I've been playing with fire almost two years now and I wanted to share my journey and some of what I've learned. There's probably nothing that compares to the feeling of lighting a fire prop for your first time. Spinning the flame, feeling it cut through the air consuming the oxygen around it making a sound that every fire spinner knows by heart. The satisfaction is amplified if you've been practicing over and over again perfecting your skill to get comfortable enough for this moment.
My journey began by first being inspired. In early 2015 my sister Marilyn and myself and gone camping in this amazing spot called the Black Canyon in Nevada. Her new friend in our group brought crazy LED glowsticks that projected an array of patterns spinning around him in different shapes like hearts, lightning bolts, little pacman faces. We sat around the warm campfire cheering as we watched the vibrant patterns in the darkness. After spinning the glowsticks, homie carefully starts dipping what looks like little cotton volley balls (kevlar monkey fists) on chains into what appears to be a large moscow mule cup. When he lit up his fire poi and started spinning them like flaming, dance weapons I thought to myself, "this is the most badass thing I've ever seen I wish I could do this."
My documentary video of this trip... Battery was dead for fire though...
A few Months later I had planned to be at EDC las vegas 2015. While watching videos of poi spinners and lurking beginner led sets on amazon I decided "since im going to EDC, what the heck? lets get a 20$ pair of cheap glowballs on string poi." Let me tell you folks, I got my 20$ worth out of those little cheap amazon made in china glowballs. While relaxing before and after edc we practiced the one move I figured out... the weave. Yes, I spent weeks knowing only the weave and the butterfly. At night we partied at EDC and saw some amazing acts on stage but on the dance floor and cosmic meadow as well. A few dudes who just casually spun their poi but at a skill level that was still amazing. I witnessed my first orbital EDC 2015. Id rest on the grass during the rave and try to figure out a simple buzzsaw move while watching the stage. I met people on the Cosmic Meadow who wanted to play with the poi and I let them. Random people had some mad skills! For somebody who know nothing every trick astonished me.
the documentary of my first las vegas EDC
I learned a total of 3 poi moves that weekend. 2 beat weave, the butterfly, and kinda figured out the windmill. Months later I continued to practice with the cheap little balls. When a pair broke I ordered more. Eventually graduating to battery powered glowsticks called Flowcrystals (people say they look phallic) and PodPoi (people say they look like boobs) by flowtoys. These poi were more durable and the cord had a good feel. At the time I rented a room in a house with a great backyard. That backyard had a very calm energy. I would spend hours in the afternoons and evenings spinning before and after work in that backyard. Sometimes drilling a new trick from a Youtube video. Other times just frolicking ridiculously to music.
https://www.instagram.com/p/-UtEktDAuu/?taken-by=iampowersurge
I lost my job in September 2015 and decided, "screw it ... I have money saved up lets buy a ticket to Thailand for 2016 to visit my sister (teaching school in rural Thailand) and Japan." I survived financially by driving for Uber ibetween rides I would spin in parking lots. I had more free time for poi before my trip to Thailand where I would be further driven into the Fire/Flowarts. I honed my skills enough before my trip to practice spinning poi on FIRE at the beach with a friends set and felt that incredible feeling for the first times...further deepening my love of playing with fire.
Because the story of my fire still long and still being written. Part two bring you through my fires kindling in Asia and to my eventual performance at Burning Man!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEyzErjDAtG/?taken-by=iampowersurge
