Pen spinning
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Pen spinning is a form of object manipulation that involves the deft manipulation of a writing instrument with one's hands. Although it is often considered a form of self-entertainment (usually in a school/office setting), multinational competitions and meetings are sometimes held.[1]
This pastime originated in East Asia,[2] and is referred to as "pen mawashi" in Japan.[citation needed]
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[edit] History
Presently, there is no documentation on the beginning of the pen spinning phenomenon. The earliest record of pen spinning comes from a student in pre-World War II in Japan (Asahi Shimbun January 31, 2008, 37th page). While some in Asian countries performed pen spinning in the 1990s, these consisted of basic tricks such as the thumbaround and the finger pass. Today, there are many more variations and types of tricks - for example: the shadow, the bakfall, the twisted sonic bust or the inverse sonic.
The number of pen spinning websites and forums have increased since 2006, opening up more regional boards from France, Germany, Japan and Korea. Tournaments have been organised on the internet and live tournaments have been held in Japan and Korea.
[edit] Pens Used for Spinning
The famous penspinner Kam was one of the first people to make a mod (modified pen for spinning). Soon, other pen spinners began making their own pens. Now, there are countless numbers of pens that people use. The mods used usually depend on the area the pen spinner lives in, because pen mods require different pens to make and some pens cannot be found where the person lives. Some popular mods are the RSVP MX, ComSSa mod, RSVP MSXA, RSVP MMT, RSVP V1 and V2, and the Dr. KT. Mods may or may not still function as a writing instrument.
[edit] Finger Slots
For the convenience of describing tricks pen spinners have adopted a common way of numbering fingers and space between them (commonly known as ‘Finger Slots.’)
The fingers are numbered sequentially from ‘1’ to ‘4’, with the index finger being ‘1’ and the pinky being ‘4’. The thumb is represented by the letter ‘T’. Finger slots are represented by combining any two of these. For instance the space between the middle and ring fingers is represented by the notation ‘23.’ If the pen were to be held between the index and pinky finger it would be in slot ‘14.’ Sometimes, the space between the thumb and index fingers is called TF (thumbflap).
[edit] Fundamental tricks
The four basic penspinning tricks are:
[edit] ThumbAround
The ThumbAround is performed by pushing a pen by one's middle finger (the index finger is also used to make it look smoother in combos) so to initiate the pen to spin around one's thumb a single time, then catching it in between the thumb and index finger. There are many variations, but one used most often for combinations uses just momentum and only a rotation around the thumb with a jerk of the hand or a push with the middle finger. ThumbAround was previously known as 360 Degrees Normal. To do this the 1st finger is put on the eraser, the 3rd finger near the middle, and the thumb in between. Pressure is then added on the pencil/pen with the thumb.[3]
[edit] FingerPass
The Pass involves spinning the pen through the fingers. A combination of Passes are called FingerPasses. The FingerPass was used in the James Bond film GoldenEye by Boris Grishenko. However, the FingerPass Boris performed is a variation which involves only three fingers instead of the usual four.[4]
[edit] Sonic
The idea behind the Sonic is to move the pen from one finger position to another finger position in as little time as possible. In this trick, the pen is normally held between the middle and ring fingers (but could be performed with other fingers using mapping) and is moved so that it ends up between the middle and index. As this trick can be executed in very short time, its name means a supersonic movement.[5]
[edit] Charge
The Charge does not involve spinning the pen around any fingers or any body parts, rather, the pen is manipulated in such a way with two fingers, that it seems to spin in a very fast motion, in a conic-shaped path. Its conic path and its speed thus create an illusion of the charging motion of the pen. This trick is often performed by drummers using drumsticks rather than pens. It looks like the pen is spinning in the 2 fingers.[6]
[edit] Pen Spinning in Popular Culture
- In the film Good Will Hunting, a student can be seen spinning his pen in one of the classroom scenes at MIT.
- Boris Grishenko, the fictional character in the 1995 James Bond movie Goldeneye portrayed by Alan Cumming, often spins pens while working.
- Val Kilmer's character, Iceman, can be seen spinning a pen in the films Top Gun and Real Genius. Kilmer often manipulates objects, normally coins or poker chips, in his films which became a trademark of his.
- In the PC game America's Army, during the Special Forces training lecture and test, one of the user's classmates is doing the "Charge" trick as he listens to the lecture.
- In the music video, "Your Smile" by F.I.R, Faye is seen performing Twisted Sonic.
- In Ken Akamatsu's Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, characters Sayo Aisaka and Asuna Kagurazaka can be seen pen spinning frequently. The title character Negi Springfield did this once after defeating Evangeline A.K. McDowell.
- In the American Mercury Signature commercial, a pen is shown performing a sonic rise to a thumbaround.
- House and Chase are occasionally seen spinning pens in the television show House, usually doing ThumbArounds, Half Taps or Fingerpasses.
- Pen spinning is also occasionally seen in the television show NUMB3RS
- Although technically not pen spinning, drummers will sometimes perform charges with their drumsticks, such as Dave Mackintosh of Dragonforce or Andrew Forsman of The Fall of Troy (as showcased in the video for the song "F.C.P.R.R.E.M.I.X.").
- It is understood that a Japanese pen spinner named Hideaki Kondoh was one of the first pen spinners to start a pen spinning website.
- In the anime Death Note the main character Light Yagami can be seen spinning his pen
- In the manga Bakuman (the same creators of Death Note), the main character Mashiro can be seen doing a thumbaround in the first chapter of the series.
- David Letterman is known to spin his pen while sitting at his desk during the Late Show with David Letterman.
- Female Singer Kim Taeyeon (Girls' Generation) is often seen spinning Charge during MBC Chin Chin Bora (Viewable Radio) as a DJ.
- In the anime Great Teacher Onizuka, one of the student is seen doing a thumbaround while staring out a window in her classroom.
[edit] References
- ^ "Pen spinning world cup launched". Metro.co.uk. 2007-02-14. http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=37424&in_page_id=34. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ Yam, Phui Yee (2008-10-01). "Spinning fun". Malaysia Star. http://thestar.com.my/youth2/story.asp?file=/2008/10/1/youth2/2157354&sec=youth2. Retrieved on 2009-03-28.
- ^ http://www.pentrix.com/tricks/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1
- ^ http://www.pentrix.com/tricks/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=4
- ^ http://www.pentrix.com/pentix/tricks/Sonic123Normal.html
- ^ http://www.pentrix.com/tricks/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=23
