Isolations ~ Sphercular Style

Click here for a cheeky little tutorial

Should help you to get your heads round how isolations work.

Don't think of them as moves, you just wanna counter the pull of your poi at all times ~ it'll give you so much control of your poi that you'll be able to stall them Anywhere ~ Up Down Left and Right Sphism/smilesmiley

Feedback would be nice, and you can consider this a little treat for all of you poiple who post regularly on the forum and make it what it is.

Enjoy,

¦m¦

Category: 
Poi Miscellania

Comments

FEB
25
2004
Rev

lol... that's awesome...

to bad it doesn't show applied isolations.. I understand them. just not understainding stuff liek thread then needles isolated.. lol...

FEB
25
2004
duballstar

it's a good pictorial description and nice piece of flash work but like rev i already understand how isolations work, just have trouble doing them properly!!!
on the other hand i have a feeling now that everytime i try them i'm gonna have your little diagram spinning around my head which should subconciously improve my technique!! only time (and practice) will tell...
nice one matt!! Sphism/gigglesmiley

FEB
25
2004
pheonix

when doing isolations, I imagine pedaling a bicycle with my hands.

FEB
25
2004
Dygreg

Big up to you matt !!

That's great this flash tutorial. But I've already understood what isolations were. And it confirms exactly what i thought about these moves.

FEB
25
2004
Achluophobia

Cool. Sphism/smilesmiley

FEB
26
2004
poikid

right on! unlike the others, i've never understood how they worked. this has helped tremendously! its making sense now woo hoo. much thanks matt :17

FEB
26
2004
inertia

kool....wikkid tutorial matt!!

now i've got the theory sorted... its only the actual pracical side of performing them that eludes me... :16

*inertia heads off to attempt putting theory into practice*

FEB
26
2004
matt

Well,

I had no idea so many of you alreeady understood the theory ~ that's great.

Glad that you are finding it useful.

I think it's a lot more useful than watching vids of poiple isolating stuff. 'Cos you can isolate everything.

If you are having trouble isolating your moves then just practice with one hand.

Try to get the two orbits (1 for the poi head, 1 for your hand) to match EXACTLY.

practice forwards and backwards, inwards and outwards, btb, utl and buzzsaw.

If you can do all of the bove with both hands then when you next pick up 2 poi you should be able to isolate pretty much everything.

And if you havn't noticed, those Weave with Fakeys videos are great little patterns to learn next.

Every member of spherculism definitely needs to know how to isolate, keep up the hard work.

¦m¦

FEB
26
2004
spiralx

Excellent Sphism/gigglesmiley They're a bugger to explain properly. Maybe having a toggle so you could show a fake "arm" on there might be even nicer, although perhaps a little tricky to code.

I learnt isolations through doing half isolations in weaves... as Matt says start with breaking your poi apart on one side to do a fakey. Then once that's smooth make sure you break apart so your hands are the same distance apart as your poi and then rotate them as if your hands were on a steering wheel at your side.

FEB
26
2004
duballstar

yeah thats how i first understood what isolations were, by doing fakey weaves!!
still working on getting iso's consistent + applying them to non buzzsaw moves at the mo tho... :roll:

FEB
27
2004
poikid

Fakey?? Lost again.

FEB
27
2004
matt

Quote:
'Fakeys' occur when you break from a standard pattern, add in some extra circles, then go back into the pattern. They are an essential skill for linking complex moves into other patterns. In this case I have added a couple of Fakeys into a 3 beat weave. Fakeys can be replaced with any pattern similar to the one into which it must fit. For example, you could replace this Fakey with a throw and catch, or a hyperloop, or change direction, etc. Also they are useful when dancing to music, to add extra 'beats'.

Click for 3 Beat Weave with Fakeys

¦m¦

FEB
27
2004
duVan

hey matt funny tutorial Sphism/smilesmiley

but btw I also had to learn isolations without tutorials and I didn't have a problem .. but though of that I'd have loved such a tutorial when I started isolations Sphism/smilesmiley

Does anybody of you isolate a behind the back weave ? I tried it and it is in fact such a simple move if you understood it Sphism/smilesmiley

greetings , duvan

FEB
28
2004
Achluophobia

I wonder about 100% isloating something. Maybe with short poi.

FEB
29
2004
duVan

hehe my poi aren't in fact that long *giggle* Sphism/winksmiley

no it just depends on how much you practice to get it with longer poi too

I actually train about 2 hours / day and I really get better since Iam training constant and "disciplinded" Sphism/gigglesmiley

MAR
1
2004
matt

Achluo,

It is possible to isolate 100% (well perhaps not exactly 100% but as near as is physically possible)

One way is to exagerate the regular isolation.

The more elegant way is by using 'Isolated Throws'.

The poi head comes up, as it hits vertical you give the handle a quick flick of your wrist to accelerate it sideways. The head just 'hovers' in front of your eyes, and the handle flicks round straight back to your palm.

