post, rather than having to scroll for ages yourself?? |
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RidRequiem
Joined: 07 Sep 2007
Posts: 587
Location: northwest~just look for the big fire ball!
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| Posted: Thu 20th Dec, 2007 1:02 pm Post subject: |
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thanks for that daedra  im a naughty marshmallow cos i just picked them up and started spinning so this is going to help loads
oh and sorry i dont know any usefull tips apart from ~practice loads 
Last edited by RidRequiem on Thu 20th Dec, 2007 1:04 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Daedra
PoiPoi Mod.
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Posts: 2276
Location: Canterbury, Kent
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| Posted: Thu 20th Dec, 2007 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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| God that would take some work:P Gotta brush up on the ol' HTML Skills now! Haha! |
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Daedra
PoiPoi Mod.
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Posts: 2276
Location: Canterbury, Kent
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| Posted: Thu 20th Dec, 2007 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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| A way you could do it is have a "Search Field" Box on the top of the first post. Then you type a key word in that will take you to a certain category or trick or anything...but god that'll be a mission in it's self getting that to work bug free! |
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Daedra
PoiPoi Mod.
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Posts: 2276
Location: Canterbury, Kent
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| Posted: Thu 20th Dec, 2007 1:14 pm Post subject: |
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But!! We can't add those kind of advanced HTML tags in forum posts. It'd have to be a dedicated page on the website and NOT on the forum as far as I'm aware.
So for example if you did it in the "Tuition" Page on the website. You'd have the "Guide" Link on that page that would take you to the "Guide" page.
From then on it's just a hell of a lot of work.
All of this would have to be done by the admin or the websites tech guy. We'd have to write all of the material to completion. Then every time we would want to add something we'd probably have to consult him...loads of work! |
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Moonlight
Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 22
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| Posted: Thu 27th Dec, 2007 12:28 am Post subject: |
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WELL DONE BOTH OF YOU!!  |
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