Hey guys, finished watching this a couple hours ago, so I thought I would post my first thoughts on it. I obviously haven’t mastered the techniques shown so I can’t talk about them in an audience reaction sense, but I’ll try my best to give my opinions on the material provided. Enough chitter chatter, on to the review.
Genesis Volume One-Essentials is the debut DVD from flourisher Andrei Jikh. It costs 34.95, and is available right here at theory11. The following the list of moves and concepts taught on the DVD, along with my opinions and insight for each particular move.
-Mechanics Grip
- Charlier Cut
- Thumb Cut
- Scissor Cut
- Revolution Cut
- Basic Angel
- Widthwise Triangle
- Lengthwise Triangle
- One-handed Shuffle
- Thumb Propulsion
- The Spring
- Fanning Introduction
- Flower Fan
- One-handed Fan
- Thumb Fan
- Fanning Conclusion
I’m not going to explain or provide opinions on the basic flourishes above, as you most likely already have seen or know all of these moves. Onto the original stuff!
Angel Slide- This is a move utilizing Bone Ho’s “Angel” move(Also taught) Its basically an Angel, or a card balancing on your thumb, that slides up and down your arm. In the preview video it is just shown in its most basic form. On the DVD two versions are taught. The one shown in the preview, and an advanced variation where you slide it on your arm, let it fall to your other arm, and continue to slide the card up and down each of your arms until you wish to stop. This is a very cool move. I wouldn’t do the basic version, because I don’t think it is “flary” enough, but I would definitely use the advanced version, for it looks like a flourish a laymen would love.
Blink- I love this. It can best be described as a one-handed deck twirl. It reminds me of the TG Murphy deck flip, yet the deck isn’t flipping, its sort of spinning and twisting…hard to explain. One of the best moves on the DVD.
Angel Catch- This is a closer for a sequence of one-handed cuts. You flip one packet on top of the other, which has a card in the angel position. Not really as complex as it sounds. This is a very basic move, that I’m sure new guys will love and use. Not really anything new for me.
Time Shot- This is the move shown in the preview where a card is placed under your watch, you make a fan, then flick the card out of your watch and catch it and close. Cool move, I have never worn a watch in my life, but for those who do this seems like it’s a lot of fun to do.
Pickwhip- This is a basic swing cut based cut. Nothing new for me, but a good place to start for beginners.
52 Motions Closer- This is a cool closer for fan, in which you close a fan, and it instantly shows up on the back of your hand. Pretty stylish, I’ll use it.
Basic Card in Fan- This is the most basic card in fan, hence the name Basic Card in Fan. You throw a card in the air and it lands in a fan. This is provided as practice for Andrei’s Original Card in Fan, which combines a couple moves at once, where this just focuses on the catching of the card in the already completed fan. Will definitely work on this so I can move onto the Original Card in Fan.
Tetra- Another good one. This is an instant tower between the hands. Interestingly, a little deception is involved here. Not all is as appears. I like this a lot. Its easy and quick.
Bullet Shot- One of my favorite moves on the DVD. This is a controlled, flashy card shot. Its extremely easy and swift. Already using this.
Card in Flower Fan- We’ve all seen this is The’Me. You throw a card in the air and catch it in a flower fan. Once I get that freaking flower fan down I’ll use this.
Rewind- A cool deck twirl. Pretty easy, will use eventually.
Flashback- Another simple cut, but it has a flashy ending. Not really for me, pretty basic, but for a beginner this would be great.
Twitter- A twirling combo where a card ends up laying on another card. Pretty cool I guess. I think this one could have been explored more, as I’ve already came up with much better variations on my own.
Bullet- One of, if not my favorite move on the DVD. We’ve all seen it. It’s a card twirl type of move that occurs in the same hand held by the deck. Soooooooo stylish and aggressive. Pretty difficult, will take a while to get smooth, but it will definitely be worth it.
ONE Concept- This probably ties Bullet with my favorite move of the DVD. Except this isn’t a move, it’s a concept with endless possibilities. Its hard to explain, so don’t take me word for word. ONE is basically having a card clipped between your fingers, whilst doing other moves, letting you make crazy displays and perch type moves. You’ve seen it in the Propaganda video. It’s the move where he has two sculptures in his hands and displays them. Andrei teaches the basic concept and the Charlier version of the move. Don’t let the word Charlier make you think its basic looking. Its complex and difficult.
