Pre-saber training?

[Arion]

Hello! I hope I'm posting in the right place. I'm curious, what seems to be the most common "fill in" saber for training tricks? I'm waiting on my first lightsaber (ordered yesterday) and have been using a stick for several weeks - but obviously weight and balance will be a lot different when transferred to an actual lightsaber. Do you guys use weighted poles, another substitute, or just full send and train new moves on your saber? I'm a total newbie and am nervous about dropping.

Also. just for fun, here's a moment from my practice today! Tried my hand at stringing some moves together. (Added the music I was practicing to: Majestic Armada by Q-Factory Music.) Much thanks to Darth Cephalus's saber series on youtube - really helped me get more comfortable with reverse-grip and left hand today! If anyone wants to leave feedback or advice on pre-saber training, I'd love to hear it. I'm so excited to be embarking on my lightsaber journey and am really eager to improve.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYgwxQCpqME&amp;feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYgwxQCpqME&amp;feature=youtu.be</a>

[For Tyeth]

Greetings Arion,

I am in no way an expert at saber spinning but if what I saw was of you being a "nervous newbie" I don't think you're gonna have any problems transitioning to a real saber! That was impressive. You chose a good teacher by watching Darth Cephalus, I followed his Reverse Obi-Ani tutorial (and tore my shoulder a little whilst doing it - but that was my fault  ) he has a nice measured way of delivering his tutorials.

If you require more inspiration then check out the posts by esteemed members Master Resolute and moderator Infinit01. Resolute posts some great videos you can follow and Infinit01 has a fairly regular series of spinning/flowart videos.

Hope you enjoy your time on the forum and I'll keep an eye on your "training".

[Infinit01]

Hey there, Arion. As a fellow spinner, I use broom sticks, sabers, aluminum poles, etc. to spin. Pretty anything that I can grip comfortable while spinning, I'll pick up and spin.  They will transition and you will understand the balance, weight transfer, and the way it behaves within minutes.  Darth Cephalus also got me started with saber spinning so I owe him a lot of gratitude along with many of the great artists and masters in this forum.  I haven't recorded anything in a while due to having broken sabers but I still spin every day. Check out my spinning thread, I will have new videos posted soon. http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=40088.0

[Tai Chi Chuan Wijchen]

Looks great, you've got an agressive feel to your spinning.
I would advise to relax your shoulders more and stay a bit more upright. Looks like you're tensing your upperbody alot.

If I remember correctly you have some experience in other flowarts, so you'll probably know a contactstaff? I based a practice saber on that design. Sounds difficult, is really simple. This one is made form a wooden dowel and 2,5 old inner bicycle tires, three nails and some tape. Balances out right on the end of the hilt.
I would advise a dowel about 1inch in diameter, with the wrapping it should come close to the thickness of a 'normal' hilt.



https://i.imgur.com/8vLkvoA.jpg 

[Master Resolute]

Looks to me like you have down the basics very well already. I always teach all of my students starting off with a staff when they get into spinning. It teaches you standard and reverse grip at the same time as well as how to clear your body for more difficult techniques. Darth Cephalus  has great material. If you’re looking for different approaches, there are many resources in the tutorial section. I will leave one of my resource videos for you. That being said, be sure to check out that tutorial section. There is a lot of information there, so take your time. If you skip to the end of this video, there are two intermediate drills that can help you with the flow. But like I said, it looks like you have that figured out for the most part. The easiest way to do that ,  is to just Practice

<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=D6br88xVZJ4&amp;t=579s" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://youtube.com/watch?v=D6br88xVZJ4&amp;t=579s</a>

[Arion]

Tai Chi Chuan Wijchen, I actually don't have any experience with flowarts, but I have been interested in learning for quite some time! Like I said, I'm a totally new to this all. After reviewing my video again, I absolutely agree that my shoulders are very tense; I will work on that. Thank you so much for the advice, and those pictures help a lot. I think I'll look into making something like your wooden dowel instead of this stick I've been using. It's super light and as I've been practicing, I've noticed how hard it is to keep a good flow going due to the lack of weight. I really appreciate the help, I'll be sure to post updates when warranted!

Master Resolute, thank you kindly for the tutorial suggestion. I'm looking to push myself past basics currently, so I cant wait to check it out later tonight! I've heard great things about your videos.

Infinit01, I really appreciate the assurance that my efforts will transfer to my actual lightsaber - I wasn't sure if I was screwing myself over by getting too comfortable with a lightsaber substitute, but now I have faith! I'll be sure to check out your video suggestions too, thank you for the recommendation!

For Tyeth, well thank you for that little ego boost, haha. I'm so sorry to hear about your shoulder, I hope it heals quickly! Luckily, the two masters you recommended me to watch have commented on this thread, so I know I'll have trustworthy and esteemed videos to watch.

It seems like I've got my work cut out for me - I better get back to training! I'm so grateful for the advice and kind words from you all, it means a lot to someone who has no idea what she's doing lol. I might post updates or more pre-lightsaber practice when warranted; this forum seems to enjoy that

[Darth Nivek]

I posted a video before my sabers came training with a wooden board so this would definitely be a step up from that lol

[finlayfox]

my main piece of advise and it's touched on in the resolute video(and now I'm gonna expoun on it with my view), is to slow it down and really get a feel for whatever prop is in your hands. I do it slow, and then speed it up. See where and when your form gets sloppy, slow it down again and smooth it out, then speed it up again. Rinse, repeat until motion is fluid and clean.

[Infinit01]

Agreed, one of the many things that Master Resolute and any good teacher/mentor teach is speed.  You have to learn new moves slowly and when you get really good at it, you can always speed up anytime you want.  This goes from spinning to martial arts and just about anything in life

[Darth Nivek]

Tai Chi Chuan Wijchen, I actually don't have any experience with flowarts, but I have been interested in learning for quite some time! Like I said, I'm a totally new to this all. After reviewing my video again, I absolutely agree that my shoulders are very tense; I will work on that. Thank you so much for the advice, and those pictures help a lot. I think I'll look into making something like your wooden dowel instead of this stick I've been using. It's super light and as I've been practicing, I've noticed how hard it is to keep a good flow going due to the lack of weight. I really appreciate the help, I'll be sure to post updates when warranted!

Master Resolute, thank you kindly for the tutorial suggestion. I'm looking to push myself past basics currently, so I cant wait to check it out later tonight! I've heard great things about your videos.

Infinit01, I really appreciate the assurance that my efforts will transfer to my actual lightsaber - I wasn't sure if I was screwing myself over by getting too comfortable with a lightsaber substitute, but now I have faith! I'll be sure to check out your video suggestions too, thank you for the recommendation!

For Tyeth, well thank you for that little ego boost, haha. I'm so sorry to hear about your shoulder, I hope it heals quickly! Luckily, the two masters you recommended me to watch have commented on this thread, so I know I'll have trustworthy and esteemed videos to watch.

It seems like I've got my work cut out for me - I better get back to training! I'm so grateful for the advice and kind words from you all, it means a lot to someone who has no idea what she's doing lol. I might post updates or more pre-lightsaber practice when warranted; this forum seems to enjoy that

 can't wait to see what it looks like with a saber, you've definitely got skills. I wish I could look that cool with my spins lol, just this training video helps too watch too so thanks for posting.