Psbook

Diego González (RPD)
Pen Spinning History

and Notation
April 15, 2022
Third Edition
Cover design by Frank Liu (DioBrando).
Please send your inquiries or suggestions to psnotation@gmail.com.
I hope that readers will let me know of any mistakes they may notice; I will post them on my
blog, diego9j.blogspot.com.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Interna-
tional License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
sa/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.
The author and The Collective have no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guar-
antee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
i
Introduction
Discovering the world of pen spinning is fascinating. What seems like
an activity to pass time during class turns out to have an incredible inter-
national community, with its own complex culture, events, videos and
tournaments. A language exists to describe not only tricks, but also deeper
concepts like aesthetic and technical values. As one starts to learn more
about pen spinning, it becomes natural to wonder more about these topics:
the language, the community-based society, the presentation of pen spinning
videos, how pens are modified, and even the way tournaments are judged.
One may find the answer to those questions by reading old blogs and
talking with experienced members. However, word of mouth fades with time.
Additionally, it is hard to quickly obtain a broad view: to comprehend the
importance of this language, its origins and its influence. That is why I
decided to start this project eight years ago, as a way to conserve and
share our history. The book was written with intermediate spinners in
mind, although I think that anyone familiar with the basics can follow. If
you decide to take on this lecture, thank you! I really hope that you find it
entertaining and helpful.
The book is organized as follows: The I
first part covers pen spinning history

as a whole. In Chapter 1, the core ideas
1 ORIGINS
2
BOARDS AND
are presented and explained: pen spinning
before the internet, the impact of the first COMMUNITIES
3
INTERNATIONAL
websites, which pens were used and what
language can tell us about community ex- TOURNAMENTS
changes and influences. Chapter 2 shows II
the origins of various spinner communities

and their evolution up until the present
4 ENGLISH
NOTATION
5
NOTATION FOR
day. Here we can see how much has hap-
pened during the last twenty years and
ANALYSIS
how the internet in its various forms has
been the medium that powered this devel-
6 JAPANESE
NOTATION
opment. Chapter 3 explains the history of

competitive spinning: from the first World
7 KOREAN
NOTATION
8
TRICK
Tournament and World Cup to the present
day, reviewing the top performers in each DICTIONARY
ii Introduction
of them, as well as their impact in future generations of spinners.
The second part focuses on the language of pen spinning. Notation,

which started as a necessity in the early days, has evolved immensely thanks to
the contributions of hundreds of spinners. In Chapter 4 we do a comprehensive
review of English notation, from the most widely used concepts to the
more precise and forward-looking innovations. In Chapter 5 we review some
alternative systems, whose main objective is pen spinning analysis rather
than communication per se. In Chapters 6 and 7, Japanese and Korean
notations are explained, which allows us to see the problem of translating
tricks to text under completely different perspectives. Finally, in Chapter 8,
a comprehensive trick dictionary can be found. Its focus isn’t to teach the
reader how to spin, but rather to explain the etymologies, creators, alternative
names, origins and history of each trick.
The reader can either use this book as a regular book, reading it from
start to finish; or as a reference, searching for and reading any parts
that they may be interested in. Similar tricks are listed together in the trick
dictionary, so for an alphabetic list, please check the index at the end of the
book.
Improvements in the third edition − Community histories were

given their own chapter to accomodate the various additions and rewrites.
The trick dictionary was expanded with new entries, photos, etymologies
and scores for how well each trick name is known. The notation chapters
were proofread and slightly restructured, removing repeated information. An
index was added and the bibliography, expanded.
iii
Acknowledgements − I want to thank everyone who has supported me,

as the project would have been impossible without their help:
Invaluable support iColor
The Collective
The Internet Archive
Copy editing Padrace
Tournament rulebooks & UPSB archives Zombo
English notation & FPSB history Tchus
Pen spinning & FPSB histories Tache
FPSB history Tikle
Korean notation FLow
Korean history Naru
GPC & LPSA histories Nashi
Juzzle
THPSC history coffeelucky
PSH history Nope
3+7
TWPS history Dove
HKPSA history Kin
Tournament analyses i.suk
Pen modding history Vore-Tex
Pre-internet history Hiromichi Hosoma
Pen spinning history Crasher
English notation Freeman
Fel2Fram
Hexbinmos
Leftfinger
Japanese notation ayaNo
Aphsamoth
mesi
Notation & Japanese translation Ishiya
AiMo
Monatyo
Yohmyak
French translation Banz
Initial English translation JNK
Blizzardous
Mummy
DArKT
I alone am responsible for any errors that may remain in the book. I hope
that readers will let me know of any mistakes they may notice; I will post
them on my blog, diego9j.blogspot.com.
I History
Chapter 1
1 Origins
1.1 Pen spinning history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 Before the internet (1970-1997) . . . . . . 1
1.1.2 Personal web pages (1997-2002) . . . . . . 3
1.1.3 Forums (2002-2015) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.4 Social media (2016-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 Aspects of pen spinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.1 Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.2 Pens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.3 Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.2.4 Tournaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 2
19 Boards and communities
2.1 Japanese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 Korean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.3 English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.4 French . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.5 Chinese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.5.1 Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.5.2 Taiwan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.5.3 Mainland China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.6 Thailandese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.7 German . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.8 Spanish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Chapter 3
59 International tournaments
3.1 Results and analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
II Notation
Chapter 4
89 English notation
4.1 Trick names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.2 Fingerslots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.2.1 Locators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.2.2 Changes in the position of the pen . . . . . 91
4.2.3 Same-trick sequence shortening . . . . . . 91
4.2.4 Finger prefixes in arounds and spins . . . . 91
4.2.5 Unstable slots (asterisk locator) . . . . . . 92
4.2.6 Dot notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.2.7 Fingercrossings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.2.8 Special positions & fc shorthands . . . . . 96
4.3 Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4.3.1 Hand orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4.3.2 Prefixes and suffixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.3.3 Number of revolutions . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.3.4 Direction of rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.3.5 PSC notation (push-spin-catch) . . . . . . 105
4.3.6 Pushes and relative movement . . . . . . . 107
4.3.7 Planes of reflection and non-modifiers . . . 109
4.3.8 Wiper-in and wiper-out . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.3.9 Compound tricks and modifier order . . . 111
4.3.10 Omission and intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.4 Linking symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.5 Multiple pens and hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Chapter 5
117 Notation for analysis
5.1 Formal trick names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.2 Hexbinmos’ elementary notation . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.3 Simplified elementary notation . . . . . . . . . . . 120
5.4 Pitch-Yaw-Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.5 Tablature notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
vi
Chapter 6
127 Japanese notation
6.1 Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
6.2 Axis finger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
6.3 Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
6.4 Linking symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Chapter 7
135 Korean notation
7.1 Slots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
7.2 Linking symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
7.3 Roots and modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Chapter 8
141 Trick dictionary
8.1 Passes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
8.2 Perpendicular arounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
8.3 Oblique arounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
8.3.1 Powerpasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
8.4 Conical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
8.5 Spins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
8.6 Wipers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
8.7 Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
8.8 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
8.9 Rotationless stable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
8.10 Equilibrium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
8.11 Throws and catches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
8.12 Historical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
8.12.1 Devil’s, demon’s and angel’s . . . . . . . . 269
8.12.2 Combos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Appendix A
277 List of notation articles
287 References
309 Trick index

Part I
History
1 Origins
Pen spinning is a form of object manipulation or juggling dating back
to the 1970s, and quite possibly even earlier. Thanks to the advent of internet
and video sharing platforms, it developed at an unprecedented rate during
the early 2000s. Considering the central role of the internet, its history can
be divided into four eras: starting from pre-internet period to the present
day. After this review, we will focus on each of the following aspects of pen
spinning: videos, pen modding, notation and tournaments; and explain how
they have evolved throughout the years.
1.1 Pen spinning history

Although some sources say that pen spinning predates World War 2, it’s
difficult to verify these claims as no written evidence (for example, trick
guides) has been found thus far. However, it’s fair to assume that some tricks
like the thumbaround, sonic and pass have been known for very long.
1.1.1 Before the internet (1970-1997)

Pen spinning media from the pre-
internet era is extremely rare. The ear-
liest known video was the French TV
commercial by the pen brand Bic, where
passes between the thumb, index, middle
and ring fingers are quickly performed.
It was also present in Korean pop culture
since at least the 80s, being a quirk of
one of the characters of 수사반장 (Chief
Inspector), a detective TV show. Anec-
dotal evidence of pen spinning exists in Bic - Stylo à quatre couleurs (1970) [1]
the 70s in China and other countries. From all of these sources, it’s Japanese
pre-internet history that is the most documented and will be the basis of
early pen spinning.
During the 70s, there was a pen spinning boom in Japan. There were
two main driving factors: the new widespread availability of mechanical pen-
2 Pen spinning history
cils, which previously used to be a luxury item, as well as the steady increase in
students thanks to the ongoing economic miracle. Because these writing uten-
sils were easier to spin, students all across the country started independently
discovering and sharing tricks like the Thumbaround Normal and Reverse,
Sonic, Neosonic and so on. It is said that
written trick guides were also made and
shared between students, although none
remain today. At this time, the current
term ペン回し(pen spinning) wasn’t
used, either being called シャーペン
ローリング(mechanical pencil rolling)
or 浪人回し(wanderer’s spinning). This
was due to its popularity among stu-
dents who had to take an extra year to
Weekly post - Ronin mawashi (1989) obtain better grades in the university
entrance examinations, called 浪人(ronin/wanderer). It was precisely in these
preparatory and private schools where it became the most popular,
many masters being said to be from Sundai Preparatory School, located in
Tokyo and the oldest in all of Japan.
Pen spinning started to get even

more well-known across the country dur-
ing the 80s. A guide appeared in a pop-
ular kid’s magazine called Korokoro
Comic, and the idol Matsumoto Iyo
performed a Thumbaround on stage in
The Best Ten, an incredibly popular
TV program at the time in 1989. The
Kyoto university researcher Hiromichi
Hosoma gave that same year a presen-
tation about how these tricks, so difficult Korokoro comic special feature (1990)
to discover by yourself, could be learned so easily from others, proposing pen
spinning as an example of human observational learning. Both Hiromichi and
the Japanese Zoological Society have confirmed with me that the original
slides were lost. Various newspaper articles were published, talking about
this popularity boom and how some schools were banning its practice.
Origins 3
1.1.2 Personal web pages (1997-2002)
Since there was no easy way for spinners from various schools or coun-
tries to communicate, its development stagnated until the availability of
the internet. In 1997, Hideaki Kondo made the first ever pen spinning
website, called 私のペン回しの歴史 (My History with Pen Spinning) and
soon afterwards, the bulletin board ペン回し研究室 (Pen Spinning Research
Room). In his website, explanations and videos of tricks were compiled and
presented. Thanks to the attention brought to the site by traditional media,
the bulletin board gained traction, and thus even more tricks were developed.
"Pen spinning research room"

ペン回し研究室 (Bulle�n board)
"My history with pen spinning"
私のペン回しの歴史 By Hideaki Kondo Japanese
ノーマル (normal), リバース (reverse), ハーモニック (harmonic), ソニック (sonic), ガンマン (gunman), nota�on
ソニックひねり (sonic hineri/twisted), カージオイド (cardioid), 変形 (henkei), フェイクト (faked), 3 -シメトリカルソニック
シングルアクセル (single axel), シメトリカル (symmetrical) ... 3-symmetrical sonic
Pen Spinning (Par�al transla�on to English)
"Pencil Manipula�on"
Microjuggling By Wrenn
Two finger twirl
Pen�x By Fernando Kuo / Kam

English
Thumbaround, Pass, Charge, Wiper, Neosonic,
Inverse, Extended, Fingerless ...
nota�on
Inverse sonic 23-12
UPSB (Forum)
Iluvitar "Pencil Spinning 101"
By Patrick Szeto
Infinity
Pencil spinning By David Weis

Backaround, Neobak, Scissor spin, Tap, Hal�ap, Baktap
연필돌리기까페 Korean
"Pencil Turning Cafe" (Forum)
nota�on
윈드밀 (Windmill), 계단 (Stairs),
휘감기 (Winding), 수직 (Ver�cal), 내계단B>C
naegyedan B>C
원그리기 (Circle drawing) ...
Present
1998
2001
2000
1999
2002
day
The first pen spinning websites and the terms they created.
Hideaki’s website wasn’t the only one created. From mid-1998 to the
beginning of the new millenium, various websites in English also appeared:
“Pencil spinning” by David Weis, “Iluvitar” by Patrick Szeto, “Microjuggling”
4 Pen spinning history
by Chris and “Pentix” by Fernando Kuo, better known as Kam. In addition,

multiple smaller sites, often powered by the free web hosting service Geocities,
linked or re-posted their information. The dawn of the internet was what
pen spinning needed to thrive: it served as both an archive for tutorials and
a communication method to develop new techniques. The perspective shifted
from local to global, and tricks didn’t need to be constantly rediscovered
anymore.
During this early stage, the concept of combos didn’t exist yet. Notation
was extremely important: bandwidths were small and data transfer rates
limited, so videos were scarce and heavily compressed. In order to discuss
in forums, it was imperative to do so through text. Thus, new tricks were
named as they were discovered. While the interactions between websites were
rare, they did happen. When one website learned a trick from another, it
also adopted the name, and in this way allows us to understand the early
interactions and discoveries of the community.
The concept of modifiers was introduced by Hideaki, inspired by organic

chemistry. As we can see in Pentix’ trick name table (2002), not all reverses
were thought to be possible. Modifiers were extremely helpful for people
discovering new tricks, as they could be attempted to be applied to all other
known tricks to generate new ones.
1.1.3 Forums (2002-2015)
Hideaki’s bulletin board proved to be an invaluable tool: It was an

organized and easy way for anyone to discuss with each other, and let new
people catch up by reading past messages. Bulletin boards hadn’t been
included in English websites yet, providing guestbooks at most. The addition
of forums would mark the next big era of pen spinning.
The first forum to be created outside of Japan was the 연필돌리기까페

(Pencil Turning Cafe) on May 31, 2001. It was created as the internet grew
more wide-spread in Korea, and was built on a popular forum platform
“Daum Cafe” at the time. Soon after that, Kam started the Pentix board
(also referred to as UPSB v1) on November 15, 2001. Conscious of the current
situation with multiple web pages and small communities, his idea was to
create a common platform with moderators from all sites. That way, all of
their members would feel represented.
Origins 5
The personal pages provided learning materials and new tricks, but forums
allowed communities to grow together. It was during this time that most
of the aspects of modern pen spinning originated: pen modifications,
collaboration and solo videos, freestyles and planned combos, tournaments,
gatherings, as well as technical and aesthetical values about combos (exe-
cution, difficulty, creativity...). With the advent of video sharing websites
like YouTube, there was no need to use notation to develop pen spinning
anymore. After being freed from this restriction, some spinners continued
pushing notation just for the sake of understanding pen spinning better.
Since the release of the Pen Spinning Research Room, the use of bulletin
boards for pen spinning in Japan was common. On August 29, 2005, the
JapEn Board (JEB) was founded as a more organized platform for the
Japanese community. For the years to come, JEB remained as a strong
community thanks to a solid media presence, a constant influx of new members
and projects like the JapEn collaboration series, in which participation became
something for members to pursue. That same year, on the 8th of February,
2005, the French Pen Spinning Board (FPSB) was also created. FPSB
became one of the strongest boards, winning several world competitions
as well as having the most consistent yearly collaboration series outside of
JapEn. UPSB was established as the central hub for pen spinning, where
updates for international events and tournaments were posted, among other
projects. As for Korea, its history had its ups and downs. After the Pencil
Turning Cafe, another cafe called Pendolsa was created in 2003. It would gain
immense popularity thanks to a key TV appearance, but internal disputes
caused it to decline. In China, a board called PSH was created. Due to the
country’s large size, as well as strong promotion from ZhiGao and other pen
brands, it would go on to become one of the largest boards ever.
1.1.4 Social media (2016-)
In the decade of 2010, another change would occur and affect the
ways in which spinners communicated with each other. Forums and personal
websites pose a problem: they are too scattered across various domains which
makes it hard to keep up-to-date on many of them at the same time. Because
of this, social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook became
more popular options: centralizing the communications, giving easy access to
notifications and focusing on individuals.
6 Aspects of pen spinning
Throughout 2010 and for few years after, social media and forums were
both simultaneously used as popular communication options. However, as
2014 came around, inactivity in forums was becoming evident. After years of
consistent yearly World Tournaments and World Cups, 2016 was the first
year without the usual organized world event. Most Japanese spinners moved
to Twitter, leaving the forum as an announcement board for projects and
collaborations and on October 1, 2018, UPSB closed indefinitely as the
administration couldn’t cover the costs of the website anymore.
This didn’t mean that pen spinning was dead. Spinners moved to Discord,
a popular chat platform, which substituted forums; social media made pen
spinning more visible to the world and the organization of World Tournaments
and World Cups went back to normal. In 2020, the measures to contain the
COVID-19 pandemic resulted in numerous lockdowns across the world,
which brought many retired members to pick up the hobby again.
1.2 Aspects of pen spinning

Pen spinning is comprised of various aspects: several kinds of video
productions, tournaments, pen modding and notation. Often times, members
dedicate their time in only a few of those aspects but even as separate as
these sub-cultures may be, the development of them is well-connected.
1.2.1 Videos
One of the oldest types of pen spinning videos is tutorials. In the early
website days, these videos or gifs were low-resolution, heavily compressed,
containing one to two second-long single-trick demonstrations with comple-
mentary text explanations. As the infrastructure of the internet improved,
explanations and slow-motion clips were incorporated, resulting in the much
longer tutorials that we’re used to now.
At the beginning, pen spinning consisted mainly of doing tricks separately,

sometimes chaining a few tricks together, which eventually led to the discovery
of freestyles and full-length combos. Since this gave more room for the
spinners to express their identities, filming videos outside of tutorials became
more common. This would be one of the main activities of the Pencil Turning
Cafe in 2001-2003, where members uploaded their combos directly to the
forum. The concept of freestyle would then be introduced in Japan by Aysh
in 2004, through his website ペン回し資料室 (Pen Spinning reference room).
Origins 7
The combos uploaded to the cafe

were evaluated and the best were
moved into the Hall of Fame. In 2003,
spinners from the newly created Pen-
dolsa took various combos from the
Hall of Fame, compiled them and
added background music. This was
called 펜돌사 1기 대문영상 (Pendolsa
1st Daemun video), Daemun being the
name of the video uploading platform
KiRer in SPSL 7th (2010) of the cafes. Japanese spinners from
that time called it 神動画 (kami douga/god video), as it was reuploaded to a
website named that way. It was also shared in English websites, which called
it Pendolsa 1st.
Pendolsa 1st is a promo (PV): a compilation of previously released videos

from various spinners. The series continued after until the 7th, which all
included the concept of submissions and the filtering of participants. When
the compiled video contains new and unreleased combos they are called
collaboration videos (CV). The Pendolsa series set various trends that
continued throughout the history of pen spinning: the naming scheme of
1st, 2nd..., electronic music as the usual background music choice, an intro
segment and spinners’ names displayed next to their combos.
Inspired by this, other spinners organized more collaborative projects.

Among them, Japen 1st stands out. Organized by the Japanese spinner
DaReKa, it was released on December 25, 2005 and like Pendolsa 1st, became
very well known and marked the start of a renowned CV series. Japanese
spinners became known for their high quality collaboration videos, from
which we can highlight other series like SPSL. Although CVs have some
peculiarities that set them apart from other non-pen spinning videos, their
evolution is mostly defined by video editing and pen spinning trends of the
time that represented it overall.
Another type of video also emerged at the time, which contained a

compilation video of only one spinner. Using the combos uploaded to the
various Korean cafes, the Japanese spinner 342 made several unofficial solos.
From his solos the trend of writing “(Spinner name) in (Board name)” in
white text over a black background at the beginning of the video first started.
That introduction style would be continued to be used by another Japanese

spinner, AREZERT (Ponkotu). On the other hand, official solo videos (SV)
are made by the spinner themselves. The first solo released was by Darren,
better known as nhk_9, on December 18, 2003, which was uploaded to his
website The Troposphere. Later on, it would become a trend for some spinners
to upload a solo every one or two years. Notable solo series are the ones made
by Freeman from Spain and i.suk from Australia.
Even though, at the beginning, the

videos that impacted pen spinning and
those that went viral used to be the
same (Japen 1st, Pendolsa 1st, Pentrix
x Superhandz, UPSB + PDS), that
would stop being the case. From re-
cent years, we can highlight videos
like “Epic Pen Spinning” by Kuma
films (December 5, 2013) with 15M
views on YouTube, “160 TRICKS -
2 YEARS OF PEN SPINNING” by Freeman - Best of 2010
Thomasdagua (March 25, 2018) with 9.2M views on YouTube or Domo
spinning a sausage (July 22, 2020) with more than 20M combined views on
TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
1.2.2 Pens
Pen spinning used to be done with regular pens and mechanical pencils.
Even though there were some common trends among them, like being fairly
light, balanced, and having a uniform body, the particular models depended
on the country. In the US, the most common one was the Pentel RSVP,
although the Pilot G2 and Pentel Hybrid Gel Roller (HGR) were also used.
In Japan, the main products were the Pilot Dr. Grip, Tombow Playcolor,
Rushon, Pentel Sharplet and the Pilot Super Grip. Pencils were also common:
in the US the Sanford American #2 Pencil was sometimes preferred for being
heavier than others and in Japan, one with two metal caps at the ends was
popular for its length and weight.
Putting a second cap on the other end of pens like the Rushon (Japan)
or comssa (Korea) was a common modification in early years. The Canadian
spinner nhk_9 popularized the Zebra 3000*F, a double-capped version of
Origins 9
the Zebra F-3000. However, the 3000*F was already extremely rare back in
the early 2000s. Although some purists like David Weis and nhk_9 rejected
modifications and continued spinning unmodded pens, this practice became
less popular with time. Nowadays, this prejudice is mostly extinct, with some
spinners choosing unmodded pens like the Dr.Grip or Stalogy purely for
aesthetic reasons.
Pentel Sharplet (Hideaki, 1997) 3000*F (nhk_9, 2003)
As the pen spinning communities started to grow, a need for better pens
emerged. On April 28th, 2003, Kam posted an article on Pentix detailing how
to do variations of his RSVP-based modifications. The first version (v1)
consisted of a RSVP with its cap on the back, the clip cut and the inktube
reversed. The second version (v2) changed the original grip by replacing it
with the grip from a Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip (HGG), as well as attaching
the HGG’s metal tip to the front and sliding a decorative paper design into
the transparent barrel of the pen. The paper design in a modified pen was
replicated in other mods, and later became known as an insert. The Pentix
board user Nate proposed using the spare RSVP grip inside the cap so that
the pen could be more balanced and longer. Some of Nate’s own mods were
featured in a Pentix article. The MMX (Momentum MaXimum) had a G2
barrel instead of the HGG grip and was created to be optimal for spinning.
However, as its construction was considered to be too complicated, Kam
made his final design: the RSVP MX, considered to be easier to make and
more affordable. This style of single-capped modification became popular
in all countries even though the base pen (RSVP) was only available in
America. In early Pendolsa, a variant called the Jellpin MX was devised,
using MonAmi Jell·Pin for the body [26], Evergreen Curvejell for the cap
and optionally, MonAmi Jeller for the tip. In both Japan and China, mods
like the Lakubo SG (Super Grip) and the G3 Jimnie were invented, using the
Uni Lakubo and Pilot G3 as base pens to substitute the non-existent RSVP.
Eventually, Penspinstore (Pendolsa’s shop) imported RSVPs from the US,

giving Asian spinners access to the pen which made the RSVP MX one of
the most popular mods.
RSVP V1, V2 and MX (Kam, 2003) Comssa DC (Mr.LSC, circa 2003)
In Korea, the Dong-A com.ssa was a common and cheap marker. Spinning
it double-capped was common, but further modifications like removing the
inktube and adding Dong-A Anyball grips to the caps were done later. In
a 2003 gathering, a young member showed Mr.LSC an HGG tip, which
he then screwed onto the comssa caps, thus creating the metal comssa.
Mr.LSC would later start Penspinstore, where he sold these modifications
made with exclusive comssa bodies and later on, with outserts (decorative
papers affixed to the outside of the body). As more pen modification took
place, the gate-keeping around what was considered or wasn’t considered a
valid pen for spinning continued, as Kam said to Mr.LSC that “The comssa
is a stick, not a pen”. However, they would end up trading pens later.
Explaining the Dr.KT name and its parts Bonkura showing the Dr.M&M
in the Japanese TV (RYO, Jun 2006) he used in WT07 (Bonkura, 2007)
Origins 11
We have seen the origins of double- and single-capped mods, but we

shouldn’t forget about center-connected mods. The first one was the Vortex,
which was sold by Pendolsa and used two cut RSVPs to make a symmetrical
body on which comssa caps and anyball grips were added. Other versions
would be made with different pens and without the comssa caps, like the
G2-vortex in FPSB, made by connecting two Pilot G2 pens.
During the first half of 2006, RYO created a mod which he called the
Dr.KT, as the tips were from Dr.Grip and the body from a marker called
KeyTyo. He later appeared on Japanese TV demonstrating his pen spinning
skills and explained how he made his new mod. Thanks to it being significantly
heavier than mods made prior, the TV appearance and the use of it by a
popular spinner named Bonkura, who used it in World Tournament 2007, the
Dr. KT became very famous all around the world. Many variations became
common: using Miffy & Melanie markers for the body (Dr.M&M), using
Dr Grip grips instead of Sailor Gel or using Color Twin instead of Keytyo
(Dr.CT) to have more color choices. Two other well known modifications
from that time were made in France: the Grip Aviaire by Banz, published
in August 12th, 2006 and the Waterfall mod.
Buster CYL (Peem, Oct 2008) VGG emboss (VicGotGame, Jun 2010)
At this point, spinners began to understand that longer and heavier pens
were very helpful for performing difficult tricks. This was taken to the next
level by Spinnerpeem on October 21, 2008, when he designed the Buster
CYL. As it used Crayola Supertips for its body, it was longer than the Dr.
KT, and due to the Zebra Airfit tips, it was also heavier. Aesthetically, the
completely white makeup of the mod gave off the impression that it was even
bigger when spun. The Buster helped Peem win the World Tournament of
2009, with many spinners opposing these modifications, as they thought that
his tricks couldn’t be performed without very heavy pens like his.
Two years later, on June 19, 2010, VicGotGame from UPSB created the
VGG Emboss mod. The Japanese spinner Kirbo had already made a mod
with an Emboss, which was a pen considerably thicker than the Supertips
or Keytyo. However, VicGotGame extended the body and used airfit tips to
make the pen heavier and longer than any mod before it. This was the first
of many popular heavy emboss-based mods, which due to their weight and
design were especially apt for tournaments and hard tricks. The trend would
be pushed even further by A13X with his Giotto bullet mod.
The single-capped style of modding was also perfected. Around 2006

and 2007, Japanese spinners started making their own personal G3-based
mods, sometimes also publishing tutorials on their personal blogs. Some of
the first were the ones made by kuzu, seven, key3 and coulomb, all inspired
by the original G3 Jimnie mod. In 2008, the German spinner F1r3fly made
his personal G3, which was very popular in UPSB at the time.
Syrti G3 (Syrti, May 2010) Trinity mod (James, Jul 2012)
In 2009, 2011 and 2013, a Pen Modding World Tournament was

organized. This series of world events was born from a notion that was
starting to appear in pen modding: creating designs as an art form, rather
than purely for their spinning performance. Competitors created complex
mods, some with patterned gripcuts, additional functionality, and intricate
designs. As time passed, people became more aware of the presentation of
their pens and became to focus on photography and photo editing when
showing their work. From this point onwards we can distinguish three main
aspects of pen modding: spinning performance (heavy tournament mods),
spinning effect (mostly single-capped mods and un-modded pens, but also
some double-capped mods) and aesthetic purposes (featuring intricate designs,
or very clean grip cuts that aren’t fully seen while spinning).
Origins 13
PEN’Z GEAR (2008) PENMAWASHI (2008)
As the popularity of pen spinning increased, factory-made mods were

designed and commercialized. The first three models were all made in 2008:
the PEN’Z GEAR by Takaratomy in collaboration with the Japanese Pen
Spinning Foundation; the Spinz Axis, Spinz Zero and Spinz Ronin (2008),
made by Pentech; and the PENMAWASHI (2008), made by Megahouse in
collaboration with Hideaki. Years later, Pendolsa started manufacturing the
Spinsticks (2013) and PSH did the same with MG-Zero (2013), Wonderpen
(2014) and Spinpro (2016). Companies like ZhiGao, ZhiWu/Finger Dance
and Nope keep making and commercializing new designs to this day.
Additionally, the Chinese spinner Eno worked towards creating parts

specifically for pen spinning. Although often called the pejorative-sounding
name “fake parts”, most of the community is grateful for their existence as
they allowed for customized materials, shapes, and colors at reduced prices.
Due to collection purposes as well as slight differences in weight and sizes,
online shops who have sold factory-made parts under the guise of original
parts have received huge backlashes from the pen spinning community.
As time goes on, some pens are discontinued and become rare. Man-
ufacturing them again, for the sole purpose of pen spinning, is often not
cost efficient, as the molds and dies for them require an immense amount of
production to be economical. However, Eno has made his own versions of pen
parts like the Reynolds 094 cap (the one used in the Waterfall mod), Vega
gel tip or Penzgear rings, all of which come from discontinued pens. Some
spinners have also been able to contact the original producers, like Vore-Tex
did with Beifa grips. Regardless, there is an avid group of pen collectors
who try to hunt rare and expensive pens like the 3000*F, Pendolsa comssa
versions v1-v5 (only 500 exist of the v1), Bonkura penzgear (only 500 exist),
commemorative RSVPs (of PSAJ, UPSB, UCPSB, FPSB, JapEn), Aqua

comssa, RSVP Moonz and many more.
Japen 4th G3, Bonkura PEN’Z GEAR and

PenDolSa Comssa v1 to v5 (photo: Banz)
two PSAJ RSVP (photo: Crasher)
1.2.3 Language
In order to discuss pen spinning efficiently via text or voice, new termi-
nology had to be developed. We have already seen how important this
was in the early 2000s, as data rates were incredibly restrictive so videos
and photos were few and very compressed. Each community developed its
own way to precisely write down and describe tricks and concepts, which got
more complex as pen spinning developed.
In the timeline of early websites, we saw the origins of some terms
commonly used today. Most of the time, websites conserved the names
given to the tricks by their creators, which lets us know a bit about their
influences and relationships. For example, the Japanese trick name Gunman
was coined in 1990, in the Korokoro comic special feature, which Hideaki
then kept on using. Reverse also originated in Korokoro as Reverse Roll, a
name for the Thumbaround Reverse. It was also used that way by Hideaki,
and later extended to become a modifier and applied to many other trick
names by both Hideaki and Kam.
Thanks to this bond between technique and name, the place where
people learned these tricks often determined how they refer to them. Nowa-
days, there are three very distinct notations. Japan continued with
Hideaki’s naming. In Korea, it evolved from the names given by the Pencil
Turning Cafe. For everywhere else, which not only included English-speaking
countries, but all those in Europe, South America and the rest of Asia, the
names given by Kam in Pentix stuck around.
Origins 15
As new tricks appeared, more advanced naming systems were made.

