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Sunday, December 2, 2007

Max Rocks

Tonight, just before bed, the kids and I had a poi party. we turned off all the lights and I turned on the glowpoi (in their zebra sock casings). Alyson went first since arguable she had the most experience. I played her favorite song. But the performance, though fun, was uninspired, and she wouldn't listen to my gentle guidance of holding the socks midway down so they would stop smacking the floor.

Next I performed, and I took C's advice to heart and gave it my very best, really getting into the music (Incubus/Dig) and trying some fairly challenging moves like a weave high overhead while on my knees.

Max was chomping at the bit by the time I was done and requested he perform to a song from his first CD, "I'm A Ram" by Government Mule. I gave him a big MC-style intro and he immediately disarmed the crowd by saying casually "Well, I'm normally a stand-up comedian but tonight I forgot my routine, so I'm just gonna play with these here glowy things." As the music came on, he then proceeded to completely dazzle Alyson and I with a passion I had rarely seen. He reminded me of my first poi days after midnight, drunk, syncced to blaring punk rock. He danced with abandon and the poi followed his every move. I cheered him on loudly and he really rocked to the beat, dancing all over the linving room and doing some moves so chaotic I couldn't even interpret them, mixed in with stalls, butterflies, and wraps. I was so proud.

Alyson then insisted she do it again and wanted to do it to Max's song, which I refused, but played Gorillaz/Dare instead, which seemed good. Again she didn't heed my advice and ended up giving herself a really strong poismack right in the mouth (I know how much that hurts!)... all the while Max continued dancing with abandon, grace, and his own unique style. It was a great night for us all.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Natural Movement

after another 30 minutes of spinning to some of my favorite spinmusic (Prodigy: Breath, Fighting Cocks misc, various Burning Man DJ set rips), I have both integrated the weave, both directions, and had some good practice moving into and out of it from other places.

I can truly say this is the most natural move I've ever assimilated. After the first few "watch the video" disasters, I gave up on it, and then "voila!" at the beach, it simply materialised out of thin air, and now its like second nature.

I hope that all moves come so easily in the future!

Celebration! Got my Weave oN!

It happened completely naturally, the day after thanksgiving. I was just playing outside, with two moves that make me feel good: the double crossover figure 8, and the left right swing where both poi stay exactly shoulder width apart in horizontal alignment while doing large figure 8s across the front of the body. Then just out of instinct, when the poi swung left, I did the left weave on them. It worked, and I could feel the energy pulse! Yay! So I got it so I could do one hadn "over under out" come back to the paralell, wait 3 beats, then do the left "over under out" again.


3 beat weave image courtesy of Nick at PlayPoi.com (used without permission)Within 15 minutes, I was in the middle of the yard, and through some complete chaos that my body understood fully but my mind failed to comprehend, I did the weave on both sides, without interruption, for several beats. I then thought "what the hell is going on?" about which time the poi smashed into my thighs.

I was able to repeat this three more times and each time the energy ripped right up and down my spine, like I was unlocking a new piece of the tummy-knot puzzle that is my life, the string unravelling into its naturally relaxed and untangled state. New energy pathways opened, I nearly yelped with joy and celebration.

Where none of those videos (Scales of Poi, Art of Poi, Pele's Poi Spinning Basics, Glowsticking) had gotten me to unlock it, continuing natural movement, and following the natural rhythmn of the poi, led me right into it.

Notably, after those three sucesses, I tried to mentally grok what the hell was going on, and that wrecked my practice for the next three days.

So today I went ever so slowly back into it, repeating the practices and techniques that had got me there in the first place, and again and again kept tangling on the right side. Then suddently something happened, and Just as "New Day" by Donna and the Buffalo came on, I got into the cycle and weaved for a straight 3 minutes uninterrupted.

At that point I concentrated on two things: 1) ignoring mentally what was going on, and 2) straightening my posture (I found I was hunched over the weave).

Anyways, I got it! Yay me! Let the energy pathways pulse with freedom!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Hoops as Portals

I am really blowing my own mind considering the hoop as a portal into other dimensional choices. As I am finding out in my playtime, walking / stepping / wiggling / moving through hoops with other hoopers is a journey of consciousness. It feels almost as powerful as a DMT trip, and that is saying a LOT.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

hoop thoughts evolving

i hadn't hoooped much in the past month because I saw it as a really one-dimensional practice as opposed to poi, which are naturally multi-planar and dynamic.

then i saw Hadria Beth's video with my daughter, and we were INSPIRED, and i thought, OK, time to upgrade my skillz. but i also stubbornly wanted the skills to evolve naturally from the core gyrations, as opposed to "studying a trick and trying to emulate it through trial and error." so i put on some good music and every time i wanted to get up and spin, i forced myself to grab a hoop (and go counterclock) instead.



the first thing i realised is: poi has quick recovery from "bops"... hoop recoveries suck, cause the thang drops all the way to the ground. here are the things i thought i could naturally pick up with the practice still being "fun" without too much technical intrusion:

1. hooping to the rhytmn -- this is proving far more difficult than i could imagine. the dang hoop has a mind of its own!

