Remember in the Andrei Jikh RTD on this project where Andrei said, “We all sucked two years into cardistry”? I totally feel that way and it encouraged me that Andrei felt the same way two years into his start and yet has established himself as one of the Big Guns in this niche art form.
I understood that this project was going to be a “concepts upon concepts” video where one element was to build upon another. Still, when he opened up with The Mechanic’s Grip and The Charlier Cut, my first reaction was “oh great… this is going to be Xtreme Beginners all over again…” but I had to remind myself that until I’ve performed a 5 minute routine for Cirque De Soleil, I have much to learn from this young man.
Other forum members have posted in depth reviews and move lists included in Genesis so I won’t bother here.
Thoughts on the project I think the community would find valuable:
I like the semantics of teaching "Moves" and not "Cuts." This teaches elements that are made to combine and routine which I think that many forget with Dan and Daves or Daniel Madison's material. Pandora is a fabulous cut, but there are 6 or 7 great moves and concepts within that one giant cut we call Pandora. If you ever see one of the parts on a video, it's always presented in Pandora, and it says something about the creativity of the flourisher -- they seem to have left all the creativity to the original artist (and I do understand that presenting another persons work in a video is a sort of tribute to the original artist, but aren't you crediting the artist in the credits?). If DnD and DM show the compelte building then break it down into parts in a tutorial, it's neat that this project just lays out the parts, and it leaves the creativity and the responsibiltiy to use the moves in a routine up to the flourisher. THAT is going to be huge in taking our art form to the next level as a whole in my opinion. Kudos!
The Foundational Moves and the Thumb Cut
People tell you hand size doesn’t matter. And it’s true! There are a number of cuts and sleights that I’ve had to modify to the size of my petite asian hands in order to successfully pull them off, but the thumb cut is one of those moves that I’ve just plain figured I’d never be able to do. When I lay my thumb across a deck of bikes, the pad of my thumb doesn’t even reach the far end of the rectangle that frames the 2 angels in the circles. My thumb is more than a half-inch shorter than the width of a poker size playing card, so I don’t even think about being able to reach around and grab half the deck for a cut. I found in this section that Andrei’s hand is the same size as mine. Within 30 minutes, I was poppin’ off a move that I’ve previously thought was physically impossible for me since I’ve started magic and cardistry.
2 things in learning that “Hand Size Doesn’t Matter”: 1) No excuses anymore; but even more encouraging 2) anything Andrei can do is something that I can do! That rocks!
The nuances and subtleties that are presented on this DVD on moves I’ve thought I’ve mastered have added a lot more finesse and refinement to my flourishing – just after 2 days. Many tips are gained in Andrei’s verbal explanations, but I’ve learned volumes about presentation by watching the performance clips and the slo-mo’s. I’ve learned about adding personality, blocking, angles, motions and movements that add flair, more precise finger positions, etc…
As with other things, the difference between The Good and The Great are the little things. In races, often times the difference between First and Second are 100ths of a second. In Sales, the little things are sending clients birthday cards, remembering client’s kids names, keeping accurate records, etc... Genesis will teach you the gems, the little things that make a huge difference in the eyes of the spectator or the camera.
Even if you’re not a beginner, this will be a valuable resource for any cardist, especially as more than half of the material is original content and are prerequsites to volumes 2 and 3. T11 isn't reiterating that over and over just to get you to invest in Volume 1 as a sales gimmick. It's truly a great project in and of itself on top of being foundational if you look at it, not as 1 volume of three, but at the project as a whole. It's the first part of a 12 hour seminar on cardistry.
Hope you found this helpful.
I understood that this project was going to be a “concepts upon concepts” video where one element was to build upon another. Still, when he opened up with The Mechanic’s Grip and The Charlier Cut, my first reaction was “oh great… this is going to be Xtreme Beginners all over again…” but I had to remind myself that until I’ve performed a 5 minute routine for Cirque De Soleil, I have much to learn from this young man.
Other forum members have posted in depth reviews and move lists included in Genesis so I won’t bother here.
Thoughts on the project I think the community would find valuable:
I like the semantics of teaching "Moves" and not "Cuts." This teaches elements that are made to combine and routine which I think that many forget with Dan and Daves or Daniel Madison's material. Pandora is a fabulous cut, but there are 6 or 7 great moves and concepts within that one giant cut we call Pandora. If you ever see one of the parts on a video, it's always presented in Pandora, and it says something about the creativity of the flourisher -- they seem to have left all the creativity to the original artist (and I do understand that presenting another persons work in a video is a sort of tribute to the original artist, but aren't you crediting the artist in the credits?). If DnD and DM show the compelte building then break it down into parts in a tutorial, it's neat that this project just lays out the parts, and it leaves the creativity and the responsibiltiy to use the moves in a routine up to the flourisher. THAT is going to be huge in taking our art form to the next level as a whole in my opinion. Kudos!
The Foundational Moves and the Thumb Cut
People tell you hand size doesn’t matter. And it’s true! There are a number of cuts and sleights that I’ve had to modify to the size of my petite asian hands in order to successfully pull them off, but the thumb cut is one of those moves that I’ve just plain figured I’d never be able to do. When I lay my thumb across a deck of bikes, the pad of my thumb doesn’t even reach the far end of the rectangle that frames the 2 angels in the circles. My thumb is more than a half-inch shorter than the width of a poker size playing card, so I don’t even think about being able to reach around and grab half the deck for a cut. I found in this section that Andrei’s hand is the same size as mine. Within 30 minutes, I was poppin’ off a move that I’ve previously thought was physically impossible for me since I’ve started magic and cardistry.
2 things in learning that “Hand Size Doesn’t Matter”: 1) No excuses anymore; but even more encouraging 2) anything Andrei can do is something that I can do! That rocks!
The nuances and subtleties that are presented on this DVD on moves I’ve thought I’ve mastered have added a lot more finesse and refinement to my flourishing – just after 2 days. Many tips are gained in Andrei’s verbal explanations, but I’ve learned volumes about presentation by watching the performance clips and the slo-mo’s. I’ve learned about adding personality, blocking, angles, motions and movements that add flair, more precise finger positions, etc…
As with other things, the difference between The Good and The Great are the little things. In races, often times the difference between First and Second are 100ths of a second. In Sales, the little things are sending clients birthday cards, remembering client’s kids names, keeping accurate records, etc... Genesis will teach you the gems, the little things that make a huge difference in the eyes of the spectator or the camera.
Even if you’re not a beginner, this will be a valuable resource for any cardist, especially as more than half of the material is original content and are prerequsites to volumes 2 and 3. T11 isn't reiterating that over and over just to get you to invest in Volume 1 as a sales gimmick. It's truly a great project in and of itself on top of being foundational if you look at it, not as 1 volume of three, but at the project as a whole. It's the first part of a 12 hour seminar on cardistry.
Hope you found this helpful.
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