UPSB’s Naming Committee had a great influence, defining many naming
concepts that formed what is now known as “formal notation”. The old
notation style that continued with the original rules was given the name of
“informal notation”. Improvements to this formal notation were also made
later on in FPSB’s Laboratoire and in SPSC’s Departamento de Investigación.
Since the border between the two notation styles was left intentionally unclear,
some improvements made to formal notation began to make their way into
informal notation as well. In Japan, a spinner named Sunrise introduced a big
notational improvement, although since its structure was too different than
the usual practice, it ended up being unused. In Korea, the NX lectures gave
birth to abcd notation, a small notational improvement that was successfully
adopted by the community.
Common use Precision Analysis
Informal not. Formal not. Elementary not.
English
(2000-) (2007-) (2012)
Japanese not. Sunrise’s not.
Japanese -
(1997-) (2010)
Korean not. ABCD not.
Korean -
(2001-) (2004-05)
While notational research is very important, I want to stress that the
language of pen spinning extends beyond notation. Words like mod,
body, weight distribution, linkage, powertrick, control, finger positioning,
density, structure, tech, planned combo or freestyle have meanings which are
exclusive to pen spinning. As time went on, their meanings evolved to reflect
the ideas of each era, although it can be difficult even for people who use
those terms to properly define their meanings.
1.2.4 Tournaments
While it’s fair to assume that comparisons between spinners have always
happened, tournaments, as we know them today, started to be conceived
around 2003 when freestyles and combos were made standard. It was then
that nhk_9 wrote on the Troposphere a small post about his vision for
possible tournaments, with ideas like a test-based qualification, themed
rounds, simple methods of evaluation for combos, as well as objective, record-
based rounds. But at this time, it wasn’t clear if giving numerical scores to
combos made sense.
Some of the earliest known organized battles started in UPSB v2, in 2004
and 2005. The Battle Records Committee (BRC) was established, their first
project being the UPSB official battles. Spinners could submit previously
unreleased videos during one week, following the theme of each battle. The
spinner name couldn’t be published, to avoid biases while voting. Results were
decided by the UPSB members during a 1 week-long poll. The battles started
on June 11th, 2004, and at least 10 of them occurred. Another event was called
Capture the Throne, which was announced in January 14th, 2005 [24]. It
consisted of ten rounds in which participants had to overcome the challenges
created by the BRC. For example, copying some tricks, small combos, or
even doing a trick with greater speed. In 2004, Zombo proposed an UPSL
(Universal Pen Spinning League) but it wasn’t organized. However, on July
11th, 2005, Phya announced the first UPSB tournament, which consisted
both of an overall category and various themed ones (speed, smoothness, air,
stalls, creativity and strange object spinning).
Cases and CDs of the 2005, 2007 and 2008 Pendolsa winter tournaments.
In 2005, there was another important event: the first known offline tourna-
ment. It was the first of the Pendolsa winter tournaments, for which CDs
with video recordings were sold. Other interesting formats also originated at
this time. In 2005, in UPSB v2, Rookie proposed the tack-on format [23].
After a starting trick, each participating spinner had to append a new trick
while copying what was done before until no one else could continue to add to
the chain. This format was shared in a Russian website in 2007, and tack-on
became a very popular format in Russian pen spinning communities.
Origins 17
In 2007, Zombo, who was also a member of the BRC, organized the Team
Spinning Tournament (TST). It was the first tournament to feature teams,
as well as the first one to span internationally, with 16 teams from 8 boards.
This event introduced a now common format of holding various 1 vs. 1 with
an additional 2 vs. 2 for each team battle. It was also in this year when the
first World Tournament (WT07) was organized by Crash with the help of
various other spinners. The tournament had judges chosen by the committee
and a basic point score system. Its final round was a battle royale among five
spinners, in which a Korean spinner named KTH won.
Since it was thought that pen spin-

ning wouldn’t change much from one
year to another, a team cup was or-
ganized instead of another WT. In-
spired by the format used by TST, the
World Cup 2008 (WC08) was in-
tended as a way to introduce more in-
ternational events while not becoming
repetitive. As the reputation for these
events grew, spinners now started
taking them more seriously. It was
won by the Japanese team of Aya-
tori, Key3, Saizen, kUzu, Pesp and
toro. After this, the Asian Cup 2008
(AC08) was held, which was won by
the Korean board KPSA. The live
tournament called PSTJ (Pen Spin-
ning Tournament Japan) was orga-
nized in 2008, in Tokyo, which was
Poster for WT15
sponsored by various companies, cov-
ered by the television and had more than 1000 USD in prizes. The Bic Pen
Spinning Awards were held in France, which was the first tournament to
be organized by an official pen brand.
From 2004 to 2008, the basis for how tournaments should be conducted
were formed. Individual and team tournaments in the style of WT and
WC became standard for high-level competitions, while other formats were
relegated to a more casual status. WC and WT proceeded to be held in
alternating years, pushing the boundaries of pen spinning further and further.
Chapter 3 - “International tournaments” goes into a more detailed analysis of

these events and the influences of spinners like s777, fel2fram, Spinnerpeem
and i.suk in pen spinning.
In Japan, there are two yearly

tournaments: the Naranja pen fes-
tival (NPF), which takes place in
person and the Japan Cup (JC),
which happens online. There are var-
ious yearly tournaments in France:
the FPSBT and the TD (tournoi
débutant), as well as live tournaments
in their official summer gatherings.
Lately, in China, the ZhiGao tour-
WPSAL Finals 2018 naments (renamed to WPSAL Finals
after 2018) are notable, which invite powerful spinners from abroad to par-
ticipate. From 2018, another international tournament series started: the
Pen Spinning Olympics, which features various themed categories. Fi-
nally, while not considered a tournament as no scores are given, Spinfest is
a popular international event for which every participating board releases a
collaboration video.
2 Boards and communities
Communication between individuals has been crucial to the development
of the hobby. Communities, once local and exclusive to those in the same
school, grew into country-wide or international groups with a common
language, regardless of physical distance. This change began with the first
personal web pages and fully developed with the advent of forums. The
organization of individual boards became very influential, as spinners tried
to boost their public view by winning tournaments and organizing collabs
in their name. Nowadays, with the rise of social media and the seamless
integration of automated translation software, the borders between historical
communities have almost faded completely. Here, we have shown the board
histories and accomplishments for eight regions.
2.1 Japanese
In 1997, Hideaki Kondo made the
first ever pen spinning website,
called 私のペン回しの歴史 (My His-
tory with Pen Spinning) and soon after-
wards, the bulletin board ペン回し研
究室 (Pen Spinning Research Room).
In his website, explanations and videos
of tricks were compiled and presented.
Thanks to the attention brought to the
site by traditional media, the bulletin
Detail of Hideaki Kondo’s page.
board gained traction, and thus even
more tricks were developed. While other sites appeared later, like Crasher’s
ペン回し道場 (Pen Spinning Dojo) in 2001, Hideaki’s site remained the one
with the most information. As more tricks were discovered, Hideaki decided
to create a more elaborate nomenclature based on organic chemistry, which
became the basis of the current Japanese notation system. Spinners like
Crasher opposed these changes, arguing that individual names represent the
history and originality of each trick.
From 2003-2004, there was a feeling of having exhausted all the possi-
bilities of pen spinning and so many experienced spinners, including Hideaki,
20 Japanese
either quit or reduced their activity. However, in the first half of 2004, the
Korean promo video Pendolsa 1st started being shared in Japan, appearing
on the viral video website 神動画 (Kami Douga, meaning “god video”) as
well as in some discussion threads in 2ch (2ch was a website similar in
structure to 4chan, but whose influence in Japanese society at the time was
comparable to that of TV and radio.) The 2ch spinners marked the beginning
of a revitalization, a new generation that was interested in spinners abroad
and saw the creative potential of the hobby.
On February 2, 2004, Aysh launched a website called ペン回し資料室 (Pen

Spinning Reference Room), in which fresh concepts from overseas like freestyle
and wipers were introduced. Also that year, DaReKa opened ペン回しの惑
星 (Pen Spinning Planet). Aysh, in collaboration with PenstudioZ made a
CV called “The Asia Pen Spinning Presentation”. Thanks to the influence
of UPSB and Pendolsa, spinners from 2ch opened the JapEn Board in
August 2005, with okkar as its admin. Bulletin boards would continue to be
used throughout these years, both because of the large user-base of the Pen
Spinning Research Room, as well the anonymity they provided.
On August 2005, ps-728 was in-

spired by Pendolsa 1st and released the
“2ch Pen Spinning PV”, later known as
PSN 1st. DaReKa organized the first of-
ficial board collaboration: JapEn 1st,
which was released the 25th of Decem-
ber of 2005. Although these two in-
fluential series started this year, the
overall number of CVs organized was
still low. From 2006 onwards, this num-
Bonkura in PSN 2nd ber increased substantially, from which
we can highlight WLPS 1st and 2nd. Bonkura became well known after his
appearance in PSN 2nd (May 2006) thanks to his unique style and novel
combo structure. This would attract people’s attention, with both positive
and negative evaluations. In January 2007, the first SPSL (Scissor’s Pen
Spinning Laboratory) CV was released. It would be the start of one of the
longest collaboration series, with 17 entries, the last one released in 2020.
The first オフ会 (short for offline meeting) was held in Kanto in October
2005. Spinners then began to film videos during them, some becoming well
known series like Tokyo Off, おｐオフ and Sendai Off.
Boards and communities 21
Pen spinning has had a strong presence in Japanese television. Even

before 2001, Hideaki had already appeared in several TV programs. From
2003 to 2007, not only Hideaki but also other spinners like Aysh, Crasher,
Bonkura, DaReKa, RYO and awawa appeared at least 20 times in total. This
contributed to the popularity of the hobby in the country to the point at
which a lot of the young population knows what pen spinning is, and that
Dr.Grip is a pen commonly used for it.
In July 2007, the Pen Spinning Association Japan (PSAJ) was

established to promote pen spinning. Several projects were put into motion,
which were completed towards the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008. In
collaboration with the toy company Takaratomy, they released a factory-made
mod, the PEN’Z GEAR. They wrote a book with pen spinning tutorials
(ペンスピニングーペン回しをはじめようー, Penspinning, Let’s learn Pen
Spinning!) and also sold a CD with more in-depth guides and videos (ペン
回し王, The King of Pen Spinning).
On September 13, 2007, a tragedy struck the community. The highly

respected member and vice chairman of the PSAJ, Bonkura, passed away at
21 years old due to a heart failure. In his memory, events were held and tribute
videos made. The community was still incredibly active, but this tragic event
slowly took its emotional toll on it. The JEB organization changed, thus
opening a v2 on February 3, 2008.
As for tournaments, the first one

was in 2007, called the JEB tourna-
ment. The next year it was renamed
to JapEn Cup (2008) and later on,
to Japan Cup, which has been held
annually ever since. The PSAJ orga-
nized one of the biggest tournaments in
history: the Pen Spinning Tourna-
ment Japan 2008 (PSTJ). A total
of 173 participants sent videos through
the forum, from which the best 16 were kUzu and SEVEN in the PSTJ (2008)
selected and given paid tickets to the offline finals in Tokyo, which were cov-
ered on television. Sponsored by Takaratomy, Pentel, and Pony Canyon, the
prizes were a PSP for third place, an Xbox 360 for second place and 100.000
JPY (~1000 USD) for the winner, which were Zunda, Key3, and SEVEN
22 Japanese
respectively. 500 units of a limited edition PEN’Z GEAR were created in

memory of Bonkura, which were given to the participants of the tournament
and to the spectators of the live finals. Also during this year, the team
consisting of Ayatori, Key3, Saizen, kUzu, Pesp and toro won WC08.
Since the incident, the PSAJ kept working, but their activity started to
dwindle. They commissioned a manga to Iso Naoki, called “Pen Spinning
Legend, Spinner King Tsubasa”, which used a PEN’Z GEAR as his main
mod. One of their last contributions was in July 2009, as they collaborated in
the organization of the Naranja Pen Spinning Festival, intended as a sucessor
to the 2008 national convention. Even without the PSAJ, the Naranja Pen
Spinning Festival kept being organized, each year in a different location.
The period from 2008 to 2010 was
an all-time high in terms of number
and quality of collaboration videos.
This was the prime for SPSL and
the outset of other series like Skyper,
ZUNDA, vacation, POTATO, Pearls,
Deryck and 0+. The activity remained
fairly consistent in the following years.
Joshin made Talentica in 2012, after
which he continued making various cre-
Monatyo in JapEn 7th ative and distinctive CVs. Friendly 1st
by kznk was released in 2013 and is the longest CV to this day, with 123
participants. From 2013 to 2014, Noel made three instalments of his personal
CV series, as well as Nacht-Vision. TMrW was one of the most prolific editors,
making TMrW 1st and 2nd, the Tethnic series, and 1993CV, among others.
Two JapEn CV’s from this period rose above the rest in terms of popularity:
JapEn 7th, edited by Lotus and Omoa, with 360k views, and JapEn 10th,
edited by TMrW, with 180k views. During JapEn 10th, the Spinning of
the Year (SoY) winners were also announced. The categories depend on the
year, but the idea is that the best spinners, combos, and/or collabs within
the board are chosen via a public poll.
In late 2010, a pen spinning circle in Keio University called the 慶應ペ
ン回し研究会 (Keio Penspinning Society) was created. While enrolled
in the university, Miyusu was in charge of this group. Various promotional
videos for the circle were created. In particular, the 2014 promo video with
Kay and Menowa* became viral and reached 140k views on YouTube.
One of the first teams formed in Japan was Evolving Spinners (ES).
Their first, relatively unknown project was two videos (うｐ祭りCV) in 2006.
Two years later, they would start the Saz’ect series. New Generation (NG)
is another team worth mentioning. Since NG1st in 2009, they have made
numerous collabs, the last one being NG6th in 2020. MG+ selected their
members in 2014, and have continued up to MG+ 5th in 2021. In 2016,
the team Sephirot was formed. Led by VAIN, they’ve produced Sephirot,
Sœphistication and omachi-kudasai, as well as 5 episodes of a podcast.
In 2015, the first PSA cup was held. In this event, teams could register
and submit their own collaborations, after which the best ones were selected
by public voting. In this first edition, teams like NG, Lovetrap and Jaunty
Fool participated. The event has also been held in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
JEB also had a very strong interna-
tional tournament presence, winning
four consecutive World Tourna-
ments and World Cups. Sutomo won
WT13 and ctionist finished in the top
4. The team consisting of ACT, HAL,
Kay, Menowa*, mi and oZone won
WC14. In WT15, Menowa* took the
trophy and Ease, a Dr Grip spinner,
finished in the top 8. The 2017 PWT
was won by Beige. Ease in WT15 R4 (2015)
There were various problems with the forum server which the busy admin-
istration couldn’t take care of. Ease was already a respected spinner but he
wasn’t an admin of the v2. After receiving the approval of the community via
a Twitter poll, he launched JEB v3 in August 10, 2016. As we have already
explained, this year marked the transition between the dominance of forums
to the prevalence of social media platforms. Ease’s idea was to keep the new
board to a minimum, as most of the communication was already happening
either via Twitter or Line. However, its functionality was eventually expanded
to replicate the features of the old website.
Because of the disorganization during this year, two JapEn project
teams were formed, which gave rise to JapEn12th “Twelve Moments” and
“LittleMemory”. All of the official board videos since then (JapEn project,
Spinning of the Year, and Spinfest, among others) have been uploaded to the
official JEB YouTube channel. In 2017, the Japanese Pen Spinning Foun-
24 Japanese
dation (JPSF) was founded by Iteza, Takopetty (formerly Miyusu), and

Menowa*, to continue with pen spinning’s promotion. They have organized
numerous lectures, meetings and opened their own online shop.
Two youtubers lead the promotion of the hobby nowadays: Kay and
Teruosan, with 59k and 74k subscribers respectively, both with multiple videos
surpassing a million views. In addition to them, both Ease and the JPSF
have made quite comprehensive and popular trick tutorial series. Menowa*
and Vain, as well as Laku and Iteza, have recorded their own podcasts.
Posters for 2019’s JEB spinfest entry (left) and JapEn 15th live premiere (right).
The ceiling of high-level edits steadily rose as editors like Lotus ventured
into the professional world and the tendency shifted from long series to one-off
projects. From these, we can highlight -.Lab- by Takan and Noel, Cygnus by
Drowsy, Faint Golden Time by Takan and Julia, End of the World Album
by Ippei, Stylø by Mel, and Anone by Wabi. Lotus has been in charge of
edits like 0+ the final, JEB Spinfest 2019 and Dance Above the Floor. Other
great editors to mention are Lagoon, who made 春風 and Fanfare!; as well as
Amausa, who was in charge of editing JEB Spinfest 2021.
JapEn 15th stands out thanks to its promotion, planification and filming.
Its production team consisted of 9 spinners. In addition to the custom BGM
and merch, it had elaborate guest performances like those of Menowa*, Kay,
and Ocha. The premiere was done live in a cinema, together with that year’s
Spinning of the Year announcement [11][12].
2.2 Korean
In 2001, the 연필돌리기까페 (Pencil Turning Cafe) opened. The name
of the cafe, “pamspin”, is a word play with 팸 (pam), short for “team” or
“family”, as the forum was organized into various teams of spinners (like the
ones called BC, Se, ND, VS and RF). Compared to other boards and their
emphasis on innovation, Korean spinners paid careful attention to imitation.
Tricks from overseas were shared and the most proficient combos were shown
in the Hall of Fame, which featured spinners like Mr.Sundenglee and Bukpa.
In 2003, the forum called 펜돌

사 (PenDolSa) was created. The
name, given by Mr. LSC (also known
as Mr.Sundenglee or Jushin), means
“people who spin the pen”, which was a
fashionable use of abbreviations at the
time. Combos from the Pencil Turn-
ing Cafe’s Hall of Fame from 2002
were compiled in the would-be viral
video “PenDolSa 1st”, which ended
up shaping the world of pen spinning
going forward. This kind of compila- 두부 in PenDolSa 1st (c. 2003)
tion was new, so at the end of the video they included an apology message
which translates to "It’s a bit long, but thank you for watching to the end.
I’m sorry for making this video without getting permission from the people
who recorded them."
While it didn’t directly increase the number of members by itself, Pendolsa

1st attracted the attention of TV producers, which held great influence at
the time. In August of 2003, Korean spinners appeared in the program called
TV 특종 놀라운 세상 (TV special amazing world) by the MBC. After
its airing, the number of members of the cafe went from 3000 to 100000
within a month. This new surge in popularity meant that a new member rank
system was needed. Post permissions in the cafe were split based on these
ranks. Unofficially, there was also distinction among the members, where
those from before the aired TV special, like the cast of Pendolsa 1st, were
treated like legends.
Some notable members from these early days are zlzlzb, GPC, and Two
Tempers man. The PenDolSa series was continued, now exclusively via combo
26 Korean
submissions. A joint collab with UPSB was made: UPSB + Pendolsa.

Exchanges with overseas spinners had been rare up until now, due to language
barriers and slow site speeds. Between 2004 and 2005, Jushin, 원빈택MA,
and zlzlzb among others produced the “NX lectures” (NX is an acronym
for New eXperiences), a series of posts, meetings and video tutorials which
covered NX-style courses and abcd notation.
Pendolsa also had a pen store: Pen-

spinstore, which was well known be-
cause of its unique versions of comssa.
Mr. LSC, who owned both the store
and forum, heavily promoted it in the
cafe, which wasn’t to the liking of most
members. Because of this, on August
28, 2005, there was a major attack in
which a hacker transferred the admin
role from Mr. LSC to his own account,
A video commemorating the NX lectures. removed the admin permissions of the
other members, and wrote offensive messages to Mr. LSC. This would later be
solved and order would be partially restored, but the general dissatisfaction
wouldn’t end.
Some interesting projects from this era are the 2007 book (ペン回し魂,
Pen Spinning Soul), and also the CDs from the Korean winter tournaments
from 2005 to 2008. Interestingly, the book was written in Japanese and sold
in Japan. Spinners like Nagi, Choochun, Cheukii, KTH, Vision, Nanna and
Taeryong were very relevant, as well as the Sangkm CV series.
In February 2006, there were some disagreements among the admins of

Pendolsa, which lead to the birth of UKPS (United Korea Pen Spinner),
later known as KPSA (Korean Pen Spinning Association). Most expe-
rienced spinners moved from Pendolsa to KPSA, although both communities
remained active. Although KTH (Pendolsa) won WT07, most international
achievements were claimed by KPSA, so many oblivious foreigners believed
that Pendolsa remained only a shop.
KPSA’s results in WC08 were poor, but the Korean team won the Asian
Cup 08 and Taeryong (KPSA) advanced to WT09’s top 8. From this era (2008-
2011), spinners like Nia, Crew, ZzaJae and Skydigital became well-known, as
well as the Skydigital CV series. The success of KPSA was unexpected, as it

remained active in parallel to Pendolsa. However, from 2011 onwards, there
was a great decline in the activity of both boards due to their members
entering university or enlisting in mandatory military service.
From 2011 to 2016, the Naver Pendolsa forum was used, from which we
can highlight FLow (formerly known as Kipple), Tez, Kune and the Pendolsa
X UPSB collab. In 2016, still unsatisfied with the direction of Pendolsa, a
group of spinners lead by FLow moved to a private Google Plus group, which
later became KIPS (Korean Institute for Pen Spinning). From KIPS,
the spinners Fizz, FlaSh, Naru and Plum are to be mentioned, as well as
the G_Code series. In the present-day, reminiscent of the old NX lectures,
FLow can be found making trick tutorials on his Youtube channel as well as
improving the Korean naming system [5][6][7].
2.3 English
The first pen spinning website in English appeared in 1998: it was the
translation of Hideaki Kondo’s “My History with Pen Spinning”. Not
all of the content was translated and unlike its Japanese counterpart, there
was no bulletin board, which made it less engaging. However, it was a very
valuable resource thanks to the number of short videos and trick explanations.
There are two key personalities

who shaped the development of the
English community. The first one is
David Weis, a spinner from Austin,
Texas, who started practicing around
1991. At that time there was no World
Wide Web and thus no websites, so he
only spun with his friends at school.
It wasn’t until 1997 when he found
Hideaki Kondo’s site, with whom he
started talking by mail [20]. Weis doing continuous half-taps (1998)
Until now, pen spinning was focused on individual tricks, which were
always pushed by the fingers. Inspired by his other passion, BMX, he tried
to implement the idea of conservation of momentum by linking tricks
into combos and creating continuous sequences. He tried to explain his vision
28 English
to Hideaki, but he didn’t understand, so in 1998 Weis became inspired to

launch his own site: Pencil Spinning. It stayed online for a few months
until the domain expired.
The second key personality is Kam, also known as Fernando Kuo, a

Chinese-American spinner who started practicing in 1993. Four years later,
together with some school friends, they created a pen spinning club. After
an annoyed teacher asked them if they spun pens because they had tics in
their hands, they decided to name the club Pentix. The club had about 6
members and it didn’t last more than a few weeks.
A year later, the World Wide Web

was becoming more popular, so Kam’s
interest in pen spinning was rekindled.
He visited Weis’ website frequently and
he had even backed it up, so after
it went down, they exchanged some
emails and were able to put it back
online. He also knew about Hideaki’s
website, but Kam wanted something
more didactic, with more in depth ex-
Kam doing a Neosonic for Pentix (2001) planations. Together with Eiji, a for-
mer Pentix club member, they decided to create their own website: Pentix
- The Art of Pen Spinning, which opened in January 2000. By the end
of 2001, the word about Pentix was spreading over the internet, constantly
exceeding the bandwidth offered by Geocities, their first host, as well as
ModenStudios, their second host. It was even nominated for “Hot Site of
the Day” by USAToday.com. There were other projects alongside the text
tutorials and videos for various tricks: as no standard naming convention
had been set, in June 2002 Kam created the trick names table, comparing
notations from six websites. Two months later he created a suggested trick
learning order chart [169].
In 2001, the Pentix users section was created. Spinners from all around
the world could list their name, hobbies and location, so other nearby spinners
could interact with them. As it wasn’t very effective in that regard, on
June 18, 2002, the Pentix board was created. Eventually, a moderation
team consisting of AC, nhk_9, tohlz and Zombo was formed. The improved
communication between spinners led to many new projects, a comprehensive
pen spinning guide called “The Guide” being the most notable among them.
Their proponents were quickly overwhelmed, so Kam built upon their initial
ideas and published them in the article “Types of Spins”.
Several personal sites were created:

in 2002 De’vo launched Superhandz,
which focused on making well pro-
duced videos on XCM and pen spin-
ning among other manipulation arts.
In August 2002 the Singaporean spin-
ner Tohlz started his own project, Pen-
studioZ. Over three years, a total of
128 videos on individual tricks and
short combos were compiled, which
made PenstudioZ the most complete Kam in 2003 Superhandz PS video.
site for learning new tricks. In August 2003, nhk_9 made The Troposphere,
where he also taught tricks of his own creation. The same year, Kam created
Pentrix - Pen Spinning Revolution. It was planned as an upgraded
version of Pentix, with more tricks and higher quality videos. However, due
to a lack of time, that was never realized. Due to popular demand, Kam
hosted a backup of Pentix in the new site, which is what most spinners ended
up visiting. Kam and De’Vo filmed the 2003 Superhandz PS Video which
became as famous as other legendary ones like Pendolsa 1st or Japen 1st.
Kam wished to create a hub

for all spinners in English, orga-
nized independently from any web-
site but with moderators from all
of them so that everyone could
feel welcome and represented. This
Universal Pen Spinning Board
(first shortened as UB, later as
UPSB) was announced and started to
be built in www.pentrix.com/upsb2/,
with /upsb/ just showing the an- Zombo in UPSB + Pendolsa.
nouncement message. After its release, he continued using the /upsb2/ URL,
which is why many consider the Pentix board as UPSB v1. From 2004 on-
wards, UPSB’s activity increased and spinners like Tohlz, Zombo, nhk_9 and
kelvinchan appeared in the “UPSB + Pendolsa Collaboration Video”.
30 English
Many committees were formed during the v2 era. One of those was the
Kammys Awards Committee. These were some pen spinning awards to
commemorate UPSB’s first year anniversary, proposed by Phya on January
13, 2005. Additionally, the Battle Records Committee (BRC), the Pen
Spinning Naming Committee (NC), the Pen Spinning History Commit-
tee (PSHC), The Trick Guide Project Committee, and the Records Approval
Committee (RAC) were formed.
UPSB v2 closed in October 2005 due to the lack of moderation and

problems with the forum software. As the opening of v3 was severely delayed,
the former UPSB member Nigel decided to create UCPSB (Uber Cool
Pen Spinning Board). It was intended to be provisional so it was scarce
in features. In January 2006, thanks to growing interest from the community
and the addition of Zombo to the moderator team, UCPSB v2 opened. Later
that year it was renamed “UCPSB: the Collective Pen Spinning Board”,
making the acronym recursive and giving a more serious look. As UCPSB’s
popularity continued to grow, projects like the Naming Committee and the
History Department resumed their activity.
UCPSB v2’s poor search engine mo-

tivated the community leaders to create
a new site, which became UPSB v3 in
September 2007. This was a prolific era
for the community: Crash organized the
first WT, in which Eriror finished in sec-
ond place. For the following years, UPSB
would be in charge of the organization
of WT and WC events. In 2009, Near
and Tek organized the first Pen Modding
World Tournament. UPSB-only tourna-
ments, which had started in the v2, contin-
ued to be organized. Shoeman and KTrinh
started their Youtube tutorial channels and
Zombo started a podcast, where personal-
The cover of Fingerless magazine #3 ities like Kam and David Weis were inter-
viewed. Three issues of a short UPSB magazine, “Fingerless”, were also

made. UPSB 1st and 2nd were organized; iconic members of the community
like vicgotgame, Baaron, ChauTran, Ellusion67, shadow, Pen Ninja, awesome,
neoknux, nachoaddict, iColor, and zkhan started spinning around this time.
The Research Department (RD) was created, with the Naming Com-
mittee and the History Committee embedded within. It was during the v3
that the Naming Committee was the most impactful, thanks to the influence
of the UPSB wiki, which was open for everyone to read and was the main
outlet for the Naming Committee articles. Members like Sketching and Mats
went to great lengths to ensure that proposed notational changes were similar
and compatible with what was already being used, so most changes were
adopted by the general public.
The forum software was prone to SQL injections and other vulnerabilities.
An attack forced the community to move to a v4 in June 2010, which featured
a brand new premium membership to help cover its operating costs. The
WT, WC and UPSB Tournaments were still organized as usual, and a team
composed of Eriror, Hippo2626, i.suk, neoknux_009, Pen Ninja and Twine
reached second place in WC12. More casual events were also held: Reason
started MX Monday, where spinners would post a combo every Monday
with an MX. Zkhan ran podcasts covering the WT and WC, tentcell &
theaafg organized a radio show, and HobbyLogics started a talkshow. v4
is warmly remembered thanks to its shoutbox feature and its integration
with Tinychat, a video meeting service where both new and old spinners
spun together while chatting. Tek, mainly known for his innovative modding,
released the popular collab Weapon of Choice in 2012.
Baaron in Weapon of Choice
After a hacking attempt on September 16, 2014, which forced Zombo

to roll back the server, a v5 was needed, which opened in December 2014.
Events were held like usual, although now other members like Zkhan took
care of their organization. Having spun for a long time, i.suk, Padrace, and
coffeelucky had impressive achievements during these years. As for CVs, the
32 English
Pixel and Coffeelucky series are of note. As time passed, the donations dwin-
dled and the administration couldn’t keep up with the on-going server costs,
which led to its final closure on October
1, 2018. This led to its members moving
to other platforms: the activity in the pen
spinning subreddit increased and some oth-
ers moved to Mango’s Pen Spinning Dis-
cord Server, which had been created while
the UPSB was still active. The organiza-
tion of international events was now car-
ried by the members of the Pen spinning
Board Of Directors (PBOD) Discord
server. Hobby created another server called
The Workshop on December 10, 2018,
and was released to the public on March
26, 2019. It wasn’t intended as a substitute
for UPSB, but it became one of the main
platforms for international spinners to com-
municate. To honour the board’s legacy, the
Poster for UPSB 4th by DioBrando.
four bots on that server (Rhythm, Dyno,
Mee6, and Carl) were renamed to Eso, Kam, nhk_9, and David Weis. After
a failed attempt years prior, in 2021, UPSB 4th was released. In the words
of v3’s member ShonenBatman:
“[The UPSB] represents what was once our home, our birthplace, and
really when the internet was in an infancy compared to the massive flow and
access to information we all have now. Logging into the forum and chatting
in the shoutbox, browsing the show off your pens thread, keeping up with cvs
and solos— it was a lifestyle man. Getting home from school, typing upsb.info
into firefox just to continue to spin more and more after spinning in class all
day. [...] UPSB is a big, definitive chunk of my life” (ShonenBatman, 2021)
In 2020, a new version of the UPSB forum was released by Arteq. The
staff was completely different from that of UPSB v5 and it didn’t even reach
the point of having active members. Old-timers like Tigres expressed their
doubts about the viability of a new UPSB forum at all. In the end, the
structure of the modern international community is completely different
from the monolythic forum that existed back then, but for many, UPSB keeps
on living as the abstract project that joins all of the different communities
together [15][17][27].
2.4 French
On January 1, 2005, a French Super Smash Bros player called Radek was
browsing unusual videos on the internet when he stumbled upon Pendolsa
1st. Impressed by it, he posted a link to both the CV and Pentix to the
forum which he used to talk to other Smash players: the Cube forum. The
topic became very popular and the number of threads related to pen spinning
rapidly increased. In order not to encumber that platform, Radek created
the French Pen Spinning Board (FPSB) on February 8, 2005 and asked
the moderators of the Cube Forum to lock all pen spinning threads.
Unknown to Radek, another French website had already been made in

2003 by the Canadian spinners Réda, Simon and Stefan: Xtend Spin. They
had created their own short videos and explanations for many of the tricks
shown on PenstudioZ, the Troposphere and UPSB v2. Xtend Spin also had a
small forum where advice was shared on how to do these tricks. Radek got to
know about this website after announcing the his forum on UPSB. In turn,
the Xtend Spin members joined the FPSB.
At this moment, less than 50 mem-

bers had registered to the forum, but
it was a thriving community. Four of
those members, A_Qui, Scelus, Ska-
tox and Sorez, on April 21, 2005,
formed the team SpowasH and cre-
ated a blog for it. About a month later,
Tourneffaceur made his personal
website, for which he made several
trick tutorials. Thanks to their proac-
tivity, Tourneffaceur and the SpowasH Radek in FPSB: The Beginning (2005)
members became the leaders of the French penspinning scene. In the
following years the SpowasH blog reached millions of views and in honour
of Tourneffaceur, the Tourni awards were created, which were the French
equivalent of the Kammy’s.
Radek, Romain HXC and Tourneffaceur were the webmasters of the v1. On
August 4, 2005, the first collaboration was released, FPSB: The Beginning,
in which we can see some of the members of Spowash, Tourneffaceur, Radek,
and Joanna Dark, among others. In late 2005, FPSB v1 was hacked, so a
34 French
temporary board was created while Radek prepared what would become the
FPSB v2. During this time, Fratleym was in charge of several big projects:
FPSB Hall of Honor, FPSB+UKPS, and FPSB 2: the next step.
The v2 opened in March 22, 2006, with the members of Spowash in

command. Tikle, Gollumsk8, Gunnies, Lanfear, Kirgo, and Sandaime also
joined the moderation team in the following years. The first FPSB tour-
nament (FPSBT) was held, which was won by A_Qui. The board was
becoming bigger, with 350 users in August 2006. Inspired by FPSB+UKPS,
a flurry of inter-board CVs were released during the second half of 2006
and 2007: once with GPC, PDS, Penzone, and SweSpin, and three times with
JEB. In 2006 Tourneffaceur and Fratleym opened a board called EuRaPen:
The European Re-Arised PenSpinners, as there were quarrels between them
and some members of the UCPSB. However, the forum didn’t stay online for
very long due to disagreements within the staff.
The tutorials found in Xtend Spin were very up to date for the time, with
tricks like shadow being explained just a few months after being discovered
in the UPSB. However, the available resources started to fall behind during
the next two years. Thus, Tikle made some efforts in the vulgarisation
of breakdowns and notation, as well as the promotion of the new tricks
discovered in the English communities. These efforts culminated in a great
trick list, made between 2006 and 2008 by DaftSystem among others [173].
2007 was a key year for the de-

velopment of French pen spinning.
The Laboratoire was formed, a
group similar to UPSB’s RD. Ska-
tox was one of its main driving
forces and Zombo was very ac-
tive as well. Fratleym and Banz
reached the finals of WT07, with
Banz’s R1 combo being particu-
larly impressive for the time. Three
Members of the 1st FPSB official meet. traditions started here: although
there was no regular FPSBT, the first FPSB Beginner Tournament was
organized, which was won by Nemz in a final vs Sweety. Spowash organized
the first official FPSB gathering. Finally, the first CV of the Hope series
was created, in which we can see s777 who had just recently started spinning.
A notable event was held in Paris in

2008. It was the first tournament orga-
nized by a pen brand: the Bic Pen
Spinning Awards. Spinners from
all over Europe flew to participate
in it. It had Eriror, Skatox, Scelus,
and Alucard as judges; Pudels Kern,
Cookieslover, Gold angel, Twim, and
Badzdu as finalists. In the end, the Ger-
man Pudels Kern won the tournament,
earning a 10 day long trip to Japan. Finals of the Bic PS Awards.
The forum kept on growing, reaching 3800 registered members towards the
end of 2008. This year’s official collaboration, FPSB 3rd, as well as the
unofficial France 1st had a great reception on YouTube.
Picool and Badtzu created penspinning.fr in 2009, its main portal

showing various guides, videos, trick and pen modding tutorials. The videos
were uploaded to their official YouTube channel, thanks to which they could
reach an even larger audience. After the v2 was hacked, a new FPSB had
to be created. Thus, the v3 was hosted under the penspinning.fr domain
with Picool and Tikle as administrators. An important CV from this time is
FPSB+GPC. Some minor boards were created: Raeik, inspired by JEB private
boards, created aVoid. The forum had about 15 members and remained
online for less than a year. Their first CV, “Rose Quartz”, was edited by
s777. After the release of this video, Flagadoss among other spinners created
UFSC: United French Spinners Community, from which FPSB mods and
s777 were forbidden to enter.
s777 was in charge of the organization of FPSB 4th. Although it was

well received by the international community, it was very controversial within
FPSB due to the edit, music, cast, and overall because of the mediocre
organization. s777 was mocked for setting up everything just to highlight his
combo, which he believed was incredibly ambitious.
As for competitions, the French teams didn’t have top finishes in ei-
ther WC08 nor WC10, but Fratleym reached the quarterfinals of WT09.
Within the board, the beginner tournament still happened yearly and in 2010
the organization of the official FPSB tournament was restarted, won by
Gollumsk8.
36 French
One important team was Jamabe, comprised of Yaemgo, Nix, Sheepside,

Leftfinger, fel2fram, daimo, chozo, kinger, hexbinmos & Gisele_8, most
active from 2010 to 2013. Following the trajectory of spinners like Fratleym,
Pyralux, Lindor, kirgo and chronos, many new tricks were developed, like the
8 powerpass variations. They consolidated the ideas of modern tech: great
focus on innovation and on trying to raise difficulty via how tricks are linked
instead of raising the difficulty of individual tricks. This came at the cost
of disregarding both sides of the “Style vs Power” debate, which resulted in
quarrels with any spinner that didn’t share their values. Be that as it may,
fel2fram won the FPSBT in 2011 and 2012, consolidating their views
on pen spinning and spreading them internationally. FPSB experienced a
period of competitive dominance: s777 won WT11 and A13X finished in
the top 8. The joint French and Belgian team won WC12 and in WT13, half
of the top 8 was composed of French-speaking spinners: fel2fram, Leftfinger,
Ivabra and A13X. For more details check Chapter 3.
A13x at the Pen Spinning World Tournament 2013 : 2nd Place
As for CVs, Seindfu and Skyblue made Just a Dream. Near edited
FunSpinning and Smile - a penspinning hint, pioneering the direction
of pen spinning videos shot outside. Yaemgo and Neptune made FPSB
Echoes, which narrates the history of the board.
Up until now, Belgian spinners had gathered separately. On December

27, 2006, Trademark, Yogui, and WestMyst created BPST: the Belgian Pen
Spinning Team. They filmed BPST 1st (2007) as well as another CV together
with FPSB, GPC and PPP. On March 2008, they thought about creating a
forum that supported the three official languages in Belgium: Dutch, French
& German, although that wasn’t realized until October-November 2008. This
new board was BPSC: the Belgian Pen Spinning Community. They made
videos like FPSB x BPSC, the BPSC promo, BPSC 2nd and BPSC 3rd.
The Belgian team of Ivabra, Littleboy, Gisele 8, knuckles, kr4zy, and voltaic
finished second in WC10. Towards 2011 the board was becoming less and
less active so the administrators at the time, Twim, Knuckles, Aka, Gisele
8, Ivabra, Katix and Neslux decided to make the last official video: BPSC
Final. In its description, Gisele8 said that “[...] the board isn’t entertaining
anymore, for anyone. [...] [It] doesn’t mean that the website will be closed, it
is just a way to say a nice goodbye for many of us, proudly.”
In 2012, Gisele 8 appeared in