2. clock to counterclock and back again, smooth direction changes

3. DONE - pirouette in same direction as the hoop, so that the relationship between hoop and hooper stays static (the hoop "sticks" to your body in this mode, its pure centrifigal force that keeps it on your body.

4. control the hoop's altitude on the body, i.e. upper chest, belly, lower hips, etc.

5. hoop while running (thanks for the AWESOME visual, carolyn!)

6. hoop while standing on one leg (this direct from my tree yoga practice, see below)

finally, i have foresworn shirts for hooping. the sticktion of hoop to flesh is unparalelled (well, i haven't tried latex yet...)... AND, i LOVE the feeling of that hoop rubbing on my (perpetually sore and cracked) ribs through thin layer of flesh.... better than many massages i'd had!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Yoga 101 - Flow Yoga

I did my first formal yoga class today.

It was great! A full two hours of "flow yoga", which is basically constant movement through the asanas (poses), even when the legs are in a stable base, generally we are moving our hands and torsos in rhytmuc motion syncced with breathing. It was so so so natural... it was also curious that I was one of only 3 men in the class. At times I was shaking with the exertion, and I knew it was good when I lost hearing in my left ear due to bloodflow / oxygen issues. Thats what happens when I get into extreme workout positions, but rarely happens in the gym because of the 1 minute set breaks. I really really enjoyed it and also was pleasantly surprised at how well both my book training and my two burn classes had prepared me for this. The corpse pose at the end rocked my world, i completely relaxed and went into lala land. It was so quiet. Of interest is that many of my free thoughts wandered around Disney and the future of Epcot. I came back into consciousness mere seconds before the soft voice of the instructor came through. Perfect.

Sandy, our teacher, had asked us to set intention with a mudra at the beginning of practice. We then came back to visit that intention again at the end of class and were asked to look at how it might have changed or been manifested. Mine +definitely+ changed. I felt so much more grounded and ready for compassion and green 4th chakra by the end, I felt stable.

She said about 2/3 way through practice that yoga isn't about twisting your body into pretzels, its about learning to stand strong on two feet. I LOVE that thought! That is why I practice.

PS - Tree pose ROCKS!

Friday, October 26, 2007

brains in hands

watching scales of poi, one of the most profound things i heard nick say (and there are many), is that many poi routines are similar to the meditation of "patting your belly while rubbing your head" (or vice versa).

Particularly I have been interested in starting each hand going in a different direction (i.e. same time, opposite direction), and then stalling both simultaneously and smoothly, then performing a double reverse immediately post stall. A stall, however, requires a great deal of feedback between the hand and the poi tension, to pull it off while maintaining perfect string tension... in fact, i often feel my whole body reacting to the stall, stretching and moving to let that ball find its "place", so to do it in two different directions at once presents a good solid challenge, and new learning space, for my body and my brain.

Fun! :)

Saturday, October 20, 2007

6 year old alyson is a master

and i, the apprentice. witness the wisdom:

"let me show you my hoop tricks...
and you can also use poi in this context, oK daddy?"

she's already related the two, with no prompting other than practice. yay, ally!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

encouragement

This morning I opened my door to find a note that I had a package from FedEx waiting. Yay! So this afternoon after I picked up the kids from school, I sent Alyson into the office to pick up the package. To my surprise and delight, it was from New Zealand!!! Yes, mere days after my order, Home of Poi has shipped me videos and my first pair of LED sock poi, from all the way other side of the planet. Wow!

Alyson and Max were fascinated by what might be in the package, and when i told them "playtoys", they were giddy with anticipation... so of course what did we do after dinner but turn out all the lights and play play play!

We each took turns performing, and when I was in the middle of my set, Alyson cheered "Daddy you are so good with those you should be up on a stage in front of lots of people!" It melted my heart and gave me such a boost of confidence! I'd only performed once in public before in the middle of That Thing in the Desert, and that had been a mildly embarassing set with many "bonks".

So look out world! I have one fan club member already! :)

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

my next home

home is where the heart is,

however, in this case,
my new home better have 9 foot cielings, at a minimum

i need some FULL RANGE OF MOTION space!!!

what poi can learn from glowsticking

glowstickers use a tremendous amount of contact, close to contact juggling... the glowsticks move all over their entire body.

glowstickers are coming from a place of ecstasy... they are ALWAYS moving to the rhythmn first and foremost.

glowstickers use a large number of wrap / spiral moves where the cord wraps fast then bounces, direction change, spirals back out

glowstickers have an intuitive sense of "persistence of vision" and use that well in their routines.

glowstickers use physcial lock illusions where they "place" a glowstick in a stationery position on their body, then move both their body and the other stick around this "fixed" object... this is actually a technique straight out of mime.

they move those thangs FAST.

oh, neighbors!

one of the more amusing side effects of being both a poi apprentice and a nocturnal human is when my poi or hoop collide violently with the cieling.

