Part 1 of transition tools--tricks you can use to switch between other tricks! This is on pendulums and 1.5s. Pendulums work by not allowing the poi to complete a circle and because of that they switch direction whenever they reach the height of their arc. One move that makes use of this phenomenon is the 1.5 beat weave and in this video I demo both how to learn the 1.5 beat weave and how to use it to switch to other moves.

pendulumstutorial.mp4

A couple years ago when I was traveling through Africa, my host wrote a computer program for me that worked both as a poi simulator as well as a mathematical tool for measuring the distance a poi head travels in each hypo and epitrochoid pattern I could dream up at the time. After comparing a lot of the numbers the program created, it turns out there are some really fascinating harmonic relationships that emerge when you combine moves that normally wouldn't go together as a result of a lack of alignment with either the poi heads or hands.

techblog245.mp4

Starting with a crosser that unwraps and rewraps via antispin and extension, this trick involves essentially freezing one of the hands on the non-native shoulder to force the other hand to do all the work. In keeping the timing and direction consistent, the result is a body tracer that actually cycles through different positions of an archer weave.

techblog244.mp4

Taking threads from the past three weeks worth of videos: how to chain together the forwards weave, reverse weave, windmill, and weave turn together into a fountain variant that has some body tracer elements. This move can be done either inspin or antispin and sets up a lot of great moves down the line.

4beatfountain.mp4

A few months ago, I did a video on single-hand wraps (called shotguns) in split-time same direction and same time same direction. I didn't show off split opposites at the time because I didn't know how to make it work, but now I do. The trick is you don't actually complete one of the shotguns! These become more stalls than shotguns, but they still have the intended effect.

techblog242.mp4

Windmills are a fun variant on two-beat weaves that you do around your head. They're great for level-changing among other things. He's the best technique I know for learning them--it also gives you some of the basic motor skills that go into a lot of other moves around the head.

windmilltutorial.mp4

Based upon a move in the last Timmehtek video--a nifty switch to quarter time that makes use of a horizontal body tracer. It reminds me a bit of Mel's horizontal SNES move from last week and made me realize that as tech spinners when we tend to plane-break away from the body we have another option open to us. We avoid breaking toward the body for obvious reasons, but integrating this type of transition with a body tracer can have a really cool effect.

techblog241.mp4

This is a tutorial on how to take some of the tricks we used last week in creating our forwards 3-beat weave and apply them to learning the same trick in reverse. As an added bonus, included are steps to learning how to turn between forwards and reverse 3-beat weaves. A friend of mine had pointed out that frequently the reverse 3-beat can be as difficult to learn as the forwards one because one has to switch around the arrangement of pieces in a way that seems almost upside-down.

rev3beatweave.mp4

I got a request a few months ago for a tutorial on this trick--it's basically a 4-beat corkscrew with some elements of body tracing thrown in for good measure. Not too terribly difficult when you break it into component bits, but it involves the body in ways that are hella cool to watch.

techblog240.mp4

When I first saw people doing this, I totally thought this was one of those tricks I'd just let pass me by. Then Kate put out her video of epic awesomeness and I decided I had to add this one to my arsenal. This is an epically difficult move, be forewarned!

techblog239.mp4