It looks easy, until you hear the sound of the flames passing your ears.

I remember the first time I heard the sound of fire so up close. I quickly sobered up and started to focus harder on my movements. Soon you will find yourself blocking out everything around you until it’s only you and the flames.

For me this is my meditation in a way and I always try to push myself to get from one weird move to a different one.
Learning how to play poi is the best decision you can make. After you managed the basics you can start to play around and let go of your emotions and transfer them into the poi.

In the beginning you will hit yourself many times so get some practice poi first. You can use a pair of long socks and stuff each one with a tennis ball or something softer. I used popcorn seeds and made a knot at the end.

At first your hand eye coordination will be a bit out but soon muscle memory will kick in you will be able to mix all the moves up and form a spiritual dance between you and the poi.

Once you are comfortable then you can move over to fire poi. I know you will be tempted to jump straight to fire but don’t. I have seen my friends get burnt because they didn’t know how to hand the poi and speed of the poi.

I myself still get a burn or lose some hair in places when I play. So be safe please, always carry a wet towel to put the fire out quickly and make sure you are in an open area. It has happened where the fire bit came loose from the chain and went flying over people’s heads.