FPSB 5th; in WC12, the FPSB team
had various Belgian spinners. As close
as these two communities worked to-
gether, they wouldn’t merge definitely
just yet. Ivabra finished in the top 4 of
WT13 with BPSC and in WC14, Blue
and Ivabra teamed up with SPSC and
GPC for another 3rd-4th place finish.
It was only after these events that
FPSB and BPSC finally merged. The Gisele 8 in BPSC 3rd (2010)
acronym remained the same, but the FPSB was renamed to “French-speaking
Pen Spinning Board”.
In 2013, after some quarrels among the staff, FPSB v4 was made. Yaemgo
was in charge of the official collabs, making FPSB 6th and FPSB 7th. Around
2015-2016, with the rise of social media, activity shifted to Skype and What-
sapp groups. On May 17, 2016, the first official FPSB Discord server was
created, which was among the first pen spinning servers. After a while, the
Discord server became the main community hub, with most events being
organized there. By 2019, the FPSB v4 forum was considered inactive.
An important team of spinners during this time is the Far West, com-
posed by Tchus, tache, aaytowi2, banz, gollumsk8, seindfu, megas & dryd.
They had been organizing meetings and collabs since 2007, but it was from
2015 onwards that they started taking over the official projects, their members
either organizing or editing FPSB 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and FPSB x JEB.
The organization of FPSB 10th in particular was controversial due to the
disagreements between Far West, the old, and the new moderation teams,
but the collab is now considered by far the best of the series due to its edit,
combos, and guests. Gollumsk8, who had participated in all past editions of
the tournament, obtained great results in both WT17 and WT19.
38 French
In order to more easily manage the community and not lose all visibility on
the internet, Banz made the FPSB v5. It wasn’t intended as a replacement
for the Discord server, but nowadays it’s still one of the most active pen
spinning forums. In WC20, the team composed by Ark0nix, Gunter, Ivabra,
Tchus, Thebeygeek and Leftfinger won the event.
Nowadays, FPSB is well known
for their pen modders. Two world-
famous mods can be traced back to
the early days of the board: Banz
designed the Grip Aviaire in Au-
gust 2006, which became his signa-
ture mod. The Waterfall mod was
first made by skatox as a modifica-
tion of A_qui’s rey.as mod. In May-
June 2008, Waterfall reinvented and
popularized it. Neptune was a pio-
neer in grip cutting techniques, with
his decorative grip cutting tutorial
translated to English and still used
Neptune for PMWT (2009) to this day. Near, who was the owner
of the biggest French blog of penmodding tutorials, created a new website
in 2008: The Spyre. In 2009, Near, in collaboration with Tek (UPSB) or-
ganized the first Pen Modding World Tournament (PMWT). In 2013,
Saurkk successfully organized the second edition of the PMWT after a failed
attempt two years prior. Vore-Tex took over the management of The Spyre,
which moved to penmodding.pm in March 2019. In April 2018 he created
the International Pen Modding Community (IPMC) Discord server, whose
members have translated many tutorials to English, added them to the Spyre
and even continued with old projects like the Lost Angelus [UPSB] pen index.
After organizing it for several years, the CV called X Incipiens Stabilus
premiered in February 2020. It was edited by Near and featured 10 famous
spinners, each using mods custom-made by Vore-Tex for this project.
FPSB has a complex history. The tournament scene not only created
strong personalities like s777, A13X and fel2fram; the consistent organization
of beginner and official tournaments was a major player in keeping the board
alive even during the pre-Discord era. Old and new spinners still meet yearly
in the official gatherings. During them, a Super Smash Bros tournament
takes place, commemorating their origins in the Cube forum [28][29].
2.5 Chinese
The development, achievements and present day communities in Hong

Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China are different; because of the geopolitical
and language barriers. However, they do have some common origins, which
is what we will show before branching out to history of each of the individual
regions [30][31][32].
The first pen spinning website in Chi-
nese was created in June 6, 2003 by the
Hong Kong spinner Eddie. This website
was first called ePentix, but renamed to
Penzemi in November 2003 so as not
to be a copy of Kam’s site name. Here,
some basic pen modification tutorials
were shown, as well as text and image
tutorials for some of the tricks found on
Pentrix. Penzemi was moderately well
known, even appearing in the magazine
“PC Game 2000” in 2004, together with
The Troposphere. Penzemi on PC Game 2000, 184 (2004)
The Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms (降龍十八掌) is a martial arts

book written by the novelist Jin Yong, which was incredibly popular at
the time. In August 10, 2003, the Taiwanese spinner sula_la created a pen
spinning trick tutorial website called 降龍十八轉 . 掌 means palm and 轉
means spin, thus the name 降龍十八轉 is a word play on Jin Yong’s novel
name. The tricks were given names based on the palms from this novel. For
example, 亢龍有悔 (thumbaround) is the first palm and means “the proud
dragon repents”, 雙龍取水 (sonic) is the ninth palm and means “the twin
dragons fetch water”. This website was very well-known, attracting a lot of
new members to the world of pen spinning.
More personal websites were created in the following years, like Strong-
Penspinning (2004) and Justspin (2005). In Yahoo Taiwan, various groups
were made, as well as the Troposphere group in Yahoo Hong Kong. KiT-CaT,
who had started learning how to spin in winter of 2003 from one of Kam’s
videos, created his first website in April 10, 2004. In December 13, 2004, he
established the first forum: KiT-CaT Pen Spinning Forum (KCF) [25].
Soon after that, Penzone (PZ) was created by 2kin and Sing.
40 Chinese
2.5.1 Hong Kong

Both KiT-CaT and Penzone fo-
rums were made by Hong Kong spin-
ners, but people from Taiwan and
Mainland regions −mainly from the
Guangdong province− also partici-
pated, as well as Chinese speakers liv-
ing overseas, like Shawn Tohlz. At this
time, the Tack-On game was brought
from UPSB for the forum members
to learn from each other. During the
2kin in Penzone 1st (2004) first few years, the style of the Penzone
spinners grew closer to that of the Koreans. There were various remarkable
CVs: KCF 1st-4th, Penzone 1st-4th, and Penzone + FPSB. Penzone 4th
showcased several notable spinners like x1213, Angelic x Allure, Leo and Sing.
During the initial half of 2007, the first World Tournament was held. KCF
and PZ each sent 10 members to join the tournament (20 in total). x1213
represented Penzone and Leo finished in the top 10.
Old members like Leo, Edwin, KiT-CaT, and sing started being less active;
Taiwanese spinners moved to the newly created TWPS and Mainland members
moved to PSH. Because of this, KiT-CaT and Penzone had to participate
together in World Cup 2008 and then merge into a new board, HKPSA (Hong
Kong Pen Spinning Association). KiT-CaT, OnLy (former KCF moderator)
and Taihoi (former Penzone moderator) took part in the administration of the
new forum. In 2009, the HKPSA Facebook group was made and HKPSA 1st
was organized. Also during this year, the first HKT (Hong Kong Tournament)
took place. With similar rules to the WT, its main purpose was to nurture
new members so they could then par-
ticipate in international events like
WT. It was won by Fls-noibita.
In January 2010, the Hong Kong

shopping mall APM organized a live
competition. They invited famous
spinners such as Peem and Lip from
THPSC, and Seven and Saizen from
JEB to be the judges and do some
performances. A spinner called En- Spinners invited to the APM event (2010)
gine won the competition. The HKPSA team qualified for the quarterfinals of
WC10 and the HKT2010 was organized, with ccw and Leon finishing in first
and second place respectively. At the end of the year, Fls-noibita performed
in TV as a pen spinning stunt double for Trevor, the main character of the
show “Every move you make” (讀心神探).
HKPSA obtained their best ever results in an international tournament in

2011, with kin finishing in 2nd place in the World Tournament. The next year,
HKT2012 was organized, with LaYe winning the tournament and Engine
finishing in 2nd place. However, from then on, activity in the forum dwindled
as members gradually moved onto social media. The administration decided
to close the forum and officially move to the Facebook group, which has
been the main discussion place since then. In 2020, LaYe was interviewed
by the Apple Daily, and his video reached half a million views on YouTube
before it was taken down. In recent years, kin’s tournament results have been
remarkable, finishing in 2nd place in both PSO18 wipers and PSO20 wipers.
2.5.2 Taiwan
Some of the first known Taiwanese

spinners are sula_la (the author of 降
龍十八轉) and Joey, who learned pen
spinning from 降龍十八轉. Stephen
and Dark-Scorpion were moderators
of the KiT-CaT Pen Spinning Fo-
rum, and x1213 was a member of Pen-
zone. Although Taiwan didn’t have its
own forum at the time, the first two
national CVs were organized: KCF-
Taiwan (2005) and Taiwan PenSpin x1213 in Taiwan PenSpin 2nd video (2006)
2nd video (2006). The community started to become more organized from
June 2007, when x1213 established TWPS: the Taiwanese Pen Spinning
Forum. The first official competition was held online, around 2007-2008. It
was won by Joey, and kin [HKPSA] finished in second place.
In 2007, TWPS held their first national gathering in Taichung. As the

largest city in Central Taiwan, it could be easily accessed from the whole
country. The national gathering began to be organized once a year during the
summer vacation, since most spinners were students. Offline competitions and
42 Chinese
other activities were held during the gatherings, which usually had between
50 and 70 participants, sometimes even more than 100.
From 2007 to 2011 activity on

the forum was very high, mainly be-
cause of various pen spinning forum
games and competitions. Spinners
could post their freestyles to the fo-
rum; x1213, CYW and TKspin would
grade them and increase the “forum
points” of their accounts, obtaining
badges once enough points were ob-
tained. In addition to that, 1v1 bat-
Joey in TWPS 4th (2008) tles, team battles, battle royale (called
TWPS battle) and theme battles were very popular. Most old spinners think
of this as the golden era of TWPS, since they were able to meet many new
friends and grow like a family. The TWPS series was continued, making
up to two videos per year. TWPS 4th in particular went viral on Youtube,
reaching more than 100.000 views.
In July 2011, as the usage of social media increased, a TWPS Facebook

group was created. The forum software had some security issues and was
often attacked by spam and other advertisements. It suddenly disappeared at
the beginning of 2012 because of unknown reasons, and although it is believed
that it wasn’t a hacking attack, nobody could access it. x1213 created a new
forum, but many established tutorials and resources disappeared. After this
tragic event, the number of users in the forum decreased, and most moved
to the Facebook group. Here, various teams were formed. “Eternal Cycle”,
formed by Shakespeare in 2012 was the strongest of them. “PSFA”, made by
u91x in 2013, consisted of many of the new generation spinners. TWPS was
able to collect enough money in gatherings to maintain the new forum until
2015, when it was closed and everything was officially moved to Facebook.
In 2014, the TWPS Official Skills Competition was organized by u91x

and Zuo. Videos were submitted online and foreigners could also participate.
The tournament was divided into three levels: Advanced, which was won by
KieOlt [VNPSC] with Kagami [PSH] as the runner-up; intermediate, with
Nope [PSH] in 1st place and Farly [TWPS] in 2nd place; and beginner, won
by Herenz [TWPS] with Joker [TWPS] as the runner-up. The Taiwanese team
consisting of minzian, MKSFT, PPM, Rex, Shakespeare and Zuo finished

fourth in WC14, their best WC result at the time.
A pen spinning club was created

by Darcy in Chung Shan Medical Uni-
versity, although the particulars have
been lost to time. In September 2014,
Zuo created a new club in Zhongli
Senior High School, called the Pen
Spinning Art Club, to which he in-
vited famous Taiwanese spinners to
teach the club members each week.
This initiative was covered by some
newspapers at the time. In 2015, they 2015 CLHS Pen Spinning Art Club Comp.
took Japan’s Naranja Penspinning Festival as an example and held the 2015
CLHS Pen Spinning Art Club Competition in their High School. The
winner and 2nd place spinners were Rex and MKSFT. The club continued to
exist up until July 2019.
In 2015, activity decreased. The national gathering stopped being held.

Experienced spinners graduated from school and had less time for spinning.
The organization of the official collab series, which had been made up until
TWPS 13th (2014), was also ceased. However, some spinners stayed active
in international competitions. In WT15, x1213 finished 4th and MKSFT
lost in the quarterfinals against Menowa* in a very controversial match.
Herenz won IIT15 (International Intermediate Tournament) and in PSO18,
Herenz won the complexity category over another Taiwanese spinner, Mei
(formerly known as PT/Promethez). In 2018, TWPS 14th was released and
recently, TWPS 15, for which commemorative mods were sold. Aside from
the TWPS series, the Ramirez series was also very popular.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of new members and the
overall activity increased. In PSO20, Dove and MG finished 2nd in the
aestheticism and counters categories respectively. A new moderating team
was formed and official Youtube and Instagram accounts for TWPS were
created. In 2020, Herenz, Mei, MG, Farly and Dove created “Yggdrasill”,
with the objective of teaching new, promising spinners.
44 Chinese
2.5.3 Mainland China

Baidu Tieba was the most used Chinese communication platform, hosted
by the web services company and search engine Baidu since December 2003.
Communities for virtually any topic existed, including one for pen spinning.
Around 2003-2005, some spinners from Mainland China also visited websites
like 降龍十八轉, KiT-CaT and Penzone. The content in these websites was
very deep compared to the one in Tieba. However, the language barrier
limited their growth, with mostly spinners from the Guangdong Province
visiting the Hong Kong forums: KiT-CaT and Penzone.
Before continuing, let me explain why the Guangdong Province is
so important for understanding the development of pen spinning in the
Mainland. Not only is it one of the economically prosperous provinces in
China, but it is also physically close to Hong Kong. Most locals in Guangdong
are billingual in both Mandarin, the language spoken in virtually all of the
Mainland; and Cantonese, the language spoken in Hong Kong. Because of
these circumstances, they are able to surf the internet more freely and become
exposed to content from other regions. They have also served as a nexus
through The Great Firewall, both translating content to Mandarin and also
reuploading videos to websites like YouTube via VPNs.
Solar and 3+7 met on one of those forums around 2004, where they
became online friends. Although they were only middle school students, in
September 3, 2005, they created PSH, short for PSerHome. In the period
from 2005 to 2007 the board was promoted mainly through other online
forums, IM chatting groups, video platforms and Weibo. PSH 1st and 2nd
were made to promote the site. However, since Solar and 3+7 couldn’t afford
private hosting, PSH had to exist in free servers, which weren’t stable.
In 2007, the hosting situation sta-
bilized and the Simplified Chinese
members of the other websites moved
to PSH. This resulted in a peak of
activity for the forum and during
this time, many collaboration videos
were made. Eagle started the Chi-
nese Spirit (華魂) series, with its
first installment being released in Au-
gust 9, 2007. It was a very inspiring
3+7 in PSH 3rd (2008) project for the community, uniting
Chinese spinners from all around the globe. The PSH series and the EaglE
series also took place, alongside many other one-off projects like KCF+PSH.
The board didn’t participate in WT07 but they sent teams to both WC08
and AC08. The World Cup results weren’t good, but the team consisting of
12ve, 3Shine, Answer, Garlic, PaleMaster, and ssEno finished in 3rd place
in the Asian Cup. There were more interactions with foreign boards in this
year, like the PSH+THPSC collab. The results in international tournaments
would only get better from here: Answer finished in the top 4 of WT09, losing
vs minwoo in the semifinals. Snow, who was a pioneer in both 1p2h and 2p2h
styles, also achieved top 4 in WT11, losing vs s777.
Various interesting projects happened during this time. The spinner Xiao
Gui drew a manwha about pen spinning in 2009, which was three years
later fan-translated to English. In late 2011, EaglE announced Spinny, a
pen spinning organization based in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, with
the purpose of promoting pen spinning. In the announcement video not only
EaglE, but also co2, alexis, menophenon and fish appeared. As of today,
Spinny is the pen spinning organization that has remained active for the
longest time. The SharpSpinner team was formed, led by ENO, and in
2011 they released their first team CV.
PSH had held several offline meet-

ings already, but in 2011 the premade
pen manufacturing company Zhigao
offered to sponsor the national offline
tournaments. These would be called
Zhigao Cup (智高杯) and would be
held annually since 2011. Because Zhi-
gao would pay for both players’ and
judges’ plane ticket and hotel fees, the
PSH administration was more than
pleased to hold the official meetings 2011 Zhigao Cup group photo
together with the Zhigao Cup. Most of the tournament structure was overseen
by EaglE and Eager and it was finally held in Guangdong. Spinners who
wanted to participate submitted their videos through the PSH forum, and
the 20 best were selected for the offline finals. Spinny was quite active around
this time. Aside from taking part in the organization of the first Zhigao Cup,
they provided commentary on TV for WC12 and members like Airgear gave
46 Chinese
live lectures about pen spinning. They also appeared in Pearl River Story, a
program featuring stories from the Guangdong Province.
From 2012 onwards, the company was in full charge, and later it developed
a commercial campaign to promote the Zhigao brand, less focused on
the competitive aspect. From 2014 onwards, famous foreign spinners like
peem, supawit, precel, ppm, and x1213, among many others, were invited to
participate in the tournament and do live performances. Things went south
in 2017 when Zhigao decided to rename the tournament to WPSAL finals,
WPSA (World Pen Spinning Alliance) being a sub-brand of Zhigao. The
2017 edition was just done online and it never paid what it promised to
players and judges. Although the company has done many TV commercials
and animations, thus promoting the hobby, their brand image within the
community was weak and this didn’t help. In
2017 Spinny held their own meeting and offline
tournament independently from Zhighao, which
had more than 100 participants.
In 2018, Zhigao decided to rebuild their

image within the community and reinvent how
the tournament was structured. They sponsored
nine national tournaments: UPSBT (Interna-
tional), JC (Japan, adult and teenager cate-
gories), PPST (Philippines), VNPST (Vietnam),
BRET (Brazil), MP (Poland), FPSBT (France),
TT (Thailand) and SCT (China). The winners
from each would fly to Guangzhou for the WP-
SAL finals. i.suk, who qualified by winning the
SCT, also won the offline finals. In 2019, the
WPSAL final was also held offline, which was
Snow, WPSAL 2017 banner won by the Japanese spinner Kay.
Independently from the works of Zhigao, PSH has designed and com-
mercialized three pen models. The first one is the MG-Zero, made in 2013.
The first two editions of the tutorial series called Baishi (百式, meaning “a
hundred tricks”) had been created some time ago by Solar but the third, most
professional and popular edition was made in 2013 by Eagle and co2, with
the MG-Zero. In 2014, a second community-designed model was commercial-
ized: the Wonderpen. In 2015, their most famous and successful model was
launched, the Spinpro, which is still sold to this day.
After 2013, when smartphones and high-speed Internet became widely

available in China, the popularity of forums declined, now substituted by
groups on instant messaging apps like QQ and WeChat. Short video
platforms became popular, with spinners like Nope accumulating more than
3 million followers on Kuaishou and TikTok China. Nowadays, most of the
new members discover pen spinning through short video apps. The website
was separated into two parts: the main portal and the online forum. The
former showcases pen spinning tutorials, news and other things related to
pen spinning, while the forum has been quiet for many years now.
This doesn’t mean that collab-

oration videos weren’t made any-
more. The cLear series (1st-5th) was
made, as well as the Prearp series (I-
V). Prearp III was PSH’s entry to
Spinfest 2016, and they also partic-
ipated in the 2019 and 2021 editions.
Lately, Mr Pearl has been reupload-
ing to YouTube collaborations made
by Chinese members, just like others
have also reposted the most relevant Nope, 10 years solo (2021)
foreign collaborations to BiliBili. In 2018, Spinny also made some long-form
horizontal videos with spinners like Kagami, Airgear and Knifores explaining
their philosophies and views on the hobby. Professionally recorded and edited
videos have also been made, like Spinny - Alone (2017) and Nope’s 10 years
solo (2021). Non-short videos still have their niche within PSH, but it pales
in comparison to the popularity of TikTok.
As for tournaments, the team consisting of cLear, Cloud, EaglE, GSL,

jin and Orange finished 2nd in WC14, with GSL never losing a single match
throughout the whole tournament. Vice finished in the 3rd place in WT15,
losing vs Menowa* in the semifinals. Kagami reached 3rd place in the 2017
PWT, and in WT17 both GSL and Scream were in the top 8. Two PSH teams
participated in WC20. As for national, online tournaments, the Summer
Cup and the Winter Cup are organized within some discussion groups,
which have about 300-400 members. These tournaments aren’t very public,
as submissions are just uploaded to the group folder. However, the organizers
have great passion for them.
48 Thailandese
Inspired by staff spinning, Ian Juggler/Laputa did in 2017 fishing tricks

with regular pen mods for the first time. Together with other flashy move-
ments like index spin and power tricks, their popularity on TikTok made
many Chinese spinners master them beyond other boards. Due to the com-
munication barrier, some records are disputed overseas while someone on
PSH has already recorded tens of repetitions more.
Finally, with respect to pens and modding: Sanchiu is internationally

renowned for his designs and precise grip cuts. He created a whole series based
on Marvel heroes, each mod selling at 1,000 CNY (∼150 USD). In the online
marketplace Taobao, shops like Eno, Whirl, Xhand, and Oasis sell premade
and custom parts for pen spinning. In particular, Eno has allowed for reduced
prices and new stock of discontinued parts for spinners all around the globe.
Nope, Finger Dance, and other companies also started commercializing their
own models of premade pens, like the Element and the ZW series.
2.6 Thailandese
Mr. CsPSer had been fascinated

by pen spinning since the age of 10, af-
ter his uncle taught him how to do the
thumbaround and its reverse. Eleven
years later, in 2005, a friend showed
him Pendolsa 1st. With a rekindled
passion for learning those new tricks,
he registered in the Korean forum and
then in Pentrix. He wondered if others
in his country had also started prac-
Mr. CsPSer, combo which he uploaded to ticing, so he recorded his spinning, at-
various forums (2005) tached his MSN address and posted
the video to various general purpose Thai forums like Pantip, Mthai and
Webboard. The clips got quite popular, and about 60 people contacted him
on MSN. The information in other websites was hard to read due to the
language barrier, so to guide this new generation he created ThaiSpinner
in 2005. This was first done on a free hosting and domain, which he then
moved to www.thaispinner.com on the 19th of May, 2006. More than 6000
members quickly gathered in this new forum, among them the soon-to-be
famous spinners Sathonmig and Dongza.
In the forum, tutorials for overseas mods were translated and shared,
and although members also discussed single capped pens like RSVP MX,
Colorgel MX, and Flexible MX, it was Metal ComSSA and Dr. KT that
resonated with them the most. In an attempt make similar versions with
local materials, symmetrical mods like Syn-Neji83, Syn-Tex83, and Na-
mae83 were made. These used Synectic Brand permanent markers and Pentel
Meteor BK83 tips, which are extremely heavy. Since mid April of 2007, the
ThaiSpinner online shop opened, which imported Pendolsa and exclusive
ThaiSpinner RSVP MX and Metal ComSSA, among other materials. Thanks
to the success of this shop, as well as the general growth of the forum, Mr.
CsPSer opened an official shop in Union Mall, a shopping mall in the
north of Bangkok in June 19, 2008. Aside from selling pens, Mr. CsPSer held
on-demand events for the forum members, like live tack ons.
The ThaiSpinner shop storefront (left) and its inside (right) (c. 2009, photo: Clyde)
During 2007, the international presence of THPSC was still low. There was
no proper Thai team in the first World Tournament; only Sathonmig joined
under the representation of UCPSB, as he lived in the States. However, one
of the strongest new generations of spinners was being formed. A team
consisting of Dongza, mr.showtimez (aka Mez), Golfzabemix (aka Chawthai),
longhorn, highwave, and MJ joined WC08 and the team of GZSakuraz,
Tanexat, Niceget, highwave, Tigeroat, and longhorn joined AC08.
There were two offline tournaments: the “Thai Pen Spinner Offline
Battle 2008” and the “WE-PCT Thailand Pen Spinner Championship 2008”,
which lasted two days and was sponsored by the telephone company PCT/True
corp. The best 64 spinners were selected during the first day, and then spun
on stage in 1v1 format on the second day. The winner got a plane ticket for
the 2008 Pendolsa winter tournament. Spinnerpeem, who had mastered
powertricks, won all three of them with his personal mod: the Buster CYL.
50 Thailandese
Over the next two years, THPSC dominated the competitive scene.
Spinnerpeem won WT09, and Supawit127 and Dongza finished in top 4 and
top 8 respectively. After that, the team consisting of Spinnerpeem, Supawit127,
Dongza, BaiMai, The Legend, and 8 won WC10. This tournament was very
theme-focused, so aside from Spinnerpeem and Supawit127’s consistency,
it was thanks to BaiMai’s participation in themes like 2h, creativity, and
spinless that they were able to obtain the victory.
Mr. CsPSer introduced pen spin-

ning on various TV programs around
2007, which brought many new mem-
bers to the community. The surge in
popularity of the hobby, as well as
the WT09 and WC10 wins drew even
more attention of the media. Official
ThaiSpinner apparel was made, which
they wore on their numerous TV
and newspaper appearances. The
Dongza (l), The Legend (c), and Spinner- participation of Mr. CsPSer, Dongza,
peem (r) in Game Pun Naa (Aug 15, 2010) Spinnerpeem, Supawit127, and The
Legend on Game Pun Naa was particularly relevant. The video went viral,
which resulted in a new influx of members, Coffeelucky among them.
Although it wasn’t the focus of the community, 2008 was a great year in
terms of CV productions, with Tribute to Mr.CsPSer, THPSC stars, and
the BusterCYL Promo. One year later, the WC10 Qualification Collab was
also heavily watched. The first official board project, ThaiSpinner 1st, was
organized to celebrate the victories in WT09 and WC10. 2010 also marked the
beginning of the Coffeelucky series, of which he has made seven instalments.
There were some online local tournaments, organized by cheesecake.

The first one was the “THPSC mini-team tournament 1st” (TMT), similar
to WC10 in its format, with the peculiarity of participants being randomly
placed in the teams. In 2011 he organized the “Thaispinner Solo Tournament”
(TST11), which was won by Metal. In WT11, eight Thai spinners participated,
from which only supawit127 was able to reach the top 4. Metal was one of
the highest hopes of the board, but a bad group placement hindered his run.
Peem withdrew from the tournament, allegedly because of an injury.
The period from 2011 to 2012 marked the downfall of THPSC. The
shop closed as sales weren’t enough to cover the rental fees. Peem withdrew
again from WC12, and the Thai team didn’t end up performing well. That
year’s local tournament, “Thaispinner Tournament 2012” (TT12) only had
23 participants and various spinners didn’t even send their combos. Zui
Nyaa organized two CVs, RE-start and RE-novation, which were some of the
last CVs made on the forum. Members moved to the Facebook group, as
the forum stopped being used. The board participated in both WT13 and
WC14 without much success, and coffeelucky tried to host TT13, which was
cancelled due to a lack of participants.
The revival of the community began in 2015, with Spinnerpeem creating
Windwalk, a small team focused on content creation. They made several
tutorials, custom Windwalk Buster CYL and Ivan mods, viral videos like
Ultimate Pen Spinning! (120k views), and organized various gatherings.
Coffeelucky organized TT16, which ran with just 12 participants and was
won by Cladoublev. Thaispinner 2nd was their submission for SpinFest 2016.
Sirapob won WT17 thanks to his mastery of fingercrossings. In the same
year, another local tournament was held. In 2017 Coffeelucky created the
THPSC Discord group, which became the main place for the community.
He also organized a national meeting, which was a big success, with many
old-timers coming back for it. He kept organizing it as a yearly event. Supawit
was interviewed by The Standard and despite this video reaching more than
350k views on YouTube, almost no new members entered the community.
In 2018, OhYeaH! won TWC18
as part of The Front Row, a multi-
board team. Since then, THPSC par-
ticipated on all international tourna-
ments and the Thaispinner Tourna-
ment was organized on a yearly ba-
sis. Coffeelucky created a team called
Asura with the intention of motivat-
ing the community. Aside from tuto-
rial videos, both Asura 1st and 2nd
were organized. Enkronidus, one of its Coffeelucky in Coffeelucky 7th (2020)
members, kept making trick tutorials in his own channel, which reached 16k
subscribers. To commemorate this revival, Coffeelucky made Thaispinner 3rd.
Aside from his work within the board, he is in charge of PS Calendar and
has taken part in the organization of various international events. [33]
52 German
2.7 German
In the summer of 2005, Robert discovered pen spinning from one of his
classmates. After learning the TA by himself and motivated to go further, he
searched for tutorials and was able to find Pentrix, together with other English
and Japanese sites. Robert was convinced that by documenting his journey,
others could learn pen spinning faster so together with Bobbycartuner, his
kindergarten friend, they designed the first German pen spinning website in
November 2005: penskills.de.vu.
Robert and his friends filmed and uploaded videos of the tricks that they
had learnt, but they quickly realized that it would be more convenient to
have a forum. Thus, in the same month of Penskills’ creation, Robert took it
down and rebuilt it in the form of the German Pen spinning Community
(GPC). Bobbycartuner stepped down from the web construction but became
one of the most active members during the early days of the board.
The GPC became incredibly ac-

tive in a short time: it took less
than 4 months for the first thousand
posts to be written and less than 6
months for their first hundred regis-
tered users. Their first project was
GPC 1st, which was released in July
2006, edited by Le0n and with anima-
tions done by Robert. McDudelsaeck
wrote & summarized a lot of content,
Robert in GPC 1st (2006) motivated new users, answered their
questions & administrated the forum, which was invaluable during these
first years with a high influx of users. The first offline gathering, the Euro-
Gather, happened in the same month in Neuss, Germany, with spinners
from the Netherlands and Denmark coming as well.
Although the bulk of their members are from Germany, we should keep
in mind that German is also the official language in Austria and Switzer-
land, with most Dutch people also learning it in school as their second or
third language. Together with the ease of transportation from other Euro-
pean countries like France and Spain, this has made their meetings highly
international. It also meant that GPC members had lofty expectations
when the EuRaPen board went online in November 2006. Robert and Le0n
were included in the moderation team as German representatives during the

short lifespan of the board. The first tournament with German spinners was
the 2007 UCPSBT. Just a month later the first German-only tournament
would be organized: the Bundesvision Penspinning Contest, which had
participants from each federal state and was won by Le0n. The BIC Pen
Spinning Awards were held in Paris, won by the German Pudels Kern.
As it was customary at the time, interboard collaborations were made.

The first one with FPSB, in late 2006. Two more instalments were released in
2009 and 2016. Other ones were with PPP and PSH. A source of controversy
was the GPC + SweSpin Collab. There were some disagreements between
Robert and the Swedish organizers, which resulted in GPC pulling out of it.
Regardless of this, the CV was released in May 2007 with combos from both
boards as well as a statement regarding its organization.
Since early 2007, the TV presence of pen spinning was incredibly strong,
with Robert appearing on news programs on RTL, Sat1 & Kabel1, doing
advertisements for E-plus, Fujitsu, Faber Castell, Mentos, Duplo, 5 against
Jauch, Guiness, Wrigleys, Ültje among others. He even appeared in national
magazines like DB, dpa & Zeit, as well as other local ones. Robert then
started to arrange some of those jobs for other younger penspinners and
negotiating fair wages for them. The result of that was the following.
Finals of the 2008 De-Gather live tournament between Eriror and Minwoo.
In 2008, 51 spinners participated in a country-wide gathering called the

De-Gather, which was broadcast in an almost 14 minute feature in the
evening TV program Galileo. With Minwoo as its protagonist, the viewer
could follow Minwoo’s run on the live tournament, which he won in a final
match vs. Eriror. This kickstarted a year full of high profile videos. In April
54 German
2008, GPC 2nd was released. With more than 235k views on YouTube it
was an absolute success and set very high expectations for future official
collaborations. The Elite Collaboration of GPC and the first GPC Girls
CV were released towards the end of the year and DontKnow started his
incredibly popular trick tutorial series.
Various long-lived teams were formed: Vengeance, formed by TheK0ok,

Neophine, Steffen, Jopi, Kazeem, Minwoo, Samuirai and Stuhl; as well as
Fusion and Pencia. The Mindcore series was filmed during the De-Gathers,
where teams also met and filmed relay videos.
Thanks to his consistency, his innovative use of two handed spinning

and his tournament finishes, Minwoo became the most prominent German
spinner. He was on both of the teams that finished 4th in WC08 and 2nd
in AC08. He finished second in WT09, only defeated by Spinnerpeem. After
a popular qualifier CV, Minwoo, together with colddi, Stuhl, TheKOok,
thumbskiller and taichi1082 finished 3rd in WC10. During these years he
organized his Minovate series, which featured some of the best and most
creative spinners at the time.
Taichi, Product/3A5 and Might were the writers of the PSWS blog
(Pen Spinners With Sunglasses), which was a big source of news, opin-
ions and debate among the community. The first big project of PSWS was
(Thumb)Around the World, in which Zombo, Kam, Hideaki and 74 other
world-famous spinners were shown together in what is considered one of
the most iconic pen spinning CVs. Their second project, 45 Sec CV, is also
very remarkable. A year after the cre-
ation of the blog, in a Hannover gather
during the summer of 2010, the PSWS
staff considered the idea of creating
a new board in which only a select
number of spinners could enter. This
led to the birth of LPSA (Liecht-
estein Pen Spinning Association)
and soon afterwards the organization
of LPSA 1st began. Of course, the
Lekunga in LPSA 1st (2010) members weren’t from Liechtestein
and the whole project was highly controversial, raising questions like what
are the requirements for constituting a board or if it was acceptable for them
to participate in tournaments under that name. LPSA 50 was released as

they reached 50 members and a year later, LPSA 2nd was made. Their inter-
national renown granted them a spot in WT11, despite opposition. Minwoo,
kirua, Däne, Sponge, clay and colddi participated as GPC; Vstrike, Taichi
and Might participated as LPSA.
With an average of 500 posts a day and all-time high De-Gather atten-
dance, GPC was at its peak of activity. Despite this, whether fueled by or
simply concurrent to the birth of LPSA, it was also starting to break down.
The common debate of style vs power often resulted in personal attacks
and furthered the LPSA vs GPC duality. There was a surge in small boards
like GPSA (Green Pen Spinners Association), TCPA (The Chocolate Spinners
Association) and ASCPB (Another Stupid Closed Penspinning Board) which
imitated or parodied LPSA’s exclusiveness.
P@sc@l tried to organize a tournament in 2010 but the judges Taichi,

Sherni and Vstrike posted a video showing how they had rolled dice to set the
scores. The joke video was taken as a fact, which resulted in the tournament
being cancelled and the judges banned. P@sc@l tried again in 2012, now
able to finish the tournament, which was won by Sponge. The long awaited
GPC 3rd came out in February 2011 but was deleted two hours after its
release, flamed by the community after not meeting the expectations. After
McDudelsaeck quit, it was Ilasor who took on the administration, but it was
not enough. Most members were said to have alt accounts in order to troll
or post harsh messages, which gave rise to debates questioning if just more
moderation would be enough to tame the situation.
But not all projects failed: following Robert’s yearly GPC newslet-
ter, from 2008 to 2012 four volumes of the newsletter “PS-press” were
made. Kickstarted by the beautiful trailer “Penspinning is art”, Minwoo and
Samuirai created Penspinning: Online, a page with well produced tutorials
as well as a new social network specifically for spinners.
A team composed of Kirua, Josh_Pr, Sponge, Minwoo, Deathfish and

Swob participated in WC12 alongside the LPSA team. GPC’s team was
incredibly strong, which made the community fairly excited. However, Minwoo
was found to be cheating in Round 5, overshadowing the team’s great
performance. Although he is still in touch with his spinner friends, Minwoo
completely quit pen spinning and deleted his Youtube channel.
56 Spanish
After the failure of the 3rd GPC

collab, the organisation of a new
project was met with doubts. On
January 1, 2013, GPC 3.5 was re-
leased, and the next year, GPC 4th,
both including spinners from LPSA.
Nashi, together with the French spin-
ner Yaemgo, successfuly organized
the first European Tournament in
2013. Activity was declining and 2013
Some participants of the 2012 De-Gather would be the year of the last De-
Gather but despite this, both GPC and LPSA participated in WT13, WC14
and WT15 with varying degrees of success.
The forum became inactive and people kept in touch via various Whatsapp
groups. From 2016 onwards, Juzzle made 11 collabs for which he managed to
relentlessly motivate old and new German spinners alike. Videos were made
for Spinfest 2016, 2019 and 2021, as well as WC20. The GPC discord was
founded in January 2017, although at the beginning only 4 or 5 people were
active. Robert asked for donations to keep the forum servers running. Various
members, many of whom were not even active anymore, donated because
they still cherished the time they had spent with their friends. Despite all
of the controversy, they remember the gatherings kindly, visiting new towns
and meeting spinners from both Germany and abroad. Nashi and Eriror, who
met thanks to pen spinning, became married, their engagement pen made by
the German modder Syrti. Activity in the Discord server increased in 2020
and for the first time, a De-Gather was organized in September 2021. [34]
2.8 Spanish
The first pen spinning web page in Spanish was made by Shalafi, around
2002 while he was still a university student. In his website he translated
most of the content on Pentix, together with explanations for various other
hobbies. His website was very popular, appearing in the front page of the
Spanish online magazine Yonkis and being reposted to other popular forums
like Taringa. In 2006-2010, Shalafi also made some pen spinning workshops
in the European Juggling Convention.
Unaware of this website, in 2006 the Mexican spinner Chino88 created his
own blog, El Bolígrafo, after having practiced pen spinning for two years.
He translated some of the content on Pentix and linked CVs like “The Asia
Pen Spinning Presentation”. In September of 2007, Maggot created a thread
about pen spinning in El Otro Lado, a popular forum at the time.
In November of 2007, Chino88 created the forum Penspinning-latino.

