It doesn't seem to be a popular tool, at this point, anywhere that I've been. This is likely due to a lack of practitioners, but as more people learn it, and are therefore able to teach it to others, it'll get more widespread. imo

Poi has this weird momentum that I don't understand. For some reason people have it in their heads that in order to do fire dance you must use poi.

In 2004, we did a survey of all the fire conclave performers' tools and the results were pretty clear; about 80% of fire performers used poi, about 30% used staff, and then pretty much every other tool was somewhere in the 0 - 5% range.

Were I to take a guess at the social effect, I'd say there are several types of people looking to do fire: Sheep, daredevils, performers, competitors, the curious, and the passionate. Sheep and competitors will naturally be drawn to the tool "most people" use either to not rock the boat, or to have the greatest selection of people to compete with. Daredevils won't care what tool they use and will likely enter with the vector they first see or most impresses daring to them (fire breathing is a good second to poi). Performers are just as likely to select poi as they are to select 'not poi' depending on their thought process [if you're joining Temple of Poi, you learn poi, if you're joining a circus, you learn something original]. The Curious often migrate quickly to many tools with poi, of course, being among them. And finally the passionate are just as likely to hit any one tool and stay there, with poi being even odds. So, once a tool, any tool, gains widespread dominance, it's likely to stay there until other forces (legal, for example) change that.

Are there any dart classes or practicing peeps in the Bay (or south Bay) area? I was looking to connect with some folks and learn, take a class, whatever...

I guess I'm the type to try just about anything, I like the idea of originality....simply EVERYBODY does poi (me included) and it taught me a lot of left-right brain integration

At least for me it seems a lot of people have never seen it. I'm in FL and had not even seen it until about 2 years ago. I wanted to play with fire and wanted something different. I'm still a newbie and learning all I can but when I light up I'm always asked what it is. Since I've started I now know a couple others who have picked it up now.

Is there any meet ups or classes at Burning man? I'd like to meet some others and exchange ideas and techniques.

I just taught an advanced workshop at firedrums on rope dart. It is growing but the people who actually have that break through is minute. I tried to teach rope dart concepts and theory and advanced binding but there were only two or three people out of the whole class that remotely got it. I have had a lot of people interested in Arizona but few ever take it far. It is still a little known art. Arizona does have two of the best rope darters in the world living, Master Li Jinheng and Kenny Perez. I do teach here in Arizona if anyone is ever in the Phoenix area. And to answer someones question, the Vulcan doesn't have any regular rope darters.

In case any of you over looked the dates on the original post, this thread is from 2005- there is one reply dating back that far. I think the number of replies given now is a fantastic indication of how much rope dart has grown in popularity over the last four years.

My thanks to all of you who have taken the time and had the dedication to learn- and teach!- rope dart. I know Sam has a handful of videos up on youtube, but I would really like to see more sharing over this tribe (I know, I've been promising videos of my work for over 6 months). Do any of you have videos of style or techniques you would like to share?

Speaking as a week-old beginner in rope dart...it hurts a lot more. Not necessarily a bad thing if you don't mind it, but it could be intimidating to those uncomfortable with the idea of jerking something fairly heavy (and sometimes on fire) back at themselves and wrapping a rope around their neck.

i'm currently trying to get more people in my corner of the world started....it does seem people are a bit scared of it. around the minnesota area there are probably about 5 of us. i've been noticing....there seems to be 2 different types of fire peeps.....those who do everything they can to not get burnt or hurt in any way, and those who look at it as part of the deal, and giggle a bit when they smack themselves in the face. i fall into the latter category, which would probably be why i love the dart, and i can't seem to prevent myself from throwing my poi in every way possible. if it doesn't scare me at least a little bit, i'm not pushing hard enough. i need more like-minded people around here!!