I am new to spinning and am having a hard time finding resources for sword play.

Are there any tutorials for fire sword or anyone doing it in the US tri state area?

Thanks!

Does everyone know about the secret page that you can get to if you press the button on your capsules about 11x I think? They are especially pretty if you have vision props but are really cool overall.

Just thought I'd share! Happy flowin'! 🙃

Most of my music is higher tempo drum and bass or dubstep which is a little too chaotic to find a nice flow. Anyone willing to share a solid playlist ? Electronic music preferred but I’m down to explore!

Hello,

I was wondering, because in some videos, I see people practicing poi and they do like a figure I don't understand where you just stop the poi in the air and the poi rope stays taut.

Do you know the name of this figure ? And how I could learn it ?

Hey guys. A lot of you have answered some of my questions regarding my difficulty with spiral wraps and I appreciate that. I have some Flowtoys Capsule handles on their way but all the tutorials I have seen on spiral wraps are usually with knob and finger loops.

I had an idea on where to try and start with my knows but with the capsule handles I have no idea where to begin😅 possibly with the "prayer hands" as opposed to "turtle hands?"

Any thoughts?

Here is a little tutorial how to fold a lotus petal. There are two slightly different options, the "right way" and a little cheat to safe a little length of wicking material.

This Tutorial is for the common 50mm/2" kevlar wicks. Doing this the right way, you will need 65cm or 26" of wick for a single star and another 60cm or 24" for every one after that because you can use the second half of the diagonal cut. To help understanding how this is done I would recommend starting with a piece of paper and trying it out before marking or cutting the wick.

In the first picture you can see the length of Material with a diagonal cut on each end. All lines drawn are going to become folds and all of the lines are invisible in the end, so feel free to use a sharpie on your wick. Apart from the marked on in the center, they are all folded inwards. They always start and end at some multiples of your materials width, meaning at 5cm, 10cm, 15cm... or at 2", 4", 6"... And are all either 90° or 45°. The two squares I marked in white are gonna be our visible outside layers.

I started by pre folding every bend to make it easier to work with. Especially on thick kevlar, this does help a lot. The marked center fold is the only one that goes outward and I usually start by folding it first. (Picture 2)

After that I fold all the diagonals inwards (picture 3)

In the last step I fold the straight ones inward, ending up with 4 layers everywhere. The center square has a whole layer on top and bottom and inside two layers that are split diagonal with the marked center fold on one side and the two cutted edges on the other side. (Picture 4 and 5).

Once assembled, you can put just a screw with washers through the center, sew it shut along all edges or use staples.

For the cheating option (second image page) we dont start with a diagonal cut but with a straight one and also end with a straight one. This allows to safe 50mm/2" of Material but results in a petal with one cutted edge on the outside.

This year I will be teaching at Kinetic Fire 2024! This is a drill that is essential to multi poi manipulation and will help clean up planes in the process. I hope this inspires somebody to dive further down the poi rabbit hole. I cant wait to see everybody at Kinetic Fire!

Im a noob and really want to get better. I watch drexfactor tutorials, they are great. But im curious as to what else is out there worth checking out. Do any of you have recommendations of tutorials or just great poi artists to follow?

There are a lot of named moves in poi. Is there a dictionary of them? If not could we make one together? A visual dictionary perhaps.

I cannot figure out some of the stalls—even after watching Drex. I don’t want to get discouraged and throw the poi out. Haha!!

Seriously, why aren’t there more tutorials on poi. I can’t pick up what Drex lays down. Hahaha I just want to flow.

Hey people of poi,

I‘m looking for a tutorial. I saw some people flowing and dancing with ease while hitting themselves with there poi almost every beat. I‘m looking for a good tutorial for tricks like that. Can someone help me? I just found this: sample

Hi. I started poi probably 4 years ago and I got frustrated so I stopped. Is there any advice someone has for me? I can do 3 beat and 4 beat weave. Last I worked on was turning while spinning and I couldn't figure it out.

I recently got a hold of Chris Kelly's Ultra XL Knob 2.0's and spent some time experimenting around with how to best melt my ropes so that they could fit securely into the housing. Although I experimented specifically for this set of knobs, I'm confident that these instructions will work out for other sets of knobs that require a melted end cap. The 'how to' section includes which tools you'll need for each step in square brackets e.g. [Sharpie].

