Swing, batter batter.

Alright, found myself a new genre, spun to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-I-2SjsaE&feature=plcp

I was so happy spinning that night. I swear I was high as a kite.

COL

If you haven't already heard, Home of Poi (one of the Behemoth retailers in Poi and object manipulation) have released their Circles of Light compilation of poi spinning and object manipulation. If you haven't already, check it out HERE. I really enjoyed most of these, and they're extremely inspirational as a spinner.

Fire play

Here are some pictures I managed to take of my burns

Let me know what you think!

Fire DART

Well, while I was away, I started playing with fire again. Check one of the videos out here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV8BJ9IcL8I
A dart is essentially single poi, on a significantly longer tether (string)

pictures! (of germany)

Here are a few pictures I've taken while in germany. I believe you can click them to enlarge. It's beautiful here!

Germany

Hello from germany!
Wie geht's?! (how are you)
So over the course of the last post to this one, I have moved entirely out of my old life... (Sadface)
Into a brand new one! (Happyface!)
ALSO, I've decided to use this blog alternatively as a life in Germany blog. Hopefully that's okay. ;D

ALSSSSSOOOO I made some new videos! Check my Youtube to take a look at them! Upcoming, some pictures of Germany!

The move

Well, not sure that this is considered part of my flow journey, but it's going to be quite a big part of my life. Readers; I'm moving to Germany. So expect to be seeing quite a few new videos up after I get settled in again. I can't wait to do a proper burn in the snow! (in case you didn't know, it snows quite a bit there) In addition, don't expect to be seeing many new posts until I get settled back in! Until then, Auf Wiedersehen!!

Crystal cases and flowtoy support

Over the past few days I've been doing QUITE a few show for people, and on my last one, I had a little issue. A light setup broke halfway through. It was TRAGIC. The show went fine, but that's not what I'm here to tell you about. I'm telling you about Flowtoys' EXCELLENT customer service. I sent them an email last night detailing the issue, and they immediately sent out a new crystal case and flowcord for me! Thanks flowtoys!

Video!

Not 2-3 days ago, I took another video! Woohoo! Here's MSTRKRFT-Heartbreaker! Make sure to put it in HD. My flowtoys look awfully bright in this one, so I'm not complaining! My new goal is to put up a new video every 1-3 weeks! So enjoy! HERE

FAQ?

Many times I'll be asked, "What goes on the ends of the strings" or, "What are those cords made of?" and "How long does it take to learn this?" So, in short: the next post will be a FAQ, so! Please comment your questions!

Taking pictures of poi

Want to be taking good pictures of your spinning routine?

Like THIS?

Then you're in the right place.

How many times have you tried photographing a quickly moving (or in this case, spinning) object? How did that work out for you?

 If you were lucky, you got something like this

If you weren't, more than likely something like this. Now you may find yourself asking, "What is the PROPER way to photograph poi, Adam?!"

Well, I'm here to tell you. If you want pictures like THIS, then read on.

The first step is to make sure you have a tripod, without one, you'll get unnecessarily blurry pictures, sure, they'll still look COOL, but not as pretty

Picture taken without a tripod.

Now, the second step is find a way to adjust your shutter speed. Shutter speed is how long the camera allows light into the lens for. I reccomend about a 2.5" shutter speed. 

And before you know it, you'll be taking pictures like this!

Happy spinning!

Math in art

Poi is very mathematical, believe it or not! For this post, I'm going to be using flowers for demonstration.(obviously)

take three circles, smash them together, and what do you get?

this. 

Now, take a look at the middle portion.

look familiar?

that's a triquetra!

now take four (crappily drawn) circles

Highlight the middle portion

does THAT look familiar?

you bet it does!

A flower is just a circle folded in on itself, the amount of petals on a flower shows how much it was folded in on itself! For example, a four petal flower has been folded four times, at the tip of each petal. If you took the outside points of a flower, and reversed them, you'd have a proper (rather large) circle! 

Fuel

Many times I've been asked to do a show for a group of people with fire. Most all spinners have. But people don't realize that we need a special fuel! The best fuel to use is generally paraffin or kerosene, spinning with petroleum or fire starting fluid or something of the like is dangerous! Why is this? The latter have a low burn threshold, that is the fumes can ignite just as easily as the gas! However, the former are generally burned for a long duration, and frequently indoors!

In addition to household fuels, there are also specialized fuels for spinning, most of which involve colored flame. Colored flames are a joy to spin with, but boy, are they expensive! Colored flame packs generall run about $30.00 USD

What is Poi?

Poi is, basically swinging weights on strings. After you get past that, however, you end up incorporating light into the picture.So then we had fire poi. Fire poi was invented FAR before glow poi, simply because of the lack of technology. Even seen those Hawaiian fire spinners? Poi. Glowstringing? Poi. Did you watch the rhythmic gymnastics on the Olympics yesterday? Did you see the clubs? Poi! A Meteor Hammer? More poi. If you've taken physics before, you know that string physics is very different than regular, and THAT is what makes poi so mesmerizing!

Types of poi

There is so much variety to poi!

There's glow poi!

Contact Poi!

Fire Poi!

And Steel Wool poi!

Steel Wool Poi, isn't necessarily a type of poi, as much as it is spinning steel wool drenched in kerosene, but it sure is mind-blowing to watch!