The forum didn’t have much information or members, but that changed when
the spinners from El Otro Lado and other new members joined. Chino88 had
met Freeman on YouTube, and in January of 2008 he invited him to join as
an administrator on the site. After various proposals, the name Spanish Pen
Spinning Community was decided. In March 2008 the first collaboration
was made, which was a tag between Chino88 and Freeman.
Most users weren’t happy with

Chino88’s administration so on May
20, 2008, the SPSC v2 was cre-
ated, now with a more visible domain
name. These first few years were the
golden age of the forum, with spin-
ners like Freeman, Vikroal, Maggot,
Makis, AzuL, JTS, Tioloco, Nozarok,
Chisko, Dry0n, Dargroth, SebuiX, ar-
cano80, Yeh and Kurotsuki. Chats
were held daily in the MGC (a group AzuL for WT11 R1 (2011)
chat within MSN) and meetings were organized, with cities like Madrid,
Barcelona and Malaga being especially active. Freeman made one of the
most complete trick video tutorial series at the time. Mods were made with
both foreign materials and local ones. A single-capped called Fluo M.A.,
designed by Mythos and AzuL was particularly famous at the time, despite
how difficult it was to gather the various discontinued materials for it (Milan
Fluo Junior cap and two metal Colorgel tips). Following the trend of other
boards, official collaborations were organized: from SPSC 1st in 2008 to
SPSC 4th in 2012. There were participations in international tournaments:
Freeman, JTS and AzuL participated in WT11 and in WC12, SPSC finished
in the 3rd-4th bracket in a joint team with MyPSC and KPSA. There were
two official tournaments in 2008 and 2010, both won by JTS. In July 2010,
VikroaL and AzuL started a blog, SpinAlong, where they wrote about JEB
collabs, mod tutorials and pen spinning news in general.
58 Spanish
Although many spinners from this

first generation quit, there was a resur-
gence in activity from 2011 to 2013,
thanks to spinners like Ikari Riota,
Shekleor, Yorch, Swike and RPD, as
well as the tutorials made by HeyFerre!.
To commemorate 5 years since the
creation of SPSC, Freeman organized
Emerald in 2013, a collaboration with
both the old and new spinners of the
VikroaL in SPSC 4th (2012) board. It’s around this time when I
started a forum thread answering questions about notation, which later led
to the writing of this book. Vikroal, Yorch and RPD participated in WT13
and in WC14, SPSC finished yet again in the 3rd-4th bracket, now in a joint
team with BPSC and GPC. A series of casual tournaments called Torneo
de Verano (Summer Tournament) was held, the winners for each year being
Vikroal (2012), RPD (2013), Ikari Riota (2014) and Chisko (2015). There
hasn’t been any significant activity in the forum for some years, but it remains
one of the most well organized and complete forums.
The name “Spanish Pen Spinning Community”, given by Freeman, has

always been controversial, as “Spanish” can be interpreted as “Spanish-
speaking” (its intended meaning) or “from Spain”. Thus, historically, latin
spinners wanted a new board with a new name to better represent their
national identities. Groups like the Mexican and Chilean (CLPSA) com-
munities, as well as SAPSA (South American Pen Spinning Association)
emerged, but they all quickly became inactive. Around 2018-2019, Allwars
and JNK formed the LSPSC (Latin Spanish Pen Spinning Community),
centered around a Whatsapp group. Allwars finished 4th in the B-side of
WT19 and organized CVs like the LSPSC entries for Spinfest 2019 and 2021.
In 2020, the influencer JustSpinning created accounts on TikTok, Instagram
and Youtube dedicated to teaching pen spinning. In order to guide this new
generation, RPD created a discord server called “Club de Pen Spinning”,
which later merged with LSPSC. Thanks to the proposal of former-LSPSC
members like DarKko, the name SPSC was adopted once again. To
celebrate this, SPSC 5th was organized, in which members like Freeman,
JTS, and JustSpinning participated. [37]
3 International tournaments
International tournaments have been one of the main driving forces

for pen spinning development. In this chapter we will show their leader-
boards, comment on their structure and analyze how these tournaments have
influenced pen spinning as a whole. For an overview of their origins and
early history, check (Section 1.2.4). Rulebooks, pairings and videos for each
tournament can be found in the references at the end of the book.
3.1 Results and analysis
WT07
1st KTH (PDS)
2nd eriror (UCPSB)
3rd fratleym (FPSB)
4th banz (FPSB)
5th ps-728 (JEB)
Ayatori (JEB), Uriel (PDS), Bonkura (JEB),
6th-10th
Gollumsk8 (FPSB), Leo (Penzone)
Organized by Crash during the first

months of 2007, this was the first
international tournament. There
were 80 participants from 8 commu-
nities, 10 spinners from each, who bat-
tled in 4 rounds of single elimination.
After this, five finalists remained, who
battled for the last two rounds. The
judges were chosen by the organizing
committee, whose names were not re-
vealed under the logic that public judge KTH (Pendolsa)
names could lead to bribery. The criteria that served as guidelines were very
unpolished: scores were given out of 10 for smoothness, style, difficulty and
creativity, yielding a maximum of 40 points for each combo.
60 Results and analysis
Coming into the tournament, Pendolsa was one of the biggest and most
dominant boards, and among their participants, Nagi was considered one of
the strongest. Outside of Korea, three spinners were established as the main
forces: Bonkura, Banz and Eriror. Due to his hand motions and overall
artistic elements, Bonkura’s way of spinning originated several debates, but
nevertheless he was one of the top contenders. Fratleym was very ahead of
his time with his use of fingercrossings and thumbcross in his combos.
Despite Fratleym’s third place finish, those kinds of tricks didn’t become
mainstream. The results were quite unexpected: the tournament was won
by KTH, from Korea, while Nagi lost in round three. Another controversial
match happened in round 4, when Eriror won vs Bonkura.
WT07 was announced in several traditional media like newspapers and

television. This, together with the participation of many of the best spinners
at the time, consolidated the reputation of the brand new tournament series.
Even though it didn’t have much impact on the pen spinning meta by
itself, the importance of WT07 was in laying the foundations for future
international tournaments and pen spinning as a serious hobby to pursue.
TST
SwS - ShadoW Spin Val, DaftSystem, SnOz,
1st
Team (FPSB) Sallem, Franou, Romfist
TSX - Team Sex Fitzgeraldhimself, Blackhero, Eriror,
2nd
(UPSB) Asian Tim, Scott Shaputis, Toast
TPS - ThaiSpinner Sathon, Dongza5047, Bluehawk,
3rd
(THPSC) Shineo, MJ, Pinyo9801
C.b.S - Courageous but .Nightfall, Noctambul, s777,
4th
Suicidal (FPSB) Spartan, Yomea, Aelema
The Team Spinning Tournament was organized by Zombo in 2007.

While it isn’t as well known as WT07 nor WC08, it was the first international
team tournament. In TST, 16 teams from 8 boards battled in 4 rounds of
single elimination. It was in this tournament that the custom of various 1vs1
and one 2vs2 per team battle started.
The structure of the event was quite complex. Each team had a man-
ager, who could use “cards”: special actions which affected the outcomes
of the random pairings. Cards were either “swap”, which exchanged two
International tournaments 61
spinners in the lineup and “freeze”, which prevented a match from being
swapped by the opponents. Up to three cards could be used per round. This
gave the manager a strategic role.
Zombo had already been a member

of the BRC and contributed to the or-
ganization of WT07. Despite this, his
tournament wasn’t taken very seriously
and several spinners forfeited. Even in
the last round, some members from
C.b.S didn’t send their videos. How-
ever, TST served as a testing ground
for what would become the rulebook
of the future World Cups, and thus
the base upon which most future team Daftsystem & Val (FPSB)
tournaments would be built.
WC08
1st JEB Ayatori, Key3, Saizen, kUzu, Pesp, toro
2nd Swespin Sfsr, Hamor, Ceedgee, Ålan, Baovern, Pe/PDR
3rd PPP Thelian, Zaliwaja, Rarka, Przemo, Gumix89, Mikul
4th GPC Minwoo, LeOn, Alucard, Stuhl, Maniok, McDudelsaeck
Crash, who organized WT07, wanted to wait until 2009 for the next event
since he argued that the overall level of pen spinning wouldn’t change that
much from one year to another, which would make it boring. However, due to
the high demand for more events, Zombo proposed the idea of team cups
in alternating years with WTs. For this event, a rulebook was made,
based on the one used for TST.
The structure was the following: 10 teams of 6 spinners each competed

over 4 rounds. The first two were group stages. During those rounds, each
team took part in 5 individual matches, one for each other team in the group.
Judges weren’t required to assign numerical scores to the combos. Points
were given for each match won, and the teams with the highest amounts of
points advanced. The last two rounds were on a team vs team basis, with
two singles and one doubles match. The prizes were custom rings for the
winners as well as SpinZ, one of the first ever premade mods.
Kuzu (JEB) Prize Rings
Going into the event, JEB had already established itself as the most
prominent board, and just like that they ended up taking the first place.
The Korean board had previously split into Pendolsa and KPSA, only the
latter participating in this tournament. Although their team was formed by
spinners like KTH, Nory and Sound, it wasn’t enough to advance past the
group stages.
Another notable point was the merge of KiT-CaT and PenZone into a
single team: HKPSA. As usual, the controversy in UPSB’s discussion threads
mostly centered around Eriror. in this tournament in particular, it was about
his win over Ayatori in the first round and his loss to Toro in the second
round.
As the tournament was seen as a sort of follow-up to WT07, participants

took it more seriously than TST. Not only were there very few forfeits, the
overall level of the combos had increased significatively with respect to that
of WT07. This meant that spinners who had good runs in WT07 didn’t
necessarily perform as well in WC08. The board-based tournament structure
was well received so it continued to be used for future World Cups. However,
the addition of themes, which are now considered one of the most distinctive
characteristics of World Cups, had to wait until WC10.
AC08
1st KPSA Taeryong, Caras, Saturn, Skydigital, Sound, Rafe
2nd UPSB ChauTran, DaThroat, ellusion67, Minwoo, pholord, Toast
3rd PSH 12ve, 3Shine, Answer, Garlic, PaleMaster, ssEno
4th JEB Coco_A, SEVEN, PenSOn, RiAsON, MaKiN, RYO
The Asian Cup was a tournament inspired in WC08 but in which all
participants were from Asian countries. Of the 8 participating teams, UPSB
was one of them, although only spinners of Asian descent like Minwoo and
Chautran were allowed in it. As we mentioned, the Korean board had recently
split, and thus they participated in two teams, one for PDS and another for
KPSA, the latter becoming the winner.
As for the tournament’s structure, it was very short, with only two rounds.
The first one was comprised of 100% individual (1vs1) matches. The best 4
teams advanced to the last round, which was a battle royale between four
collaboration videos.
WT09
1st Spinnerpeem (THPSC)
2nd Minwoo (GPC)
3rd-4th Supawit127 (THPSC), Answer (PSH)
Taeryong (KPSA), Eriror (UPSB),
5th-8th
Dongza (THPSC), Fratleym (FPSB)
As initially planned, the second World Tournament was held again by

Crash and Zombo. The structure was improved, restricting the number
of participants to 64, which allowed for 6 rounds of single elimination without
reaching awkward situations like WT07’s five spinner finals. The judging
criteria was mostly the same as in WT07, with 5 judges each giving scores
out of 40 up to a maximum of 200 points for each combo.
JEB could have been one of the

major contenders to win this tourna-
ment, but the spinners from the WC08
winning team (kUzu, Ayatori, Key3,
Seven...) didn’t participate this year.
Areso, who lost in round two, was the
Japanese spinner that advanced the
furthest.
WT09 was the first tournament

that showed the dominance of contin-
uous tricks, notably pioneered by the Spinnerpeem (THPSC)
Thai spiners Spinnerpeem, Supawit and Dongza, as well as the French

s777. After having changed his style in comparison with his WC08 submis-
sions, s777 was one of the best contenders for the trophy. However, he was
defeated in round three by Spinnerpeem. Two other spinners were regarded as
great candidates for a top finish: Minwoo, who explored 1p2h in his combos;
and Stuhl, whose execution made the pen look like it was floating. Minwoo
finished in second place, after defeating Stuhl in round three.
The tricks that Peem and Supawit used completely reinvented the defi-
nition of difficulty. While Peem was already known before this tournament
−his standalone battle vs Chautran in UPSB got some attention− it was
WT09 that really popularized their style of spinning. The key idea was that
by practicing more, instead of doing a trick once you could do it multiple
times, increasing its difficulty. Peem used a mod (Buster CYL) longer and
heavier than the other participants, which was also revolutionary in itself.
Some parts of the community disregarded the use of those mods and
tricks and considered that powertricks couldn’t be done with lighter or
shorter mods. This, of course, was later shown to be false. Peem and supawit
also showed that doing difficult tricks didn’t necessarily require compromising
your control nor execution.
Supawit and Peem faced in R5, which took supawit out of the tournament.
Peem then won the final over Minwoo by just one point (174-173). This
tournament showed the world not only powertricks, but how these events
were powerful at popularizing styles and advancing pen spinning.
WC10
1st THPSC Spinnerpeem, Supawit127, Dongza, BaiMai, The Legend, 8
2nd BPSC Ivabra, Littleboy, knuckles, Gisele 8, Kr4zy, Voltaic
3rd GPC colddi, Stuhl, TheKOok, thumbskiller, Minwoo, taichi1082
4th JEB hibachi, ponkotu, Fire@fox, forever, Sister_R, HAL
Crash and Zombo organized the second World Cup, in which a total of
15 communities participated. Teams were composed of 6 spinners. It was the
first WC to have a CV qualification round: each board edited a collab
with 6 to 10 spinners, which then didn’t need to be the members of the team.
The collabs were ranked by all other communities and assigned points so that
the 8 teams with the most points advanced.
Themes were implemented for the

first time. There were 10 in total, half
categorized as technical (speed, dif-
ficulty, control, smoothness, variety)
and half as artistic (two hands, aeri-
als, spinless, creativity, body and envi-
ronment). Each team battle had one
technical, one artistic and one double
match. The first three rounds were
group stages and for those, themes
were drawn randomly. The last two Supawit127 (THPSC)
were single elimination rounds and managers had the option to block one
theme from the list. Themes drawn in the semifinals couldn’t be drawn in the
finals. This ability for the managers to block themes gave an extra dimension
of strategy without being as complex as the freeze/swap card system of TST.
The two highest voted collabs from the qualification round (THPSC
and JEB) were very popular, still being watched and commented on years
later. However, JEB’s selection of spinners for their team could have been
stronger. Ponkotu was their MVP, not losing a single match and carrying
the team to a fourth place finish. Neither FPSB nor UPSB qualified for
the tournament, which meant that notable spinners like s777, pyralux, and
Eriror couldn’t participate. PSH opted to rely on their new generation of
spinners rather than on oldies like answer, who didn’t participate. THPSC
clearly dominated the tournament, as their lineup was suited perfectly for
the themes. Powertrickers like Spinnerpeem and Supawit would be in charge
of the technical matches, while BaiMai took care of creativity, spinless and
two hands (twice), winning all four of his matches.
The point system used for the qualification round resulted in awkward
situations. For example, UPSB being in 71% of top 8s but having fewer total
points than HKPSA, which was in just 43% of them. The judging system was
also criticised, as for rounds 1 to 5, judges gave no numerical scores to the
combos, unlike what was done in WTs. Although the inclusion of themes was
very well received and would define World Cups for years to come, the theme
selection was dubious. Body and enviroment, two hands and spinless were
considered gimmicks and became community in-jokes. However, it has left us
with legendary combos like Stuhl’s round 4 for body and environment, or
the two hands duel between Stuhl and Ponkotu in round 5.
WT11
1st s777 (FPSB)

2nd kin (HKPSA)
3rd-4th snow (PSH), supawit127 (THPSC)
5th-8th A13X (FPSB), Sponge (GPC), x1213 (TWPS), HAL (JEB)
Organized by Zombo, WT11 had 99 participants from 19 communities. A

new structure was implemented in order not to be limited to 64 participants:
Round 1 was a group stage, with 8 groups of variable size out of which the
best 4 spinners advanced. 5 single elimination rounds followed as usual.
Each manager gave a ranking of their candidates based on their strengths.

The groups weren’t completely random, but made so that spinners from
the same board didn’t battle in R1, and the groups were balanced based
on those rankings. This was an interesting idea, but it’s common for new
gen spinners to overperform after entering a WT. Sponge (GPC) and snow
(PSH) were ranked as the weakest of GPC and PSH respectively, and their
incredible performances lead to some spinners suspecting that the managers
had ill-intent in their initial rankings, as putting strong spinners last would
place the rest of their members in easier groups.
Every community had to submit

two judges. The criteria were still sim-
ple and relatively unrefined, although
penalties based on poor structure,
bad camera, unappealing movements,
unfitting mod and excessive filler were
introduced for the first time. An option
was given for judges to vote without
following the criteria, as long as a com-
ment in any language was given.
s777 (FPSB)
The hype for powertricks started to die down. Spinnerpeem was in

the initial participant list, but withdrew as he didn’t think that his results
would be good enough, Tigeroat taking his place. However, other new styles
were greatly developed during this event. BaiMai and snow showed great
ideas for two handed combos; and A13X pioneered a new way of approaching
powertricks not so centered around fingerless arounds.
WT11 wasn’t short of controversies. BaiMai’s R2 combo looked like it

was spliced to cover a failed finisher. This was pointed out by various spinners,
most notably taichi1082, who argued that this couldn’t be a camera glitch.
On the other hand, Tek made a video arguing that BaiMai was too good
to resort to cheating in a combo like that one. In the end, he was allowed
to continue in the tournament, and lost vs the Japanese spinner HAL in
the next round, in an incredibly tight match. Both spinners were tied at 8.5
points, and only tiebreakers gave HAL the win.
Another heated match took place in the fifth round, when kin won vs
supawit. Since kin was using a RSVP mx, his combo was given a difficulty
bonus, while the popular opinion is that supawit’s breakdown was harder.
This stirred a debate over taking into account mod use in tournaments,
since light and unbalanced mods are harder to spin, but can’t be confirmed
without disassembling them. This debate was further stirred by s777 often
doing incredibly hard combos with comssa and rushon DC’s, which many
people thought had heavy weights under the caps. From then on, rulebooks
stated that no bonus would be given because of suboptimal pens, making
the viability of MX and Dr. Grip in tournaments much lower.
Going into the tournament, s777’s status as the greatest spinner was
indisputable. Soon before the beginning of the tournament he had released
his 4th year solo, which had left the community speechless. With a style
reminiscent of Bonkura’s, it was a breath of fresh air in a competitive scene
that had been so dominated by powertricks. His win showed that well balanced
combos, with equal difficulty, creativity and aesthetic appeal are key for good
tournament performance. Having participated in international events for the
past few years, shortly after after winning, s777 quit pen spinning, as
university entrance exams would leave him with no free time.
WC12
1st FPSB Anikis, Fel2fram, Futhark, Gisele8, Ivabra, Lindor
2nd UPSB Eriror, Hippo2626, i.suk, neoknux_009, Pen Ninja, Twine
VikroaL (SPSC), Yorch (SPSC), Lucky (MyPSC),
3rd-4th KMSC
Alvaris (MyPSC), Kipple (KPSA), Tose (KPSA)
3rd-4th GPC Deathfish, Josh_Pr_, Kirua, Minwoo, Sponge, Swob
Organized by Zombo, WC12 had 16 teams of 6 participants each. It was
one of the longest World Cups, with a total of 6 rounds. The tournament
started with a round-robin: teams were put into groups of four, and all teams
in the group faced eachother throughout the first three rounds. Afterwards,
8 teams advanced, which went through three single elimination rounds. The
battles were divided into 2 individual matches (1vs1) and 1 doubles (2vs2).
The 1vs1 battles were themed, although the themes were limited to artistic
and technical. This was done in order not to constraint the freedom of the
spinners, who in WC10 had to participate in narrow or niche themes like
“aerials” or “two hands”, or themes that weren’t considered serious, like “body
and environment” or “spinless”. Numerical scores were given for the first
time in a World Cup, evaluating execution, difficulty, creativity, presentation
and theme for each combo. Each participating board submitted one judge.
The clear favorites for winning this

tournament were JEB and FPSB.
However, the Japanese team, which
consisted of imiga, Kay, Menowa*,
Meves, ocha and ZUNDA, finished
in the 5th-8th bracket after losing to
UPSB. On the other hand, FPSB man-
aged to completely dominate the
tournament, even without the help of
s777. For this tournament, they joined
Fel2Fram (FPSB) forces with the Belgian board (BPSC)
and thus, spinners like Gisele8, Ivabra and Blue could become part of their
team, resulting in an incredibly strong lineup.
Fel2fram, who had been spinning for less than three years, had already
become well known thanks to his 2011 FPSB tournament combos, as well
as the video “The 8 main PowerPasses”. Although his execution was contro-
versial, nobody doubted his genius, which was reflected in his results in this
tournament: he won all of his five matches.
This event showed the power of alliances in tournaments. Three boards

that by themselves couldn’t send one team were allowed for the first time
to participate together (KMSC), finishing in third place. And of course,
the winning team was also an alliance. BPSC and FPSB would merge as
communities in the future, but they hadn’t done so yet. The Belgian board
would still participate with that name in both WT13 and WC14.
WC12 is infamous for some of its videos. In R2, the Russian spinner
Sly submitted a drunk video for the aesthetic category. Lucky (MYPSC)
submitted a foot combo for the R3 doubles category, which forced Alvaris
and VikroaL to film and submit a last minute tag. In R5, the German
spinner Minwoo cheated in a 2p2h section of his combo by filming each
part separately and joining them together, as he had filmed with a black
background. taichi1082 raised the brightness of the raw video and exposed
the cheat in UPSB. neoknux_009, his opponent, said that he didn’t wish for
judges to disqualify him but rather for Minwoo to send a version without the
edited segment. After this incident, Minwoo quit pen spinning.
WT13
1st sutomo (JEB)
2nd A13X (FPSB)
3rd-4th Ivabra (BPSC), ctionist (JEB)
Leftfinger (FPSB), Gibki (PPP),
5th-8th
fel2fram (FPSB), Baaron (LPSA)
Organized by Zombo, WT13 had 105 participants from 20 boards, thus be-
ing the largest WT to date. It employed the same structure as WT11, with
the first round being a group stage and afterwards, five rounds of single elimi-
nation. The judging system was also more or less the same as the one used in
WT11. However, there was one impor-
tant difference. In WT11 each board
could only submit one judge, while in
WT13, multiple judges could be
registered. All communities had the
same voting power in round 1, regard-
less of the amount of judges, but from
round 2 onwards more judges meant
higher voting power, which some argue
that skewed the results towards the
views of the bigger boards. sutomo (JEB)
FPSB, which won the past World Cup, showed their power again by
placing three spinners in the top 8, four if we count the Belgian spinner
Ivabra. Coming into the tournament, Fel2fram was one of the favourites
to win, but his run ended in the third round, defeated by sutomo in a very
controversial match. Although his combos were still very creative, Fel2fram
was becoming increasingly frustrated with the amount of time that they took
to plan and film. Unsatisfied with his WT13 combos, he deleted all of them
from his channel. The university entrance exams that forced s777 to quit did
the same to Fel2fram.
In terms of popularity in the international community, A13X shined. Prior

to the tournament he had claimed several records: busts, inverse busts, pun
new and pinkybak 2.5, among others. He pioneered a new era of powertricks
with his consistency, clean execution, fewer aerials in favour of tricks with
extra 0.5 spins and even a new way of filming, using fisheye lenses instead of
the usual flat webcams.
He won the first five rounds unscathed, after which he faced one of the
big surprises of this tournament. Sutomo, just a 2 year spinner at the time,
showed mastery of countless triangle pass variations in combos somewhat
reminiscent of s777’s balanced style. On the finals, sutomo won over A13X
by a narrow margin.
Even today, opinions on who should have won are quite divided. What is
clear is how big A13X’s influence has been. His combos popularized the
use of extremely heavy mods, with bullets as tips and Giotto for their body;
as well as cont backarounds with multiple spins, pun new and lever tricks.
After this tournament, Sutomo had to quit pen spinning because his family
broke all of his mods, as they distracted him too much from his studies.
WC14
1st JEB ACT, HAL, Kay, Menowa*, mi, oZone
2nd PSH cLear, Cloud, EaglE, GSL, jin, Orange
RPD (SPSC), Blue (BPSC), Ivabra (BPSC),
3rd-4th GSB
Swob (GPC), Deathfish (GPC), Der Däne (GPC)
3rd-4th TWPS minzian, MKSFT, PPM, Rex, Shakespeare, Zuo
WC14 was the last tournament organized by Zombo. It featured 14 teams

of 6 spinners each, which first battled in a qualification round via CV. The
top 8 CVs advanced to the next three rounds, which were a round-robin, just
like in WC12. After that, four teams remained, which battled in two rounds
of single elimination. The matches between teams were divided into technical,
artistic and doubles, just like in the past edition.
One of the big surprises was FPSB not qualifying for the tournament.
However, although their CV wasn’t bad, none of the spinners on the WC12
winning team, nor the ones that reached top 8 in WT13 participated in it.
We saw an increase in small community alliances: the GPC, SPSC &

BPSC team (which was called GSB) finished in the 3rd-4th bracket. The
two Vietnamese communities, VPC and VNPSC, decided to form teams with
SGPSC and THPSC respectively. However, neither of them qualified. PSH
showed one of their strongest lineups to date, which resulted in their best
team finish and only WC top 4. We also saw a very strong TWPS, which
until now had been mostly absent from the top WT and WC spots.
In this tournament we could see one of the disadvantages of the round-

robin system. In round 3, both HKPSA and LPSA had no points so they
had no chance to pass while PSH and TWPS were certain to advance into
round 4. This made their matchup somewhat pointless. Due to this, the
participants of LPSA didn’t want to continue, so for this round they
completely changed their lineup. It was decided between HKPSA and LPSA
that it would just be a friendly match, so it wasn’t meant as disrespectful,
but things got heated in UPSB for not taking the tournament seriously.
Unlike in past tournaments, where

several of the top Japanese spinners
didn’t participate, this year JEB went
all-in from the start. Their qualifica-
tion CV is worthy of note, with combos
from many top spinners like Kay, Su-
tomo, akiza, kzzn, VAIN, iteza, ACT
(ponkotu), caster, Menowa*, and in-
cluding some two-handed combos from
oZone and TMrW, who also edited the
video. They qualified in first place, and Kay (JEB) in the qualification CV
after their lineup was revealed, there were little to no doubts about their
upcoming victory. They lost no matches during the round-robin, and only
lost twice in the last two rounds, both in the technical category: ACT vs
MKSFT, and mi vs GSL. This left clear that the Japanese board was the
strongest, and also gave a glimpse into WT15, as we could now see Menowa*
becoming a rising star.
WT15
1st Menowa* (JEB)
2nd xound (PPSC)
3rd vice (PSH)
4th x1213 (TWPS)
Pixels (PUPSC), Ease (JEB),
5th-8th
Rotation87 (IPSB), MKSFT (TWPS)
WT15 was organized by zkhan and featured 64 spinners from 17 com-

munities. Similar to previous years, it had a group stage in the first round
followed by 5 more rounds of 1vs1. The group stage wasn’t necessary since
the number of spinners was 64, but it was thought to be useful to reduce
pairing variance. This was one of the efforts to refine the rulebook, trying
to make the tournament more fair while still keeping its traditional struc-
ture. The judging criteria were improved with more detailed definitions.
Effectiveness, which was a criteria only previously seen in WT09, was
reintroduced and its definition became more developed.
Among the top performing partici-

pants we mostly see well known names,
with no breakthroughs or completely
new styles like in past tournaments. It
may be surprising to see Ease in the
top 8, as he is a Dr Grip spinner and
the rules stated that non-optimal mods
shouldn’t be given a difficulty bonus.
However, some judges didn’t abide by
that and gave Ease a significant point
Menowa* (JEB) advantage. One of them was fired mid-
tournament. Up until now, the judge names were unknown to the public, but
in order to avoid these situations, they would be public from now on.
The favourite spinner for winning this tournament was Menowa*. He

was considered one of the strongest spinners at the time, thanks to his great
performance in WC14 as well as his participation in high-level CVs like
Abyss Nova and Japen 10th. Most heated debates in this tournament occured
around him, notably in his round 4 match vs MKSFT and in the finals vs
xound.
The final match, Menowa* vs xound, is usually considered one of the

most memorable battles in all of competitive pen spinning. Xound’s style
was based on difficulty, complex finger movements and fingercrossings while
Menowa*’s style was more focused on powertricks, precise hand motions,
creativity, speed and rhythm. Usually more execution focused, he opted to
do more high-difficulty combos for this tournament. His finals showed a style
similar to that of Xound, who commented on Menowa’s winning combo: “You
do Xound better than Xound. I don’t know who I am anymore".
Menowa*, who now had made true his dream of winning a World Tourna-
ment, retired from international competitions. Far from quitting pen spinning,
he kept on being incredibly active. From then on, he focused his efforts on
the team Sephiroth, CV participations and pen spinning outreach via viral
music sync videos and the Japanese Pen Spinning Foundation.
What happened with WC16?

The year 2016 was very hard for competitive pen spinning, as there
was no World Cup. There was less and less activity in UPSB and in
general, this year was the pivotal point in the transition phase from forums to
social media. Discord, which started being implemented as the new de-facto
communication tool for spinners, made it harder than public forums for the
community to gather interest and organize.
2016 ended without any World Cup, and people were increasingly worried
that there wouldn’t be a UPSB-organized WT17 either. Thus, other spinners
took initiative. The French spinner Aaytowi2 ran the Global Pen Spinning
League, a 16-person tournament. However, it wasn’t completely successful.
Tez and Mr.LSC, from Korean Pendolsa organized the Pendolsa World
Tournament (PWT) sometimes referred to as the PDS cup.
PWT (2017)
1st Beige (JEB)
2nd Pixels (SGPSC)
3rd Kagami (PSH/JEB)
4th Piruru (PSH)
The tournament had 45 participants from 11 boards, a qualification

round from which 16 spinners were selected and 4 single elimination rounds
afterwards. The prizes were 500 USD, a PDS gift set and a custom spinsticks
for 1st , 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Kagami had a great run in this
tournament and his style became very popular in PSH for the next years.
Beige’s energetic and creative wiper style wasn’t new, but it indicated the
beginning of an upward trend in good tournament results for modern wiper
spinners, in contrast to old school style spinners like mind.
PWT17 contributed to the interest for an official WT, but the organization
is generally considered the worst of all international tournaments to date.
The rulebook lacked many details, communication from the organizers was
mediocre and the judges were only from Japan and Korea, which some argue
biased the results.
WT17
1st Sirapob (THPSC)
2nd Gollumsk8 (FPSB)
3rd i.suk (UPSB)
4th Van (UPSB)
5th-8th kAtts (JEB), DArKT (PSB), GSL (PSH), Scream (PSH)
To the surprise of many, 2017 did

have an official WT: it had 64 spin-
ners from 16 boards and a total of 6
rounds. Due to some problems involv-
ing its organization, it took place in
the second half of the year instead of in
the first half as usual. It was organized
by Zkhan, and it was the last WT/WC
made before UPSB closed. To continue
with the variance-reducing strat-
Sirapob (THPSC) egy of WT15, the first two rounds were
group rounds. Otherwise, the criteria was the same as the last WT.
For the first time, the judge names were public from the beginning.
The bribery concerns that organizers had in 2007 didn’t turn out to be a
problem, and this allowed the participants to check that the judges were
indeed capable spinners, and to consult with them in case they heavily
disagreed with any of their judgements.
Until now, fitting the number of participants to 64 was done with a

concession-request system: boards requested a certain number of slots to
participate, without revealing which spinners would occupy those slots, and
then a number of those were granted by the organization. WT17 is the first
one in which the managers registered their spinners as either participants
or wildcards. The ones registered as particicipants would always participate,
and then the wildcards would be used to fit the remaining slots up to exactly
64. Coincidentally, it just happened that 52 participants + 12 wildcards was
exactly 64, so everyone participated.
To bypass the cap on the number of participants per board, PSH registered
two spinners (Wayne and Isa) under the name of two inactive boards (NLPSC
and PSUK). After the evasion was foiled, they were listed as PSH without
any penalties.
DArKT had an incredibly solid performance in this tournament, although

that would only be the beginning of his competitive career. Gollumsk8, who
had been participating since the very first world tournament, reached the
top 4 for the first time.
i.suk, who had also been spinning for very long, was considered the
clear favourite for winning this event. When the tournament started, he
held between 40 and 50 world records, and had made various popular mods
and tutorials for practicing powertricks. He was exploring more than just
fundamental powertricks, and delving into more creative spinning. However,
his style as we know it today wasn’t completely fleshed out: he hadn’t designed
his personal emboss yet, and his combos were still around 25 seconds long.
In a controversial match, he lost round 5 vs Sirapob, whose spinning was
based on fingercrossings. This was largely due to the judging of Menowa*,
which was heavily criticized at the time.
However, that is not to say that Sirapob didn’t deserve the win. After
intensive flexibility practice, he was able to master fingercrossings in a way
that had never seen before. As his technique didn’t compromise the execution
of his combos, there was enough balance between difficulty, creativity and
execution for him to consistently receive good scores. While Sirapob’s win
gave rise to some fingercross-based spinners, it’s a style that didn’t really
become widespread.
PSO18
1st 2nd
Power Arkonix (France) ocha (Japan)
2 Hands i.suk (Australia) Laku (Japan)
Complexity Herenz (Taiwan) PT (Taiwan)
Wipers DioBrando (New Zealand) kin (Hong Kong)
Taps & Counters Van (USA) Taeko (France)
More than a decade prior, there had been another attempt to run an
Olympics-style event, but it failed. In 2018, Coffeelucky revived this idea and
organized the first successful Pen Spinning Olympics. It was an individual
tournament, with its distinctive feature being that spinners would register
into various categories. The idea behind the different categories was to
make room for more diversity, as the style that World Tournament criteria
favour is quite narrow. In theory, as the criteria are different for each category
and the combos are more similar to eachother, this should allow judges to be
more precise and more fair in their scores.
There were five categories: power, two hands, complexity, wipers and
taps & counters; with 11, 13, 25, 15 and 11 participants respectively. Each of
those consisted of three rounds. The first one was a battle royale between all of
the participants of the category. For each category, five spinners advanced to
round two, which was another battle royale. The two best combos would battle
in the finals in a 1vs1 battle. Since the events were inspired by the Olympics,
spinners represented their countries instead of their boards, something that
was both very innovative and increasingly relevant, in a time when UPSB had
closed and new spinners started wondering if they were also considered to be
from UPSB. Each country could send up to two spinners to each category,
and any individual spinner could only participate in up to two categories.
As the event series was still new, it was seen more like a casual event
rather than something in the level of a WT or WC. Thus, some categories
like power were notably empty of some of the top performers at the time, like
i.suk or Katts. The number of forfeits due to unsent videos was also quite
high: 7 in the first round and 4 in the second round, while all finalists sent
a video. The most popular category was complexity, as it was the most
broad in scope. Some argued that complexity led to a mini-WT, which is
why it was removed in PSO20.
The match between Arkonix and ocha in the power category was very close,
and heavily debated. Arkonix’ combo had very clean execution, although
it didn’t show any particularly new techniques. On the other hand, ocha’s
combo was very inspired by juggling, including vertical stalls as well as other
tricks reminiscent of devil sticks. The judges initially considered it a draw,
although the win was then granted to Arkonix in the tiebreakers.
In 2 hands, i.suk won with a very

tech-heavy style, where he intertwined
his fingers in tricks which, at times,
had never been seen before; in con-
trast to Laku, who was more focused
on controlled hand movements, inte-
grating twirls with wipers, planes of
rotation and the overall harmony of
the combo. Herenz won complexity al-
most uncontested, with intricate yet
pleasantly executed and well presented DioBrando (New Zealand)
combos. DioBrando won over kin with a tech heavy wiper style, further
developing the tricks that he had been practicing for years prior. In taps &
counters, Van won vs Taeko 2-1 in a relatively close battle. In the end, the
event was a great success and this new tournament scheme allowed for very
creative and unique combos that weren’t as common in regular World
Tournaments.
TWC18
DArKT (BrPSC), Rotation87 (IPSB),
1st The Front Row
juan (PPSC), OhYeah! (THPSC), Pixels (UPSB)
Eastern Youth
2nd yua, kAtts, Beige, Ennis, TUv4
(JEB)
Pun Kannot
3rd DustFall, Gunter, Taeko, Mushwoom, Patchwork
(FPSB)
Among the
4th Tidus, Ivabra, Aaytowi2, Neir’da, Arkonix
Baguette (FPSB)
While the forumless order was more or less established by now, the
uncertainty regarding the WC organization continued. Two FPSB members,
Tidus and Dustfall, took the initiative and organized a team tournament.
Although it was in the same spirit as the former World Cup, it was also slightly
experimental, so they gave it a different name: Team World Cup (TWC).
Boards were allowed to send multiple teams, which resulted up in FPSB
registering four and PSH, eight. Later, it was suggested that this number
should be limited. Alliances could also be made without any restrictions,
which resulted in the quintuple alliance that formed the winning team, The
Front Row. In total, the event had 16 teams of 5 spinners each, from 10
boards. The first round was a CV qualification round, followed by three
rounds of single elimination.
There were three matches for each team battle. A more varied selection
of themes was implemented, although they were much less niche than in
WC10. The themes were pulled randomly from the following: complexity,
power, taps and counters, aestheticism, wipers and duet (2vs2). There needn’t
be a duet in each team match. The criteria weren’t based in the known and
tested past WC criteria, and although the point system was more complex,
the definitions were very vague, which was criticised. The organization was,
in general, not widely liked. However, we have to keep in mind that no other
group volunteered at the time, and in the end, no major issues occurred.
Following the trend, the alliance

team won, their team having five
members from five different boards.
DArKT consolidated his position
as one of the top spinners in the
world. OhYeah! showed very innova-
tive ideas, establishing himself as one
of the most creative spinners of the
past few years. From the second place
team, TUv4 submitted some interest-
DArKT (The Front Row) ing complexity combos. kAtts, who
had also reached the top 8 in WT17, proved that he was one of the strongest
Japanese powertrickers.
Overall, some interesting combos came out of the tournament, although

no breakthroughs were made. The most important aspect about TWC18 was
establishing a new organizing group for international events, what would
become known as the Pen spinning Board of Directors (PBoD), and showing
that the closure of UPSB didn’t imply the death of the tournament series.
WT19 (A-side)
1st i.suk (UPSB)