REBOUND Concept- Rebound is the concept of shooting a card at the wall, and having it bounce back to you. Pretty cool, yet pretty basic. I have a feeling this concept will be explored more in the later volumes.
WINGED Concept- This is the concept we saw in the trailer, in which a packet is inserted in a fan and spun out. Again, I feel like this is will be improved upon in later volumes, as this is just the most basic uses of it.
Blanco One- This one is by TheCuso, Alejandro Portela. It uses his Blanco Cut and the One Concept. Kinda cool. I wouldn’t use it, but I’m sure someone will.
Carnahan Fan- Everyones heard of this. A fan by Dave Buck. Cool and fun to do. This is taught here because in volume 3, this fan is used in Andrei’s Impossybil cut.
The teaching on this DVD is phenomenal. Andrei talks a lot, which I honestly prefer over just slo-mos. I like hearing about the moves. Pretty much every way a flourish can be taught is utilized on this DVD. Each move is demonstrated a bunch of times(Each move has its own little short film) Andrei provides advice on EVERYTHING. Not just the moves but flourishing in general. The bulk of this DVD is Andrei giving advice, not the actual teaching, which in my opinion is great.
The production value is the best I’ve ever seen. Ever. I was interested in seeing if this beat out the Anaconda DVD is terms of production value, and it 100% did. Great camera and editing work. Great music too.
I really can’t say anything bad about this DVD. I won’t be using that many moves from it, but the ones I will be are amazing. This DVD is by far the best source for a beginner to learn. It blows Xtreme Beginners out of the water, bar none. While it is a beginner geared DVD, if you’re a flourisher I think you should have this in your DVD collection. It has thousands of tips and insight that can’t really be found anywhere else. Its cheap as hell too, can’t believe they’d sell 4 hours of footage for only 35 bucks.
So to close, I say buy it. Advanced guys might not like it, but if you want to learn Andrei’s material, its essential you get this. Thanks for your time,
Nick
http://www.theory11.com/tricks/genesis-by-andrei-jikh.php
Genesis Volume One-Essentials is the debut DVD from flourisher Andrei Jikh. It costs 34.95, and is available right here at theory11. The following the list of moves and concepts taught on the DVD, along with my opinions and insight for each particular move.
-Mechanics Grip
- Charlier Cut
- Thumb Cut
- Scissor Cut
- Revolution Cut
- Basic Angel
- Widthwise Triangle
- Lengthwise Triangle
- One-handed Shuffle
- Thumb Propulsion
- The Spring
- Fanning Introduction
- Flower Fan
- One-handed Fan
- Thumb Fan
- Fanning Conclusion
I’m not going to explain or provide opinions on the basic flourishes above, as you most likely already have seen or know all of these moves. Onto the original stuff!
Angel Slide- This is a move utilizing Bone Ho’s “Angel” move(Also taught) Its basically an Angel, or a card balancing on your thumb, that slides up and down your arm. In the preview video it is just shown in its most basic form. On the DVD two versions are taught. The one shown in the preview, and an advanced variation where you slide it on your arm, let it fall to your other arm, and continue to slide the card up and down each of your arms until you wish to stop. This is a very cool move. I wouldn’t do the basic version, because I don’t think it is “flary” enough, but I would definitely use the advanced version, for it looks like a flourish a laymen would love.
Blink- I love this. It can best be described as a one-handed deck twirl. It reminds me of the TG Murphy deck flip, yet the deck isn’t flipping, its sort of spinning and twisting…hard to explain. One of the best moves on the DVD.
Angel Catch- This is a closer for a sequence of one-handed cuts. You flip one packet on top of the other, which has a card in the angel position. Not really as complex as it sounds. This is a very basic move, that I’m sure new guys will love and use. Not really anything new for me.
Time Shot- This is the move shown in the preview where a card is placed under your watch, you make a fan, then flick the card out of your watch and catch it and close. Cool move, I have never worn a watch in my life, but for those who do this seems like it’s a lot of fun to do.
