Tai-Chi movement theory meets Poi spinning.

as i dont have a clue where "ffidrac" is (i'm probably being very very stupid and tired an not getting something) i'll say there's a very very good one in bideford, who's wife also spins poi and he's called ranald macdonald as a bonus!

you just have to read backwards... bideford's not exactly close. There are a couple of classes i found here but they are at weird times of day, i keep a look out...

BACKWARDS!! now thats just silly, pfft. but yeah bideford is quite far away, worth it though.

Anyone know of Tai-Chi classes in Dublin? used to do it myself, lapsed and always regreted it
M.

nick what is ur approach after years of experiences now to the fusion of poi with tai chi ?
i was practicing several martial art forms ( jiu jitsu, capoera and tai chi) but i never get really into it before i found poi.
now after years of poi new gates are open and it seems like the circles help my soul to find the way back to these arts
with a better comprehension and deeper feeling for it


i was in a wushu central 2 weeks ago and show the weapon master poi
he saw directly several martial art weapon movements like double sword, shot sword, long stick.
so poi seems to be part of all and all is poi

the fusion between it is defenetly possible i will try to fuse every movement and knollege from tai chi in poi

recently i started zazen and that is for me a sign that i am now completly open for the deeper circles in me

peace light and love

ap

Although I know poi to mainly to be a traditioanl female dance prop. When I was in New Zealand I was told that males used them for weapons training....

u mean spin without any ego and let ur soul coming in the circles **

Oh, it's
Dan Tian instead of Dan Tien.

After a stint of living in the middle of nowhere, I'm finally moving back to civilization and one of the first things I did when I realized where I was moving was look up a tai chi school. When I first picked up poi about two months ago several people said a martial arts background would be good but as I have bad joints I think the lower-impact movements of tai chi would be much more relevant to me while still giving me a martial basis. I'm so looking forward to moving!!

I never thought of belly-dancing, but I'll be looking into that as well!

Anyway, even though it's an old post I still like the article (my being a fan of Nick's in no way, of course, biases me ).

Wow, this is an old topic but I feel my post is still relevant =]

I got on the poi round a friends house when I was feeling "Relaxed" and his old dear walked in (She's a very spiritual woman) And said "That is an excellent form of meditation." And since then has offered to show me some Tai Chi and Qigong. I said yes and just looked it up to see what it is all about and I was linked to this page.

I have been learning poi from your videos Nick and feel that after reading your post, I already know the basis of Tai Chi and have been practising it now for 6 months. I think I have earned myself some beads without knowing it.

And your retreat in Bali looks.... immense. I am so there after 3 years of being a poor student.

*Bump* just starting Tai Chi myself, have been doing Wu Shu for the last year. I love it and find it a fantastic base for my poi spinning. I also do rope dart, which Wu Shu and Tai Chi will obviously help. I've found wu Shu helps my poi significantly and i get the feeling that i will be able to adopt tai chi towards my contact juggling.

I learned the basic forms of Tai Chi Quan years ago. And I do have to say that it is rather useful to know when working with skill toys.

*bump* Well it was definitely a breath of fresh air to read what was in this post.

@Nick - great job on the main article, have been following what you've been up to since I started poi about 4 years ago and you have always inspired me.

Just got a free download of The Five Rings book and will be reading that in the following days.

I studied Tae Kwan Do from the age of 7 until I was about 16. After that I got more involved with music in my High School. Having been Really involved with martial arts during that time I naturally started looking a Bruce Lee's work and have definitely seen how the types of movement you learn from any and all martial arts will help in some way with your poi spinning.

As for the music, that ones kind of obvious as Nick has already made The Scales of Poi, and you know, what do you do when you have poi... you dance : )

Awesome stuff!!! Its funny, I am learning a bit of Tai Chi in a Movement and Self Awareness class at my school SUNY Brockport (has an awesome dance dept.) and I have really been eager to fuse it with poi, as well as the Capoeira moves I'm learning now from the Capoeira club I joined on campus! I've been searching you tube like crazy looking for Capoeira style poi or fire manipulation to get inspired and can't come up with anything. I know that its going to help me hone in on the skills that are required for working with a partner as well as the more acrobatic moves (I also am looking to get into break dancing). I'm so glad you posted this!!!! I think there is sooo much to be gained from fusing dance/movement styles and creating new ones as well! The world is so rich in styles and traditions of movement and I feel the world of fire and prop manipulation could get infinitely more amazing by tapping into these. I am just a beginner so I am still very focused on getting the poi variations and movements down but I can't wait to dance with it...and dance with chi! <3