Thumbaround! A Huge Learning Curve!!

Last time, I created a modified pen using some pens and pencils that I don’t use anymore. It turned out to be a success and I was very happy about it.

This week, I am using this pen to learn one of the simple tricks of pen spinning called a “Thumbaround.” As I said last week, I used Quniverse’s video tutorial to teach myself. The tutorial is very informative. He gave the definition of “Thumbaround” and the physical demonstration of the trick. He even demonstrated it on a normal pen since most people wouldn’t have the modified pen. It is very easy to follow, although some of his language by the end is not very appropriate. So, it is not ideal to be presented in class but rather for personal learning. If you want more of a reading tutorial rather than a video tutorial, wikiHow also has an article for “Thumbaround” trick.

What is a “Thumbaround”?

A “Thumbaround” is a pen spinning where you spin the pen around your thumb, hence the name. For this trick, although it has some variations, usually uses 3 fingers: your thumb, index, and middle finger. Your three fingers will hold the pen horizontally. Using your middle finger, you would push the pen so that it will go over your thumb’s nail as it spins back to thumb’s right side where the index finger catches it. The pen should make a 360° on your thumb.

Personally, this trick is really hard for me compared to the first one I have learned. It is such a huge learning curve. I even read online that some people perfected this trick after 4 months. Since it is fairly new to me, it will also take a very long time for me to perfect this trick. My biggest problem is somehow I could only spin it 90 degrees. Whenever I try to spin the pen for 360°, the pen just goes flying!

Here’s my attempt of “Thumbaround”:

It’s not perfect but I tried my best! Probably, I will do the same trick for next week. However, I will polish it and hopefully I could somehow perfect the trick a little bit. Maybe, on the side, I could learn another simple trick to make up for this hard one!