Pentix - Videos

Tricks in the Infinity family have a unique way of spinning the pen, which is called the "Through Spin". This method of spinning the pen is characterized by holding the pen by its tip between two fingers and letting the tip pass through the space between the two fingers. The reason this family is called Infinity is because the first trick known to use this method of spinning the pen remind us of the mathematical symbol for Infinity. Not all tricks in this family will look like an infinity symbol, but as long as they use the Through Spin, they should fall under this family.

Official Name

Infinity Normal
[side view - 814Kb]

Infinity-123-Normal

This is a very unique trick that looks completely different than most pen spinning tricks. When done properly, this trick looks as if you were drawing a infinity symbol (which is a number 8 on its side, in mathematical notation) with the pen. This trick also uses a very unusual way of spinning the pen by its tip (look closely at the video to understand this).

http://pentix.modenStudios.com

Pentix > Videos > Tricks


		Last Updated: Nov. 20, 2002 Number of Videos: 36

To view a video, just click on the trick Name. Or, to view a description on how to learn the trick, click on its Official Name.

360 Degree (6 videos)
Air Spin (3 videos)
Charge (2 videos)
Finger Pass (2 videos)
Infinity (1 video)
Sonic (8 videos)
Thumb Spin (7 videos)
Miscellaneous (7 videos) Updated!

Tricks

Note: All dates are in MM/DD/YY format

360 Degree

The 360 Degree Family consists of tricks that spin "around" a certain finger. Most of the tricks in this family do at least one full rotation around a particular finger. To be part of this family, a trick must spin around one or more fingers, and be semi mid-air (contacting only one finger) for most of its duration.
	Name	Size	Official Name	Posted

	360 Degree Normal	908 Kb	360Degree-Thumb-Normal	01-30-02
	The famous "Around the Thumb" spin. The pen rotates 360 degrees around the Thumb in a counterclockwise direction. This trick is also known as the "ThumbSpin", even though it does not fall under that family of tricks. Update: This new video has 4 variations of the 360 Degree Normal: standard (middle finger), index, ring, and little finger variations.

	360 Degree Reverse	57 Kb	360Degree-Thumb-Reverse	06-01-01
	The reverse motion of 360 Degree Normal. The pen rotates 360 degrees around the Thumb in a clockwise direction.

	Neo-Sonic	43 Kb	360Degree-2-Reverse	06-01-01
	This is what a lot of people do by accident when first learning the Sonic (therefore Neo-Sonic). You start out with the pen between the middle and ring fingers. The pen then does a complete spin around your middle finger in a clockwise direction.

	Index Spin	73 Kb	360Degree-1-Normal	06-01-01
	Another one of the different variations of 360 Degree family. The pen is held loose between your index and middle fingers. The spin consist of a full spin around your index finger (therefore the name) before the pen is caught back in the original position (Video shows CCW direction).

	Devil's Spin	93 Kb	360Degree-2-Normal	11-16-01
	As far as I know, this is one of my original creations. This one is like a combination of the Twisted Sonic with the Index Spin. The The only difference is that it spins around the middle finger while the Index and Ring finger are bent, reminding you of someone showing you the finger, thus the name. In this video, you can see the CCW variation of the spin.

	Fingerless 360 Degree Normal New!	252 Kb	360Degree-FL-Thumb-Normal	10-29-02
	This is an advanced version of the 360 Degree Normal. It is exaclty the same trick, as the pen does one rotation around the Thumb, but no fingers are used to push the pen. This is not a great trick to use in combos, but the applications of the knowledge gained by learning this trick are inumerous.

Air Spin

These tricks are very simple to describe. They all consist of tricks where the pen spins in mid-air. It doesn't matter how the pen gets into the air, as long as it's not touching any fingers while spinning in the air. Some the tricks use pressure to snap the pen into the air, while other are just plain tossing or flipping the pen into the air. For a trick to belong under the Air Spin family, the only requirement besides the pen be spinning in mid-air is the catch. Obviously, you must be able to catch the pen in some way.
	Name	Size	Official Name	Posted

	Thumb Snap	261 Kb	ThumbSnap-1080-Ver	4-28-02
	I learned this trick from Patrick Szeto's site (iluvitar.com). In this trick, you apply pressure with your Thumb and make the pen spin in the air several rotations (3 here) before catching it in the starting position.

	Horizontal Thumb Snap	73 Kb	ThumbSnap-360-Hor	11-24-01
	This is a new trick that Brandon Pannabecker sent me. It's a combination of the Thumb Snap from Patrick Szeto and the Single Reverse (see below). The pen is snapped into the air while making a counterclockwise spin. The video shows a 360 degree spin (1 spin), but in theory "it can go as high and spin as many times as you want" - Pannabecker -

	Snap Flip	454 Kb	SnapFlip-720-Ver	4-28-02
	Thanks to David Weis for this trick (and several others). This is a simple method to do an Air Spin. Just position your Thumb below the pen and snap it into the air.

