The Spin Zone: Demos/performances

[Samhain138]

I've got to figure out some new transitions

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9FtXUqTsRU" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9FtXUqTsRU</a>

[Master Resolute]

Nice.

Just finished this one...was quite a bit of fun..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBdTigs0Fd4

When my staff gets here i'll post some spinning.

[tomfoyle]

Nice.

Just finished this one...was quite a bit of fun..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBdTigs0Fd4

When my staff gets here i'll post some spinning.

Very entertaining video, love it! You have a flair for the dramatic. I look forward to seeing a saberstaff video

[hazard502]

^Super fun RyanG83Jkd I really enjoyed your video!  Point awarded!  Looking fwd to your next one as well

[Spades]

Nice.

Just finished this one...was quite a bit of fun..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBdTigs0Fd4

When my staff gets here i'll post some spinning.

sick..

[EchoEternal]

Hey everybody! I finally had some time to record some progress so I can see where I'm at. Stumbling around a bit, probably because of sprained ankle. It's a pretty long video--Single spinning until 3:20, dual spinning until 4:20, and the rest is saber staff. I'm finding the dual spinning learning curve much steeper than the rest. Still stuck at the basics there, but will continue trying to improve! Nice videos everybody, and the instructional videos are fantastic as well. Thanks for all your help! I love spinning. Also I have no skills in video editing so that's awkward.

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

[Samhain138]

Hey everybody! I finally had some time to record some progress so I can see where I'm at. Stumbling around a bit, probably because of sprained ankle. It's a pretty long video--Single spinning until 3:20, dual spinning until 4:20, and the rest is saber staff. I'm finding the dual spinning learning curve much steeper than the rest. Still stuck at the basics there, but will continue trying to improve! Nice videos everybody, and the instructional videos are fantastic as well. Thanks for all your help! I love spinning. Also I have no skills in video editing so that's awkward.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_YNapamVSg

This is great!  I need some pointers on transitions like this.

[Darth Cephalus]

Looking very good with those spins Echoeternal. The dual wield does have a steeper learning curve, but you seem to be getting there. With the staff, I am rather fond of that horizontal behind the back to overhead transition myself. I suggest spinning in the same direction as the blade as you bull it out from behind your back. I makes the slow part of that move look a lot faster.

[Master Resolute]

Real nice Echo. Looks to me like you might even be holding back the speed a little bit ( not saying you went slow by any means, again, impressive ). I don't normally do too much spinning...besides my " think " mode...which is the behind the back spin...or more commonly known as the blade barrier here on the forums. Don't get me wrong, when i first picked up the staff 15+ years ago that is mostly what i focused on. I find myself coming back to it. Everyone here loooves that Obi - Ani spin. ( A lot of martial artists will call this the " Senseless " spin, but i find anything that changes rhythm can be used as a PIA attack. It throws your opponent off...that being said, if your sparring someone who is known to be aggressive...or a fencer or kali practicioner....be careful with spins, they love to crash and a spin will most definitely get you hit. )

You can turn the Obi - Ani into an attack of sorts. You still do everything the same, but as the blade comes to the front of your body you torque your feet/Hips more and the blade can slash at the upper body/neck/head. Do not try this fast though, you must condition your hip and shoulders...especially shoulders...for this to be effective. Anyway, this last rambling was probably better suited for the combat section. Felt the need to share it here.

Reposting your link because of this rambling!! Great job!

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

[EchoEternal]

Cephalus: Thanks for the advice! I did see I sort of spun during it in the video once and it looked a little better, so I'm going to work on doing stuff like that more often.

Samhain: I think I'm full of transitions primarily because when I spin, I just turn on music and turn it into a cardio workout. I just constantly try to keep the blade spinning, and doing this forced me to figure out different transitions. For instance, if you're spinning one direction on the side, say upward, if you turn your body the other direction the spin will reverse and be going the other direction. The obi-ani can reverse the direction of your spin as well. Just play around with it with some nice music and it'll happen eventually on its own. There are also some good tutorials from Cephalus and Venturous that are helpful in that regard. I think I remember one of their videos specifically showing this.

RyanG83kd: I was holding back some due to the sore ankle, and I was sore from the night before. I'd been terribly out of practice and spun for like two hours straight followed by an hour of dagorhir drills (foam weapon fighting). I was sore all over (dagorhir works those shoulders and hips you mentioned ). I love doing the Obi-Ani, but I do know it's really hard to work into a combat situation. We've managed to work it into choreography routines twice, but it doesn't naturally happen when we're coming up with it, we have to put it in intentionally. In foam weapon fighting, not really at all. Most spins in combat end in getting stabbed. The spinning seems to come in handy in dagorhir most often when faking. Really easy-to-do fakes with a pointless spin that looks like a strike.  The opponent tries to block it, then it rotates into a strike on the other, unguarded side. Other dag players that don't spin have trouble executing them as well (it's more obviously a fake), I'm guessing because I'm working mysterious spinning muscles they aren't.

[Master Venturous]

Hey everybody! I finally had some time to record some progress so I can see where I'm at. Stumbling around a bit, probably because of sprained ankle. It's a pretty long video--Single spinning until 3:20, dual spinning until 4:20, and the rest is saber staff. I'm finding the dual spinning learning curve much steeper than the rest. Still stuck at the basics there, but will continue trying to improve! Nice videos everybody, and the instructional videos are fantastic as well. Thanks for all your help! I love spinning. Also I have no skills in video editing so that's awkward.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_YNapamVSg

Well done. I really like the speed at which you do a lot of the staff moves, especially the halo spin. Keep it up!

[tomfoyle]

Hey everybody! I finally had some time to record some progress so I can see where I'm at. Stumbling around a bit, probably because of sprained ankle. It's a pretty long video--Single spinning until 3:20, dual spinning until 4:20, and the rest is saber staff. I'm finding the dual spinning learning curve much steeper than the rest. Still stuck at the basics there, but will continue trying to improve! Nice videos everybody, and the instructional videos are fantastic as well. Thanks for all your help! I love spinning. Also I have no skills in video editing so that's awkward.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_YNapamVSg

Awesome video Echo, great work. You're really nailing those throws! Keep it up

I completely agree about the challenge of dual wield. My puny mind struggles to concentrate on two sabers independently, so I haven't made much progress with it.

I like the transition at 4:39. I've been finding it difficult to find smooth ways to switch between the vertical and horizontal planes with staff spinning so I might have to give that one a go

[Master Resolute]

i just realized the only video i had was a staff spinning video....and that doesn't count... so here is my contribution. It was raining outside, so i kept it limited...was still a good workout.

Constructive criticism appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=i1VGGhU2QAM

[tomfoyle]

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=i1VGGhU2QAM

That link isn't working for me. Just takes me to My Vidoes page on YouTube. Try going to the video and copying the link you get if you press Share?

[Master Resolute]

Sorry about that. Im planning on going outside later tonight and doing another one. I really had to slow myself down because of the ceiling. The one for tonight will most likely turn into shadowboxing....but i'll do my best to keep it spinning.

Combat Experience = 15 + years..
Spinning Experience = Limited....Maybe 2 - 3 years of off and on training ( i've actually only been trained in combat spins ) The only really cool spin i've ever learned was the Plum Flower many many years ago. Realizing after checking out everyone's videos that if i deconstruct the plum flower, i can do other spins i wasnt even aware of.

I do a staff warmup often. Halo spins, behind the back and such. Echo and Sam have me wanting to try flipping now too.. Very impressive!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1VGGhU2QAM

All im practicing in this one is mostly the plum flower. I like to try and work lots of different angles. Again, Constructive criticism appreciated.