This week’s edition of the Flow Arts Institute’s Tutsday series is brought to you by one of the most popular poi spinners on the Internets, Ben Drexler! His extensive tutorial collection is a testament to this man’s love for poi.
In the video recap of the technique he taught in a class at FireDrums 2013, Drex shows us how to do a 1 petal inspin vs pendulum with poi.
The tutorial starts with Drex demonstrating a 1 Petal Inspin. To learn a 1 Petal Inspin, start with the poi rotating clockwise on your opposite side. Drop the poi head down your center line and pull the poi to rotate clockwise on your native side, then drag the poi back to the opposite or beginning side.
Once you get that motion down, instead of dropping the poi down your center line, extend your hand upwards, in a circular motion from the shoulders, so that the poi rotates once at the top of the pattern. As the poi swings downward, drag it back the beginning side.
Voila!
You have a 1 Petal Inspin. Congratulations.
On to the real business at hand…
To complete the entirety of this particular hybrid, you will need to be able to do a Pendulum along with the 1 Petal Inspin that you just (or already) conquered. If you need a pendulum tutorial, check here. Assuming you already know how to do a Pendulum, the move is accomplished by lining up the Pendulum with the downswing of the 1 Petal Inspin. Drex mentions that the petal of the Inspin creates a moment where the poi seem to be moving just past each other.
Drex also mentions a variation you can do on this clever technique, which involves learning the 1 Petal Inspin, except this time we are going to put the petal on the bottom of the circle. To learn this move, spin the poi counter-clockwise on your native side. Let the poi swing to pop up your center line, and as it falls to the opposite side of your body, drag the poi across the top part of the pattern. (bad grammar? )
Once you get that down, try extending your arms in a circular motion from the shoulders, like before. When done correctly, the poi will rotate only once at the bottom of the circle. Also like before, to complete the hybrid, you have to match the timing of the pendulum to the 1 Petal Inspin. This one is a bit trickier, but with time, the way shall become clear.
Drex goes on to mention that this technique is a great transition into Horizontal Cateye vs Isolation, which we may cover at a later date.
Thanks for checking out this week’s edition of the Flow Arts Institute’s Tutsday! Have a good one people![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]