Charge

The Charge family consists of tricks that repeat themselves over and over. But that's not all there is to them. These tricks must be done between two fingers, and the spinning pen ressembles two cones glued together (same shape as those old sand clocks). These tricks may look very similar to tricks in the Sonic family (and they often are combined together), but the main difference is that tricks under the Charge family must have the pen always contacting the fingers used.
	Name	Size	Official Name	Posted

	Charge Normal	133 Kb	Charge-23-Normal	06-01-01
	One of the most basic tricks in pen spinning (the first one I learned). The pen rotates in position between your middle and ring fingers (clockwise). Seen from the top, the motion reminds of two cones with the tips touching each other. From the sides, it may look like a fan.

	Charge Reverse	109 Kb	Charge-23-Reverse	06-01-01
	This the reverse motion of the charge. Not much difference here, but some people start knowing this variation (counterclockwise) rather than the clockwise one.

Finger Pass

The Finger Pass family consists of tricks that "roll" the pen through many fingers. At any time, the pen is always been held by at least two fingers, and each "Pass" (which is a definite step for Finger Pass tricks) will only cause the pen to rotate 180 degrees (half rotation).
	Name	Size	Official Name	Posted

	Finger Pass Normal	88 Kb	FingerPass-1234-Normal	06-02-01
	This is a easy to perform, but difficult to master trick. The pen passes from finger to finger until it completes a loop and returns to the original position.

	Finger Pass Reverse	99 Kb	FingerPass-1234-Reverse	06-02-01
	Reverse the order of the moves in the Finger Pass Normal and guess what you have? The Finger Pass Reverse. Nothing fancier here, but it may be more difficult to perform.

Infinity

Sonic

The Sonic family has been known among pen spinners for a long time (at least the basic Sonic Normal trick has). The popularity of these tricks and its many variations has caused many new tricks to use the word Sonic in its name. This recent excess usage of the name Sonic has caused many tricks that look like a Sonic (but don't really belong to this family) to be mistakenly called a Sonic. The original Sonic (Sonic Normal) has the properties of "jumping" the pen from one space between fingers to the next nearby space. In the process, the pen is in mid-air for an instant. This instant is what characterizes all Sonic tricks. During the instant when the pen is in mid-air, the pen is parallel and overlapping the finger it is jumping over (ie. the pen is behind or in front of the finger it passes). Being parallel and overlapping one finger makes it necessary for the pen to be in mid-air (so, not any trick that has the pen in mid-air is a Sonic). The requirement for a trick to belong to the Sonic family is, therefore, having the pen be parallel while overlapping the finger it passes.
	Name	Size	Official Name	Posted

	Sonic Normal	62 Kb	Sonic-123-Normal	06-01-01
	This is another one of those tricks that you must have in your arsenal. Although it may not be as famous as the 360 Degree, this certainly is one useful trick. Most of my combos are created using this trick. The pen goes around the middle finger apparently "jumping" from between the middle and ring fingers to fall between the index and middle fingers.

	Sonic Reverse	33 Kb	Sonic-123-Reverse	06-01-01
	I have not seen one trick yet that you can perform the trick in one direction and cannot perform it in the opposite direction. The Sonic is not an exception. This is the reverse motion of the Sonic, which for most people is a lot harder to do.

	Sonic 1.5 Normal	85 Kb	Sonic-1half-123-Normal	11-16-01
	I learned this one from Hideaki's Web Site. It's an advanced version of the Sonic Normal that does one and a half spin before being caught. Seeing this trick opened my eyes to see that even with so many variations of the Sonic, there's even more things that you can come up with.

	Inverse Sonic Normal	40 Kb	Sonic-Inv1-123-Normal	06-02-01
	While in the Sonic the pen around the middle finger from the outside, in the Inverse Sonic the pen rotates from the inside of your hand. The extra spin at the beginning is just to get the impulse needed to start the spin.

	Inverse Sonic Reverse	29 Kb	Sonic-Inv1-123-Reverse	06-02-01
	the reverse motion of the Inverse Sonic.

	Sonic 2x Normal	55 Kb	Sonic-1234-Normal	10-05-01
	Instead of jumping from one space between two fingers to the next space, this variation makes the pen jump two spaces at a time. In my opinion, not really impressive, but it is a variation. Please do not confuse the Sonic 2x with the Sonic Double, which I'll post later (once I learned it).

	Sonic 2x Reverse	38 Kb	Sonic-1234-Reverse	10-05-01
	the reverse motion of the Sonic 2x Normal.

	iSonic	479 Kb	Sonic-i1-123-Normal and Sonic-i1-123-Reverse	03-25-02
	The iSonic (stands for Invisible Sonic) was inspired by my background on magic. The pen starts to do a Sonic, then suddenly "disappears" for a moment, and finally reappear. This video contains both the normal and reverse versions of the iSonic.