Pickwhip- This is a basic swing cut based cut. Nothing new for me, but a good place to start for beginners.
52 Motions Closer- This is a cool closer for fan, in which you close a fan, and it instantly shows up on the back of your hand. Pretty stylish, I’ll use it.
Basic Card in Fan- This is the most basic card in fan, hence the name Basic Card in Fan. You throw a card in the air and it lands in a fan. This is provided as practice for Andrei’s Original Card in Fan, which combines a couple moves at once, where this just focuses on the catching of the card in the already completed fan. Will definitely work on this so I can move onto the Original Card in Fan.
Tetra- Another good one. This is an instant tower between the hands. Interestingly, a little deception is involved here. Not all is as appears. I like this a lot. Its easy and quick.
Bullet Shot- One of my favorite moves on the DVD. This is a controlled, flashy card shot. Its extremely easy and swift. Already using this.
Card in Flower Fan- We’ve all seen this is The’Me. You throw a card in the air and catch it in a flower fan. Once I get that freaking flower fan down I’ll use this.
Rewind- A cool deck twirl. Pretty easy, will use eventually.
Flashback- Another simple cut, but it has a flashy ending. Not really for me, pretty basic, but for a beginner this would be great.
Twitter- A twirling combo where a card ends up laying on another card. Pretty cool I guess. I think this one could have been explored more, as I’ve already came up with much better variations on my own.
Bullet- One of, if not my favorite move on the DVD. We’ve all seen it. It’s a card twirl type of move that occurs in the same hand held by the deck. Soooooooo stylish and aggressive. Pretty difficult, will take a while to get smooth, but it will definitely be worth it.
ONE Concept- This probably ties Bullet with my favorite move of the DVD. Except this isn’t a move, it’s a concept with endless possibilities. Its hard to explain, so don’t take me word for word. ONE is basically having a card clipped between your fingers, whilst doing other moves, letting you make crazy displays and perch type moves. You’ve seen it in the Propaganda video. It’s the move where he has two sculptures in his hands and displays them. Andrei teaches the basic concept and the Charlier version of the move. Don’t let the word Charlier make you think its basic looking. Its complex and difficult.
REBOUND Concept- Rebound is the concept of shooting a card at the wall, and having it bounce back to you. Pretty cool, yet pretty basic. I have a feeling this concept will be explored more in the later volumes.
WINGED Concept- This is the concept we saw in the trailer, in which a packet is inserted in a fan and spun out. Again, I feel like this is will be improved upon in later volumes, as this is just the most basic uses of it.
Blanco One- This one is by TheCuso, Alejandro Portela. It uses his Blanco Cut and the One Concept. Kinda cool. I wouldn’t use it, but I’m sure someone will.
Carnahan Fan- Everyones heard of this. A fan by Dave Buck. Cool and fun to do. This is taught here because in volume 3, this fan is used in Andrei’s Impossybil cut.
The teaching on this DVD is phenomenal. Andrei talks a lot, which I honestly prefer over just slo-mos. I like hearing about the moves. Pretty much every way a flourish can be taught is utilized on this DVD. Each move is demonstrated a bunch of times(Each move has its own little short film) Andrei provides advice on EVERYTHING. Not just the moves but flourishing in general. The bulk of this DVD is Andrei giving advice, not the actual teaching, which in my opinion is great.
The production value is the best I’ve ever seen. Ever. I was interested in seeing if this beat out the Anaconda DVD is terms of production value, and it 100% did. Great camera and editing work. Great music too.
I really can’t say anything bad about this DVD. I won’t be using that many moves from it, but the ones I will be are amazing. This DVD is by far the best source for a beginner to learn. It blows Xtreme Beginners out of the water, bar none. While it is a beginner geared DVD, if you’re a flourisher I think you should have this in your DVD collection. It has thousands of tips and insight that can’t really be found anywhere else. Its cheap as hell too, can’t believe they’d sell 4 hours of footage for only 35 bucks.
So to close, I say buy it. Advanced guys might not like it, but if you want to learn Andrei’s material, its essential you get this. Thanks for your time,
Nick
http://www.theory11.com/tricks/genesis-by-andrei-jikh.php