Total Time: 30-45 mins

​

Note: I have not done this with a standard lighter and these directions are written for the use with a butane torch since the direction and control of the heat source is a lot more reliable than a standard lighter. You can purchase one at a hardware store for about $12.00 and butane fuel for another $5.00. You may have to ask at the front desk for a torch since they're targets for theft.

TL;DR: Get a butane torch for best results.

Tools you'll need:

1. Butane torch or lighter.
2. Fire-proof surface for torching the rope over (the surface will be used to help shape the end cap).
3. Lighter or some other object with a flat end that you can press onto the melted rope to create the disk shape of the end cap. This will be referred to as your "shaping tool"
4. [optional] A quarter (25 cents) to press the melted rope onto so you don't get melted rope stuck onto your surface. Bonus for this option is that you can get George Washington's face imprinted onto your rope end.
5. Measuring tape.
6. Cutting tool for the rope (I used scissors).
7. Sharpie or other marker that won't immediately wipe off.
8. Masking tape (Others can be used, but they tend to leave residue on the rope).

​

Measurements:

1. You will need at least 1/2" beyond your desired tether length to create the end cap, but I'd recommend 3/4" or more. Using only a 1/2" leaves no room for error.
2. 1/4" for the distance from inside the handle to the outside and 1/4 " for the end cap (melted part)

​

How To:

1. Directions are written with your poi head on the left and rope/handle end on the right.
2. It can help with the rope measurement if you remove your knob for now, just be sure to put it back on.
3. [Measuring Tape, Sharpie] Measure out to the point you want your rope length to be (this will be location for the bottom of your handle) and make a dot or line with the sharpie. Measure it again, just to be sure, and check if the mark lines up with your desired length.
4. If you removed your knob, put it back on.
5. [Masking Tape] We are going to wrap the masking tape around the rope so that the roll of tape travels over the top and away from you. On the mark you believe to be the most accurate, line up the right edge of the masking tape so that it's on the right edge of your mark and wrap the tape around 3-4 times. Be careful to line up the edge of the tape when you wrap it around; we will be putting some downward pressure on it later and don't want it to split (see step 13 for more details).
6. [Measuring Tape, Sharpie, Masking Tape, Other Poi] For your other poi, you can repeat steps 2-5 and/or use your first poi to help guide where to put the tape. It's important to be satisfied with where the placement of the tape compares between poi since any error would mean your ropes are off by that much when you spin.
7. [Measuring Tape, Sharpie] Now we are going to measure out 1/4" for our end cap. To do so, measure 1/4" to the right of your masking tape.
8. [Masking Tape] Wrap the masking tape opposite of the direction you did previously: The roll of tape travels over the top and towards you and wrap it around the rope so that the right edge of the masking tape is lined up with the right edge of your mark. Again, be sure to keep the edges lined up, but it's not as important here since we're going to melt this section of rope into the end cap.
9. [Scissors] Cut any rope to the right of your masking tape off, taking your time to make a relatively clean cut.
10. Unwrap the outer layer of tape that we put on during step 5
11. Fray / unravel the rope end until all the fibers are loose
12. [Fire-Proof Surface, Quarter] Position the poi/rope so that the frayed end is face down and perpendicular (straight up and down) to the surface and/or is on top the quarter. You'll want to try and get an even distribution of the frayed rope end here so that the melted end cap doesn't have any weak points. It can help to press your finger into the middle of the rope and push the frayed ends around before pressing into the surface.
13. [Butane Torch, Fire-Proof Surface, Quarter] Pinch the rope end at the edge of the tape and press it into the surface so that the frayed ends are all pushed out from underneath the rope (too much pressure and the tape will split, which can change how much rope you're melting and alter the final length). Using the butane torch, put the flame near but not directly on the rope so that it shrinks. Do this all the way around.
14. [Butane Torch, Fire-Proof Surface, Shaping Tool, Quarter] Now we are going to shape the edges of the disk. Using the butane torch and your shaping tool, melt one area of the disk and press it down flat onto the surface with your shaping tool. Do this all the way around, reshaping as needed.
15. [Butane Torch, Fire-Proof Surface, Shaping Tool, Quarter] Use the butane torch to melt the bottom of the cap and press it onto your chosen surface.
16. Do a little quality control and see if steps 13 or 14 need to be repeated
17. Repeat steps 7-16 for other poi
    

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or corrections!