Thumb Spin

The Thumb Spin family is a family consisted of tricks that have the pen spin on top of your Thumb (or Thumb Area). The way these tricks usually work is that the pen is spinning on its COP on top of a bumped area of your Thumb, Index Finger, or both fingers. To get the pen to start spinning on top of the appropriate finger, other tricks are often introduced. For most of these tricks, the Normal version starts off using the 360 Degree Normal, and that's why that trick is often confused as a Thumb Spin. In reality, the 360 Degree Normal doesn't spin on top of the Thumb, but around it. So be aware that many people may call the 360 Degree Normal a Thumb Spin, but it doesn't belong to this family.
	Name	Size	Official Name	Posted

	Half Taps	195 Kb	ThumbSpin-half-Normal	11-24-01
	I first saw David Weis performing this trick on his videos. Even though the trick is simple and consists of continuously making half Thumb Spins, it becomes very impressive when done in speed (which, due to my lack of skill, you can't really see on this video). This is a great trick that you should practice to develop good timing.

	Single Normal	70 Kb	ThumbSpin-1-Normal	06-01-01
	Not really an useful trick if you ask me. Most people would prefer to do the 360 Degree or "Around the Thumb" spin instead. The difference between the two tricks is that this one has the pen spinning on top of the Thumb, as opposed to around it. Note: Do not confuse this with the 360 Degree Normal, which is often known as the ThumbSpin.

	Single Reverse	176 Kb	ThumbSpin-1-Reverse	06-01-01
	the reverse motion of the Single Normal. This trick has the pen spin one rotation on top of the Thumb area. This is often known simply as the Reverse, and it's not to be confused with the 360 Degree Reverse, which spins around the Thumb.

	Forward 1.5	68 Kb	ThumbSpin-1half-Normal	06-02-01
	As an extension to the 360 Degree, the Forward 1.5 Thumb Spin is one of the coolest tricks I've seen performed. Basically what you do is fold the Thumb before the pen completes a full spin, allowing it to continue for another half spin. The trick I've seen is an "infinite combo" with Forward 1.5, followed by another Forward 1.5 and so on. I credit this trick to David Weis, who performed 10 Forward 1.5s in a row (a total of 15 spins without stopping!).

	Reverse 1.5	71 Kb	ThumbSpin-1half-Reverse	06-02-01
	Even though not as useful, the reverse motion of the Forward 1.5 is still a neat trick to perform.

	Double Normal	173 Kb	ThumbSpin-2-Normal	06-02-01
	Another extension for the 360 Degree. Instead of making 1 and a half spin, in this trick the pen does two complete spins on top of the Thumb before it is caught. The process is basically the same as the Forward 1.5. You just let the pen spin in balance for another half circle.

	Triple Normal	510 Kb	ThumbSpin-3-Normal	04-28-02
	In my opinion, one of the hardest tricks in pen spinning (and also a sign of great skill). Although I still can't do this consistently, the video is able to show how the pen needs to be balanced and spinning on the Thumb for 3 full rotations before it's caught.

Miscellaneous Tricks

These are tricks that don't fall under any of the families of tricks listed above (at least at the time of its posting). That doesn't mean that they are any less worth watching than the other tricks. Some are very unique, others may be completely bizarre or useless...
Name	Size	Official Name	Posted

Twisted Sonic Normal	35 Kb	Sonic-Twist-123-Normal	10-05-01
Not really a Sonic, but it looks simliar the Sonic. Since I can't find anywhere to put this trick, I'll leave it here. The trick is a mini-combo that combines one rotation of the Charge, and one step (the last) of the Finger Pass Reverse.

Twisted Sonic Reverse	42 Kb	Sonic-Twist-123-Reverse	10-05-01
the reverse motion of the Twisted Sonic Normal.

Devil's Sonic	375 Kb	Sonic-Devil-2-Normal	04-28-02
My proudest invention (as of late April, 2002). This is really a hybrid of several tricks. But to make things simple, the Devil's Sonic is a combination of the first half of a Devil's Spin (before the pen spins around the middle finger) with the second half of a Sonic Normal. But since it doesn't use either of the tricks completely, it can't be considered a combo either.

Backhand Tracer	725 Kb		04-28-02
Trick created by Alexander Koo. A very different trick which mixes pen spinning with manipulation. This trick reminds me of a classic coin trick called the Coin Roll, only this time it is done with a pen.

Triangle Pass New!	1.87 Mb		10-29-02
This is a simple trick to understand, yet very difficult to master. The pen is basically held by two fingers on one side and one finger on the other side. One at a time, each finger is replaced on its opposite side, causing the pen to rotate a bit. Continuous repetition of the process will cause the pen to spin continuously. It's not very impressive due to the limited speed, but it is a good challenge trick that will teach you balance and good timing. Done well enough, this trick can be done at the fingertips, giving the impression that the pen is gliding on top of your fingers.

Spider Spin Normal New!	255 Kb		11-20-02
This trick was inpired by the new movie "Spider-Man", released in May 3rd, 2002. The basic idea is to make a pen spinning trick that utilized Spider-man's web shooting hand pose. In this trick, the pen spins on top of the middle and ring fingers. This video doesn't show the real effect of what I had in mind when creating it, but you can get the basic idea. Hopefully, I'll be able to get more rotations out of this trick, which will make the hand pose more clear.

[Home] [Tricks] [Videos] [Message Board] [FAQs] [Glossary] [Links]

This Web Site was created by KAM (Fernando Kuo) for educational purposes only and is not intended for commercial use.
The use of the information contained within this Web site is free and may be copied as long as the information remain unchanged and credit is given to the author.