I was amazed, and tongue tied, when a handful of participants could not consistently make the poi go around in circles after one, two, even three lessons. It's something I have always taken for granted, as people typically pick up poi for the first time and just get it going, without any instruction. But some of my participants were struggling...
A clinical trial about poi and well-being! Sounds great, but, how am I going to tell if poi has an effect on health, you ask? Well, I'm going to measure things of course! Things like balance and grip strength and coordination. I'm going to measure them before the participants learn poi (pre-tests), and after the participants learn poi (post-tests), and see if there are any differences between the two sets of data.
With the arrival and approval of Ms. A, the 6 month signature quest seemed to be drawing to a close. The only thing left to do was wait for Ms. A to email my Maori advisor, to let him know of her support. While awaiting this transaction, I asked my PhD supervisor to check with the ethics committee about a few minor things on my application. I wanted it to be flawless before submitting it. After a week or so of silence from all parties, I became worried and restless. What if Ms. A changed her mind?
In between investigating the cultural roots and implications of poi spinning (read: embarrassing myself at various Māori events and in front of various Māori people), I am also planning a poi trial to investigate the effects of poi on physical and cognitive ability (read: embarrassing myself in front of scientists).