What are Poi?

From the ceremonial dances of the Maori people to the international stages of modern flow arts, poi has one of the longest histories of any flow toy we conventionally use. What’s up with these spinning balls on strings?

Poi finds its roots in the Polynesian culture of the Maori people of New Zealand. Traditionally, poi were made by wrapping dried flax leaves or raupo reeds around a core of moss or fern root to create a ball, which was then attached to a long flax cord. The Maori used poi primarily as a form of exercise to improve flexibility and strength in their hands and arms. It wasn’t all work though! Poi was also a part of expressive dances that were often part of social gatherings and important cultural ceremonies, helping to keep the tradition alive across generations.

Fast forward a few hundred years, and poi has made a huge splash in the global flow arts community. It was in the late 1990s and early 2000s that poi started popping up at music festivals and raves around the world. A popular form of poi used at these events were glow sticks tied to paracord or even shoe laces. Enthusiasts started getting super creative with their poi, incorporating elements from other flow arts and even introducing LED lights and fire to the mix. Fire poi performances soon became a highlight at many events, and currently is one of the most well known fire performance props in the world.

Types of Poi

Standard Poi

Standard poi are usually lighter and use thinner tethers compared to their contact poi relatives. For daytime and LED poi, the most common tether materials are synthetic braided ropes (polyester, nylon, VPC, etc.) or paracord. Fabric sock poi are also a staple of the practice poi community, sewed out of fabric that has been cut into long teardrop shapes and with a soft ball (either rubber or juggling balls) slipped inside.

The heads of LED poi are LED units with some type of protective hard plastic or polycarbonate shell and protected by some type of soft silicone to absorb impact. Glow stick style poi differ slightly in that they’re not usually covered in silicone, other than bigger glow stick poi like the Helix Poi. Glow stick poi are much lighter since this style of poi involves much faster spinning and many wraps.

Standard fire poi usually use technora rope or metal chains, with the latter being less common in most modern designs because of the possibility of metal burns. There are a variety of different heads that can be made using Kevlar wick, with the most standard being flat wick sushi rolls (barrel wicks) or crown-sinnet based knots (usually referred to as isis poi). There are tons of variations on these as fire prop culture has evolved, with many designs that also have much bigger fire and are generally heavier than standard poi (like the shuriken poi).

Contact Poi

Compared to standard poi, contact poi have ball shaped heads and are heavier. This type of poi flows a little slower and can also be used like contact stage balls or can even be juggled with sets of 3. Contact poi, and heavier poi in general, make tosses much easier. In daytime poi you’ll usually see the same silicone contact stage balls used in juggling, with a rope pierced into. LED contact poi will have just about the exact shape, except the ball is clear silicone allowing the LED to shine through, such as the Orb Poi.

Although contact poi can have thin or thick tethers, it’s becoming increasingly popular for this type of poi to have thicker tethers (10mm or 3/8″) compared to the standard (6mm or 1/4″). This makes it easier to grab onto the tethers especially during tosses when juggling. Thin tethers make the poi feel heavier compared to thick tethers since more weight is concentrated at the end of the poi rather than thick tethers that add more weight to the whole length of the poi. Because of this, it’s still largely a preference rather than a standard.

Fire contact poi are either made with monkey fist knots or globe knots. Monkey fist fire poi are probably the most common style of knotted wick fire poi in the world. Although you could theoretically use chains on monkey fists, it’s most common to have technora tethers to keep the feeling more similar to daytime and LED contact poi. A newer tether for fire props that’s emerging and popular with monkey fists is static kevlar tethers, which we will touch upon a bit more below.

Other Types of Poi

Static poi refer to the type of tethers on the poi. They are thicker tethers that don’t bend as easily. Static poi can be on any style of poi, whether daytime, fire, LED, contact, standard, etc. Static leashes are a little heavier than standard leashes, and make stalls and tosses a bit easier because the rope is more rigid. The downside is this style of poi doesn’t generally do as well for wraps. Some rope are considered semi-static when they’re thicker but can bend slightly more than static ropes. Braided technora rope can be fully spliced into itself to create a semi-static rope. Nowadays you will also find static kevlar and static technora leashes that are made of fully braided rope, giving a very rigid feel similar to the fully braided static ropes used in daytime and LED static poi.

Snake poi are usually only made as fire poi. They are much longer than standard poi (12″+) and are usually a bit floppy since the core is usually a chain rather than an eyebolt like most standard poi. These are great for performances since the longer fire makes them look a lot like thai staffs. Snake poi are most commonly seen with chains, although we prefer static snake poi or technora leash snake poi.

Flag poi (aka silk veil poi) are usually only made as daytime props. Flag poi are weighted poi with silk veils or flags attached to them, making them a fun daytime and performance prop. Visually they can look similar to silk fans. It is not uncommon to see many daytime performers use both of these props when it’s too bright outside for LED or fire to be a viable option, since the silks can be made in a variety of colors and patterns that match your outfit. Some companies also offer attachable silks so you can turn any set of poi into flag poi.

Key Points from the History of Poi:

• Poi originated in the Polynesian culture of the Maori people of New Zealand.
• Poi started popping up at music festivals and raves around the world in the late 1990s and early 2000s especially as glow sticks.
• Fire poi performances soon became a highlight at many events, becoming one of the most popular fire dancing props
• Modern poi artists have an array of poi types to choose from: traditional flax and moss, to LED, fire, daytime, contact, static, flag, or snake poi!

Despite all these modern twists, the heart of poi remains the same: a combination of rhythm, movement, and creativity. Whether it’s spun by a Maori performer in a traditional ceremony, a flow artist on an international stage, or at home in your PJs, the simple beauty and rhythm of poi continues to be a global favorite. If you don’t own a pair of poi yet, check out what we have here!