The Chase
(aka The Weave)
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This is everyones favourite move - me included - as there are so many variations, change-overs and little tricks that you can do with it. As well as twirling it forward or backwards, you can put the two together and turn around non-stop in circles. That looks pretty cool. On top of that, you can throw in some of the windmill to create a fountain - a combination of both the chase and the windmill. With luck, I'll get all these combinations, variations and so on listed soon. If I miss any that you know about, drop me a line.
The key to learning this move is to watch the how the arms move and the number of turns they make on each side of the body - you'll notice that it's a 2 and 1 pattern which gives a 3 beat rhythm, with 6 beats for a full cycle. The arm motion has been exaggerated so you should find with time that you can perform this move with your hands in front of you and your arms hardly moving at all.
Top Tips
If you find that your chains are often getting tangled, then try learning the moves without chains. I've taught people this move with tent poles, wooden spoons... whatever came to hand, as it is sometimes easier to memorise the moves before you use chains.
Remember that you're using split time.
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How to Make the Moves...
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The Chase (aka The Weave)
There are 6 key positions when you perform the chase. These are shown below. The main thing to note is that your right hand does 2 turns on the left side and only one turn on the right side - for example, watch the right hand poi in the animation above. Similarly, the left hand does 2 turns on the right side, but only one turn on the left side.
Starting position:
Twirling split time, forwards or backwards and at your sides.
NOTE: The following diagrams show the chase performed forwards.
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Diagram 1.
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Twirl the chains forwards at your sides, in split time. Just after the right-hand chain passes the top of its circle, cross it over to the left hand side. The left chain will have swung up behind you. The chains will be as shown left, in diagram 1.
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Diagram 2.
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The right-hand chain will want spin up, so let it go up behind you, still on the left side. The left-hand chain, at the top of its circle, crosses in front of your body so that it is at your lower right side. This is the position shown in diagram 2.
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Diagram 3.
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The right-hand chain now swings from the top left, across the body and down to the lower right. Your left chain swings up, behind your body, still on the right-hand side.
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Diagram 4.
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Both chains are now on the right-hand side of your body. Let the right-hand chain spin up behind you, and spin the left-hand one down, keeping it on the right-hand side.
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Diagram 5.
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With the right-hand chain at the top of its circle, cross it over and down to the lower left. The left-hand chain, still on the right, spins up behind the body for a second time.
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Diagram 6.
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The right-hand chain spins up behind the body, on the left-hand side. The left-hand chain, at the top of its circle on the right, crosses in front of the body to the lower left-hand side.
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Diagram 7.
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The right hand chain spins down but stays on the left, ready to do another turn on the left-hand side. The left-hand chain spins up behind the body, ready to cross over in front of the body to the lower right-hand side. Go back to diagram 2 to continue the chase.
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Variations:
Backwards Chase
If you can learn to do it forwards, then you really should learn to do it with the chains swinging backwards. It's not that hard - honest! It's essentially the same, with the obvious difference that all your moves are now reversed. If you learn to do the backwards chase, you can then go on to learn how to move around in circles - switching from twirling the chase forwards to twirling it backwards.
Circular Chase
The circular chase is probably one of the prettiest moves that you'll see with chain twirling and, once you've learned the forwards and backwards chase, is incredibly easy to pick up. Don't go too fast with it because it's easy to get dizzy (remember that you're turning in circles!).
Some theory:
The forward chase is composed of two sides - circles twirled on your left side and your right side. You move the chains from left to right and vice versa by a crossing them over in front of your body. Likewise, the backward chase is similarly composed of two sides, joined in the middle by cross-overs. They are, basically, mirror images of each other.
- Now, imagine a clock face drawn on the ground around yourself. 12 o'clock is directly in front of you. 3 o'clock is to your right. 6 o'clock is directly behind you, and 9 o'clock is to your left.
- Next, stand facing 12 o'clock and twirl the chase forwards. Notice that you're twirling circles on your left and your right-hand sides.
- Lastly, turn so that you're standing facing 6 o'clock and twirl the chase backwards. Again, see how you are twirling circles on your left and right-hand sides.
The key thing to see here is that the circles you twirl on your right-hand side when you stand at 12 o'clock are the exact same circles you create on your left-hand side when you stand at 6 o'clock.
Similarly, the circles you twirl on your left hand side when you stand at 12 o'clock are the same circles you create on your right hand side when you twirl at 6 o'clock.
To perform the circular chase:
Twirl the chase forwards whilst standing at 12 o'clock. When the chains move from the left-hand side to the right-hand side, turn your body to the right with the chains so that you turn from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock. The chains will lead you, but be aware that as you move to 6 o'clock, you must be ready to twirl the backwards chase. From this position, you can:
- continue twirling the chase backwards;
- turn back to your left (to your original position at 12 o'clock); or
- carry on turning to your right (and on to the forward chase again).
You can turn both clockwise and anti-clockwise, and you can start this move from either the forwards or backwards chase.
Behind the Back
I saw this being performed in Thailand, and also listed on the Home of Poi site, but didn't get around to trying this one till later. Ow ow ow - my calves really took a battering with this one!! Basically, it's the chase performed with your arms and the chains moving behind your back. The easiest way to learn it is probably with the chains twirled backwards. Here's how I learnt it...
Twirl your chains backwards at your sides, so they're coming up in front of you and down behind you.
Practice doing a simple two-handed cross-over behind your back, where both chains switch sides at the same time. It's useful for learning to keep the chains away from each other, to put them in a position where they're not going to hit each other.
Once you've got your two-handed cross-over, learn the figure-of-8 - a move like the 2hand x-over, but performed with the chains moving out of time (one chain is half a turn behind the other). It's very similar to the chase, but it's a 1:1 pattern, that is, each chain does one turn on the left and one turn right. You can move into the fig-8 from the 2hand x-over almost unconsciously by allowing one chain to speed up a bit before they start switching sides.
Master you arm movements. You must learn to break the fig-8 pattern so you can make your arms perform in a 2:1 beat, that is, the right on makes two turns on the left and only one on the right. It's the same principle for the left arm.
Extra Turns Using Different Beats
As with the corkscrew and the windmill, the chase can be performed using several different beats. This is pretty tricky to describe, but the basics are that you can perform:
- a 1:1 beat, where each hand performs one circle on each side of your body - this is the figure-of-8;
- a 2:1 beat, where the left hand performs two circles on the right and the right hand one circle only, which is then reversed as the hands move over to your left side - this is the chase;
- a 2:2 beat, where your arms twist around themselves to allow the chains to perform two circles each on your right and then untwist on your left by performing another two circles each. This has been nicknamed a quadruple chase by Jo Derry, the guy who posted the information. Jo has even managed to perform (and describe!) a 3:2 beat version of the chase.
Overheads
As well as twirling circles at your sides, you can also substitute a circle over your head for one of the ones at your side.
Pauses
With your arms either on opposite sides or on their own sides, you can add a circle or two to give the impression of a pause in the chase.
Fountain
This is a chase/windmill/chase/windmill and-so-on combination which looks amazing.
The Chase
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