Spinning Dragons

Over the last year or so several of my friends have taken up poi spinning as both a way to have fun and be creative at the same time. I'd seen poi spinning at the luau at Walt Disney World and of course my friends at it, but it wasn't until I actually borrowed a friend's pair of poi and tried it for myself that I knew I had to get in on this!

Flash forward to this January when I got it in me that it was time for the hubby and I to have our own sets of poi. I ordered the poi from Home of Poi (if there's anything to know about poi, this is the place) and in an incredibly short time, we had poi to play with all the way from New Zealand.

My Pink Poi

Now let me tell you, spinning poi is not exactly easy. The basics are straight forward but once it's time to move on, that whole rub head, chew gum, pat tummy mess comes into play. Good thing these things have tennis balls inside or I'd be black and blue from repeatedly whacking myself in the head with them.

I've made it up to this far! http://www.homeofpoi.com/lessons_all/teach/3_8_19 (example of what's called a high turn)

Mike & Whittney of candle making fame were so delighted that we'd taken up the poi that they surprised me (Bryan's set is in the works) with handmade sock poi! Sock poi are yet another form these things come in and allow for different types of tricks. Isn't it gorgeous? It's hard to see here but that's a pretty turquoise brocade with Asian dragons on them. Whittney was trying to get the phoenix image in the print to show but it wouldn't lay right. No matter, I think they're still gorgeous. =)

Example of spinning sock poi

http://www.homeofpoi.com/lessons_all/teach/3_16_73

Once I get this under control and fairly well mastered... I'm thinking it's time to spin FIRE!