Palming
Palming a staff is an elegant move whereby a staff is set spinning around it's centre on an open palm, usually on the flat of the palm and with the palm is parallel with the horizon.

medical mishap or freaky totem pole?

This trick is performed in two phases, a snapping setup then a balancing platform of the palm - both if which require control and dilligence. The snap provides the torque for the staff, the balancing part discreetly keeps the staff spinning.

The snapping setup is done by sharply and simultaneously turning the elbow outward, starting from a position similar to the topmost figure in the above illustration and moving into the position the middle figure. When coordinated well with some power, this sideways snapping action provides enough torque momentum for several staff revolutions.

In preparation to open one's hand, the grasp of the staff should be from underneath at this stage if it is not already, as is shown in the middlemost figure.

As the arm fully outstretches and your palm opens up, care should be taken in raising the staff above shoulder level so that your arms do not obstruct it - the arm should now appear as is shown in the lowermost figure. This movement should be gradual and your hands move gracefully to a stop so as not to accidentally toss the spinning staff sidewards.

Finally, with arm outstretched and staff spinning on an open palm, all that is left to do is to manipulate the staff by the fingers, moving them rigidly from the base of the knuckles in manner not unlike massaging. When applied in a peristaltic manner, this massaging action provides some added momentum, but primarily it should be used to manipulate the staff's axis of movement fixed - In the above example, the axis is in the middle of the fingers.

As friction on your palm gradualy overcome the torque momentum in the staff's spin, the staff can easily be captured in the hand again simply by closing your grip as the spnning staff aligns with your grasp. From this point you may execute a horizontal transition to another move, or even execute another snapping setup into another palming move!

Palming Hints
To perform this with fire, it is advisable to use a shorter stick as not only should the staff's length should reach short of one's face (eek!) but additional staff length be scarificed to keep the wicked flames away too!

Heavy staves allow more momentum and thus more revolutions, while flatter handles provide for easier balancing. To sustain the palming almost indefinitely, one would set about it with such a staff, incredible initial torque in the snapping setup and masterful finger balancing.

If your fingers keep getting in the way when the spinning staff is in your open palm, sometimes it helps to bend your fingers even farther back, further reducing the chances of interrupting the spin.

The setup is very hard on the wrists, as your forarms muscles power alot of the thrust - please stretch your wrists on all directions thoroughly to minimise the risk of injury.

Palming Variations
The variation shown in the above animation is a synchronised double palm. Both palms needn't go up at the same time though, but symmetry lends to the elagance of this move. With the body crouched over, one is also able to execute a btb (behind the back) variation.

Wrapping swaps
A wrapping swap is a double staves move where both staves meet at a limb and are traced/dragged along either side until they converge again on the opposite side, where they are swapped into the other hand. It creates an intricate firetrail enveloping a limb and subtly swapping staves.

yes, these montages are really starting to freak me out :p

For the purposes of this explanation, a vertical wrapping swap across the thigh is shown above. (Variations of this move can be performed horizontally or vertically across any limb.)

Begin the move by crossing both staves together as they move toward the thigh, which is also moving to a more convenient position for a vertical wrap. When the crossed staves meet your thigh, begin sliding the middle of each staff downwards across either side of your thighs so that your body position resembles the figure second from the left in the above illustration.

Moving down, each hand should loosen it's grip so that each staff is only gripped in the area between thumb and the base of the forefinger - this frees up your fingers to execute the next step...

As both staves meet again on the opposite side/bottom of your thigh, both staves should be crossed again whilst in the loose grip - your body should at this stage be in a position similar to the middle figure in the above illustration. Each set of fingers should now grasp the opposite staff, swapping staffs in the process, as is shown in the figure second from the right in the above illustration.

Lastly, each hand should gracefully draw away, having swapped staves. The downwards motion should be constant to maintain fluidity - the wrapping then swapping actions need to be performed briskly and subtly to maximise audience doubt over wether the staves were swapped at all.

Wrapping Swap Hints
Moving your limb into place early allows the revolutions of your staves from a previous move to be unbroken - This move relies on fluidity.

The trickiest part is the swapping. If need be, practice that part of the move alone first, so that you are not distracted by the hand positions as you exit out of the wrapping part of the move.

Wrapping Swap Variations
Staves can be wrapped then swapped vertically and horizontally across the ankles, knees, thighs, waist, chest, and neck, to name a phew. Also, the action itself can be applied to single staff, although it is much harder to swap staves when you only have the one :)

Double pinwheels
[Instructions to come]

Jumpkick swaps
[Instructions to come]