Any time two planes overlap (read: are not parallel), they overlap in one of four different ways: cranes, butterflies, atoms, or tangles. In the first three arrangements, it's possible to keep the poi rotating without interfering with each other. I'm pretty sure that any and all tangles result from the final atom shape. Here's a handy-dandy diagram that breaks this down in an easy-to-read fashion: http://www.drexfactor.com/sites/default/files/atomicclashes.jpg

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A challenge from Jeffrey Bird on the Tech Poi Group on Facebook--he wanted to see Zan's diamond rendered in opposites split-time in toroids. It took a little bit of doing, but I actually think it's far cleaner than the split-time same direction version I demoed a couple weeks ago. Bonus: I also decided to demo the same-time opposites version of the pattern.

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Last week we covered how to train your muscle memory for proper petal placement in 4-petal inspin flowers. This week we're covering how to then perform 4-petal inspin flowers with both hands in same time same direction and same time opposites. The procedure here is very similar to the one we used last week, but we will have to resort to a couple tricks to achieve proper poi and hand placement.

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The final installment of our first beginners series: in this one we'll take what we know about turning and tick-tacks and apply them to turns between wheel and wall plane in all the different timing and direction combinations. Once you've mastered each of these positions, you can easily flow between them as you perform.

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Over the weekend I started messing around with a slightly different approach to triquetra vs pendulum and found it opened up some transition points I rarely use but found to be really fun to incorporate into my flow. In this case I was playing with triquetra vs pendulum with the hands in opposites same-time and looking to the transition points on either side of the pattern, which can access static vs extension or same time same direction hybrids.

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Lots of stalls this week! Starting with a simple transition between buzzsaw and wallplane, I'm also playing around with Yuta-style stalls that go between horizontal and wall plane, which it turns out are the product of stalling both out of wall plane circles AND the horizontal motion they lead to. Some explorations of 3D flowers based upon this concept, curves that move in S-curves, and an axis-shifting butterfly move I've seen Alien Jon do.

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Starting off with a challenge from Insignia and including a funky "figure 8" pattern that can be done using a triquetra template, this one is kind of a grab-bag of things you can do with linear extensions in triangular patterns. Also, in trying to do what I think may actually be an impossible horizontal stall to same direction motion, I came across a nice hybrid transition from anti-spin flowers and am working on an inverted stall pattern one of my readers suggested on a past blog. Gimme time--it'll happen!

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This week we have a replay of some of last week's action, being as how it was too blurry to make out, as well as working on turning with the triquetra, mercedes, antispin hybrid--whatever you want to call it. Ironically, even though I've been working on turning from forward to reverse over my right shoulder, I'm finding the turns the other direction easier. Also: I've returned to my isolation intensive exercises and am now working on opposites. My split-time is a spot cleaner than same time, but that was the case with the same-direction variants too.

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Whoops! Camera ran out of batteries! Fortunately I think I got everything I wanted to capture before it died. Contained herein is a cool switch from the Mercedes to a CAP pattern, last week's 1.5 mutated into an anti-spin butterfly flower, playing with extensions, and a funky idea for a trifoil 1.5 flower...needs to be cleaned up, however.

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Nothing new this week, just polishing tricks I've shown in previous video blogs. I'm trying harder to get the nice circular pattern with the hand in the horizontal cateye and working on being able to do it both directions. Plus I've put a lot of practice into the unit circle grid--it's flowing better but still needs work. Finally, my buzzsaw fountains are getting cleaner and I'm getting better at switching between standard, antispin, and split-time butterfly variants. Happy holidays, all!

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