2nd DArKT (PSB)
3rd Gollumsk8 (FPSB)
4th Padrace (UPSB)
5th-8th kAtts (JEB), monheim (UPSB), wala (PHPS), Drowsy (JEB)
The time had come for the first World Tournament after the closure of
UPSB. Tidus and Dustfall, who were the organizers of TWC18, joined forces
with other experienced spinners to form the Pen Spinning Board of Directors
(PBoD) and tackle the organization of their first WT.
This committee devised several in-

novations. First, the tournament was
divided in two: the A side (called
WTA) was the usual World Tourna-
ment, which had 64 participants and 6
rounds. The B side (called WTB) was
a more beginner friendly tournament.
The participants of WTB were com-
prised of up to 32 spinners who lost
during the first round of WTA and
wanted to participate, as well as an- i.suk (UPSB)
other 32 spinners. In total, WTB had 62 participants and 6 rounds. The first
three rounds in both sides were group rounds, and while they contributed to
reduce pairing variance, they created less excitement than the 1vs1 matches,
so some people argued that just one or two were enough.
As for the judging guidelines, the penalties for misconduct and unfit
videos still weren’t very fleshed out, but the judging criteria and their
definitions were upgraded to be the most detailed and precise they have
ever been, mostly thanks to the contributions of i.suk. However, some people
criticised that the criteria which were chosen favoured i.suk heavily, who also
was a participant.
The level of the spinners who lost R1 of the A side wasn’t necessarily low,
which resulted in a power level imbalance in the B side. For example, Neir’da,
who finished 3rd in the B-side, was one of the spinners eliminated from the
A side. Ketain was eliminated in A side’s round 1 due to an incredibly hard

group placement, and he would have probably finished in the top 4 of the B
side if he had decided to participate in the B side.
The A-side showcased by far the highest level of competitive pen spin-
ning that had been seen to date. Drowsy, who was already very popular
thanks to his CV submissions, showed a creative and aesthetic style of spin-
ning based on fishing tricks and changes of plane of rotation. Padrace,
with creative spinning based mostly on slides and hand motions, finished in
the top 4. Monheim, also known as nine, based his spinning in hard tech,
cardioid variations and fxxk with very clean execution. Gollumsk8 did
one of the first and most impressive 2p1h combos in R5 vs i.suk. DArKT
further developed his spinning based on changes of direction, balanced
between creative and technical.
Finally, i.suk showed impressive dilligence by filming months in advance,

dedicating an enormous amount of time to every combo and showing com-
pletely new concepts, both in their creativity and difficulty. His mod, the
i.suk emboss v3 became one of the de-facto mods for powertricks. Coming
into the tournament, the popular opinion favored him uncontestedly, and his
final win just confirmed what was known since at least WT17.
WC20
Ark0nix, Gunter, Ivabra,
1st X (FPSB)
Tchus, Thebeygeek, Leftfinger
Dawn Wanderer
2nd Ennis, Fukrou, KoVi, Laku, Kyousuke Kanbara
(JEB)
3rd W (PHPS) abc, ch, Mond, wla, Xound
Ultimate Rookies
4th C17H27NO3, Haro, sututu, tetora, Vekzy
(JEB)
Again under the name of PBoD, a committee of spinners from all around
the world organized 2020’s World Cup. The tournament featured 16 teams
and 4 rounds, the first one being a CV qualification round. The rulebook
was mostly the same as the one for TWC18, with some minor changes: 1p2h
was added to the pool of themes that could be drawn. Alliances were limited
to a maximum of two boards, and large ones (UPSB, JEB, PSH and FPSB)
weren’t allowed to form any, in order to avoid what had happened with The
Front Row in TWC18. Other than that, the imprecise criteria definitions, no
tiebreakers and no definite penalties were the same as in 2018, completely
disregarding the feedback.
During the qualification round,

UPSB and the French team “Y” were
tied for 8th place. Carelessness by
some members of the committee re-
sulted in it not being noticed until after
the results were announced. After the
participants noticed it, there was no
official course of action as there were
no tiebreakers in the rulebook. Judges
were asked again, one of them changed
his opinion which gave UPSB the win. Fukrou (Dawn Wanderer)
The vague criteria definitions received several complaints this year, so for
the first time in all WT and WC history, an amendment to the rules was
written mid-tournament. Unlike two years before, the deficiencies of the
organization were more evident, and the backlash was stronger. Thankfully,
the great submissions more than made up for these problems. Additionally,
some members decided to step up for helping in the organization of future
tournaments, in order to avoid these situations.
As for the qualification collabs, both JEB teams were very powerful.
Some notable spinners were Haro and his standup (performance) combos,
abc with very crisp execution in taps and counters, Xound coming back to
competitive spinning and Thebeygeek, which was later crowned as spinner
of the year and the one with highest difficulty by 2020’s Spinawards. It was
said that his high difficulty combos were key to FPSB X’s final win.
One of the members of JEB’s Dawn Wanderer, Fukrou, lost in R3 in the

wipers category versus wla from PHPS. Being considered a wipers expert,
Fukrou wasn’t happy with the result and decided to put all of his efforts in
his final round combo, which turned out to be vs Arkonix in the aestheticism
category. His R4 combo blew everyone away, not only winning the battle but
being awarded the second best combo in JEB’s Spinner of the Year 2020, the
third best spinner of the year and best refinement by Spinawards.
PSO20
1st 2nd
Aestheticism VAIN (JEB) Dove (TWPS)
Power Neir’da (FPSB) Allwars (LSPSC)
2 Hands Zefia (UPSB) Jiv. (JEB)
Wipers MEL (JEB) Kin (HKPSA)
Counters DArKT (PSB) Cowabunga (TWPS)
Multipen RPD (SPSC) Gollumsk8 (FPSB)
Standup PSAkkey (PHPS) ponkotu (JEB)
As PSO18 successfully established the new tournament series, the second

edition was a great success. This tournament was also organized by PBoD; in
particular, Coffeelucky and Ketain were the main organizers, while Patchwork
and RPD were in charge of the rulebook.
There were some updates to the categories: complexity was removed
as it was too broad in scope, which had resulted in a mini-WT in the previous
edition. Aestheticism took its place, which was intended to be a category
focused on CV-style combos. Taps & counters was changed to just counters,
as taps can be done without changes of direction, which isn’t the main focus
of the category. Each of these five categories consisted of three rounds.
Padrace (UPSB) RPD (SPSC)
In addition to those, there were two completely new ones: multipen and
standup, which consisted of 2p1h and performance spinning respectively. As
they were considerably less developed than the other five, they consisted of
only one round, in which all spinners did a battle royale. This allowed those
spinners to go all-out in one combo.
In order not to have issues like the ones seen in WC20, the criteria
definitions were written in a much more precise way and penalties were clearly
stated. The criteria were completely different for each category. Notably,
standup combos had to be longer, execution was less important in multipen,
difficulty didn’t count at all for aestheticism and in wipers, and both aesthetic
and technical approaches were taken into account for the first time in a
tournament.
The submissions to the 3-round categories were of an incredible level.

i.suk, who was busy working on his 12 years solo, was missing from both
2 hands and power, participating as a judge. Some notable combos from
the 3-round categories, as evidenced by the SpinAwards results, were Dove’s
aestheticism R2, Cowabunga (MG) counters R2 and all three DArKT counters
combos. Kin finished in second place in wipers, again losing the finals like in
PSO18. Allwars, who had also participated in the power category two years
earlier, was able to reach that top 2.
Before the tournament started, the success of the 1-round categories

was unknown, and it was a hit or miss, many doubting that something decent
could come out and having considerably less participants. Many feared that
it would be like the infamous body and environment in WC10. Now, some
consider them the most memorable part of PSO20. For multipen, Gollumsk8
one-upped his incredible WT19 combo and RPD won the category, partly
thanks to some new developments in 2p1h modding. As for standup, there
was a very controversial judging by Bula which was key in giving PSAkkey
the final victory. However, the popular opinion was favorable towards ponkotu
(2nd place) and Padrace (3rd place). In particular, Padrace got over 760 likes
in the Twitter upload of his combo, which was among the highest that any
pen spinning combo had gotten up to that point.
WT21 (A-side)
1st i.suk (ESPC)

2nd Beck (ESPC)
3rd Saltient (MYPSC)
4th Haton (PSH)
5th-8th Arthur (SGPSC), Padrace (ESPC), V 01D (ESPC), Zefia (ESPC)
The 2021 World Tournament was organized by PBoD and took place
during the latter half of the year. Tigres was the leader of the organizing team
and his objective was to take what had been done in WT19, improve upon it
and document the process of its organization so that future generations of
spinners could also make these tournaments by themselves.
The tournament was again divided in two. The A side (WTA) had 64
participants and 6 rounds. WT19 had 3 groups rounds, which were said to
be too many, so on this occasion the organization opted for only 2 group
rounds and 4 individual rounds. The B side (WTB) was comprised of 32
participants and 5 rounds. Unlike in the last edition, spinners who lost during
the first round of WTA didn’t had the option of participating in WTB, a
change implemented to keep the WTB shorter and truer to its objective.
The rulebook received several im-

provements. The requirements for par-
ticipants, managers, and judges were
more clearly stated, and what could
constitute a community was defined
for the first time. In order not to use
the name of the now closed UPSB and
to treat the relatively scattered com-
munity in an unified way, the acronym
ESPC (English Speaking Penspinning
i.suk (ESPC) Collective) was used. Video submis-
sions were not done through YouTube but by directly sending the video
to the organizers. These were then reuploaded to the PBoD channel for
archival purposes. In order to make the pairings more fair, spinners who
had and hadn’t participated in past tournaments were distributed in equal
numbers within each group. The criteria were very similar to those used in
WT19, although some descriptions were improved and the point scales were
written in a more detailed way.
There were various trends during this tournament. Power combos were
pushed to levels never seen before, thanks to the pioneering efforts of i.suk
and new developments in tricks like the Fl PD arounds. i.suk and Arthur
are to be mentioned in this category, as well as vanilla. The vast majority
of the top performing spinners opted for technical combos but with a lot of
care put into the spinning effect and overall aesthetics. Among these I should
mention Haton, Zefia, TUv4, Beck, Padrace, and V 01D. It’s not uncommon
for spinners to opt for non-traditional combos in order to hedge over the
competition, but this was particularly important in this tournament: Jiv.,
i.suk, and Zefia submitted 1p2h combos, Padrace’s R2 was a standup combo,
CrisWea!!’s whole WT run (R1-R3) was 2p1h, and i.suk’s R6 was in xpxh
style.
Saltient practiced and prefilmed

several months before the tournament
started. Using extreme fingercrossings
as a medium, he implemented new con-
cepts from cardistry, finger tutting as
well as his own ideas in a way never
seen before. He hadn’t participated in
any past tournaments so he was rel-
atively unknown, but his combo for
MYPSC 6th was promising enough
that made him one of the top candi- Saltient (MYPSC)
dates for the first place finish. However, he lost in the semifinals vs i.suk.
The second place was for Beck, another experienced but relatively unknown
spinner, as he had notoriously missed the WT19 registration period. His
R3 combo was very remarkable, making use of very creative hand positions,
taking down early another one of the favourites of this tournament, the
Japanese spinner TUv4.
i.suk became the first spinner to win a World Tournament twice. He

continued pushing the boundaries of spinning in a similar direction as during
his WT19 run and his 12 year solo, using around-spin powertricks, two
hands, two pens and in general leaving no breathing room in his breakdowns.
His R3 was vs Gollumsk8, which was a rematch for their legendary battle
during WT19. He submitted an incredibly technical 1p2h combo for his R4 vs
Padrace which would be eclipsed by his semifinals combo vs Saltient, another
1p2h combo which he estimates took more than 600 hours to prepare. His
final combo had a mix of linked 2 hand tricks, 2p2h, as well as some 2p1h.
Part II
Notation
4 English notation
In this chapter we will learn about the notation commonly used in English-
speaking boards and communities. Both informal and formal notation
are shown together in order to avoid repeated information. To distinguish
notation from surounding text, a typewriter font is used.
4.1 Trick names

A trick is a relatively short, distinctive sequence of pen movements that
usually can’t be easily subdivided into simpler tricks. When combining various
tricks, we form a combo. Linkages are simple sequences of movements used
to connect tricks within a combo. In 2004, Kam designated four tricks and
their reverses as fundamental: Charge, fingerpass, sonic and thumbaround.
He considered including infinity as the fifth, but in the end he opted not
to. In 2007, Freeman made another similar category called utility tricks,
comprised of pass, wiper and their reverses. For a comprehensive list of all
trick names and their origins, see Chapter 8.
4.2 Fingerslots
A fingerslot or slot determines the possible range of positions of the pen at
a certain instant. It’s one of the most developed aspects of English notation.
4.2.1 Locators
We form slots by using locators, which represent every part of the hand:
A Arm T Thumb
E Elbow Tf Thumbflap
W Wrist 1 Index finger
H Hand 2 Middle finger
B Back of the hand 3 Ring finger
P Palm of the hand 4 Pinky finger
When combining them to form a slot we need to follow a certain hierarchy:

90 Fingerslots
A > E > W > H > B > P > T > Tf > 1 > 2 > 3 > 4
This means that 23 is a correct slot while 32 is incorrectly ordered.
To specify a position within a finger, we write the finger followed by either

the phalanx/joint, face, or both, in that order. This way, locators can be
more or less precise. For example, in an indexaround the pen goes around
1, but we don’t know around which phalanx in particular.
Finger Phalanx/joint Face
w Metacarpal
x Proximal phalanx
T Thumb y Middle phalanx b Dorsal face
1 Index z Distal phalanx p Palmar face
2 Middle t Tip of the finger s Lateral faces (any)
3 Ring k Finger joint (any) sp Pinky-side lat. face
4 Pinky wx Knuckle st Thumb-side lat. face
xy 1st interph. joint
yz 2nd interph. joint
While it’s sometimes good to be precise, using more broad locators allows
us to communicate more easily, avoiding irrelevant information. E.g.:
T Anywhere on the thumb
Tx Proximal phalanx of the thumb
Txb Dorsal side of the proximal phalanx of the thumb
Using the incorrect order (for example: xT or y1) could lead to confusion.
Without consistent order, for instance, what does 1x2 mean? Does x refer to
the index or middle finger?
The locator s can be ambiguous since fingers have two lateral faces. The
trick and position of the hand clarify which side we’re referring to almost all
the time, but if you want to specify, you can do so with sp and st for pinky
side and thumb side respectively. Another notation that is sometimes used is
ps and ts.
Notice that not all combinations are possible! The thumb has no
middle phalanx. In the middle and ring fingers, you cannot place the mod
on the side of its metacarpal without piercing your hand, nor can you talk
about the faces of the end of a finger (for example, 1tb is incorrect).
English notation 91
4.2.2 Changes in the position of the pen

Changes in the position of the pen within one trick are specified with a
hyphen. Most of the time, for each trick, the initial and final slots are
written. If there is no change in the pen position, only one slot is written and
if the slots are obvious in that context, they may be omitted.
- Hyphen Used to connect various slots of one trick.
Sometimes we want to be more specific and also lay out the trajectory
of one particular trick, in which case we can use multiple hyphens:
sonic 23-12 = sonic 23-12.3-13-1.23-12
4.2.3 Same-trick sequence shortening
At times, within a breakdown, we want to write the same trick multiple
times. If the tricks are done one after the other, exactly the same in terms
of modifiers but with different slots, we can shorten those same-trick
sequences by connecting the slots using >.
> Trick connector Connects slots to shorten same-trick sequences.
Notice that pass 12-23-34-23 would’t make sense, as you would have to
go through all those positions in just 0.5 revolutions (only one pass).
pass 12-23 > pass 23-34 > pass 34-23 ⇒ pass 12-23>34>23
This improvement came up in a conversation I had with Fel2Fram, and while
it’s well accepted within the notation community, it’s not uncommon to see
other spinners shortening same-trick sequences with hyphens.
4.2.4 Finger prefixes in arounds and spins

Although the syntax is more akin to that of modifiers, the concept of
finger prefixes is closely related to what we have seen just now. In some tricks,
particularly arounds, a prefix for each finger around which the pen rotates is
added: thumb, index, middle, ring & pinky. Names are usually shortened
forming acronyms. For example, a thumbaround is shortened as TA.
When going around more than one finger, the order in which you
write the prefixes is important. The first finger the pen goes around is written
first, and so on. For example, a MIA 23-23 is the around with 1.0 revolutions
that goes first around the middle and then around the index, while an IMA
92 Fingerslots
T1-T1 would be the opposite of that. Notice that there is only one around.
If we go around the index finger, catch the pen, and then go around the
middle finger, that would be IA > MA (2.0 revolutions).
Prefixes are only written once. However, we see how in a MIA 23-23 the
pen goes around the middle, index and then middle finger again, thus being
a different trick from a MIA 23-12. Most of the time, slots can clear up any
confusions like this, but that isn’t always the case. Consider an around 1.0
starting from 34 and ending in 34. In the first half, it goes around ring,
middle and index. Before the pen starts falling back, the middle finger is
straightened, so it only goes around the index and ring fingers. To distinguish
this peculiar trick from the usual RMIA 34-34, we should write the finger
prefixes as many times as they’re needed. Thus, RMIMRA 34-34 would be the
usual trick, and RMIRA 34-34 the one that we just described.
Finger prefixes are also used in spins. They don’t specify on which part
of the finger the pen must rotate. For example, an indexspin could rotate
on its palm side (the most common case) but also on its back. If multiple
prefixes are used, like in thumbindexspin, then it spins in all of those places
simultaneously.
4.2.5 Unstable slots (asterisk locator)
1* 1b2s* 1b2b*
* Air/gravity The mod is over some fingers or suspended in the air.
The asterisk locator * represents the air or gravity, and is used to describe
slots where the mod is over some fingers rather than between them. Using
* by itself means that the pen is suspended in the air. This was developed
in FPSB under the name of “invisible finger”. The following examples are to
ilustrate its usage; they’re usually not written so explicitly.
aerial sonic = sonic 23-13-*-13-12
IA 12-12 = IA 12-1*-12
English notation 93
Various possibilities exist for each slot. For example, 1* could be

palm down, on the index back (1b*); palm side on the index side (1s*) etc.
Additionally, slots like 12* do make sense! Multiple possibilities also exist, like
1b2s*, 1b2b* etc. Most of the time, the trick and/or hand position clarifies
on which side the pen is placed, so there may be no need to use b, s,...
4.2.6 Dot notation

Originally proposed by Fel2Fram in 2011, dot notation uses a dot to
represent the mod.
. Dot Used to denote the fingers’ positions with respect to the mod.
The usual fingerslots can only describe the position of the mod in relation
to the fingers, but with dot notation we can also describe the opposite: the
fingers with respect to the mod. These images show two slots which would
usually be written as 1234. In addition to that, in both examples 1 and 3 are
on one side while 2 and 4 are on the other. However, thanks to the dot and a
particular locator order we can distinguish them!
13.42 31.24
To write these positions with dot notation, start from the side of the mod
that contains the first finger by the usual hierarchy (T>1>2>3>4). Write
each locator clockwise if it’s the right hand and anticlockwise if it’s the left
hand, while adding a dot for the mod. In this way, the left picture would be
13.42 and the one on the right would be 31.24.
As Freeman pointed out when dot notation was proposed, this is useful
for explaining the trajectories of some tricks:
Flush sonic 23 - 21.34 - 14 - 13.42 - 23
Swuck 23 - 2P.3 - P3
Sonic 23 - 12.3 - 13 - 1.23 - 12
Inverse sonic 23 - 21.3 - 13 - 1.32 - 12
94 Fingerslots
4.2.7 Fingercrossings
The usual way to notate crossed fingers is with a square bracket after the
fingerslots. It doesn’t specify when those fingers cross/uncross.
[fc __] Fingercrossing Some fingers are crossed

In informal notation, the crossed fingers are written inside the bracket
following the usual locator order. For example, if we cross the index and
middle fingers it would be written as [fc 12].
The first improvement to this notation was made by Freeman and Kurot-
suki (SPSC) in mid 2009. Meaning is given to the locator order: while
looking from the same points of view used to determine the direction of
rotation, the fingers above are written first, followed by those below. Thus,
we distinguish [fc 12] (1 over 2) from [fc 21] (2 over 1). So a middlearound
pushed via a fingercrossing would be:
MA 12-12 [fc 21]
However, this doesn’t account for all crossings! This can be seen by adding
the locators of the back (b) and palm (p) sides of a finger and then checking
for all of the possible combinations. Around 2013, I defined the x-type and
o-type fingercrossings and their notation. This classification only applies to
the case in which just two fingers from the same hand are involved.
X-type fingercrossings One finger is above another. It is enough to

order the locators correctly; there is no need to specify further with b and p.
These fingercrossings are the most common type.
[fc 21] = [fc 2b1p] [fc 12] = [fc 1b2p]
O-type fingercrossings One finger is outside another. A new symbol
(“outside of”) is used, and the locators for the back (b) and palm (p) sides of
the finger also have to be specified to distinguish all types.
> Outside of Finger outside > finger inside
For example, one o-type fingercrossing involving T and 1 in which the

thumb is outside the index finger is [fc Tp>1b].
On the next page you can see a table with several examples of finger-
crossings between T, 1 and 2. Check that you understand how everything has
been notated and why locators were ordered that way.
English notation 95
Fingercrossings involving the thumb
T1 [fc Tb>1b] T1 [fc Tp>1b] T1 [fc T1]
T1 [fc 1p>Tp] T1 [fc 1p>Tb] T1 [fc 1T]
Fingercrossings involving non-opposable fingers
12 [fc 1b>2b] 12 [fc 1p>2p] 12 [fc 12]
12 [fc 2b>1b] 12 [fc 2p>1p] 12 [fc 21]

96 Fingerslots
In addition to those twelve there are eight more, which probably can’t
be done without hurting yourself. Notice how the combinations that we
are able to do change depending on if we consider opposable (T and 1) or
non-opposable (1 and 2) fingers.
[fc Tp>1p] [fc Tb>1p] [fc 1b>Tb] [fc 1b>Tp]
[fc 1p>2b] [fc 1b>2p] [fc 2b>1p] [fc 2p>1b]
Although not mandatory, we can also notate the end of a crossing. In this
case, there’s no need to repeat which fingers uncross if it’s obvious.
[/fc] End of a crossing The previous fingercrossing is undone
4.2.8 Special positions & fc shorthands
While we can use the [fc __] bracket to determine crossed positions of
the fingers, we can use the same concepts and ideas without the fc keyword
to determine non-crossed, special finger positions.
[ ] Special position Half fingercrossing or special finger position
For that, the following symbols can be useful:
= In contact For a finger in contact with or near another

6= Not in contact For a finger not in contact or away from another
There is another way of notating some of the special positions of 1, 2, 3

and 4, which has been widely adopted and is more easily understood:
in Hyper-extension A finger is hyper-extended

out Flexion A finger is flexed
[146=P; 23=P] [26=P; 3=P] T1 [Tb=1b]

or [23 in] or [2 out 3 in]
English notation 97
There is one shorthand form for the fc and special position bracket
which we can use in the case that the locators in the slot and inside the
bracket are exactly the same, proposed by Tchus in 2021. For example:
12 [12] ⇒ [12]
123 [fc 312] ⇒ [312]
Let’s see both the shorthand form and the special position bracket in action
with an example: wiper 12. Depending on how we decide to position the
fingers, the plane of rotation of the wiper will change. This change of plane
of rotation isn’t described otherwise in the breakdown of the trick, but can
be expressed with special positions. There are eight basic possibilities. Let’s
assume palm side position, with ourselves looking towards the palm:
Moving up Moving down Moving away Coming near
wiper [12] wiper [21] wiper 12 wiper rev 12
wiper rev [21] wiper rev [12] wiper rev [fc 21] wiper [fc 12]
4.3 Modifiers
Modifiers are words which provide extra information about aspects of a
trick, like where and how it is executed. By using modifiers instead of new
trick names we give information in a descriptive manner, thus reducing
the number of arbitrary names and conventions that need to be memorized.
For each trick, modifiers are written in the following order:
Hand orientation Prefix Name Suffix Nº of spins Slots
4.3.1 Hand orientation

Hand orientation determines the position of your hand with respect to the
reference frame of the table/ground. Although many intermediate positions
exist and are commonly used while spinning, in breakdowns they are simplified
to the following four main positions:
PU Palm up The palm facing upwards.
PS Palm side The hand is sideways, pinky lower than thumb.
PD Palm down The palm facing downwards.
BS Back side The hand is sideways, pinky higher than thumb.
Some people like to write this in different styles. All of the following are
equivalent and accepted notations of a palm down TA:
PD TA (PD) TA [PD] TA (PD):TA
98 Modifiers
It is commonly understood that if nothing is stated, the trick is done in (PS).

If hand orientation is stated in a combo breakdown, all subsequent tricks are
done in that hand orientation unless a new one is written. If the orientation
changes in the middle of a trick, we can write it using dashes:
(PD-PS) twisted sonic
The exact moment of the orientation change isn’t specified. If you need
more precision, you can divide the trick into smaller ones and indicate the
orientation in each of them.
(PD) charge 23 ~> (PS) pass 23-12
When writing long combos it can be useful to divide the breakdown into
rows, so that the hand position is the same in each one. This comes down to
personal preference, but this is how I like to write them:
(PD) twisted sonic 23-12 > charge 12-T1 ~> IA T1-12 > midbak >
(PS) IA 23-12 ~> powerpass 12-34 >
(PU) palmspin > double TA
4.3.2 Prefixes and suffixes
The so-called prefix modifiers are words that we put before the name
of the trick, and the suffix modifiers are the ones that go after it. These
modifiers change the trick itself. They allow us to neatly classify tricks in a
descriptive manner.
Prefixes Suffixes
inverse continuous normal rise
mirrored double reverse fall
fingerless triple ... harmonic bust
tipped * curled riser double bust ...
counter * side release * cardioid
aerial * palm still * pop
isolated * backhand
moonwalk * Defined after the v3 NC
In this table, most commonly used modifiers are shown. Those marked
with an asterisk have been added recently and won’t be found in old notation
guides. Moonwalk and still were deprecated, but it’s now commonly accepted
that their usage is correct when no slots are written.
English notation 99
Counter The original concept was invented by Zombo, from UPSB,

around 2005. The idea is to perform a trick as normal, then interrupt it
halfway through with its reverse, usually via a fingerless push. This brings
the pen back to the starting position, resulting in a hybrid.
bak T12-T12 ~> bak rev 0.5 1*-T12 = Counter bak
Nowadays, the word counter is used in a more general sense to refer to
abrupt (not hidden) changes of direction. For example, the PSO/WC “taps
and counters” category uses this definition.
Continuous Abbreviated cont: when a trick is executed repeatedly.

TA > TA . . . = Cont TA
If nothing is specified, the trick is executed an indefinite amount of times. An
example of this usage would be in the phrase: “The world record for cont TA
> Spider spin is currently held by Kake.” A particular number of repetitions
can also be specified as follows:
TA > TA > TA = Cont TA x3
This can be applied to sequences of tricks with the help of parentheses.
TA > IA > TA > IA = Cont (TA > IA) x2
Harmonic Abbreviated harmo. In English, it originally meant when the
nor variant of a trick was done followed by the rev just once.
TA nor > TA rev = TA Harmonic
Nowadays, it’s understood by many as a continuous change of direction:
TA nor > TA rev > TA nor . . . = Cont (TA nor > TA rev) = TA Harmonic
This is probably due to video tutorials for harmonic tricks repeating the
sequence over and over without stopping in between, in order to show how
it’s done. Hideaki, who coined this word in 1997, also did it continuously in
his videos.
Double, triple, quadruple... Another way to write continuous tricks

TA > TA > TA = Cont TA x3 = Triple TA
Mirrored Imagine a plane perpendicular to the palm of your hand but
parallel to your fingers. Mirroring a sequence means that you do the same
tricks, but the slots and direction of rotation are reflected over that mirroring
plane. It is mainly used for powerpasses, since it’s one of the only tricks which
its mirrored can’t be notated with simpler modifiers.
100 Modifiers
Where do we place that mirroring plane, though? Take tw sonic 23-12

for example and notice the differences when the plane is in 23 vs in 2:
Mirrored tw sonic 23-12 [plane in 23] = tw sonic rev 23-34
Mirrored tw sonic 23-12 [plane in 2] = tw sonic rev 12-23
The 23 plane is always used for the powerpasses and that has led to people
thinking that that is always the case, but in reality the plane should be
placed so that the fingers involved remain the same. In the case of the tw
sonic 23-12, the plane should be placed in 2. For a more complex sequence,
the logic is the same:
Tw sonic bust = Tw Sonic 23-12 ~> Bak rev 12-12
Mirrored tw sonic bust = Tw Sonic rev 12-23 ~> Ringbak 23-23
Keep in mind that the use of mirrored can overlap with other simpler
modifiers! In that case, it’s better to use the most intuitive one.
Mirrored flush sonic = inverse flush sonic rev
Moonwalk Moonwalk means that a trick is done in the normal direction
of rotation, but with the slots of its reverse. It was deprecated by the NC,
but nowadays its usage is considered correct when no slots are written. It
originated in Japanese notation, where that’s always the case. For example,
in the case of moonwalk inverse side sonic we are referring to all of the
tricks that follow this slot pattern without specifying any particular one.
Sonic = Sonic nor 23-12
Moonwalk sonic = Sonic nor 12-23
Sonic rev = Sonic rev 12-23
Moonwalk sonic rev = Sonic rev 23-12
Fingerless Abbreviated fl, when the impulse of that trick does not come
from the movement of the fingers but rather from the movement of the wrist
or arm. A more in-depth explanation of fingerless and other pushes can be
found in section 4.3.6.
Inverse Abbreviated inv. When in the original trick the mod passes
“behind...”, in the inverse it passes “in front of...” and vice versa. For example,
a sonic nor passes behind the middle finger, so its inverse is exactly the
same but passes in front of it.
In powerpasses, inverse is often used incorrectly (See the entry for

powerpass in chapter 8). In that case, the usage of palm and backhand is
recommended.
English notation 101
Palm, backhand Palm and backhand are modifiers which consist of

executing a trick on either the palm side or the backhand side of the fingers,
but while keeping the same direction of rotation and push in both variants.
This is currently only used in powerpasses, as explained in the trick dictionary
(Chapter 8). Powerpass and inverse powerpass have opposite directions of
rotation (counterclockwise and clockwise respectively) and opposite pushes
(finger retraction and stretching respectively) while (backhand) powerpass
and palm powerpass have the same direction of rotation (counterclockwise)
and same push (finger retraction). For powerpasses, backhand is usually
omitted.
Bust, Double bust, ... A bust consists of adding a Fl backaround

reverse at the end of a trick. For example:
Sonic bust = sonic > Fl backaround rev
Tw sonic bust = Tw sonic > Fl backaround rev
Keep in mind that, for historical reasons, TA bust is never said, but rather
extended TA instead. In case more than one Fl backaround reverse is added,
the modifiers double bust, triple bust etc can be added:
Extended TA = TA > Fl backaround rev
Tw sonic double bust = Tw sonic > Fl backaround rev x2
The initial meaning of bust was slightly different, always implying that
a change of direction was smoothed out when adding the Fl backaround
reverse (See the sonic bust entry in Chapter 8). Nowadays, bust is used
as a trick name by itself, meaning Fl backaround reverse.
By the way, you should be aware of the difference between continuous

tw sonic bust and multiple bust! One repeats the whole trick while the
other just repeats the busts.
Cont tw sonic bust = Tw sonic > bust > tw sonic > bust > tw sonic . . .
Tw sonic multiple bust = Tw sonic > bust > bust > bust > bust . . .
Curled Used when one or more fingers are curled and the pen spins in
the proximal interphalangeal joint (xy). Initially popularized by i.suk in baks
and busts as a way to increase their difficulty.
Tipped Abbreviated as tp, this modifier is used to remove the conical

movement from the trick. While the usage is simple, there is a technical
subtlety with tipped, nor and rev that we shall point out. Sometimes, the
tipped versions of the nor and rev variants of a trick are the same.
102 Modifiers
Charge nor → Tipped charge = Tipped charge ← Charge rev

However, that isn’t always the case. Take sonic for example. While their
breakdowns may seem the same, those tricks aren’t.
Sonic nor → Tipped sonic 6= Tipped sonic ← Sonic rev
The problem in the above reasoning is that the slots are being left out. When
added, the apparent inconsistency is solved.
Sonic 23-12 → Tp sonic 23-12 6= Tp sonic 12-23 ← Sonic rev 12-23
Sonic 23-12 → Tp sonic 23-12 = Tp sonic 23-12 ← Sonic rev 23-12
Isolated Popularized by the French spinner Fratleym and coming from

other manipulation arts, this modifier changes the way the trick is performed
visually. An isolated trick is intended to create the optical illusion that one
end of the mod is “anchored” to the air.
Isolated triangle pass
Side Whether side is a modifier or not is somewhat disputed, and side

sonic could be correctly classified as an individual trick by now. It’s used
when a trick has one finger on one side of the pen and you move it to the
other with an in-out or out-in motion, from closer to the palm to further and
vice versa. It is mainly used with sonics and charges.
Side sonic 23-12 2 moves in-out.
Side flush sonic 23-23 3 moves in-out while 2 moves out-in.
Side charge 13 2 either moves in-out or out-in.
There is some ambiguity in the case of side charge 13, which is sometimes
the problem of side. It should be clear in context which one you mean. One
could argue that side charge 13 should actually be called side sonic 13-13,
since in the formal sense the slots are changing:
Side charge 13 =⇒ Side sonic 13(2 out)-13(2 in)
or Side sonic 13(2 in)-13(2 out)
Release One of the two types of aerial pushes. The mod is thrown in the
air immediately after the initial push. Therefore, the mod can’t turn on top
of the hand until after finishing the aerial spin.
Riser The second type of aerial pushes. The mod rotates somewhere in
the hand after its initial push and then is thrown to the air. After the aerial
spin, the pen is caught without any additional rotations on the hand.
Pop Pop is one type of catch in which the mod does 0.5 revolutions on
top of the hand after an aerial spin. Its initial meaning was different (see:
Elbow pop), its current meaning was standarized by Fel2Fram in 2010. It
can be used in conjunction with either riser, release, as well as by itself.
Aerial Used to say that while performing the trick, the mod has been
thrown to the air. Neither how nor when is said, so it could be a release or
riser.
Rise Used to abbreviate sequences of the same trick, starting at 34 and

ending at 12, mainly with sonics and simple arounds. Don’t confuse rise
with riser.
Sonic rise = sonic 34-23 > sonic 23-12
Bak rise = pinkybak > ringbak > midbak > indexbak
Fall The opposite of rise, starting at 12 and ending at 34. The bak fall
has been used so much that name and modifier have fused into bakfall.
Sonic fall = sonic 12-23 > sonic 23-34
Bakfall = indexbak > midbak > ringbak > pinkybak
Still Used to say that a trick starts and ends in the same slot, mainly
used in shadow still. It should only be used when no slots are written down.
Shadow still 12 = Shadow 12-12
Cardioid Originally used to refer to the trick TA > wiper rev T1, it was
adopted as a concept for any around-wiper trick and later used as a modifier.
It consists of adding a wiper after the around in question, in the same slots
and without changing direction. So, for example:
pinkybust cardioid = (PD) pinkybust > wiper 34
pinkybak cardioid = (PD) pinkybak > wiper rev 34
4.3.3 Number of revolutions
This modifier gives information about the number of rotations that the
mod makes when doing a trick. Some examples are TA 1.0, sonic 1.0 or
thumbspin 1.5. It is mandatory to put a point between integers and decimals,
even when the number of revolutions is an integer. Otherwise, it could be
confused with some types of slots. This modifier is mainly used for spins.
104 Modifiers
4.3.4 Direction of rotation

The two directions of rotation are called normal, abbreviated nor, and
reverse, abbreviated rev. For us to specify the direction of a trick, it must
have some kind of continuous rotation, to determine if it goes clockwise or
not. Thus, it isn’t appropiate for tricks like tipped charge or stall.
There is no general rule to determine the relationship between clockwise
and normal for all tricks. In general, similar tricks or tricks of the same family
will follow similar criteria (e.g. sonic and flush sonic). Handedness needs to
be considered, as it is opposite for left and right handed spinners. The criteria
under which we call a trick nor or rev is summarized in the following table.
We need to look at the hand from the following points of view, depending on
how the pen rotates.
Clockwise is normal (Right hand)
Charge, sonic &

Wipers without T Passes, basketball
variations, wipers with
(wiper 12), backarounds spin
T (wiper T1)
Counterclockwise is normal (Right hand)
Spins in both the front Arounds (TA, bust), Arounds (IA,

face (palmspin, spins over T or Tf, powerpass), spreads,
sidespin) and in the charges with T or Tf dual pass, triangle
back face (shadow) (charge T1) pass
4.3.5 PSC notation (push-spin-catch)
This was initially developed in 2007 in the UPSB research department

together with the hybrid trick notation. After that, Freeman applied it to all
kinds of names in the descriptions of his trick tutorials. Nowadays, this is
better known as PSC notation.
The initial concept doesn’t correspond with our current understanding,

but there is value in explaning it. Every complete (non hybrid) trick is said
to be composed of a push, spin and catch, represented by three brackets,
which are written at the end of the trick:
[p slot revolutions] [s slot revolutions] [c slot revolutions]
A slot is written in each bracket. For [p], it’s the finger that does the push,
for [s], it’s where the pen spins, and for [c], where it’s caught. Additionally,
the number of revolutions which correspond to each part of the trick is
specified. For example, a thumbaround is1 :
TA T2-T1 [p T2 0.25] [s T 0.5] [c T1 0.25]
There is no need to specify the slot and revolutions all the time. For
example, TA T2-T1 [p] [s] [c]. This kind of thing would be useful when
breaking down a hybrid, where we should see how some of the brackets are
dropped. For example, a twisted sonic is:
charge [p] [s 0.5] ~> pass [p] [s 0.5] [c] >~ charge [s 0.5] [c]
The charge, which is usually 1.0, isn’t finished and thus the [c] isn’t written.
It’s then interrupted by a complete pass. Finally, another half charge finishes
the trick.
Modern PSC
You may have noticed a problem. For the charge, the whole extent of
the motion is a push and there is no spin. Furthermore, a trick like bakfall
or powerpass contains multiple pushes. In the end, only some tricks have a
push-spin-catch structure, so a more general understanding was needed.
Most of this was developed by me in 2014.
1 I won’t write T* in the spin bracket since it’s a historical explanation of PSC notation,
which predates the asterisk locator!

106 Modifiers
[p __] Push The fingers or movement that push the trick

[s __] Spin Where and how much it spins, only unstable slots
[c __] Catch Where it is caught after a spin
For [p], not only fingers can be specified but also movements or other
tricks can be used. A spin is only considered when the pen is in an ustable
slot, so not all tricks will have [s]. In the same way, [c] is written only when
there has been a spin prior. Some examples:
Charge 23 = charge [p 23 1.0]
Tw sonic = charge [p 23 0.5] ~ charge+pass [p 23-12 0.5]
~ charge [p 12 0.5]
Bakfall = bakfall [p][s 1*][c][p][s 2*][c][p][s 3*][c][p][s 4*][c]
For the first three the pen is pushed continuously, so only [p] is written. A
bakfall is comprised of 4 arounds, so it also makes sense that it has 4 pushes,
4 spins and 4 catches. This was just to show the conceptual difference, as
writing down all brackets for such a long trick is unnecessary.
PSC and aerials
We can use PSC to see the difference between riser and release. A riser
does some spin in the hand before being thrown to the air, differing in [s].
TA riser = TA T2-T*-*-T*-T1 = TA [p T2] [s T*-*-T*] [c T1]
TA release = TA T2-*-T*-T1 = TA [p T2] [s *-T*] [c T1]
PSC and fingercrossings
We can combine the use of the PSC brackets with the [fc] and [/fc]
brackets from before to specify when a fingercrossing or other special position
starts and finishes. In a) and b), fc is inside [p], which means that the
crossing is the cause of the push itself. In c) and d), [fc] is at the beginning,
which means that before the push, the crossing was already there. In a) and
c) there is no [/fc] so the fingers remain crossed at least until the beginning
of the next trick. In b) and d) there is a [/fc], which means that the fingers
are uncrossed between [s] and [c].
a) MIA 12-23 [fc 21] = MIA 12-23 [p fc 21][s][c]
b) MA 12-12 [fc 21] = MA 12-12 [p fc 21][s][/fc][c]
c) MIA 23-23 [fc 21] = MIA 23-23 [fc 21][p][s][c]
d) MA 23-12 [fc 21] = MA 23-12 [fc 21][p][s][/fc][c]
4.3.6 Pushes and relative movement

From all of the parts of a trick, the push is one of the most interesting to
describe, as catches and spins can often be fully determined just by using
some slots. If you have ever wondered how many types of pushes can be done,
it’s really a daunting task. Here I show a list of what I consider the most
important pushes in 1p1h, as well as some examples of each:
1. Finger pushed
a) Bending. One finger bends towards the palm (powerpass)

b) Extending. One finger extends away from P (powerpass rev)
c) Reciprocal. One finger bends towards P while the other extends
away from P (tipped charge)
d) Charge. Reciprocal, but instead of a tipped motion it’s a circular
motion (twisted sonic)
e) Uniting. Two fingers mutually get closer laterally, the distance
to the palm is constant (1st half of Leon’s dual pass)
f) Distancing. Two fingers mutually distance themselves laterally,
the distance to P is constant (2nd half of Leon’s dual pass)
g) Crossing. Some fingers cross (MA 12-12 [fc 21])
h) Uncrossing. Some fingers uncross (IA 12[fc 21]-12)
2. Fingerless
a) Wrist rotation. Hand rotates by the wrist (baktap)

b) Hand displacement. Hand is moved due to the elbow or other
joint (Fl TA, done by thusting the hand forward)
c) Gravity. The hand doesn’t move. (slide)
Charge, crossing and uncrossing are not really separate types of pushes,
but a variation of either bending, extending or reciprocal. However, since
they’re very distinct it can simplify things to notate them in a different way.
The push information is often non-descriptively ingrained in the
trick name. For example, a twisted sonic and a pass are the same trick
but with a different push, so we could consider a more general trick without
any push information, which I’ll call gpass to distinguish it from the usual
one, just for this explanation. In this way:
108 Modifiers
pass 12-23 = bend-pushed gpass

pass rev 12-23 = extension-pushed gpass
twisted sonic 12-23 = charge-pushed gpass
twisted sonic rev 12-23 = charge rev-pushed gpass
Despite not having those “generalized tricks”, we could still use the
modifiers. Aside from that, we could use the [p] bracket from PSC, with
the help of new symbols and taking the liberty not to write the [s] and [c]
brackets. This way of using the notation began in the Naming Committee in
2008, but was very limited, so I expanded it:
→P Bend When a finger is moving towards the palm

←P Extension When a finger is moving away from the palm
→← Uniting When two fingers get closer mutually & laterally
←→ Distancing When two fingers move apart mutually & laterally
Thus, we could break down the previous examples the following way:
powerpass = around 0.5 fall [p f→P]
powerpass rev = around rev 0.5 rise [p f←P]
tp charge harmo = cont (tp charge [p 1→P 2←P 0.5][p 2→P 1←P 0.5])
twisted sonic = twisted sonic [p charge 23]
Leon’s dual pass = PD cont (spin 12* [p 1→←2 0.25][p 1←→2 0.25])
MA 12-12 [fc 21] = MA 12-12 [p fc 21]
IA 12[fc 21]-12 = IA 12-12 [p /fc 21]
baktap = PD tap rev 12*-12* [p wrist rotation]
Fl TA (special push) = Fl TA [p hand displacement]
slide = slide [p *]
While some end up considerably shorter, like the powerpasses (in which
f has been taken as an abbreviation for any finger from 1 to 4), others like
the tipped charge or Leon’s dual pass are incredibly long. They’re also
very precise, so they have utility. For fingerless pushes, using the fingerless
prefix should be enough most of the time.
In reality, pushes aren’t usually pure but a combination of various
types. Tchus proposed a scale that goes from fingerless to finger-pushed,
so a particular trick execution can exist anywhere in between:
Fingerless Finger-pushed
A mostly fingerless TA A thumbaround

with some finger mo�on with some wrist mo�on
4.3.7 Planes of reflection and non-modifiers
Thinking about the available reflection symmetries on your hand, one

can not only define inverse and mirrored but also antipodal, as a new
modifier, thus obtaining a complete set. In addition, similar to how normal
exists as an indicator that reverse isn’t applied, it can be interesting to
think about equivalent non-modifiers for the three rotation symmetries. This
was developed by Tache and Tchus. In the figure below you can see each of
the three possible planes of reflection. One has to take into account that the
mirrored plane changes depending on the trick in order to keep the same set
of locators, as we already explained in the modifier list.
Inverse plane Mirrored plane Antipodal plane

Their usage often overlaps. For example, for a charge done in the
middle of the mod and middle phalanx of the fingers, none of them are
needed, since we can always use normal/reverse.
inverse charge = charge
mirrored charge = charge reverse
antipodal charge = charge reverse
For flush sonic, either inverse or mirrored is enough.
inverse flush sonic = mirrored flush sonic reverse
antipodal flush sonic = flush sonic reverse
In the following case, the usage of antipodal overlaps with reverse, in
addition to changing the slots. This is very common. In the end, antipodal
is mostly a theoretical tool rather than a practical one.
antipodal charge 1x2x = charge rev 1z2z
The aforementioned non-modifiers are:
Modifier Reverse Inverse Mirrored Antipodal
Non-modifier Normal Classic Standard Analogous
110 Modifiers
4.3.8 Wiper-in and wiper-out

In many tricks, which don’t have to necessarily be wipers, the mod is
taken by its end and not its center. While we can torture dot notation to
represent this, for example by calling .z the end of the mod and .c its center
(as the readers of the 1st edition of this book will know), that is a very
unintuitive solution that I came up with years ago and I don’t recommend
it anymore. A more natural and unambiguous way of notating them can be
obtained by using two new modifiers: wiper-in and wiper-out, which were
proposed by Tchus.
Zone for wiper-in tricks Zone for wiper-out tricks
As an example of its usage, let’s see how it works with a sonic 23-12:
Wiper-in sonic
Wiper-out sonic
Let’s see other examples. A regular wiper can be divided in two:

wiper 12 = wiper-in wiped charge 12
> wiper-out wiped charge 12
wiper rev 12 = wiper-out wiped charge rev 12
> wiper-in wiped charge rev 12
This is written with wiped charge instead of wiper since the pen doesn’t
pass through the fingers. That happens exactly at their union (>). Here I
have omitted the number of revolutions in each wiped charge, which usually
is 0.25 for each of the halves of a wiper, but could be up to 0.5.
A “half-slide” (holding the pen by the middle, it slides to one of its

tips) can be written with wiper-in and wiper-out too, depending on which
way it slides. We could consider normal to indicate sliding away from the
middle, and reverse to indicate the other way.
4.3.9 Compound tricks and modifier order

In formal notation it’s very common to encode information in the order
in which things are written. We saw it with dot notation, fingercrossings,
and special positions, and now it’s time to see what happens when we have
various modifiers and tricks made of other, smaller ones. We read from left
to right, so each suffix modifier is understood as something that changes
everything written prior, and each prefix as changing what comes afterwards:
backaround fall rev = (backaround fall) rev = bust rise
backaround rev fall = (backaround rev) fall = bust fall
These two are not the same! In the first case, we had to reverse the whole
backaround fall, which not only changed the direction of rotation but also
the order of the arounds, now starting from the pinky instead of the index.
In the second case, we’re applying fall to the trick backaround rev. Here’s
another example in which changing the order changes the trick:
pinkybak cardioid rev = (pinkybak > wiper rev) rev = wiper > pinkybust
pinkybak rev cardioid = pinkybust > wiper
It doesn’t always have to be the case, though. For example, the plane
reflections inverse, mirrored or antipodal always commute. For readers
who like math: this happens because their normal vectors are perpendicular.
mirrored inverse sonic = inverse mirrored sonic
112 Modifiers
For compound tricks, a problem arises when notating its revolutions. For
example, when writing it in the standard order:
powerpass = around fall 0.5 [p f→P]
We are uncertain if what’s 0.5 is each of the individual arounds or the whole
trick. In this case, we can use an out-of-order number of revolutions
modifier in order to write more clearly. This idea was first proposed by me in
the second edition of the book (2020) and completed in 2021 after discussing
it with the other Naming Committee Discord members:
• When written as the first modifier, it refers to the revolutions of each
of the individual tricks. Similar, in a way, to how we use half tipped
charge or half around.
• When written as the last modifier, it refers to the revolutions of the

whole trick. Similar, in a way, to the intentions of the usual syntax.
Some examples of its usage are the following:
powerpass = 0.5 around fall [p f->p]
= around fall [p f->p] 1.5
triangle pass T12 = 0.166 pass 12*-T1*>T2*>12*
= pass 12*-T1*>T2*>12* 0.5
There is nuance in using either of those options. When notating the number
of revolutions of the whole trick, we don’t specify how they’re divided among
its parts, while notating the number of revolutions of each part means that
it’s divided equally among them. For example, in a triangle pass 123, the
total revolution count is 0.5, but it’s not divided equally.
4.3.10 Omission and intent

A lot can be said about a trick, even within our very simplified framework.
And this is without even considering aspects like the angle with which each
finger is bent, intermediate hand positions, pen rotation angles, speed, pen
length... When expressing trick information through text we should be clear,
concise and omit all information that isn’t strictly needed to understand
the spinner’s intent.
When a spinner plans a combo, special focus is put into particular aspects.
Maybe some tricks over their linkages, a particular change of speed or a trick
with an unusual plane of rotation. Thus, a combo breakdown made by the
spinner shows not only the “bare” tricks, but also information about what
was considered important. In the same way, a combo breakdown made by a

viewer will contain information about what the spinner was able to convey,
or what ended up being more impactful.
4.4 Linking symbols

Linking symbols (which shouldn’t be confused with linkages) are used to
separate different tricks in the breakdown of a combo, as well as to specify if
the tricks are executed completely, partially (hybrid), or simultaneously.
> Non-hybrid Both tricks are completed.

~ Hybrid Both tricks are incomplete.
~> Partially hybrid The previous trick is incomplete.
>~ Partially hybrid The following trick is incomplete.
+ Simultaneous Both tricks are simultaneous.
If we do a twisted sonic followed by a TA, that would be written as
twisted sonic > TA
4.5 Multiple pens and hands

xpxh is a term used to refer to the use of multiple pens or hands. As
there are many variables to take into account, xpxh notation is notoriously
difficult to design neatly. Most of the ideas I will present were developed in
the FPSB laboratoire in mid-2009 by Lindor, but some others are mine.
4.5.1 Fingerslots
Locators in the non-dominant hand are

written with an apostrophe to their right. This
was called handedness modifier and was developed
in 2009 by the NC:
’ Non-dominant hand locator

For example, holding a pen with both index
fingers would form the slot 11’ and a thumbaround
11’
in the non-dominant hand would be written as TA
T’1’-T’1’. The locator order is modified slightly, with non-dominant locators
114 Multiple pens and hands
written after the dominant ones. Thus, 12, 1’2’, 1’2 and 12’ are all correct,
but 2’2 is in the wrong order (it should be written as 22’). If we wanted to
write a third hand, we could use two apostrophes: 1”2” and so on.
pass T1-1'2' > I'A 1'2'-1'2' > pass 1'2'-T"1" > T"A T"1"-1"2"
Another thing we may want to write down is a second or third pen.

For that, we can extend the apostrophe idea to dot notation:
.’ Second pen
.” Third pen
E.g., the slot in which we have one pen in 12 and another in 23 is:
1.2; 2.'3
The semicolon is used only to separate both parts. In the case that each mod
is doing a different trick it may not be necessary to notate both, but only
what’s relevant to that trick.
Using apostrophes here can make notation hard to read, so another option
would be to use a different symbol (preferably one resembling a dot) for the
second pen, for example:
º Second pen
Thus, the slot that we described before could also be written as
1.2; 2º3
There is no well established xpxh notation, so this is a matter of personal
preference.
In the case of completely independent 2p2h (one mod in the left hand
and another in the right with no exchanges) the easiest thing is not to use
any apostrophes but rather to write each breakdown in separate lines:
MIA 23-12 > PS-PU Fl inv shadow ~> Fl TA > PU-PD IA ~ inv sonic rev
MIA rev 23-T1 > PS-PD sonic T1-T3>34
To give information about the simultaneity of each trick, a table could also
be used.
L MIA 23-12 > PS-PU Fl inv shadow ~> Fl TA > PU-PD IA ~ inv sonic rev
R MIA rev 23-T1 > PS-PD sonic T1-T3 > sonic T3-34
4.5.2 Hand orientation
When spinning with two hands, the usual hand positions are not sufficient.
For that, Lindor proposed various symbols to be written between two of PD,
PU, PS and BS, one for the left and another for the right hand:
|| Parallel Hands pointing to the same direction

>< Opposite Hands pointing in opposite directions
! Perpendicular Left hand perpendicular to right hand
Some examples would be the following:
PU><PD PS!PS
4.5.3 Fingercrossings
Following the usual points of view of the hand to determine the writing
order in fingercrossings, no new notation needs to be made. Specifying the
relative hand position can be useful, but not necessary.
[fc 1’1] [fc 11’] PU!PD [fc 14’23’]

The rightmost example was written from the reference system of the right
hand, although it could also be written from that of the left:
PU!PD [fc 3'24'1]

116 Multiple pens and hands
However, we need to know from which reference system it was written (i.e.
if the spinner is left or right handed) because PU!PD [fc 14’23’] (right
hand reference sys.) is different from PU!PD [fc 3’24’1] (also from the
right hand reference sys.).
5 Notation for analysis
When using notation as a language there is a limit to its complexity, as
it quickly becomes more efficient to forgo it and communicate via videos.
However, some discussions and studies require tools more advanced than
plain words. In this way, notation can be used for in-depth analysis of
pen spinning, as a tool for understanding the particularities of different
movements. Understanding and developing to this level of abstraction is
useful even if you don’t use the notation explicitly, as it can provide new
ways of thinking about pen spinning.
This chapter is one that is currently in development, as more spinners find

interest in these topics. I recommend the reader also check Sunrise’s notation
(2010), which is the Japanese equivalent of formal notation and Laku’s visual
notation (2020), a graphic representation of pen trajectories. Furthermore,
Aimo’s mechanical notation started to be developed but couldn’t be finished.
Tchus is currently developing his own elementary notation.
5.1 Formal trick names

In formal notation it’s important to be precise with terminology. Non-
descriptive names like symmetrical backaround or pun new are discouraged.
Names can be imprecise because of historical reasons too, which can lead to
confusion. For example, powerpasses aren’t passes and twisted sonic isn’t
a sonic. For this reason, names like powerarounds or charged pass may be
preferred.
In this section I want to mention three trick names which were first used
for analysis purposes in Hexbinmos’ elementary notation, but that are now
sometimes used in other contexts too: fingerswitch, tipped charge and
wiped charge.
5.1.1 Fingerswitch
The fingerswitch is a trick in which the pen changes slots without

any revolutions. It can appear as a trick by itself (for example, in a spinless
sequence) but in the formal context it’s mostly used to describe slot changes in
118 Formal trick names
conjunction with other tricks. In the following example, the dashes represent
fingerswitches. Thus, a sonic could be written as:
Sonic 23-13-12 = (some tricks) + fingerswitch 23-13-12
5.1.2 Tipped charge
This trick was once called half tipped charge, but it’s less ambiguous
to call each of the 0.5 revolution movements a tipped charge and the usual
trick, tipped charge harmonic. As you can see in the picture sequence, a
tipped charge normal consists of 0.5 clockwise revolutions perpendicular to
the fingers.
Tipped charge normal 23
5.1.3 Wiped charge

What we usually call wiper is a trick where the pen is held by one of its
ends, thus passing through two or more fingers. The name wiped charge can
always refer to a wiper but is also more general: it also refers to tricks in
which the pen is held by the middle and no end passes through two or more
fingers. It’s analogous to tipped charge but rotating in a different plane.
The name was proposed by Tchus.
Wiped charge normal 23
In a similar fashion to tipped charge, this trick usually consists of 0.5

revolutions, with no change of motion, where its nor goes clockwise and its
rev, counterclockwise.
Notation for analysis 119
5.2 Hexbinmos’ elementary notation
Developed by Hexbinmos and Fel2Fram (FPSB), this math-inspired sys-

tem aims to break tricks down into their fundamental components. Here I
will explain it as originally proposed for historic purposes, but note that the
grammar is extremely convoluted. The simplified, but equally powerful
version explained in the next section is the one I recommend.
α Fingerswitch A spinless change of slot
β Half-tipped charge Tipped charge-like motion, CW is normal
γ Wiper Wiper-like motion, CW is normal
δ Roll Idealized roll with no slot change
ε Slide Idealized slide with no slot change
ζ Stall half-release Aerial throw (nor) and catch (rev)
Six tricks are considered, each assigned a greek letter. A breakdown
consists of 3 parts:
Tricks (connectors) (slots)

Part I consists of the greek letters for all of the elementary movements
present in the combo. For example: αβα.
Part II consists of the connectors (>, ~ and +) in parentheses. Between

them, a comma is added if the trick is normal and a semicolon if it’s reverse.
For example: (,>;>,)
Part III consists of the slots, written in parentheses and separated by

colons, with the number of revolutions. For example: ((T.21-T2-T* [0.0]):
(T* [1.0]): (T*-T1 [0.0]))
According to Hexbinmos, a TA would be written in the following way:

αβα (,>;>,) ((T.21-T2-T* [0.0]): (T* [1.0]): (T*-T1 [0.0]))
A complete example (which, honestly, I haven’t bothered deciphering) is

the following:
αβγδεγαββδεγε (;>;>,>,~;>,~;~,>,>,+;+,>,) ((12-T* [1.0]):(34-2*
[0.5]):(14-4* [0.25]):(34-2*):(14-4*[1.5]):(42-1* [0.25]):(12-12 [0.5]):(23-32
[0.5]):(41-31 [1.0]):(14-32 [0.25]):(31-31 [1.0]):(14-24 [0.25]))
120 Simplified elementary notation
5.3 Simplified elementary notation

I made a simplified version shortly after the release of the original by
Hexbinmos and Fel2fram in FPSB. The original syntax is unnatural, as it
separates terms which are actually related, so the simplified version uses the
usual English notation syntax but with the new movement list. Greek letters
are hard to type for most people so I used Roman letters for the movement
names instead.
a Fingerswitch A spinless change of slot
b Tipped charge Tipped charge-like motion, CW is normal
c Wiped charge Wiper-like motion, CW is normal
d Roll Idealized roll with no slot change
e Slide Idealized slide with no slot change
It was after this version of elementary notation that the formal redefinition
of tipped charge was done and the name wiped charge was coined. In this
notation, stall half-release isn’t included, as aerial throws and catches
can be written as a fingerswitch to or from *.
We can consider a set of reference axes for both the hand and the mod.
In the mod there are only two due to its symmetry (all perpendicular ones
are equivalent to n). The movements can be thought in terms of these axes:
a 1) Slot change: −→ example: a T1-12
2) Frame of reference rotation: −→ example: (PD-PU) a
3) Change of axis’ shape: −→ example: a 12[126=P]-12[12=P]
(i.e. 12 is straightened)
b Mod rotation along x.
c Mod rotation along y or z.
d Mod rotation along s.
e Particular case of a.
The theory by itself can be a bit difficult to grasp, so I believe that the
best way to understand this elementary notation is through some examples.
Example I - Pass
Pass 12-23 = a+b 0.25 12-13.2>23
The mod rotates perpendicular to the fingers and also changes slots, so
it is logical that a pass is made up of fingerswitches and tipped charge.
The mod rotates clockwise, so the tipped charge is normal.
Example II - Charge
charge = b+c 0.25 > b rev+c 0.25 > b rev+c rev 0.25 > b+c rev 0.25
charge rev = b rev+c 0.25 > b+c 0.25 > b+c rev 0.25 > b rev+c rev 0.25
There are no fingerswitches because the mod doesn’t change slots, but
there are tipped charge and wiped charge, which alternate between normal
and reverse, giving rise to the conical movement.
With the help of the figure above, try to understand how a charge is
written. For that, do a charge while facing the palm of your hand. The
circular motion done by the tip of the mod can be decomposed into two parts:
horizontal, which corresponds to the wiped charge; and vertical, which is
the tipped charge. Each quarter rotation has a different combination of b,
b rev, c and c rev.
In elementary notation, whenever b+c, b rev+c, b+c rev or b rev+c rev

appear, it corresponds to some part of either charge nor or charge rev, and
therefore we know that the pen rotates obliquely with respect to the fingers.
Although it may seem that any trick that contains part of a charge will be
conical, that is not the case. The movement will be conical only if it contains
all four quarters of either charge or charge rev. If it contains a single half
repeated two or more times, the rotation will be oblique but not conical, like
in a bakfall or twisted sonic 34-23>12.
Example III - Sonic

The elementary notation of a sonic is easily deduced once we know the
notation of a charge, as the only thing left to do is adding the fingerswitch.
sonic = b+c 0.25 23 > a+b rev+c 0.25 23-13 > a+b rev+c rev 0.25 13-12
> b+c rev 0.25 12
sonic rev = b rev+c 0.25 23 > a+b+c 0.25 23-13 > a+b+c rev 0.25 13-12
> b rev+c rev 0.25 12
Example IV - Around
IA 12-12 = a+b rev 12-1*>12
In an indexaround, the pen rotates perpendicularly to the fingers while
also changing slots, so it is composed of both fingerswitches and tipped
charges. An IA rotates counterclockwise, so the b is reverse.
We should notice that passes and some arounds are, in some sense, the
same trick: both are a+b. We should also notice that not all arounds are a+b
and vice versa. A backaround isn’t a+b, and a pass, which is a+b, isn’t an
around.
The reason why backaround and other similar tricks (bust, hai tua...)
are different is because they rotate obliquely to the fingers, and from what we
deduced before we know that there has to be b+c somewhere in the structure
of the trick.
TA T1-T1 = a+b rev+c rev T1-T*>T1
backaround 12-12 = (PD) Fl a+b+c 12-1*>12
With the popularization of powertricks, a trick called inverse bust
emerged. It was said for quite some time that this name was incorrect,
because there is no inverse of an around (more precisely, it was said that it’s
the same as it’s reverse). But with the elementary notation we can better
understand what an inverse bust is and why it’s a different trick.
Bust = (PD) Fl a+b rev+c rev 12-1*>12
Inverse bust = Fl a+b rev+c 12-1*>12
The difference between one and the other is the direction of the wiped
charge. Both turn obliquely to the index finger, but one opposite the other.
Furthermore, we could write the reverse versions of the two previous tricks
and none of them would coincide; they would be four different tricks.
Example V - Spin
palmspin = (PU) c rev P*
A spin is a continuous wiped charge. We can deduce this from the
definition previously given for wiped charge: rotation of the mod with
respect to the y or z axis.
Although we could distinguish rotations along those two axes, it isn’t

convenient. We want the notation to be well behaved, i.e. for a trick to have
the same elementary breakdown regardless of minor changes in how it is
done. For tricks like wiped charge or wiper, the plane of rotation will change
depending on the position of the fingers, and for tricks like spin it will depend
on the slot. Thus, all of the examples in the above figure would be notated
by c, and any ambiguity in regards to the plane of rotation can be clarified
with special positions for the slots (Section 4.2.8).
5.3.1 Choosing a set of rotation axes

There are many ways of describing rotations in 3D space. Rotations can
classified in two categories: global, if the axis of rotation is fixed in space, or
local, if the axis is attached to the rotating object. The axis choice that I
used until now (which I will call the standard choice from now on) is a mix
of both: roll was defined locally while tipped and wiped charge, globally.
It’s a choice that’s easy to visualize and gives well behaved results most of
the time, but the definition of wiped charge is ambiguous. Then, what about
other choices? Can we do better?
Choosing three global rotations would be useful for accurately counting

revolutions around each axis. If we call them x, y and z respectively, then:
IA = x rev 1.0 12-1*-12
TA = z rev 1.0 T1-T*-T1
pass 23-12 = x 0.5 23-31.2-12
charge 23 = y 1.0 23
tw sonic 23-12 = y 0.5 23 > x rev 0.5 + y 0.5 23-13.2-12 > y 0.5 12
However, we quickly notice two big issues: the starting angle for the pen
isn’t specified and can’t be deducted from context. If the pen doesn’t start
angled, then y 1.0 23 is not a charge. In addition to that, compositions of
two rotations can be written in many different ways.
Choosing three local rotations (i.e. quaternions) is an option that is

quickly discarded, as doing a roll would rotate the other two axes, making
the resulting notation incredibly inconsistent. Using Euler angles instead
allows us to solve this problem. A gimbal is an object, usually drawn as a
ring, that rotates around an axis everything inside it. Let’s consider a set of
three gimbals, one mounted on the other with orthogonal pivot axes. Gimbals
rotate everything that is inside of them, but not what is outside, so if we set
roll as the inner one it won’t affect the other two rotations.
The two gimbal arrangements. b, c and d are black, grey and white respectively.
The two other possible arrangements are shown in the figure. In both
choices, conical tricks like charge and twisted sonic are notated as the
usual combinations of b+c. In the b>c>d choice, angled arounds are also a
combination of b+c, while in the c>b>d choice, arounds are always b.
Planes of rotation for b>c>d during a charge. b, c, d are black, grey and white respectively.
The diagrams with the three rings are useful for understanding how the
system is set up, but for visualizing the motion of the pen, it’s better to show
the planes of rotation. Hopefully the above diagram is enough to understand
that a charge is still notated in the standard way:
charge = {b>c>d} b+c > b rev+c > b rev+c rev > b+c rev
One thing to be aware about this system is that, when the middle gimbal
rotates 180º, the criteria for nor and rev will change with respect to the
standard choice. For example:
tw sonic = {standard} b+c > b rev + c > a + b rev + c rev
> a + b rev + c > b rev + c rev > b + c rev
tw sonic = {b>c>d} b+c > b rev + c > a + b rev + c rev
> a + b rev + c rev > b rev + c > b + c
In these systems the rings won’t always be perpendicular to each other.
We can reach a point in which the outer and inner axes align and we lose one
degree of freedom (gimbal lock). In the b>c>d choice, this is reached when
the pen is parallel to the fingers, while in the c>b>d choice this happens when
the pen is pointing downwards. V01D, who first proposed using Euler angles,
also suggested that we could define a set of anchor points (reference angles
that are reset to favorable states when the pen reaches certain positions) to
avoid issues like the change of criteria in rotations.
5.4 Pitch-Yaw-Roll
In 2021, V01D developed a new version of elementary notation, imple-
menting the knowledge that had been acquired over the years. There are
three key ideas. First, the information of fingerswitch and slide can just be
collapsed into the path of the pen, here represented by the usual fingerslots.
Second, tipped charge, wiped charge and roll can be collapsed into a single
trick with six directions, rotate. Thus, those three movements would all be
given the same symbols but with an order: b → c → d, and instead of having
to type rev you could incorporate the direction into the symbols:
+ Normal - Reverse . None
Rolls are not very common, so you can even omit the dot at the end most
of the time and assume it instead. He argued that with a reduced number of
symbols and better grammar, the readability of elementary notation improves.
As an example of its usage, let’s look at a sonic 23-12.
sonic 23-12 = ++ .25 23 > -+ .25 23-13 > -- .25 13-12 > +- .25 12
If formatted as a list, the time evolution of the trick is even more clear:
sonic = ++ .25 23 >
-+ .25 23-13 >
-- .25 13-12 >
+- .25 12
126 Tablature notation
5.5 Tablature notation

The tablature notation was devised in 2012 by Hexbinmos as a visual
way to break down combos. It was explained originally in a video, which has
been lost. However, some photos were conserved by Tchus, upon which this
explanation is built.
The tablature consists of two sections. The top section has 1 line for
the mod, 5 for the fingers and 1 for the palm/backhand. A white and a black
dot represent the beginning and end of the corresponding location, as seen in
the left picture. Three additional lines were added for the fingers, to indicate
the angles at which the phalanges are bent, as seen in the right picture. A
solid black line connecting them represents a contact. There are two types of
contacts:
Lateral contact Non-lateral contact
points: The pen is points: The pen is in
in contact with one contact with either the
of the lateral sides palm side or the back
of the finger. side of the finger.
The bottom section is used to indicate the movements of the pen. The
first three lines are for rotations and the last three, for translations. The
number of revolutions is indicated for rotations. The movements are then
connected with the pen position with a dashed line.
As you can see, it’s a very interesting proposal. There are many details
missing from this explanation, which have been lost to time, but the main
idea is here. In 2021, Hexbinmos said that he wanted to do an upgraded
version of this notation.
6 Japanese notation
Japanese notation originated at the beginning of the century on Hideaki
Kondo’s website “My history of Pen Spinning” and its bulletin board, “Pen
Spinning Laboratory”. In the very beginning, only new trick names were in-
troduced, but it quickly became centered around the creation and application
of new modifiers. It received great contributions until about 2010; ever since
it has remained almost unchanged.
Although there are several commonalities between English and Japanese
notation, their origins and development are quite different. For an English-
speaking person, the interest in learning this notation is mainly to understand
pen spinning tricks from a new perspective. Although both systems are similar
in terms of their focus on modifiers, there is a fundamental difference
between English notation’s fingerslots and Japanese notation’s axis fingers,
which should be enough to make its study interesting to the reader.
The Japanese writing system is composed of kanji (漢字, Chinese char-
acters), hiragana (ひらがな, syllabary for Japanese words) and katakana
(カタカナ, syllabary for foreign words). In order to make this section and
the following ones readable for people who don’t know Japanese, I
have added romanizations of all trick names in italics, next to their English
equivalents in monospace. Japanese as a language has a heavy tendency to
make long words by agglutination, and then shorten them. While I have tried
to write down the most common shortenings, I recommend any interested
readers spend a few days studying katakana so they can also understand how
and why these words are shortened.
6.1 Syntax
In Japanese notation, tricks are formed by agglutination of various words
without spaces, following this structure:
軸指接頭語技名接尾語
−
(Axis fingers) (Prefixes) (Trick name) (Suffixes)
For example: シメトリカルスキップガンマンリバース (symmetrical skip
gunman reverse). The modifiers are ordered following no hard rules other
than what sounds better or more natural.
128 Axis finger
6.2 Axis finger
1 親指 Thumb
2 人差し指 Index finger
3 中指 Middle finger
4 薬指 Ring finger
5 小指 Pinky finger
The numbers corresponding to each finger are different from the ones
used in English. As you can see, 12345 is used instead of T1234. Sometimes,
to write the slots of a trick, a notation like the English one is used, with no
particular locator hierarchy:
ガンマン43-32 gunman 43-32 MA rev 23-12
However, these 接尾指番号(Suffix numbers) aren’t the most common way
to determine where a trick is done. Instead, the 接頭指番号(Prefix numbers)
are often used, which indicate the 軸指(Axis finger). The axis finger is
somewhat similar to the prefixes thumb, index... pinky used in English for
arounds, but in Japanese notation these are more versatile, being used in
passes, sonics and other tricks too. Their syntax is:
Number #1 , Number #2 , . . . , Number #n −

Multiple axis fingers are separated with commas and then attached to
the trick name with a dash. Axis finger notation in many trick families can
be surprising to some readers, so let’s look at some examples:
1,2-ノーマル 1,2-normal ext TA
2-ガンマンリバース 2-gunman reverse IA 12-12
3-パス 3-pass pass 23-12
4-パス 4-pass pass 34-23
3-ソニック 3-sonic sonic 23-12
4-ソニック 4-sonic sonic 34-23
1-ハーフウィンドミル 1-half windmill wiper rev T1
1,2-フルーエントハーフウィンドミル 1,2-fluent half windmill infinity
Infinity is also called インフィニティ(infinity) but here I wrote it in a
longer way in order to show how the axis fingers are used. The axis finger
and the western-style slots can be used simultaneously:
3,2-スキップガンマン43-32 3,2-skip gunman 43-32 MIA rev 23-12
But I stress that the use of western-style slots is unusual.
Japanese notation 129
6.3 Modifiers
As we previously mentioned, Japanese notation is also heavily focused on
modifiers. Some are unique to Japanese, like スリップト(slipped), フルーエ
ント(fluent) or 変形(different form), while others have either been adopted
from English or vice versa.
Although many modifiers exist, and while most are understood even by
new spinners, not all of them are commonly used. Without worrying about
their frequencies in modern speech, let us look at the following modifier list:
修飾語 /修修飾辞 Modifiers
接頭語 (Prefixes) 接尾語 (Suffixes)
接頭指番号 Axis fingers 接尾指番号 Slots
回転数 # of rev. 回転数（海外） English-style rev.
コンティニュアス Continuous ノーマル Normal
ハーモニカル Harmonical バース Reverse
カウンター Counter ライズ Rise
フルーエント Fluent フォール Fall
フェイクト Faked バスト Bust
シメトリカル Symmetrical フィンガーレス Fingerless
スキップ Skip 横式 PD
スリップト Slipped 縦式 PS
ムーンウォーク Moonwalk
パームサイド Palm side
フィンガーレス Fingerless
変形 Different form
スプレッド Spread
スクエア Square
キューブ Cube
The three modifiers at the end (spread, square and cube) are, more often
than not, considered standalone tricks nowadays. フィンガーレス (fingerless)
is usually a prefix but it could be suffix, especially for continuous tricks.
130 Modifiers
6.3.1 Number of revolutions
The 回転数(number of revolutions) may be written in the Japanese way

as a prefix or in the English way as a suffix (that is: writing 1.5 or 2.0 after
the trick name). The prefixes for the number of revolutions are the following:
回転数 Number of revolutions
ハーフ half 0.5 rotations
シングル single 1.0 rotations
シングルアクセル single axel 1.5 rotations
ダブル double 2.0 rotations
ダブルアクセル double axel 2.5 rotations
トリプル triple 3.0 rotations
クアドラプル quadruple 4.0 rotations
マルチプル multiple ?.? rotations
シングル(single) is used for 1.0 rotations but just like in English, it’s
mostly omitted when obvious. Some examples of their usage:
シングルアクセルソニック single axel sonic shadow 1.5
thumbspin 1.5 >
シングルアクセルカージオイド single axel cardioid
wiper rev T1
They can also be a suffix, especially when dealing with spreads:
1,1-スプレッドダブル 1,1-spread double TA > Fl TA
By the way, for those who are curious, アクセル(axel) comes from Axel
Paulsen, a Norwegian ice skater who invented the 1.5 spin jump.
6.3.2 Prefix modifiers
コンティニュアス (Continuous) The same as “continuous” in English.

