Great to have Ms Tamati to introduce poi to us today. We were surprised that pois were originally for the men of the tribe to strengthen their wrists so that they could be successful warriors and hunters. We practised some of the wrist exercises without pois, 50 in each direction - we had tired wrists. The men started with just a small stone in their poi and as they became stronger the stones became larger until they had small rocks inside their pois. Then the women heard the rhythm of the exercises and made their own from reeds.
We learned how to twirl our pois so that they swung towards us, and also where to hold the string of the poi.
After practising together we all had a turn in front of the class. Look at the concentration.
To practise the poi skills at home Ms Tamati suggested getting an old sock, stuffing some screwed up newspaper inside and securing this with a rubber band. Then start practising - remember to use just your wrist not your whole arm or hand. The trickiest part today was the twirl and catch. Have fun.
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