The Spin Zone: Demos/performances

[tomfoyle]

The final is dual wield fire sword. I was feeling lucky so I tried this the same night. First attempt at this too obviously. You will notice I have at least two people with wet towels behind me in case I catch on fire. Thankfully, I did not need them. These things are a lot heavier than my normal sabers and the fire creates a lot of drag, but I think it went well.

Wow those fire swords look amazing, good work! I recently bought a fire staff and have been practising lots, but haven't been brave enough to set it alight yet...

[Master Venturous]

There is a guy by the name of Ken Hill on YouTube that has a lot of good contact staff tricks and lessons he teaches on his channel for all those interested in learning that type of thing.

[Dogo]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjW4QS3v8l0" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjW4QS3v8l0</a>

I do fire staff as well. Unfortunately this is the only video I could get onto youtube. It's out of focus and it was in my "KEEP IT AWAY FROM ME" stage, so I wasn't doing fancy stuff with it. But here it is. And no, the people in the background aren't reacting to me.

I'm a frickton better at it now. But no good videos...

[DARTH CH3M15T]

Awesome fireswording Darth Cephalus. I want to give it a try but want to keep hold of my hair.
Still practicing my dual wielding. Heres my latest vid. shot from an elevated angle (my upstairs window). With my new camera (phone).

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF3H0xf2P74" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF3H0xf2P74</a>

[Darth Cephalus]

CH3M15T, I like the simultaneous reverse plumbs near the end of the video. The new camera seems to be working well. I makes the blades pop without some of the grain of your last one. Not sure about the high angle though. Dogo, I know what you mean. I seldom post a video without looking back on it in a week and thinking, "that move looks so much crappier there than it does now" we are our own worst critics. The fire is intimidating and it can go wrong; my sister in law lit her head on fire the other week and lost an eyebrow. If you wet down your hair and have a spotter, it is mostly just psychological though. I particularly love the sound that a lot fire makes when it moves. I did not put the fire videos to music so I could capture some of that. Once I get more confident with it, I hope to try out some of the cower contact moves. Those swords though are hard to get close. The weighted pommels make them a lot like trying to handle two staffs. I doubt the flowers will ever be as tightly contained with them as the ones in CH3M15T's videos. I am always struck by how tight and neat his flowers are.

[Dogo]

Oh gosh, I would never spin without a spotter. I really should record myself now, this video was a long time ago. The fire doesn't really intimidate me now, though I have a healthy fear of it.

Now I've done performances with it at Celtic Fairs. It's a cool experience.

[tomfoyle]

"KEEP IT AWAY FROM ME"

Haha I can definitely see myself being exactly like this to begin with!

I'd be very interested to see more videos so if you manage to shoot any then post them up

[tomfoyle]

Still practicing my dual wielding. Heres my latest vid. shot from an elevated angle (my upstairs window). With my new camera (phone).

Fantastic video CH3M15T. The sabers look a whole lot brighter and more awesome than they did on your other camera!

[Darth Cephalus]

Still a work in progress but here is my version of what I am calling the rotating plum flowers. It is that thing CH3M15T has been doing. Mine rotates a bit differently, and I have pulled it in to fit my confined practice space, but here it is. A plum flower spin modified to work around spinning footwork. This version is designed to work with a slow spin in place. This is still a bit rough and I sometimes miss the overhead transition.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYGOjhHoDR0" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYGOjhHoDR0</a>

Same spin as the last video but designed to cover ground. Instead of a pivot in place, I am alternating.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuEpq7aD0YE" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuEpq7aD0YE</a>

[Jamie Stick]

Am I the only one who notices the similarity between saber spinning and flag spinning? Are they essential the same techniques? Long, long ago I used to flag spin (and not for the marching band), I always thought it resembled the more show-y type stuff seen in Star Wars.

[Master Venturous]

There are certainly going to be similarities, though the techniques used in each probably vary quite a bit. The weight is also different, which means there will be differences in how you control it and how you handle it.

[Darth Cephalus]

Similar yes. Both deal with orbits, planes, and circular motions. There is also similarity to poi, rope dart, nun-chucks, and a few other things. The main thing about saber spinning is, as venturous mentioned, the weight. Sabers are weighted at the handle, which allows for the tight flips and some of the close to the body spins that require a change in direction. Some of that you can't do with flags or poi, which are weighted at the other end and rely more of centripetal force. All fall under the subject heading of object manipulation. The fun thing is that if you have skill with one kind of spinning object, you can usually adapt a great deal of it to another. You see the same thing when a single saber person starts working with a staff. Yes you will have to make adjustments, and no you will not be able to do all of the moves with one you can do with another, but it will be a lot quicker than starting fresh.

[Darth Cephalus]

So I got hold of an Ultrasabers Aeon V4 and I modded it up. Some people asked about the balance and how it was for spinning. I put together this video to demonstrate. It actually spins well but not like I would have guessed. The rubber O rings on the top ridges below the emitter make a nice point of rotation as you see in the first few seconds. Overall, it is well balanced and fun to spin. The only complaint is the light-ish pommel that makes the saber a bit top-heavy. That is not a problem unless you try a contact roll, which I did in the video and nearly dropped it. Also testing a blue color bump on the cheesy video editing software I use to add music.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSDVXPWF4hE" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSDVXPWF4hE</a>

[Darth Cephalus]

second day of spinning with my Aeon V4. I decided to show some of the spins I am working on. In here you will see some horizontal spin/hand switches and some leg work. Towards the end, there is also a neck roll to a toss. I have also been working on incorporating larger orbits into some of my work. Feedback welcome. Music is London After Midnight: Pain looks good on me. I don't know why, but blue blades seem to put me in mind of more Gothic music. I call this one Blue Aeon... creative huh?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JWFg55kAJ8" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JWFg55kAJ8</a>

[Jenkosaurus]

Hello, after watching Darth Cephalus and Master Venturous on youtube, i managed to (Kinda) get the Obi-Ani down Using a 36" Ultra Edge on a Dark Warglaive. Form is terrible and pointers would be cool and it hurts my forearm and shoulder after a while, but here you go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvecOQJctIw