Intermediate

Welcome to intermediate poi spinning!

You’ll find tutorials and lessons here to learn poi at the intermediate level.

If you haven’t covered any of these moves yet, it’s recommended to visit the beginner page and learn them well before moving onward:

  • Timing and Direction
  • 3-beat weave
  • Windmill
  • Reels and turns
  • Backward 3 beat
  • 4×4 fountain
  • Extensions
  • Thread the Needle
  • Stalls

We’re moving now to great things. From here onwards, everything will take a certain amount of practice. If things are coming to you instantly, congratulations on being a fast learner, but be warned, there will always be more that takes lots of time to master. For most of us, it will take some serious training time to learn each of these moves. Yay for mastery!

Don’t hesitate. Learn to learn.

Sometimes it will feel impossible and hopeless, but you’ll get it if you stick with it. Don’t give up!

 

Here we go…

Poi Flowers

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This video covers a lot. If you want a piece by piece breakdown on poi flowers, try Drex’s flowers tutorials. This is the foundation for Tech Poi, which will be covered in advanced.

 

Ok ok. So let’s move to some more intermediate moves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9OgeHZ3FfM

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 Did you get it super quick? Try this extended variation. Original and groundbreaking as always from AlienJon.
Now, let’s try something weird…
Under the Legs

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This is Drex. He has about the most extensive site online for learning poi. Visit his site for truckloads of poi knowledge!
And another awesome thing!
Spiral Wraps

Wow! Spiral wraps are so fun.

Onward, onwards! Let’s do the unthinkable…tangle the tethers. This one will take lots of practice:

The Air Wrap

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Nice! Thanks Tim!

 

Let’s get to another good one that takes practice. Remember, learning poi is choose-your-own adventure. Don’t focus on just one move at a time, or you’ll drive yourself crazy. It’s great to have multiple things you’re currently working on.

The Hyperloop

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Wow! That’s a tangly one.

 

Ok, ok let’s do something more digestible:

Pirhouettes

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Yes! Dance!

 

Now let’s introduce a far-reaching concept:

Isolations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5TfLSMr8Q

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Here’s another really good anatomical breakdown of isolations from Ky Lee.

 

Now let’s move to behind the back

Behind-the-Back Weave

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Wow! So that’s hard…but you’ve ground away at it and it’s taking shape. Let’s try moving it to the wall plane.

The Waistwrap

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Thank you Drex!

OMG AWESOMEEEE!

 

Now that we’ve moved it to the wall plane, let’s try a really REALLY satisfying move:

The Meltdown

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Thanks Zan!

 

Wow, you’ve been learning so much. Are you taking time to flow? That’s really the joy of poi.

Learning moves is like learning a vocabulary. It’s equally useful to learn transitions between moves. In doing so, it’s like learning grammar and sentence structure. With this new language you’re learning, you can really SPEAK! The more you know, the more you can convey complex concepts. The better you know what you know, the better you can speak your mind.

Take the time to flow and enjoy yourself. It’s really what poi is all about.

 

Now let’s keep learning. now to revisit the weave:

The 5 beat Weave

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Did you notice it’s just like the 3 Beat weave, only with an extra half rotation on each side? You lead with the other hand than you normally would with the 3 beat. Awesome. That feels super good!

Let’s move on to something entirely different: Stall moves. in particular, your first stall chaser.

“Move of the Year,” your first Stall Chaser

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There are so many awesome stall chaser moves, it’s crazy. If this was no problem for you, try this one, or some of these.

And thank you to Drex for once again making tutorials like these. Check out his site!

 

Now it’s time for something special: Half-beat weaves. Sometimes called 1.5 beat weaves, these weaves involve pendelums.

Know this: Pendelums are some of the most underrated moves you can utilize with poi.

Here’s Leo laying down a range of these awesome weaves. Some are much more difficult than the others. Do what you like!

Half Beat Weaves

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Awesome. Leo is a flow monster!

 

To cap our intermediate section of tutorials, we’re going to move to some wall-plane pendelums and flowers to start our tech juices flowing.

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Now you’re rocking the tech poi! Wow!

 

If you’ve mastered all the moves on this page, you are without doubt an advanced poi spinner. Way to go!

Have you considered teaching in your local area? The world is thirsty for poi, and most people don’t even know it.

Get out there and be the funk in your neighborhood. Spin in public like nobody’s watching. And when they do, have extra poi for them to learn with.

Poi spinning is incredible. It’s meditative, subtle, extreme, and full of variety. It has so much to give the world. And with all of it’s awesome qualities, it’s bound the poi community together with collaboration and a mutual respect for flow.

When we spin we feel something deep and meaningful, and it’s a joy to share that with the world. Just as it benefits our lives, it will do so for many others. It’s up to us to put it out there!

 

Go, grasshopper! Go!

And now, learn Advanced Spinning!