Standing on Shoulders

Vulcan Tech Gospel is an ambitious unified theory for poi movement. Created by Noel Yee and collaborators at the Vulcan Lofts in Oakland, CA, it established the vocabulary flow artists use to talk about movement:

• Timing relationships - together time, split time
• Direction relationships - same direction, opposite direction
• Motion types - prospin, antispin
• Plane orientation - wall plane, wheel plane, floor plane

TKA adopts VTG's vocabulary directly. When we say "pro" and "anti," we're speaking VTG. The timing and direction relationships that define TKA's letter types come from this foundation.

Siteswap is a notation system for juggling. It represents sequences as strings of numbers, where each number describes one discrete action.

Siteswap showed that complex sequences could be broken into discrete units and documented with simple symbols. TKA applies this to flow arts - one pictograph per beat.

TKA combines these three influences:

• VTG - vocabulary for timing, direction, and motion types
• Siteswap - discrete unit documentation
• Music theory - letters and rhythmic structure

The result is a visual notation system for static dual wielded props - staff, fans, buugeng, clubs, hoops, and anything you can hold two of.