Yokel Jugglers | Juggling Club | Somerset

Before you start learning how to use your poi, you will obviously need some poi. Now you can buy them from one of the shops listed in our links page or you can make your own. Making your own poi is very cheap and cheerful, all you need is 2 tennis balls (or any other ball the same size) and a pair of knee high socks. (3 pairs for £5 at our local market!!) Put your ball into the foot part of the sock and tie the top end of the sock in a knot. (do this with both socks) This will stop the ball coming out and give you something to hold on to.

If you do buy your first set of poi I do recomend buying sock poi or something soft as you are guaranteed to hit yourself alot!!!!! But don't let that put you off .

     Socks   +    Balls       =   Sock Poi

Ok, you now have a set of poi

What are you going to do with them?

First of all you need to know how the poi moves and how it feels.

1. Foward Spin

  To begin with hold one Poi in your right hand let your arm relax on your right side. Move the Poi in a foward motion by rotating your wrist anti-clockwise, the head of the Poi should move towards the ground. 1 spin = 1 beat

Now do this a few times until you get comfortable with the feel of it.

When you are happy with this practise with your left hand (looking at your left hand from the inside it will be turning clockwise). Once you are happy spinning the Poi in each hand try doing it with both hands, with the Poi moving at the same time.(imagine your skipping with a broken skipping rope and not jumping).

2. Reverse/ Backward Spin

To spin your Poi backwards rotate your wrist(right=clockwise, left anti-clockwise) the Poi head should move upwards towards the sky.

Practise this with each hand individually and then together, keeping the Poi in time.

3. Split Time

Once you are used to the Poi spinning on both sides of your body at the same time try splitting the beats. To do this let your right Poi do half a beat, when you get to the half way point start a beat with your left poi, keep going untill it feels right, it should look like the Poi are chasing each other. once you have practised this in the foward motion practise it backwards.

4. Foward/Reverse Split Time

Sounds slightly complicated I know but I promise that it is'nt.

Basically one Poi (say your right) will be spinning fowards and your left Poi will be spinning backwards. So one wrist will be rotating clockwise and the other will be rotating anti-clockwise. All you are doing is combining the 1st 3 points into one. As with "normal" split time allow one Poi to do half a beat before spinning the other one.

You can also do this so the poi are moving to the same beat.

Knowing these four basic points are essential to you learning Poi and are used in nearly every Poi move and they look pretty good on their own.

Remember, before using your poi you should have a little warm up first, do a few stretches etc. It really does help. If you are practising alot it may also help to do a bit of a warm down as well because your arms will ache the next day. Your going to end up trying alot of things your body is not used to doing.

Poi originates from the Maori People of New Zealand and it means Ball on a cord.

The Poi were made from Bulrush & Flax

Poi were used to increase  flexibility and strength in the hands and arms as well as improving co-ordination.

Originally the Maori women would use Poi to keep their hands flexible for weaving & the men, for strength & co-ordination in battle.

The women would also perform a dance with their poi.

When you look into the history of poi, it is said that the Maoris would always give thanks to their gods before using their poi. Just remember when you use it treat it with respect!

There are now many different varities of Poi. Here they are in their 3 main catagories

Fabric Poi: Fabric Poi are what they say on the tin, they can come in different shapes such as Flag Poi, Sock Poi, or Tailed Poi. Fabric Poi are very good for practicing with as you are less likely to hurt yourself. 

Flag Poi               Sock Poi       Tailed Poi

Glow poi: Glow Poi are Poi heads with L.E.Ds in them, again they can come in different shapes and sizes. They are brilliant for night performances or parties as they look amazing.

        Flow Lights         Rubber things     Stardus

Fire Poi: Fire Poi are the most dangerous of the Poi as you are spinning a wick which is soaked in parrafin or slow burning oil and then setting it alight. You have to take great caution when spinning fire and it is one of the most crucial times to "respect your poi"

     Fire poi (unlit)                Fire poi (lit)

In the following articles i will be introducing you to the different moves you can do with poi and giving you more information on what to do with the poi listed.

There may even be some videos