Antibrids & body tracing / LESSON 05
Hand tracer boxes
Build a folding box by pairing an end isolation with an antispin. The important meeting points are a staff tip and the other hand, rather than two staff tips.
Prerequisites: Basic antibrids · Antibrid boxes
Video study
Use the source for this section’s grip changes, body position, and depth.
Schematic motion. Body proportions and finger contact are approximate; compare with the source. One cycle = 6 seconds at 1×.
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Source video
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Steps
Before you begin
- Grip
- Hold both staffs near their centers. Keep track of the thumb and pinkie ends as your wrists turn; the isolation pivot changes around the box.
- Stance
- Drex demonstrates facing forward with feet comfortably apart. Leave room above the head and in front of the chest for crossed arms. The video does not prescribe a special footwork pattern.
- Plane
- Work in a vertical plane in front of the body. The two hands need a small depth separation when they cross overhead. Clockwise in the explanation is from the spinner's own viewpoint.
Things to notice
- Looking only for tip-to-tip contact hides the hand-tracer relationship.
- Forcing both staff ends to remain at both opposite hands throughout a fold removes the antispin. The paired alignments are checkpoints; one end-to-hand reference guides the transition.
- Crossing the left hand nearer the body at the top obstructs the right staff's next descent in Drex's demonstrated direction.
- A front-view sketch cannot show the necessary depth separation at the overhead crossing.