The trick will be repeated two, three or an indefinite amount of times. It can
be applied to a sequence:
コンティニュアス(3-ソニックひねり⇒1-ハーフウィンドミル)
continuous(3-twisted sonic ⇒ 1-half windmill)
continuous (twisted sonic 23-12 > wiper T1)
ハーモニカル (Harmonical) Sometimes shortened as Hr. The same as

“harmonic” in English notation. The normal and reverse directions of a trick
are performed consecutively, in a continuous way or just once.

ハモニカルインフィニティ harmonical infinity infinity harmonic
As an exception, ハーモニカルノーマル(harmonical normal) is never
written; just ハーモニカル(harmonical) is enough.
カウンター (Counter) A term adopted from English after the concept

and technique were devised by Zombo (UPSB). The normal of a trick is
interrupted by its reverse. When preceding normal, it’s just counter.
カウンター= カウンターノーマル counter = counter normal
フルーエント (Fluent) It means to repeat the same trick while traveling

from one slot to another, to do a trick continuously while changing the axis
finger. It contains rise, fall, and other cases.
フルーエントソニック fluent sonic sonic rise/fall
フルーエントソニックひねり fluent twisted sonic twisted sonic rise/fall
In those it’s equivalent to rise/fall, but in the following it isn’t the same:
1,2-フルーエントハーフウィンドミル 1,2-fluent half windmill infinity
フェイクト (Faked) When the pen spins without changing fingers. Sim-

ilar to still in English, but for フェイクト(Faked) not only the initial and
final fingers, but also the intermediate ones have to be the same. While it can
be represented with western-style fingerslots, that isn’t common, as フェイク
ト(Faked) is very commonly used. It’s also used in the name of the charge.
フェイクトソニック faked sonic charge
ハーフフェイクトノーマル half faked normal halftap T1
フェイクトノーマル faked normal fulltap T1
フェイクトインフィニティ faked infinity figure 8
シメトリカル (Symmetrical) Sometimes shortened to シメ(sime) or St.

Its usage isn’t 100% consistent: for a sonic, it means inverse; for a gunman,
it means mirrored. Both pass and pass reverse are done on the back side of
the hand, while symmetrical passes are done on the palm side.
3-シメトリカルパス 3-symmetrical pass pass rev 23-12
3-シメトリカルパスリバース 3-symmetrical pass reverse pass 12-23
132 Modifiers
シメトリカルソニック symmetrical sonic inverse sonic

3-シメトリカルガンマン 3-symmetrical gunman (PS) MA 12-12
スキップ (Skip) This modifier is used when there is more than one axis
finger, but the number of revolutions doesn’t increase. Since this is never
indicated in western notation, it is best to see some examples:
スキップソニック skip sonic sonic 34-12
3,2-スキップガンマン 3,2-skip gunman (PS) MIA rev
スキップシングルアクセルソニック skip single axel sonic shadow 1.5 34-12
Think about why skip was used in the gunman example. Otherwise:
3,2-ガンマン 3,2-gunman (PS) MA rev > IA rev
スリップト (Slipped) It’s used to indicate extra charges inside a trick,

like in a sonic clip. Remember that single axel sonic is a shadow 1.5!
スリップトソニック slipped sonic sonic clip
スリップトインフィニティ slipped infinity cont (charge 12 > wiper
rev 12 > wiper rev T1)
4,3-スリップトフルーエント 4,3-slipped fluent sonic sonic 34-23 > charge 23
ソニック > sonic 23-12
ムーンウォーク (Moonwalk) This term was adopted into western nota-

tion, then deprecated by the Naming Committee. It means that the direction
of rotation is same as usual, but the slots change in the opposite way. In
Japanese its usage makes sense since slots aren’t written.
ムーンウォークソニック moonwalk sonic sonic 12-23
ムーンウォーク moonwalk fluent sonic sonic 12-23 > sonic 23-34
手の向き (Hand orientation) This is written in several ways. When

written in kanji, it’s usually added after the trick name as a suffix.
横式 (Done horizontally) 縦式 (Done vertically)
When written in katakana, like パームサイド(palm side), it’s usually a prefix.
For example:
パームサイドパワーパス palm side powerpass (PS) powerpass
フィンガーレス (Fingerless) Imported from English notation:
フィンガーレスノーマル fingerless normal Fl TA
スプレッド (Spread) Spread can act as a modifier, although it’s mainly

used as a trick. It is used to represent both busts (midbust, etc ...) and
spreads (in its English meaning). A very common term is:
スプレッド122 = 1,2,2-スプレッド spread122 = 1,2,2-spread
Which means TA > bust x2. When spread is used to refer to spreads in
their English meaning, it’s often written as 縦スプレッド (vertical spread).
スクエア (Square) It means double. Nowadays mainly used as a trick:

スクエア= 1,1-スプレッドダブル
square = 1,1-spread double
TA > Fl TA
One example of square acting as a modifier is the following:
スクエアダブル= ダブル≫ダブル square double = double ≫double
キューブ (Cube) It means triple. Nowadays mainly used as a trick:

キューブ= 1,1,1-スプレッドトリプル
spread = 1,1,1-spread triple
TA > Fl TA x2
変形 (Henkei/Different form) Introduced by Hideaki, this is a very

abstract modifier. There is no general rule for all 変形. It means that either
the push is different, the way in which it spins is different, and so on (e.g. an
oblique plane of rotation...)
6.3.3 Suffix modifiers
ノーマル (Normal) & リバース (Reverse) The same as normal

and reverse in English. They can also be used standalone, meaning thumbaround
and thumbaround reverse respectively. As we have already seen, normal is
often omitted if it means thumbaround and there are other modifiers.
ノーマル normal TA
ダブル= ダブルノーマル double = double normal TA x2
134 Linking symbols
リバース reverse TA rev

ガンマンリバース gunman reverse Fingeraround
ハーフガンマンリバース half gunman reverse Fingeraround 0.5
ライズ (Rise) & フォール (Fall) These terms were adopted from

English notation. Sometimes also written as ライザー(riser), with the same
meaning (nothing to do with the aerial modifier). The original Japanese way
of referring to them was フルーエント(Fluent).
ガンマンライズ gunman rise around rev rise
ガンマンフォール gunman fall around fall
バスト (Bust) As you may expect, this was introduced from Thai

notation. It is also often used as a trick itself, meaning backaround reverse.
ソニックバスト sonic bust sonic bust
6.4 Linking symbols

A breakdown can be created by joining various tricks. For this, we use:
⇒ Complete linkage Between two complete tricks
≫ Interrupted linkage When a trick gets interrupted
4-ソニック⇒3-ソニック
4-sonic ⇒3-sonic
sonic 34-23 > sonic 23-12 (sonic rise)
4-ソニック≫3-シメトリカルソニック
4-sonic ≫3-symmetrical sonic
sonic 34-23 ~> inv sonic 23-12
3-ソニックひねり≫2-フェイクトシングルアクセルソニック
3-twisted sonic ≫2-faked single axel sonic
twisted sonic 23-12 ~ shadow 12-12
ノーマル≫2-シメトリカルガンマン
normal ≫2-symmetrical gunman
TA ~ Fl IA
7 Korean notation
Korean notation originated around 2002, together with the first Korean
pen spinning forum. At the beginning, names were created exclusively on
the board as they were needed, helped in 2005 by a great linguistic reform
article called the NX lecture [4]. In this article, spinners like 원빈택MA
and zlzlzb, among others, standarized the notation, substituted several old
names for new ones, and created what is now known as ABCD notation.
In the following years, Korean notation started to be more influenced by trick
names used overseas, which were directly transcribed into hangul [5]. In 2020
and 2021, FLow initiated another linguistic reform, developing many new
names and modifiers, which were popularized through the KIPS YouTube
channel [8][9].
The only effort that was previously made to explain Korean notation in
English was a 2007 UPSB v3 article by Joshy [10]. To account for this, I have
talked extensively with FLow so that the information here is as accurate as
possible. Direct translations of Korean words are written in italics and their
English equivalents are written in monospace. In this chapter, we will explain
the syntax (slots and modifiers) in its current form (that is, after FLow’s
reform). More than 200 trick names from all periods have been included in
the trick dictionary (Chapter 8).
7.1 Slots
The following names for the fingers are sometimes used as prefixes. For
example, 검지 휘감기 (index winding) is the name for both an IA and a bust.
엄지 T Thumb
검지 1 Index finger
중지 2 Middle finger
약지 3 Ring finger
소지 4 Pinky finger
When used as prefixes, you may see the finger names in abbreviated forms.
For example, a thumbaround, usually written as 엄지돌리기 (thumb rotation),
is often abbreviated as 엄돌 (1st and 3rd characters of 엄지돌리기).
136 Slots
엄 T Thumb (abbreviation of 엄지손가락)

검 1 Index finger (abbreviation of 검지손가락)
중 2 Middle finger (abbreviation of 중지손가락)
약 3 Ring finger (abbreviation of 약지손가락)
새 4 Pinky finger (abbreviation of 새끼손가락)
The most popular way of writing slots is the so-called ABCD notation.
In this system, only four slots exist; a, b, c and d. If the tricks are in their
basic form, only the initial slots are written for the normal direction, and
only the final ones for their reverse.
a 34 The slot between the pinky and ring fingers.
b 23 The slot between the ring and middle fingers.
c 12 The slot between the middle and index fingers.
d T1 The slot between the index finger and the thumb.
One simple example of their usage would be the following:
계단a stairs a sonic 34-23
역계단a reverse stairs a sonic rev 23-34
FLow devised various improvements to notate more complex slots:
: Fix (고정) For positions other than the ones in abcd.
> Move (이동) The pen moves from one slot to another.
First, slots outside of the ones in ABCD notation can be written with
a : between the usual T1234. For example, 2:4 would be what in English
is just written as 24. In case that the spinner also wants to write final or
intermediate positions, those can be connected with a >. For example:
내계단b>2:4 inner stairs b>2:4 inverse sonic 23-24
There are two more symbols used when notating slots
* Air (공중) The pen is suspended in the air
& Fc (손가락교차) Two fingers are crossed.
Borrowed from English notation, the symbol * is also used here for aerials.
As for fingercrossings, they can be notated with the & symbol between the
usual T1234. For example, 2&3 would be equivalent to [fc 23] in English.
Korean notation 137
7.2 Linking symbols
There are two symbols for linking tricks:

– Connect (연결) Used to link non-hybrid tricks.
~ Continuous (연속) Used to link hybrid tricks.
Non-hybrid tricks can be linked together with a –, which would be equiv-
alent to the > symbol in English notation. For example:
계단a–계단b stairs a – stairs b sonic rise
The ~ symbol is also used to connect hybrids, just like in English.
내계단b>2:4 ~ 역내패스2:4>a
inverse stairs b>2:4 ~ inverse vertical 2:4>a
inverse sonic 23-24 ~ pass 24-12
7.3 Roots and modifiers
Certain words are commonly used as roots (suffixes) for name formation.
휘감기 Wind around For the around trick family.

역휘감기 Reverse winding For around reverse and backaround.
배감기 Multiple winding For continuous arounds.
계단 Stairs Sonic trick family.
We have already seen an example of 휘감기 being used, in 검지 휘감기
(index winding). The 배감기 (multiple winding) suffix is used instead when
the around is repeated twice or more. For example, two indexarounds would
be written as 검지배감기. In the case of a backaround it would be the same,
thus multiple backarounds written as 역검지배감기.
As for 계단 (stairs), it’s often included in names of the tricks from the
sonic family. Just like we say flush sonic and moonwalk sonic, in Korean
the names 꽃계단 (flower stairs) or 문워크계단 (moonwalk stairs) are used.
The prefixes equivalent to the reverse and inverse modifiers were stan-
darized in Korean during the NX lectures:
역 Reverse Equivalent to the English reverse modifier.
내 Inside Equivalent to the English inverse modifier.
138 Roots and modifiers
For example, 계단 (stairs) is sonic, 역계단 is sonic reverse, 내계단 is

inverse sonic and 역내계단 is inverse sonic reverse.
Although they aren’t commonly used, FLow coined the following words
for their corresponding non-modifiers:
정 Normal The non-modifier of 역 (reverse) (i.e. normal).
외 Outside The non-modifier of 내 (inside) (i.e. classical).
The hand orientation can be written down in four different ways. All
of the following are used as prefixes:
English equivalent Prefix (1) Prefix (2) Transliteration Symbol
PD (palm down) 백 아래 팜다운 \
PS (palm side) 사이드 옆 팜사이드 |
PU (palm up) 팜 위 팜업 /
The transliteration was the first one to be used, but it’s now deprecated.
Notably, for wipers, only the ones in the prefix (1) column are used. Other
than that, it’s up to the spinner to choose in which way they want to write.
E.g. 아래윈드밀, 백윈드밀 and \윈드밀 all mean (PD) tw sonic.
Some other prefix modifiers are the following:

일회전 One revolve Adding an around at the end.
무한 Infinite Equivalent to continuous.
점핑 Jumping Equivalent to aerial.
캔슬 Cancel Indicates that a trick is incomplete.
짭/짝 Faked Old prefixes meaning faked.
이오리 Iori Equivalent to pop spin (deprecated).
Let’s see some usage examples. 일회전 (one revolve) consists of adding
one around normal at the end of the trick. The most iconic example would
be sonic bust, which in Korean is written as 계단일회전 (stair one revolve).
For 무한 (infinite), we can mention 무한 윈드밀 (infinite windmill), mean-

ing double charge. 점핑역검휘 (aerial reverse winding) is equivalent to the
bakriser. 캔슬 (cancel) is used as either a prefix or a suffix to indicate a
hybrid trick, equivalent to ~ in English.
Korean notation 139
There are other modifiers which are comparatively newer. Some of these
are still not widespread, or their usage is currently being discussed by the
members of KIPS:
제자리 Place Equivalent to still.
스냅 Snap Equivalent to fingerless.
무회전 No rotation Equivalent to tipped.
카운터 Counter Equivalent to counter.
핑거크로스 Fingercrossing Equivalent to fingercrossing.
아이솔레이션 Isolation Equivalent to isolation.
에어 Air Equivalent to aerial.
팝 Pop Equivalent to pop spin.
제자리 (place) is a new prefix meaning that the slots don’t change. For
example, 제자리계단 (stairs in place) is a pseudo sonic. 팝 (pop) is a new
suffix replacing 이오리 (iori) and it means pop spin. An example would be
손목팜 (wrist pop).
8 Trick dictionary
Trick names have been classified into 12 categories:
Passes Perpendicular arounds Oblique arounds
Conical Spins Wipers
Rolls Slides Rotationless stable
Equilibrium Throws & catches Historical
The last category, historical, refers to those hybrids and combos that
were given a name before hybrid notation was developed, and that can be
easily described with it. In the dictionary, and especially in that category,
many obsolete names can be found. The intent of this dictionary is to also
explain those names, which doesn’t imply that they should be used nowadays.
In order to capture how well known each trick name is, a survey was
conducted within the Naming Committee Discord server and shared on
Twitter. In total, about 40 spinners gave scores to each name, which can
be found in the header of each entry accompanied of the following keywords:
10 9 7 5 3 1 0
Well-known Frequent Common Infrequent Rare Very rare
Also in the header, the direction of rotation for a right-handed spinner
and the normal version of the trick can be found. The convention for this
is the same as the one explained in Ch. 4, with the exception of sometimes
using backhand directions for clarity. Note that backhand clockwise would be
counterclockwise if checked via the standard palm angle! Trick names which
are used mostly in Japanese or Korean are also marked as so.
There are various sections within each entry. The image shows four
snapshots of the trick, to be read left-to-right for the normal direction. After
that, a description of the trick is provided. The etymology and origin of
the trick, if known, are written as well. The names of the trick in various
languages are given (with a dark grey bar on their left), as well as some
obsolete names if any (marked with a light grey bar). The year of creation
of the trick name, or an upper bound, and the trick name creator is written,
if known, only next the original versions of the name (not its translations).
The entries follow an order such that similar tricks are found near each
other. For an alphabetic ordering, you can consult the index.
142 Passes
8.1 Passes
Fingerpass Fundamental | Clockwise | Well-known (9.8/10)
A minicombo that consists entirely of passes, going through all the fingers
except for the thumb. Fingerpass is one of the only tricks that has had a
serious history of speed records. Novy achieved 99 fingerpasses in one minute
on August 1st, 2010. [183]
Etymology The name fingerpass comes from Kam, with both normal
and reverse variations added to Pentix in February 2001. Kam listed
fingerpass as the fundamental trick instead of pass because at that time,
pass wasn’t considered a trick by itself (see: Pass).
Japanese Hideaki listed the trick as drummer in 1998, during one of the
first updates of his website, but later drummer would acquire a new meaning
(see: Drummer). For this trick, the English name フィンガーパス (fingerpass)
would go on to be used.
Notation Traditionally, both start from 12. This was relevant especially
during the early days when the names first/second half fingerpass and
first/second/third/fourth quarter of fingerpass were used.
nor ⇒ pass 12-23 > pass 23-34 > pass 34-23 > pass 23-12
rev ⇒ pass rev 12-23 > pass rev 23-34 > pass rev 34-23 > pass rev 23-12
These can also be written in a much shorter way:
fingerpass nor = pass 12-23>34>23>12
fingerpass rev = pass rev 12-23>34>23>12
Fingerpass [Kam42 , 2000]; FP [abbr.]
フィンガーパス (fingerpass)
핑거패스 (fingerpass)
Classic finger twirl [Wrenn40 , 1999]
ドラマー (drummer) [Hideaki60 , 1998]
Trick dictionary 143
Pass Clockwise | Well-known (10/10)
Pass 12-23
A pass consists of passing the pen from one pair of fingers to another.
The pen must move perpendicular to the fingers. If it moves obliquely or
with some kind of conical motion then it’s called a twisted sonic.
Etymology The trick existed for a long time, but it remained unnamed.
Hideaki didn’t list it as a trick at first, as he considered it a movement instead.
Tohlz from PenstudioZ named each pass as first quarter of fingerpass,
second quarter of fingerpass, etc. The name pass is attributed to Kam,
as he was the first to use it in 2001, when describing the fingerpass:
“The Finger Pass family consists of tricks that "roll" the pen through
many fingers. At any time, the pen is always been held by at least two fingers,
and each "Pass" (which is a definite step for Finger Pass tricks) will only
cause the pen to rotate 180 degrees (half rotation).” (Kam42 , 2001)
He continued to use the term later on to describe the parts of a double
charge as “basically a combination of two Charges and two Passes (passes are
parts of a FingerPass)” (Kam42 , 2002) and in December 2003 he included it
as one of the various “spin types”. However, it wasn’t considered a standalone
trick and thus included in trick lists until at least 2004 [172].
Japanese In Japan, the term half gunman was used to describe both the
pass and the passaround. During the years 2006 and 2007, there were various
debates among JEB members which concluded that those were different tricks
due to the different ways in how the pen is held during the movement. From
that point onwards, パス (pass) began to be used.
Pass [Kam42 , 2001]
パス (pass), シメパス (symmetrical pass) [for backhand/palm resp.]
First / second / third / fourth quarter of fingerpass [Tohlz46 , 2003]
ハーフガンマン (half gunman); 裏パス (rear pass) [for シメパス]
144 Passes
Half fingerpass Clockwise | Rare (2.1/10)
A half fingerpass is each of the two halves of the minicombo, either

the one going from 12 to 34, or vice versa.
Etymology Pentix mentioned half fingerpass in 2002, in its trick
learning order [169], but it couldn’t be found in his video tutorials nor other
trick lists. The name was also used in PenstudioZ at times. In Korea, since
the birth of pen spinning, the pass as a trick hasn’t been used, but rather
the four combinations of half fingerpass normal and reverse.
Korean The pass 34-23>12 used to be called 수직 올리기 (perpendicular
raise), which in the 2005 NX lecture was renamed to 수직 올리기 (perpendicu-
lar) and in 2021, FLow renamed it to 패스 (pass). As for its reverse, it used to
be called 수직 내리기 (perpendicular fall). In the NX lecture, the 역 (reverse)
modifier was created and the trick was renamed to 역수직 (perpendicular
reverse). In 2021, it was renamed to 역패스 (pass reverse).
Deprecated Deprecated New expressions

English equivalent
(Until 2005) (2005 to 2021) (Since 2021, FLow)
Pass 34-23>12 수직 올리기 수직 패스
Pass rev 12-23>34 수직 내리기 역수직 역패스
Pass rev 34-23>12 역수직 올리기 내수직 내패스
Pass 12-23>34 역수직 내리기 역내수직 역내패스
Half fingerpass [Kam42 , ≤2002]

(See the previous table)
1st/2nd 1/2 of fingerpass [Tohlz46 , 2003]
Twisted sonic Clockwise | Well-known (9.9/10)
Twisted sonic 23-12

A hybrid trick between a charge and a pass. In other words, what you
get when you put conical motion to a pass. Its basic variation starts with a
charge 23, which then is interrupted by a pass rev 23-12.
Etymology The name was first given by Hideaki in 1997, being one of
the initial tricks in his website. It was then directly translated into English
by Kam, as ひねり (hineri) basically means twisted.
Controversy The name has been controversial since its inception: Kam
said in 2001 that it was “Not really a Sonic, but since it looks like the Sonic
and I can’t find anywhere to put this technique, I’ll leave it here”. Two years
later, Tohlz from PenstudioZ also said that twisted sonic is “A nice trick
which is not really Sonic”. Despite all of this, the name twisted sonic is now
so ingrained in our culture that it’s impossible to change. Lately, in FPSB
they’ve started using twisted pass, as a more accurate way of naming it.
Notation If we think about the different possible combinations of charge
and pass on the slots 23 and 12 we can come up with eight variations (8 = 23
since we have three modifiers: reverse, inverse and slot permutation). The
first four are usually covered under the name twisted sonic. The last four
are usually named warped sonic, although they can be notated with twisted
sonic, making the name warped sonic unnecessary:
twisted sonic = charge 23 ~ pass rev 23-12
twisted sonic rev = charge rev 12 ~ pass 12-23
inv tw sonic = charge 23 ~ pass 23-12
inv tw sonic rev = charge rev 12 ~ pass rev 12-23
warped sonic = charge 12 ~ pass 12-23 = tw sonic 12-23
warped sonic rev = charge rev 23 ~ pass rev 23-12 = tw sonic rev 23-12
inv warped s. = charge 12 ~ pass rev 12-23 = inv tw sonic 12-23
inv warped s. rev = charge rev 23 ~ pass 23-12 = inv tw sonic rev 23-12
Notice how some funny things happen with the directions of the passes: tw
sonic 23-12 has a pass rev but tw sonic 12-23 has a pass nor. This is
because we think about classic (inverse) twisted sonic as the trick that
happens on the palm side (back side) while pass normal (reverse) as the
trick that happens clockwise (counterclockwise).
ソニックひねり (sonic hineri) [Hideaki60 , 1997]; ソニひね (sonihine) [abbr.]

Twisted sonic [Kam42 , 2001]; Tw sonic [abbr.]; tws [abbr.]; Twisted
pass [originated & used mostly in FPSB]
윈드밀 (windmill)
146 Passes
Warped sonic Clockwise | Frequent (8.1/10)
Warped sonic 12-23
A twisted sonic but with different slots. Its basic variation is in 12-23
(see: Twisted sonic).
Warped sonic [ChucKo91 , 2006]
Inverse twisted sonic Clockwise | Common (5.8/10)
A twisted sonic in which the pass is done in the back of the hand (see:
Twisted sonic).
Inverse twisted sonic; Inv tw sonic [abbr.]

シメトリカルソニックひねり (symmetrical sonic hineri);
シメソニひね (simesonihine) [abbr.]; AiMoパス (AiMo pass) [for
(PD) inverse twisted sonic rev, 2020]
외윈드밀 (outside windmill) [2004]; 곤류윈드밀 (Gon-type windmill)
[2004]
East sonic Clockwise | Common (5.5/10)
A twisted sonic starting in 34 and finishing in 12 in which the pen goes

on the back of 3 and on the front of 2.
Etymology While it had been done for a long time before, it was first
named east sonic by the French spinner Chronos in 2007. It was named
that way because, when the motion of the ring finger is exaggerated, the
finger positioning is reminiscent of the East Coast gang symbol.
Notation If we think about all the possible twisted sonics between 34

and 12, there are four possibilities. Dot notation is very useful here to write
down the exact way in which the pen passes through the fingers:
Tw sonic 34-12 = tw sonic 34-14.32-12
Inv tw sonic 34-12 = tw sonic 34-41.23-12
East sonic = tw sonic 34-13.42-12 = inv west sonic
West sonic = tw sonic 34-31.24-12 = inv east sonic
East sonic [Chronos90 , 2007]

イーストソニック (east sonic)
스위스트 (swist), 역스위스트 (swist reverse) [for tipped east sonic
normal and reverse respectively]
West sonic Clockwise | Common (5.5/10)
A twisted sonic starting in 34 and finishing in 12 in which the pen goes

on the front of 3 and on the back of 2 (see: East sonic).
Etymology While we know that the name east sonic was made in 2007,
and that west sonic originated later for its inverse, it’s unknown exactly
when that happened. For example, in [173] there is east sonic but no west
sonic. Instead, inverse east sonic is listed. In Japanese trick lists, only
イーストソニック (east sonic) appears.
West sonic
내스위스트 (inverse swist), 역내스위스트 (inverse swist reverse) [for
tipped west sonic normal and reverse respectively, FLow9 ]
148 Passes
Double charge Clockwise | Well-known (9.6/10)
A minicombo involving twisted sonic:

double charge 23-12 = cont (twisted sonic 23-12 > warped sonic 12-23)
This could also be written the following way:
double charge 23-12 = cont twisted sonic 23-12>23
Etymology The first record that we have of the trick is in November
2002, when it was listed in Pentix, in its “Combos” section. Although it isn’t
known for sure, it’s highly probable that it was named by Kam.
Double charge [Kam42 , 2002]

ダブルチャージ (double charge)
무한 윈드밀 (infinite windmill)
더블 원그리기 (double circle drawing) [until 2005]
Triple charge Clockwise | Infrequent (4.3/10)
A minicombo involving twisted sonic. We can write it in multiple

equivalent ways:
triple charge = cont (twisted sonic 34-23>12 > warped sonic 12-23>34)
triple charge = cont twisted sonic 34-23>12>23>34
triple charge = cont (twisted sonic rise > twisted sonic fall)
Etymology The triple charge wasn’t present in Pentix nor Pentrix,
unlike double charge. It isn’t known for certain who or when it was created:
the earliest instance that remains today is a UCPSB thread from 2006 [177].
Triple charge [≤2006];

トリプルチャージ (triple charge); ウェーブ (wave)
더블윈드밀 (double windmill)
Japanese motion Backhand CCW | Common (6.7/10)
Japanese motion usually refers to the following trick:

japanese motion = (PS) pass rev 12-23 ~> (PD) twisted sonic
The change in the position of the hand from palm side to palm down allows
the spinner to remove the intermediate charge between both tricks.
Etymology Although the aforementioned trick had already been com-

monly used in Japanese and Korean combos for several years, the name and
the more general concept was explained by Fel2Fram in a 2013 video [106].
He defined “Japanese motion” as the concept of removing charges from a
hybrid, usually (but not necessarily) thanks to a hand position change. In
the original video, several other examples were shown.
Japanese motion [Fel2Fram106 , 2013]; Jp motion [abbr.]

ジャパニーズモーション (Japanese motion); ジャパモ (japamo) [abbr.]
제페니즈모션 (Japanese motion)
숏 (short)
Flush pass Clockwise | Rare (2.5/10)
A flush pass is a cont pass 23-14>23. To do the trick, the fingers 2

and 3 have to exchange positions, just like in a side flush sonic. However,
notice that it’s different from a tipped side flush sonic, as a flush pass
has 0.5 more revolutions.
Flush pass
フラッシュパス (flush pass)
Two finger twirl Counterclockwise | Rare (2.9/10)
Two finger twirl 11’

150 Passes
A trick that involves using both hands. In this movement the pen goes
around one finger of each hand in a continuous way. It can be done with
other finger combinations, like 22’, 13’, etc.
Etymology In recorded pen spinning history, the trick was first invented
and named by Chris from Microjuggling in 1999. In Japan it was discovered
independently and named ソー (sew) as the trick’s execution is similar to an
old person sewing sweaters.
Notation The traditional way to break it down is as a simultaneous
around, as seen in the NC articles for simultaneous trick notation:
two finger twirl 11' = Cont (Indexaround 1 + Index'around 1')
However, this isn’t true, as for it to be an around it would need to be in an
unstable slot at some point, which doesn’t happen. Thus, it would be better
broken down as a pass, which is also the reason it’s classified here as such.
two finger twirl 11' = Cont pass 1b1p'-1p1b'>1b1p'
Two finger twirl [Wrenn40 , 1999]
ソー (sew)
Twirl [Kam42 , ≤2002]
Twirl Counterclockwise | Infrequent (4.8/10)
Twirl T1
This trick is usually done with the thumb, as it’s the only opposable
finger. It comes from trying to do a two finger twirl with only the fingers
of one hand, as explained in the original video “1p1h twirls” by Fel2fram.
Notation It’s basically a 1p1h two finger twirl, so the same argument
about its nature as a type of pass also applies here (see: Two finger twirl).
Twirl T1 = pass Tp1st -Tb1sp
Twirl [Fel2Fram104 , 2012]

In-out/Out-in charge Clockwise | Infrequent (4.9/10)
In-out charge rev T1
An in-out (or out-in) charge is very similar to a 1p1h twirl (see: Twirl),
except that the pen is held by the middle, and in its non-tipped version, like
the one shown in the figure above, there is circular motion.
Notation We could break it down in a similar way to a twirl, except

that it’s now simultaneous with a charge:
in-out charge T1 = charge T1 + pass T1p-T1b
In-out charge [Fel2Fram105 , 2013]; Out-in charge [Fel2Fram105 , 2013]
Tipped sonic Frequent (7.9/10)
Tipped sonic T1-12
A tipped sonic is a sonic that rotates without conical motion, always

perpendicular to the fingers.
Etymology The trick itself was first done by korean spinners in PDS.
It was first named in UCPSB in 2006, in a thread where a member named
Leviathan was asking if it had any name in English. FallenSeraph proposed
the name Korean sonic, although he was worried about it creating another
annoying dichotomy like the one regarding Weis/Korean backaround. The
user grsbmd said that:
152 Passes
“Technically, this spin type has no circular motion. It’s just tipping up,
then tipping back down. And it also doesn’t need to use the thumb. If you use
other fingers, though, it starts looking a lot like a sonic.” (grsbmd, 2006)
Thus, he generalized the concept for when the thumb isn’t involved, and
proposed the name tipped sonic. He also gave other examples (such as
tipped charge) of how the new modifier could be used.
Tipped sonic [grsbmd113 , 2006]

ラダー (ladder)
무회전계단 (non-revolve sonic) [FLow9 , 2021]
Korean sonic [FallenSeraph102 , 2006]
수직일회전응용기 (extended perpendicular one revolution) [until 2021]
8.2 Perpendicular arounds
(Finger)around Counterclockwise | Well-known (9.9/10)
Indexaround 12-12
The term (finger)around is used when the mod rotates perpendicular
to the fingers. When some kind of oblique motion is present, names like
backaround, bust or spread are more appropiate. Arounds involving the
thumb are usually classified separately since in those, the pen spins oblique
to the fingers. For an explanation on how the finger prefixes are used (like in
middleindexaround, shortened as MIA), see (Section 4.2.4).
Etymology Although it’s a debate that is no longer active, the difference
between an around and a spin was heavily discussed back at the beginning
of the century. The first name in English notation for one of these tricks
was indexspin, by Kam in 2000. It’s uncertain who started this change, but
as early as in 2003 we can see the name indexaround for this very same
trick in penstudioz, although indexspin was still cited as the main name. In
2004, the Naming Committee released an article called “Around vs Spin” in
which the difference between both trick names was established: around for
1.0 revolutions and spin for 1.5 and higher.
However, the actual first name for one of these tricks comes from Japan, as
the Korokoro comic (1990) had ガンマンロール (gunman roll) as the name for
the IA rev 12-T12. Hideaki then simplified the name to ガンマン (gunman)
and extended its meaning to all fingeraround reverse.
Japanese ガンマン (gunman) is used for fingeraround reverse. The
modifier シメトリカル (symmetrical) is usually equivalent to inverse, but in
this case it’s more similar to mirrored. A シメトリカルガンマン (symmetrical
gunman) would be, for example, MA 12-12.
Korean Originally, (finger)arounds were written as 역수직 일회전 (per-

pendicular reverse one revolution) but in the 2005 NX lectures, the term
154 Perpendicular arounds
휘감기 (winding) was created. This is used as a suffix together with finger
prefixes, in a similar way as in English. We should notice that in Korean
notation, the same term is used for both bust and indexaround, thus ignoring
how angled the trajectory may be.
Indexaround, Middlearound, (...) [≤2003] ; IA, MA, (...) [abbr.]