Now comes the easy bit. To get it to come right back to your hand you can focus on pushing a big jet of energy from your palm, which pushes the handle around in a circle and straight back to where it came from, try to visualise it and you'll soon find that you have as much control when it's out of your hands as you do when it's in your hand.

¦m¦

MAR
1
2004
FaerieWithoutWings

Hmm... When I try to do isolations, I only end up making my poi spin faster instead of moving my hand!! Must practise more.

MAR
1
2004
wide_area_intelligence

the poi spinning book calls "fakeys" "lockouts"
I personally like that better, as its more descriptive,
you 'lock' your arms, making circles 'out'side the pattern, then return

MAR
2
2004
Orbit

Here's how I think about what's happening in an isolation:

Take one poi and spin regular circles. As the poi reaches the bottom of the rotation and starts to circle up, move your hands down in an arc. So if the poi are moving up/right then up/left, arc your hands down/left, then down/right. If you time this right, your hands will go down as the poi are going up. Then as the poi are over your hand, move your hand the rest of the circle back to the top.

Once you've got them down you'll be able to move in and out of isolations easily, but this is just one way to start training your body to do them.

MAR
2
2004
matt

wide_area_intelligence: Call them what ever you like.

Lockout doesn't sound very fluid to me, and what about when you link 3 or 4 different fakeys together? You couldn't do that with your arms 'locked'

I call them Fakeys because they make a 3 beat base pattern look like a 5 beat base pattern by adding 2 'out of pattern' or rather 'Fake' beats.

But the naming is unimportant, just be aware that once you learn to add a fakey into a base pattern you can replace that fakey with a wrap, or go under the leg, or throw and catch, or a stall.....etc

The 1 poi book i've had a look at was so confusing, i couldn't believe it, so I made this web site because text and diagrams cannot do poi justice.

¦m¦

MAR
3
2004
FaerieWithoutWings

Multiple lockouts are done by moving only the shoulder... Your wrists/elbows (and if you're really well practised, fingers) stay locked in position.

MAR
25
2004
Nix

yo,

lockouts (as described in Micial Kann's poispinning book) are more like flowers, i think by 'fakey' matt means anything that breaks up a basic pattern for a few beats before returning, so a lockout is a fakey, but a fakey isnt nececarily a lockout.

Rev, if you want to isolate ttn, practice ttn with two short staffs, this will give you the feel for when it goes through. then maybe try holding the stafffs at the ends and reproducing the movement, this will give you the feel for how the arms move.

Nice flash matt, props Sphism/gigglesmiley

Iso btb, id love to do that *goes to work*

T :twisted:

MAR
26
2004
Exodus

as far as isolations go, i think the easiest description is to just try and rotate your arms along with the poi so that each hand is spinning in time right next to the opposite poi head...

right hand should follow left poihead rotation and vice versa Sphism/smilesmiley

the tutorial thingy is pretty cool matt :7

MAR
29
2004
Mathias

[quote="pheonix"]when doing isolations, I imagine pedaling a bicycle with my hands.

MAY
20
2004
Mr_Chutney

Have started isolating buzzsaws in the last few days (with great satisfaction - 1 housemate mentioned that he couldn't figure out how the hell it works, which is a real compliment seeing as hes a professional magician Sphism/gigglesmiley )

However, I'm having some difficulty in keeping it all tidy past the first isolation, usually faling back into standard Buzzsaw. I know the poi heads need some momentum in order to be isolated around, and I started wondering if I'm just trying to do the impossible, ie continuous buzzsaw isolations. If i think about it it doesn't seem doable, but just as so much else out there, I'm sure someones cracked it Sphism/smilesmiley

Any thoughts anyone?

Chut

MAY
21
2004
spiralx

It's possible to keep it going as long as you want Sphism/smilesmiley

I found that by entering it from a half isolation during a weave at the side and then bringing it inside I started it with my hands the right distance apart already, which helped me keep doing it for longer. Plus I'm crap at doing buzzsaw, found it hard to go from normal -> isolated Sphism/gigglesmiley

JUL
6
2004
Saucy

:cry:

Still can't download vids ....

-Pouting Sauce

JUL
7
2004
matt

Don't worry saucy. The new galleries will have vids in avi and mpg format, which you should be able to open just fine.

¦m¦

AUG
3
2004
Nissen

what are lockouts and buzzaws??
Btw, good animation. Easy to understand but really hard to do or practice :o

AUG
3
2004
spiralx

Lockouts (or fakeys) are where you stop moving your hands in the middle of a move and let the poi spin a circle (or more perhaps) before carrying on with the rest of the move.