I had always considered being on the ground floor of an apartment to be a lower status arrangement... the view is street level, and when the upstairs neighbors dance or jump (or whatever they do) you can hear the thump thump thump. (of course, its easier to get groceries in the house on ground level, hah!)

How unusual it must be to hear the thump thump thump coming from your *floor*! I grimace and laugh lightly when I bop their floor at 4 in the morning... of course they might not be able to hear it with the bass from my house music goin on too! :)

Dancing with Planes

the most fun and chaos im having presently is the issue of "controlling my planes". sometimes i feel like i OWN them and can place them in whatever relationship i want... at other times they seem to completely have minds of their own and defy my every mental /physical suggestion.. either way it makes me laugh.. in the end i think the poi are in fact manifesting our unconscious desires into the material plane and its good to "play" with them like they have volition of their own... this way the poi dance is a living tapestry woven of our conscious decisions (how do i want to move next, what feels good?) and our unconscious motives (independent of what i want, where do the poi want to be right now?).

i'm also getting a real metaphorical hoot out of the chapter called "theory: moving your planes through space" from scales of poi... i couldn't wait, i bought that thing rapido.

Keeping the Dance Alive

i came up with the solution (consider it preventative medicine)
to stay in dance mode and never get overly obsessed with the technical aspects of the poi (a constant temptation).

1. always keep your feet moving (i.e. move your base, keep it dynamic)
2. hop to the beat! (i.e . generally only have one foot on the ground)
3. smile!
4. play in 3space, i.e. hop up on tables, chairs, beds, stairs, anything that can get your body off plane, adding a third dynamic to the physical equation and a spontaneity to your movement.

with these going, its hard to get lost in the tech. dancing ensues!
oh, of course, you've got to have music playing!!! LOUD!

Chris Bailey provides the perfect example:

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

poi theory, part i

i've been going crazy with the poi for the past few days, and have come up with some fascinating theories.

first of all, poi is a practice, not a theory. so the great thing is, you can try out a new idea, and get IMMEDIATE results confirming or rejecting it OR saying "try that again and this time breath while you're doing it...
---
1. blindfolded poi. Since you know the length (you can feel the air in your face as the balls whoosh by) and you know the velocity (which is a direct function of 2 things: a) the force you feel pulling on your fingertips, and b) the rotational velocity, i.e. how fast that force is rotating around the axis of your fingertips... THEREFOR, you know the exact position of each poi at any second in time... in fact, the complete beauty of this system is, you also CONTROL the future position of the poi. There is little or no data visuals can give you that your fingertips don't already posess... blindfolded can work.

2. the only rule in poi (for purity's sake), is that the chain / line must remain in full tension at all times. in otherwords, the ball must remain a fixed distance (the length of the fully extended chain) from the axis (where your fingertips grip it) ... only exception being when you decide to wrap it in for a buzzsaw, or do a bounce off the thighs or something intentional... This idea flows perfectly into what I believe is the most fascinating piece of teh whol poi puzzle...

3. stalls RULE!!! and near stalls. There are SO many creative ways to do stalls other than simply as a transition between clockwise and counterclock rotations. The stall is the point of ZERO ENERGY, or PURE GRACE. It is a point of PURE STILLNESS in between one dynamic movement and another. It brings a fascinating possibility into the fray:

4. The continual stall. I am considering the possibility that a full tension (see #2, above) could be maintained by moving ones body around a stationery poi ball, as opposed to rotating the ball around a bodily access. Heavier poi would definitely be a bonus in this experiment... (STOP! Theory runs off to check this experientially) ... OK that was a good thought experiment, just tried it for real... basically it works in low orbits, but trying to do a full "levitating" poi in front of my body with arm pulling around is going to take some serious practice, and SPEED. Basically got to beat gravity on the way down, and modulate force the whole time so that the real "stall" is on the bodily bottom of the arc, and the max "force" is at the bodily apogee (opposite of normal poi, go figure)

POSTNOTE on 4: C has told me that this is called an "isolation"... but i'm not going for an isolation, i'm talking about a full stall with the human body orbiting the fixed poi head. isolations "freeze" the gravitational center if the chain between the poi ball and the fingertips. i'm talking, make your arm go in a large orbital circle, while the poi stays absolutely still in center.

So that's Thoughts On Poi, Part I.

BONUS: a fully tensioned poi path will form perfect "french curves"... i.e. continuous functions that can be expressed as bezier curves (via quadratic equations), with a clean and explicit tangent at each and every point on the path, with zero sharp corners or angles.

coming soon:

* poi as swordplay
* why fingertips rule

future investigations:

* light fire
* partner poi