Flowers

Okay, today's lesson: Flowers.A very advanced move, but they look breathtakingly GORGEOUS. There are 2 types of flowers, 

1) An ANTISPIN FLOWER (Not the circle on the outside, just the inside portion.)

 and 2) an IN SPIN FLOWER

A flower is, in layman's terms a circle folded in on itself. The petals of a flower are counted by the smaller loops. (outside on first picture, inside on second)

Flowers are the most recognizable poi technique, and most often poi will be charactized with a flower. Flowers are very advanced moves, due to the rhythm it takes, most spinners only learn flowers after about a year spinning.

And so the real blog begins.

So that's about all there is to my spinning CAREER, as a person, I have grown immensely over the past year, and I owe it all to poi. I believe I om on a phenomenal journey, that WILL take me places, I have submitted my recent videos as an audition for many performance shows here in Vegas, and I will keep everybody updated on those, and my personal life (to some extent) via my blog!

Last post on history, I promise!

Months go by, without me posting a single video. People thought I'd given up on my spinning. Not quite. I'd just been practicing. Lots. And by this time I was getting good. My family took me on a pleasant vacation to the Coronado Island/ San Diego area, and I shot 3 videos. 1, 2, and 3.

What can impatience do for you?

So I patiently waited. It was agony. I couldn't stand not having my flowtoys. It was a mere week, maybe a week and a half, but it felt like months.In the meantime, I got inventive. You know those little handheld LED's that probably cost a total of  $.005 to make? well, I started messing with those and my old glowsticks. Shove an old LED in an open glowstick, and what do you get? This. But the wait was over by now. My flowtoys were in! (in reality, it only took 4 days, 3 days less than the ETA.)

Almost there...

Well, a good amount of time without a video went by, then someone asked if they could see me spin! And I made another. Looking back, it wasn't TOO bad... but I still had some ways to go.About here, is where my "skill" found it's way into my personality. I had found my outlet, you could say I was maturing. I actually took on real responsibilities. I had a bank account, I did yardwork for my neighbors to earn money. I began watching my whole life unfold, I saw my own potential. But that's aside the point. I FINALLY had the money for some real equipment. At this point, I figured I was good enough, I was going to buy some PROFESSIONAL GRADE STUFF: "Flowtoys" I still use these to this day, they are a joy to spin, and I recommend them to all spinners, new and old. But they ARE pricey. At least for a 16 year old with no real job. So, back on topic, I put in my order to flowtoys. And then we began the waiting game.

And then there were videos

So, a few days later, on a friday night, I filmed my first video. Real video. In the dark. Behold: More crap. Ta da! I still couldn't do a real 3 beat weave! But I kept at it. I kept practicing. I wanted to learn this. I wouldn't give up. then I made another! HERE I had my 3 beat weave, but I still wasn't that good. later that same week, there was Another.I was getting better. Still not professional, but not TOO bad. okay, that's a lie. I was pretty bad.

The Beginning.

So, being the go-getter I am, I go to the dollar store, and empty my wallet on as many glowsticks as I can buy. So, I leave the store, both glowsticks in hand, and I head home on my handy longboard because I'm too poor for gas.

I get home, tear some shoelaces off of an old pair of shoes, and had at it. I didn't need youtube for this! I could do it all on my own! I still have pictures of those bruises.

Fastforward about a week and a hefty load of ICYHOT patches later, I give in, and start using youtube, and I post THIS video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqo5OXcUyUU&feature=g-upl I sucked!I didn't know WHAT I was doing! (for some reassurance that I don't STILL suck, and proof that practice and determination DOES help, here's me about a month ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1NQpFDhzW0&feature=g-upl)

I still wish I would have had more fun in those weeks, laughing a little harder as I hit myself with the sticks, damaging my future children, but I was set on the path to perfection. I bought some REAL glowsticks, and practiced with those.

How I got started

Ever heard of Fright Dome Las Vegas? No? Alright, well imagine an amusement park in the middle of the largest tourist city in the USA, and add halloween to the equation. What do you have? One hell of a haunted house, with some pretty awesome rides.

...Except when the rides break down. Which is the case on this "fateful" night of October. So, there I am, hanging upside down, staring at a rather attractive female spinning some glowsticks on shoelaces. "ghettttoooo" I said, but in my mind, I just thought "This is amazing! What is it called? Where do I see it? Do I know anyone that can do this?"

For a few months, nothing changed in my daily routine. But I just so happened to have "Liked" the pace for "glow sticks" on facebook. Well, an interesting link popped up on my news feed. It was a video of the art this young lady was performing. It was called "Glowstringing."

Introduction

Hello, my name is Adam. I am a 16 year old poi spinner, and I live in Las Vegas, NV at the time of writing. I have come a long way from the point where this was true, and you can follow a little of my story or the highlights of it by reading through this blog"s pages. If you don't know what poi spinning is, it is "a performance art, involving swinging tethered weights through a variety of rhythmical and geometric patterns." (wikipedia) I refer to this as "FLOW" because I(and many others) believe flow to be a state of optimal experience. When I spin, I find myself in this state. Nothing around me matters, just the music, and the art. I hope you enjoy reading about my flow journey as much as I've enjoyed the experience!