Buzzsaws are where both poi spin in a circle between your arms - both hands will point towards each other and the poi will be spinning in a circle at right angles to your body. Also called burn the nose sometimes because if you do it with fire the poi go very near your face Sphism/winksmiley

AUG
3
2004
Nissen

Ahaa Sphism/winksmiley

But I wanna know more. Madeinthailand wrote this under a nother topic:
-----------------------------
Buzzsaws are indeed endless:
Get Full control over the Vertical and Horizontal one and you can play with:
Buzzsaw Flowers
Isolated Buzzsaws
Buzzsaw Fountain
Buzzsaw Corkscrew Variations (Very nice possibilities)
Buzzsaw Separations
BHB Buzzsaw
Under the Arm Buzzsaws
Combining a Buzzsaw with a weave
Butterfly Buzzsaws
etc. . . .
-----------------------------
What are flowers?, Fountain?, separations?, corkscrew? BHB?
(BHB is behind back? but what would BTB be then?)

There are alot of questions.. I know. Is there a place I can read more about what different things mean?

AUG
4
2004
spiralx

Have a look in the encyclopoidia section, although we're still arguing over some definitions you should be able to get most of those. BHB = BTB.

SEP
7
2004
silvershadow

Nice animation matt should b helpful for the people learning isolations, u should try get some vids up 5bt isolated weave would b nice 2 c as i aint seen many people do it, i can isolate buzzsaws,butterflys and backward weave ( cant get fowards :twisted: :x :twisted: ) and have recently perfected isolated ttn weave (feels soooo nice), so anyway yeah some videos would b cool Sphism/smilesmiley

keep up the good work

SEP
23
2004
magicmonkey

Hi guys

I tried isolations for the first time in my lunch break just now(yeah I know, nasty hours I work eh?!?) and I just ended up stalling all the time without managing a full swing, I've tried doing it with buzzsaws and just spinning by my side, 2 handed and one handed but it's completely got me, I've read through all of this post but none of the answers really 'clicked' with me, could someone maybe explain it in a different way which might work a bit better for me? pretty please with sugar on top? :oops:

SEP
27
2004
StoneT

try to do it slowly, stalling is quite close I think
And practice... practice... practice...

Has being stuck under a mountain for 500 years taught you no patience? Sphism/winksmiley

SEP
27
2004
magicmonkey

[quote="StoneT"]try to do it slowly, stalling is quite close I think
And practice... practice... practice...

SEP
27
2004
StoneT

Yay!
Manage to upset someone over the internet today Sphism/gigglesmiley
Gotta be done at least once a week.

I should have added that I've been trying to get isolations for about a month and I'm just starting to get it now. I think it's just something that slowly gets better rather than just 'clicks'

Or I could have said: What? you know the theory and you still can't do it?
Man you're useless! Sphism/tonguesmiley Go take up knitting.

But that's just nasty.

I will now leave this floor open to someone who know's what the hell they're talking about :oops:

PS Yup! watched it last night. Damnit I'v got to get the rest now, but all the rest are twice the price :o Get'em hooked and then suck their blood eh?

SEP
27
2004
magicmonkey

[quote="StoneT"]Yay!
Manage to upset someone over the internet today Sphism/gigglesmiley
Gotta be done at least once a week.

SEP
27
2004
StoneT

CONGRATULATIONS!
You just got the 10000th post on spherculism!
Let's celebrate!
:39 :47 :39
:9 :56 :46 :36 :50 :9 :29 :27 :20
:16 :10 :22 :28 :5 :twisted: :18 :18 :18 :18 :55

SEP
27
2004
magicmonkey

Sexellent!! Do I get a prize? leg of lamb maybe, used socks Sphism/confusedsmiley:

Sphism/gigglesmileySphism/smilesmileySphism/gigglesmileySphism/winksmiley :twisted: :idea:

FEB
9
2005
mot

Wicked tutorial matt. Looking good. Got any more of these flash poibot style lessons?

True isolations or head isolation, is it possible to sustain them? I can manage to fake part of an isolation on just the head, but to keep it going seems like it would only be possible somewhere where gravity played a lesser role.

When learning the very basics of isolations and it's really just not clicking for you. Try using some poi that are slightly too long and doing a buzzsaw. Then you have to semi isolate them to stop smacking yourself in the chest. You can atleast get the feel of moving the spinning point further down your chains.

MAY
25
2005
Trial_By_Fire

Hopefully it's not just me but the link in the first post seems to be busted. Sphism/sadsmiley

Is there anyway to get it back, or if it's a video anyone have it saved?

MAY
25
2005
matt

i'll upload it again

sorry bout that, and thanks for reminding me

m

MAY
25
2005
matt

done Sphism/smilesmiley I really like that little tutorial, if you want any more like this i'm happy to make them.

m

JUL
28
2005
dut

[quote="matt"]done Sphism/smilesmiley I really like that little tutorial, if you want any more like this i'm happy to make them.

m

NOV
17
2005
anamea

Sorry, but i still dont understand how to do. Are there any videos on this isolation thing - i just still dont know how does it look like...Sphism/sadsmiley

NOV
18
2005
jon

http://www.spherculism.com/poiple/modules.php?op=modload&name=4nAlbum&file=index&do=showpic&pid=433&orderby=dateD

this vid has loads of isos.. happy spinning Sphism/winksmiley [/url]

NOV
19
2005
anamea

Thanks a lotSphism/smilesmiley

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