ガンマン (gunman) [Hideaki60 , for (finger)around reverse, 1998]
휘감기 (winding); 검지 휘감기 (index winding) [for both bust and IA];
역검지 휘감기 (index winding reverse) [for both backaround and IA rev]
Index Spin [Kam42 , for indexaround, 2000]
ガンマンロール (gunman roll) [Korokoro2 , for IA rev 12-T12,
1990]; アンダーガンマン (under gunman) [for シメトリカルガンマン
リバース (symmetrical gunman reverse), Crasher92 , ≤2001]
역수직 일회전 (perpendicular reverse one revolution) [until 2005]
Neosonic Clockwise | Well-known (9.6/10)
Neosonic 12-Tf
A (finger)around rev that finishes in either Tf
neosonic = IA rev 1.0 12-Tf
or is caught between T and a finger

neosonic = IA rev 0.5 12-T1
Etymology The name neosonic was coined by Kam as a reference to

beginners failing to understand the movement of sonic and doing this trick
instead. The original neosonic was a MA rev 23-Tf, which is the trick that
Kam had described in Pentix and that Szeto had explained in Iluvitar some
years prior, but since then, IA rev 12-Tf has become the de-facto neosonic
when no slots are specified.
Neo-sonic [Kam42 , 2000]

ネオソニック (neosonic)
수직 일회전 (perpendicular one revolve) [for neosonic 23-T1]
Vertical spin [Wrenn40 , 1999]; Straight Up Flip [for MA rev 23-Tf,
Szeto44 , 2000]
Passaround Counterclockwise | Infrequent (4.3/10)
Passaround 23-12
A (finger)around 0.5. Unlike neosonic, passaround is especially used

for ones that don’t end in Tf. The direction of the trick is counterclockwise,
like arounds. One example would be the following:
passaround 23-12 = around 0.5 23-12
Etymology In 2004, kensai named the following combo passaround:
IA > pass rev 12-23 > MA > pass rev 23-34 > RA > pass rev 34-23 >
MA > pass rev 23-12 > IA > pass rev 12-T1 > TA
He named it that way because it’s a mix between passes and arounds. For
each step, he thought, there’s a pass and an around so this would be a
540º passaround. If the around was just caught one position down from the
original (e.g. starting in 12 but catching it in 23) then that would be a 180º
passaround, which is the meaning commonly known nowadays. The name
was then deprecated in 2008 by the NC, but people kept using it.
Japanese Half gunman was used to describe both pass and passaround
(see: Pass). The foreign term パスアラウンド (passaround) is also used.
Passaround [kensai126 , 2004]

ハーフガンマン (half gunman); パスアラウンド (passaround)
회전오르기 (spin up) [2004]
Snap pass [for MA 31.2-12, Larry53 , 2003]
156 Perpendicular arounds
Iteza trick Clockwise | Infrequent (4.8/10)
The Iteza trick is cont (IA rev 12-T1 > pass T1-12).
Iteza trick
Itezaトリック (Iteza trick)
이태자트릭 (Iteza trick)
Neo around Backhand clockwise | Infrequent (3.5/10)

also known as Pseudo around Infrequent (3.3/10)
Neo around 12-12
A neo around usually starts palm down by doing an around, which is

interrupted by a fingerswitch and followed by another around 0.25.
Etymology In 2008, Lindor named a similar trick straight sonic,
which was executed palm side. In 2013, I rediscovered the trick and made a
tutorial, where I gave it the name pseudo around. Neo around may be the
oldest name of all three, and it’s nowadays the most popular one. The origin
is uncertain but the analogy with a neobackaround is easily seen.
Notation We can simply notate it as (PD) MA 0.25 ~ IA 0.25, or we
can also specify the slots and the fingerswitch in a more formal manner:
Neo around 12 = (PD) MA 0.25 12-2* > fingerswitch 2*-1* > IA 0.25 1*-12
Neo around [≤2013]
Pseudo around [RPD151 , 2013]; Straight sonic [Lindor130 , 2008]
8.3 Oblique arounds
Thumbaround Fundamental | CCW | Well-known (10/10)
One of the four fundamental tricks. In its usual variation, Thumbaround

T2-T12, a small push of 2 while holding the pen with an offset center of
gravity makes it turn around the thumb, after which it’s caught.
Etymology It is probably the first trick to be discovered. The first names
that we have records of are those from the special feature in Korokoro comic:
big roll for TA and reverse roll for TA rev. Around 1997, Hideaki coined the
term normal and adapted reverse from the Korokoro Comic name. Later,
after creating the names for the spin number modifiers (half, single, single
axel etc) he also used single as another name for the thumbaround. When
Kam made Pentix, he started calling the trick 360 Degree Normal/Reverse,
using normal and reverse like Hideaki. The name was then changed by either
Kam or nhk_9 in late 2003, but the topic where that was discussed has been
lost. In March 10th, 2004, in Pentrix, Kam listed the trick as thumbaround
normal/reverse, which is the only name used in English nowadays.
There are also many Chinese names. The first one comes from the Tai-
wanese sula_la. The tricks in his website are all named after “The Eighteen
Palms”, which were popular at the time. In particular, 亢龍有悔 means the
proud dragon repents. 亢龍有悔 is the most well known sula_la name, espe-
cially by older spinners. In Chinese common vocabulary, the trick is referred
as 繞大拇指的 and in Taiwan and Mainland, 正轉 is another common name.
However, among experienced spinners, just calling it TA is common.
Thumbaround [either Kam or nhk_9, 2003]; TA [abbr.]

ノーマル (normal) [Hideaki60 , 1997]
엄지돌리기 (thumb rotation); 엄돌 (thumb rotation) [abbr.]
正轉 (forward spin); 繞大拇指的 (something rotating on the thumb)
[used by beginners]
158 Oblique arounds
Forward single [Weis39 , 1998]; 360 degree normal [Kam42 , 2000]; Simple
thumb spin [Szeto44 , 2000]; 360; Thumb spin; Forward; Helicopter
亢龍有悔 [sula_la78 , 2003]
ビッグロール (big roll) [Korokoro2 , 1990]; シングル (single)
Thumbaround reverse CW | Well-known (9.9/10)
Thumbaround reverse T1-T2
In its usual variation, thumbaround reverse T12-T2, the mod is held by

T2, with an offset center of gravity in the opposite way of a TA. After being
pushed by the tip of the index finger, the mod rotates around the thumb,
after which it’s caught.
Etymology Most websites always had both TA and TA rev, so their

etymologies are very similar (see: Thumbaround). As explained there, this is
the origin of the reverse modifier.
As for the Chinese names, we also have 見龍在田 from sula_la, meaning
the dragon soars in the sky. 反轉 is the most common hanzi name nowadays
in TWPS and PSH, although experienced spinners mostly call it TAR. Inter-
estingly, this abbreviation isn’t used in other English communities, which
usually abbreviate it as TA rev.
Thumbaround reverse [either Kam or nhk_9, 2003]; TA rev [abbr.]

リバース (reverse) [Hideaki60 , 1997]
역엄지돌리기 (reverse thumb rotation)
反轉 (reverse spin); TAR [abbr.]
リバースロール (reverse roll) [Korokoro2 , 1990]
360 degree reverse [Kam42 , 2000]; Reverse thumb spin [Szeto44 , 2000]
見龍在田 [sula_la78 , 2003]
TA Harmonic CCW-CW | Well-known (9.9/10)
A thumbaround followed by a thumbaround reverse. This sequence is

either done once or continuously.
TA Harmonic = TA > TA rev
Etymology The name ハーモニック (harmonic) was given by Hideaki,
and it was among the first set of names that appeared on his website. It was
then translated and adapted to thumbaround harmonic by Kam. This trick
is where the harmonic modifier originated. Hideaki already used it as such in
1997, as in ソニックハーモニック (sonic harmonic).
ハーモニック (harmonic) [Hideaki60 , 1997]

Thumbaround harmonic [Kam42 , 2000]; TA harmonic, TA harmo [abbr.]
똑딱이 (ticking)
シャトルロール (shuttle roll) [Korokoro2 , 1990]
見龍在田跟亢龍有悔的連續 [sula_la78 , 2003]
Counter thumbaround CCW-CW | Common (5.4/10)
A counter thumbaround is a TA interrupted halfway by a TA rev, with a

fingerless push.
counter TA = TA ~ Fl TA rev
The counter concept of tricks was invented by Zombo of UPSB. The idea
was to perform a trick as normal, then interrupt that trick halfway through
160 Oblique arounds
with a reverse motion (usually a fingerless push) to bring the pen back to
the starting position. This results in a hybrid of a trick in one direction plus
another trick in the opposite direction. The aim of counters is to look as
though you are performing a full single trick as normal, but then abruptly
interrupting it by moving the pen in the opposite direction.
Etymology The exact date at which Zombo created this is unknown,

but the original videos from Zombo were reuploaded to PenstudioZ on March
2005. As for counter TA in particular, nhk from The Troposphere invented
it independently and named it Thumb-Tap. After being told about counters,
he corrected future versions of his website and videos.
Counter TA [Zombo, ≤2005]
カウンター (counter)
Thumb-Tap [nhk_9142 , 2003]
Fingerless TA Counterclockwise | Well-known (9.4/10)
A fingerless TA consists of doing a thumbaround, but pushed just by

the movement of the hand and/or wrist, not the fingers. It’s sometimes (but
not always) an aerial trick, usually when done continuously.
Etymology The concept and name comes from Kam. It was added
to Pentrix on November 2004, although the date of creation may be even
earlier since Pentrix updates were slow at times. This is the origin of the
fingerless modifier. Both the modifier and the trick were later used in
Japanese notation.
Fingerless Thumbaround [Kam42 , ≤2004]; Fl Thumbaround, Fl TA [abbr.]

フィンガレースノーマル (fingerless normal)
엄지휘감기 (thumb winding); 엄지배감기 (thumb rewind) [for cont Fl TA]
더블 덤프 어라운드 (double thumbaround) [for cont Fl TA, until 2005]
Flick TA Counterclockwise | Infrequent (4.0/10)
Flick TA reverse
In a flick TA rev, with the mod held in T2, the middle finger is extended
and the pen goes around T, counterclockwise. This is in contrast to a normal
TA rev in which the push comes from the index finger.
Flick TA
Since many spinners confuse both, let’s also explain its normal variation.
In a flick TA, the pen is held over 2 while touching the back of 1 and with
a sudden extension of 1, the pen goes around T.
Etymology The name flick TA comes from Zoda and Lindor, who in
2008 proposed it as a new trick in the FPSB laboratory. While flick TA was
probably new, flick TA rev had already been done multiple times, being a
trick that characterized Bonkura’s style. As for the origin of the word flick,
it was coined by Eso (see: Flick). In 2007, sketching proposed in the NC to
add tapped and flicked as modifiers, although the idea didn’t stick.
Notation Although quite formal, we can break down the different pushes
of a TA and a flick TA:
TA = TA [p 2→P] flick TA = TA [p 1←P]
Flick TA [Zoda167 & Lindor, 2008]
역엄지수평돌리기 (thumb horizontality reverse), 역엄수 (thumb hori-
zontality reverse) [abbr.], 역엄수 돌리기 (thumb horizontality reverse) [all
three names are for Flick TA rev]
역수평 내리기 (horizontality fall reverse) [for Flick TA rev, until 2005]
162 Oblique arounds
TA riser Counterclockwise | Rare (2.5/10)

In a TA riser, the pen is thrown to the air after 0.5 revolutions of the
TA, when the pen is on top of the thumb. It’s one of the first tricks to use
the riser modifier, although its origin is probably the bak riser.
TA riser
ノマライザー (normal riser / normalizer)
TA release Counterclockwise | Frequent (7.1/10)

In a TA release, the pen is thrown to the air immediately after the push.
It’s one of the first tricks to use the release modifier, although its origin is
probably the infinity release.
TA release
TAリリース (TA release)
릴리즈 (release) [FLow9 ]
Extended TA Counterclockwise | Well-known (9.7/10)

also known as Tornado Frequent (7.1/10)
An extended thumbaround consists of doing a thumbaround starting in

palm side position, and while the pen is rotating over the thumb, the hand
turns palm down and a bust (backaround reverse) is done.
Extended TA = (PS>PD) TA ~> bust
Etymology The first name was given by kam in 2001: extended 360
degree normal, with 360 degree normal being the name that he had given
for a thumbaround at the time. After the name change to thumbaround, he
also changed the name of this trick. In Japanese, the term tornado was being
used to describe fake double [114], but then its meaning changed to describe
this trick as well. Tornado is understood in English as cont ext TA.
Extended thumbaround [Kam51 , 2004]; Ext TA [abbr.]; Tornado

トルネード (tornado)
인지 휘감기 (index winding)
Extended 360 degree normal [Kam42 , 2001]
검지 휘감기 (index winding)
Fake double Counterclockwise | Frequent (8.6/10)
A fake double consists of doing a thumbaround and then an indexaround,

while on palm side during the whole motion of the trick.
fake double = (PS) TA ~> Fl IA
Etymology In English, Kam called the trick 720 degree normal in
one of the first versions of Pentix. The origin of the name fake double is
uncertain, but it is thought that it was given by Kam, as both fake double
and fake triple appear in his recommended trick learning chart (2002), and
fake triple is known to be his creation.
Japanese Hideaki initially called this trick トルネード (tornado) but
nowadays, that means extended TA, both in English and Japanese (see: Ex-
tended thumbaround). In 2001, Hideaki changed it to スプレッドダブル (spread
double), which is the most common name nowadays.
Controversy Although the definitions of ext TA, fake double and
thumbindexaround are clear nowadays, the debate was intense back in the
day. The UPSB v2 thread for those tricks was infamously long and convoluted,
although it has been lost.
スプレッドダブル (spread double) [Hideaki60 , 2001]

Fake double [Kam42 , 2002]
페이크더블 (fake double)
トルネード (tornado) [Hideaki60 , 1997]
720 degree normal [Kam42 , 2001]
164 Oblique arounds
Backaround Backhand clockwise | Well-known (9.8/10)
Index backaround
A backaround is a fingerless fingeraround reverse, usually palm

down, which rotates obliquely to the finger. In an index backaround, the
pen starts by being held in 12 with an offset center of gravity. With either a
hand motion or a wrist motion, the pen starts to rotate around the index
finger, after which it’s caught in 12 or Tf12, like in the picture above.
Etymology The trick itself, the backaround name and the bak abbre-
viation come from David Weis. Afterwards, other words were coined to
describe different styles of executing the trick: Weis backaround and Korean
backaround. The abbreviation bak has been somewhat controversial, as many
spinners don’t like that it drops the c. For this reason, many prefer to use
back instead. On the other hand, some spinners call the trick bakaround,
although that is not as common.
Korean In Korean, there is no distinction between indexaround reverse

(perpendicular) and backaround (oblique), both called 역검지휘감기 (index
winding reverse). Sometimes, the name can be more precise and refer to
IA rev by calling it 수직식 역검지휘감기 (palm side index winding reverse),
where 수직식 is a prefix meaning palmside. Both styles of execution (Weis
and Korean) also have their own names, which are sometimes used.
Backaround [Weis39 , 1998]; Bak [abbr., Weis39 , 1998]

バックアラウンド (backaround); バクアラ (bakuara) [abbr.]
역검지휘감기 (index winding reverse) [for both bak and IA rev];
Korean backaround Clockwise | Frequent (7.1/10)
Korean backaround
One way of executing a backaround, which was popular during early PDS.
It consists of doing the trick on the tips of the fingers:
korean bak = bak 1z2z
Korean The name 북파식 역휘감기 means 북파-style reverse winding.

북파러브레터지기 was part of the 2003 PDS staff, and those are the first two
letters of his name. Recently, FLow named it 끝휘감기 (Outside winding).
Korean backaround; Korean bak [abbr.]

북파식 역휘감기 (북파-style reverse winding); 끝휘감기 (Outside wind-
ing) [FLow9 , 2021]
Weis backaround Clockwise | Common (6.3/10)
Weis backaround
Another one way of executing a backaround, done by David Weis. It

consists of doing the trick at the base of the fingers:
weis bak = bak 1x2x
Weis backaround; Weisian backaround; Weis bak [abbr.]

데이비드식 역휘감기 (David Weis reverse winding); 안휘감기 (Inside
winding) [FLow9 , 2021]
166 Oblique arounds
Raimo backaround Backhand clockwise | Frequent (7/10)
A Raimo backaround is a hybrid between a backaround and a pass rev.

The trick was characteristic of the Japanese spinner Raimo.
raimo bak = bak ~ pass rev 12-23
Raimo backaround [≤2010]
라이모백 (Raimo bak)
Neo under backaround [used in FPSB, ≤2010]
Bakfall Clockwise | Well-known (9.3/10)

A backaround fall, or bakfall, consists of doing four backarounds,
starting with the index finger and finishing with the pinky.
bakfall = bak 12-12 > midbak 12-23 > ringbak 23-34 > pinkybak 34-34
Etymology The name bakfall is just an abbreviation of backaround
fall. During the UPSB v2 era, Kam, David Weis and nhk_9 discussed how a
true backaround fall would be done, but ended up coming up with a neobak
fall [206]. When and who came up with its current version is unknown, but
in 2007 it was already an established trick: On the topic of the rise and
fall modifiers, Sketching said that “If you’re not doing one of the standard
Rise/Fall combos (Sonic, Backaround, Neobak), I would suggest just writing
out the individual tricks that you do” (Sketching207 , 2007).
Japanese In Japanese, the trick is called シャフィーボ (shafibo). Some
spinners argued that the trick looked like a 遮機 (shadanki, railway gate), so
they called it 遮機フィニッシュコンボ (shadanki finish combo).
Backaround fall; Bakfall [abbr.]

シャフィーボ (shafibo)
사지찰 (four finger friction);
짝네오백 (fake neobak) [until 2021]; 짝네오백4단 / 7단 / 10단 (vertical
pair neobak 4/7/10 layer) [until 2021]
Bakriser Clockwise | Common (6.4/10)
Halfway through a backaround, while the pen is spinning on the back of

the finger, the pen is thrown to the air and then caught.
Etymology The name comes from nhk_9, as he used it in the Tropo-

sphere in 2003. This is most probably the trick that originated the usage of
riser as a modifier.
BackRiser [nhk_954 , 2003]; Bak riser
バクライザー (back riser)
점핑역검휘 (aerial reverse winding)
Continuous backaround 1.5 Clockwise | Frequent (8.7/10)
In a continuous backaround 1.5, after the first backaround and before

the catch, 0.5 extra revolutions are done, which puts the pen to be in a
position that eases doing another backaround.
In the original version by David Weis, which he called “Continues Reverse-

to-BackAround”, he started with a fake reverse. He then continued with
an index backaround and the 0.5 extra revolutions were on T1, for which he
changed from palm down to palm side. Nowadays it’s also common to do it
on other fingers, and mostly palm down. For example: cont midbak 1.5.
About its relevance, Darren wrote on the Troposphere:
“This combo is a landmark combo for Pen Spinning, as the Conservation-

of-Momentum notion is not present in Pen Spinning prior to the invention
of this combo” (nhk_9, 2003)
Continuous backaround 1.5 [David Weis96 , 2001]

168 Oblique arounds
NeoSA Clockwise | Mainly Japanese | Frequent (7.1/10)
The NeoSA, or NeoSA223, is a popular finishing sequence. It consists of the

following tricks:
NeoSA223 = (PD) neobak 12-12 ~> midbak 1.5 ~> midbak
Note how the last midbak starts while the pen is over 12.
Etymology The origin of the trick and its name is interesting, as they
went hand in hand. The first trick was the 233, popularized after the Japanese
spinner aaaa did it in Japen 1st, which consisted of
233 = bak > midbak x2
Afterwards, a variation emerged, which was sometimes called Neo233:
Neo233 = neobak 12-12 ~> midbak x2
And after that, SA233, SA standing for Single Axel (the Japanese term for
extra 0.5 revolutions), notably done by G-Ryzer in PSN 2nd:
SA233 = bak > midbak 1.5 ~> midbak
In the end, by combining both, NeoSA223 was coined. Even in Japanese, it’s
written in roman letters most of the time, although sometimes it’s written
as ネオサ (NeoSA). The scope of the name has grown, for example, into
tricks like NeoSA334 or NeoSA4555. Recently the name has gained popularity
overseas. Some overseas spinners call it neossa, but this spelling is incorrect.
Korean There are three terms that refer to similar tricks, so let’s see
them one by one. The first one is 네오백 (neobak):
네오백 = neobak 12-12 ~> midbak
Notice that the midbak isn’t 1.5. The 네오백배감기 (neobak rewind) is:
네오백배감기 = neobak 12-12 ~> midbak ~> midbak
Where the midbak still isn’t 1.5. Finally, there is the NX식네오백배감기 (NX-
NeoSA), which equals the usual NeoSA233:
NX식네오백배감기 = neobak 12-12 ~> midbak 1.5 ~> midbak
NeoSA233; NeoSA; ネオサ (NeoSA)

NeoSA
NX식네오백배감기 (NX-NeoSA)
Palmaround Clockwise | Infrequent (3.3/10)

also known as Palmbackaround Rare (1.9/10)
Holding the mod between P and T, an around reverse is done on the palm
(not the fingers). Palmbackaround is also a name used and is more correct
due to the direction of rotation of the trick.
Palmaround [≤2005]; Palmbackaround [≤2008]
パームアラウンド (palmaround)
Bust Backhand counterclockwise | Well-known (9.9/10)
A bust is a backaround reverse. Rotating oblique to the fingers, and

starting in 12, the pen is pushed so that it goes around 1. The push of the
trick is fingerless most of the time, although if only one bust is done, the
push could also be finger-pushed, like in the picture above. Other names like
midbust, ringbust, pinkybust and handbust are also common.
bust = backaround reverse
Etymology The first instance of the word bust is in 2002, with the
creation by Kam of the trick sonic bust (see: Sonic bust). His objective with
that trick was to link two tricks that in principle have different directions of
rotation: the sonic (CW) and the indexaround (CCW). This was the first
definition of bust: an indexaround attached to a trick which, in principle,
had a different direction of rotation.
170 Oblique arounds
The name was used widely during UPSB v2 and in 2006, there were
three well known tricks with the bust modifier attached to them: sonic
bust, twisted sonic bust and demon sonic bust [205]. Years later, Thai
powertrickers popularized its continuous usage. At that point, the initial
definition was lost, and bust not only began to mean attaching a backaround
reverse to any trick regardless of its direction of rotation, but it started to
be used as a standalone trick as well.
Japanese This trick is mostly notated with スプレッド (spread) (see:
Spread), although the name バスト (bust) can also be seen at times, especially
among powertrickers and newer generations.
Bust [Kam42 , 2002]
バスト (bust)
검지 휘감기 (index winding) [for both bust and IA]
For its continuous version:
Continuous bust; Cont. bust [abbr.]
コントバスト (cont. bust)
검지배감기 (indexfinger winding more than one)
Twisted sonic bust Backhand CCW | Well-known (9.0/10)
A twisted sonic bust is a (PD) twisted sonic > backaround reverse.

Etymology The precise moment when this name was coined is unknown,
but in 2006 it was already a well established trick (see: Bust).
Twisted sonic bust [≤2006]
풍차검지휘감기 (windmill indexfinger winding); 풍검휘 (windmill in-
dexfinger winding) [abbr.]
Raimo (finger)bust Backhand CCW | Infrequent (3.7/10)

A Raimo bust is a hybrid between a bust and a pass:
Raimo pinkybust = pinkybust ~ pass 34-23
Etymology The trick isn’t actually made by Raimo, and the name is
much more recent than Raimo backaround. It’s just applying the same idea,
but to busts instead of backarounds (see: Raimo backaround).
Raimo pinkybust
Spread Counterclockwise | Well-known (9.6/10)
Pinkyspread
A fingerless fingeraround release, usually palm side or slightly palm

up. The rotation of the pen is oblique to the fingers. Finger prefixes are used
to determine around which finger it rotates.
pinkyspread = (PS) Fl PA release 34-34
Japanese Spread is used for all kinds of fingerless arounds. For exam-
ple, TA > bust x2 is written as spread 122. When referring to spreads as we
know them in English, it’s sometimes written as vertical spread.
Etymology The term spread originates in Japanese notation. There

was some confusion regarding this trick name from various videos on youtube.
Jamie Enns explained in the UPSB v3 how in Japan it’s used for two different
kinds of tricks, and that since English notation has enough names for palm
down fl arounds (bak, bust, fl around) we should only use it for the other
type. [178] In Korean, 스프레드 (Spread) has the same meaning as in English.
Spread
縦スプレッド (vertical spread)
스프레드 (Spread)
Fxxk Clockwise | Common (6/10)
Mid fxxk
172 Oblique arounds
The fxxk is a variation of the spread, usually done with the fingers more
or less straight and palm up, with the pen rolling on the back of the fingers
before being thrown to the air. The most common variation is middle fxxk.
It’s from that finger positioning that the name comes from.
fxxk = (PU) Fl midbust release
Fxxk
Symmetrical backaround CCW | Common (5.7/10)
Symmetrical backaround
A symmetrical backaround is a pinkybust followed by a fingerless

thumbaround. If correctly executed, the pen should transition by staying as
little in the air as possible.
symmetrical backaround = (PD) pinkybust ~ (PS) Fl TA
Etymology The trick was made and named by key3, further popularized
by VicGotGame around 2010. Since key3 deleted all of his Youtube videos,
the original creation date is unknown.
Symmetrical backaround [Key3127 , ≤2008]
Hai tua Backhand counterclockwise | Well-known (9.3/10)
Note: There are various variations of arounds on the hand, so to better

explain their differences, the number of rotations done at each step is indicated
in the top right corner of each image.
A Hai Tua is done as follows: (PS) 1.0 spin on the thumb, (PD) 1.0 spin
on the back of the fingers/hand, aerial push with the pinky side of the hand,
0.5 aerial spin, (PS) optional TA for the catch (0.5 revolutions). In total: 1
aerial push, 2.5 revolutions continuous, 3.0 revolutions if done just once.
Etymology Both discovered and named by Spinnerpeem. In Thai, hai

tua means vanishing or teleportation. The original name is นินจาหายตัว (ninja
hai tua), “ninja” being used because the pen goes from the pinky immediately
to the thumb. There used to be other “ninja” tricks back then too, created
by other THPSC members, although all others have been forgotten.
นินจาหายตัว (ninja hai tua), หายตัว (hai tua) [Peem156 , ≤2008]

Hai tua; Ninja hai tua
ハイツア (hai tua)
하이투아 (hai tua)
Aerial hai tua Backhand counterclockwise | Frequent (7.4/10)
While aerial hai tua is most of the time understood as a hai tua riser,
it can technically be a release too and some spinners use it that way. So for
that, both variations will be described here:
Hai tua riser
Riser case (PS) Thumbaround (1.0 rev.), aerial push with the index
finger, 0.5 aerial spin, (PD) 0.5 spin on the back of the fingers/hand, (PD)
aerial push with the pinky side of the hand, 0.5 aerial spin, (PS) optional
TA for the catch (0.5 revolutions). In total: 2 aerial pushes, 3.0 revolutions if
done continuously, 3.5 if done just once.
174 Oblique arounds
Hai tua release
Release case (PS-PD) TA release, 1.0 aerial spin, (PD) 0.5 spin on the
back of the fingers/hand, (PD) aerial push with the pinky side of the hand,
0.5 aerial spin, (PS) optional TA for the catch (0.5 revolutions). In total: 2
aerial pushes, 2.0 revolutions if done continuously, 2.5 if done just once.
Aerial hai tua; Hai tua riser; Hai tua release
Hand bust Backhand counterclockwise | Common (6.5/10)
(PD) aerial push with the pinky side of the hand, 1.0 aerial spin going
around the whole hand. In total: 1 aerial push, 1.0 revolutions.
Hand bust
ハンドバスト (hand bust)
Handaround Backhand counterclockwise | Common (5.2/10)

While technically handaround could also be used for any of the previous
variations, it’s used especially for the following trick: (PS) thumbaround (1.0
revolutions) followed by (PS) IndexMiddleRingPinkyAround (1.0 revolutions).
In total: no aerial pushes, 2.0 revolutions.
Handaround
Ayatori trick Backhand counterclockwise | Common (5.1/10)
The Ayatori trick consists of the following

Ayatori trick = Hai Tua ~> charge rev release Tf ~ bust
In the initial Hai Tua, the last TA isn’t done. Instead, the pen is directly
caught on Tf to do the charge rev.
Ayatori trick [≤2009]

Ayatoriトリック (ayatori trick)
아야토리 트릭 (ayatori trick)
Rex trick Backhand clockwise | Common (6.8/10)
Do a fingerless TA reverse. Before finally catching the pen, let the

pen do a small fingerless charge Tf and change the position of the hand
from palm side to palm down. Then, while palm down, the mod does a 0.5
spin and is caught in the same slots that the trick started. It can be done
continuously. It is named after Rex, a member of TWPS.
Rex trick = Fl TA rev ~> (PS-PD) charge rev Tf ~ spin 0.5 Tf-1wp*-Tf
Rex trick
レックストリック (rex trick)
렉스트릭 (Rex trick)
176 Oblique arounds
Punkan Counterclockwise | Frequent (8.6/10)

A punkan is an arm around. Starting from a TA release, it goes around
the forearm, entering in contact with it for about 0.25 rev., after which it is
thrown again into the air. The catch is usually another TA.
Etymology The trick was first done by Pyralux, a French spinner, in
2008. At that time it was called armaround. Peem rediscovered the trick and
named it punkan, as pun means “to wind around” and kan means “arm”.
After the rise of Peem, the name punkan got more popular. While arm bust
can be seen from time to time, it’s not that common since here the distinction
analogous to the one between Hai Tua and Hand Bust doesn’t exist.
Armaround [Pyralux150 , 2008]; Punkan; Arm bust

พันแขน (pun kan) [Peem]
プンカン (punkan)
암스핀 (arm spin); 팔휘감기 (wrist winding) [FLow9 , 2021]
암스핀투아 (arm spin tua) [until 2012]; 팔목휘감기 (wrist winding)
Muscle around Counterclockwise | Rare (2.9/10)
The muscle around is similar to the punkan, but instead of going around
the forearm it turns around the upper arm.
Muscle around [≤2011]
Antigravity Backhand clockwise | Infrequent (4.6/10)
It’s a (PD) Fl TA rev, sometimes also around other fingers.
Antigravity [≤2006]
Comet Clockwise | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.7/10)

This trick is a (PD-PS-PD) middlethumbaround riser. As the pen is over

T, the hand is turned to either palm side or palm up (Drowsy is able to
accentuate this hand motion much more than what I did in the picture above)
and the pen is thrown to the air, where it does 0.5 revolutions and is finally
caught back in 23.
comet = (PD-PS-PD) middlethumbaround riser reverse 23-23
彗星 (comet) [Drowsy97 , 2019]
NGO Mainly Japanese | Rare (1/10)
The trick starts with a comet, but instead of being caught in 23, the hand
is moved so the pen does an pinkybust riser, slanted in the opposite way
than usual. The pen is then thrown to the air again, and the trick is finished
with a bust, again slanted in the opposite way than usual. All of this is done
in palm down.
NGO = (PD) Comet ~ inverse pinkybust ~ bust
Etymology The trick was first done by Drowsy for his submission to
the collab “Dance Above the Floor”. During that time, it was common for
bots to comment on Youtube videos −even those that hadn’t premiered yet,
like DAtF− with a random timestamp and some NSFW URL. A bot called
Paul Roberts commented “0:17 naughty-girls.online”, which made waves on
PS twitter. Drowsy named the trick after that event.
ナウティーガールズオンライン (naughty girls online) [Drowsy98 , 2020];

NGO [Drowsy98 , 2020]
8.3.1 Powerpasses
Powerpasses are sequences of fingeraround 0.5. There are many varia-
tions, and since the history of their development is common to all of them, I
will explain this at the beginning of this section and then show images and
breakdowns for several important powerpasses.
Etymology The first variant to be found was palm powerpass, which

was commonly done by JEB mx spinners, although it remained unnamed.
Afterwards, Gollumsk8 did part of a backhand powerpass in a video, but not
the whole trick. In 2008, Jamie Enns was able to do the following sequence:
palm powerpass normal > backhand powerpass normal
178 Oblique arounds
and gave the name powerpass to the whole trick. In 2010, he uploaded this
trick x2 to his YouTube channel, which popularized the trick. [116]
In 2010, Fel2Fram uploaded a tutorial to the FPSB Youtube channel,

titled “Powerpass”, in which he did just the backhand part. Within the
video, he specified “Powerpass (upper part)”, but this was the start of a new
meaning of the name. 5 months later, he uploaded “The 8 main powerpasses”
to his main youtube channel, in which 4 backhand and 4 palm variations
were done and named for the first time [103]. Around this time, Supawit was
also practicing the trick, and released the tutorial of the switch spread.
Jamie Enns, when asked about this change, answered:

“My naming scheme never worked out. Its crazy anyone calls anything
a ‘powerpass’ 7 years after I first said it. Between supawit and fel2fram the
name got mixed up. BUT thats not what it’s about! It’s about trying things
that haven’t been done before and sharing with the community your discoveries
and ideas!” (Jamie Enns208 , 2015)
It is known that Fel2Fram had found 128 variations in total by applying

different combinations of modifiers. However, many of them weren’t physically
possible, and many uninteresting, thus the main 8 as his focus. However, in
2017, Leftfinger uploaded a video called “Powerpass Show” where the concept
of a powerpass itself is deconstructed and many new variations are shown
[182]. In 2020, Beck uploaded a video called “Overlapping powerpasses” [88],
popularizing a variant that Leftfinger had shown on his video.
Nowadays, powerpass is also used for each individual around 0.5, e.g.:
powerpass 12-23 = middlearound 0.5 12-23 [p 2→P]
Notation To describe the main eight, we need 3 modifiers, since 23 = 8.

The most common ones are reverse, inverse and mirrored. However, how
most people use inverse is incorrect! In his video, Fel2Fram didn’t use
inverse, he used palm (& backhand as its corresponding non-modifier).
Notice how they aren’t interchangeable:
inverse powerpass = palm powerpass reverse
inverse powerpass reverse = palm powerpass
To avoid confusion, since palm conserves the around direction and is more
intuitive than inverse in this case, we strongly recommend the use of
palm instead of inverse.
Powerpass Counterclockwise | Well-known (9.6/10)
An around 0.5 fall [p f→P].

Powerpass [Jamie Enns, 2008; meaning change by Fel2Fram103 , 2011];
Backhand powerpass [Fel2Fram103 , 2011]
パワーパス (powerpass); パワパ (pawapa) [abbr.]
스위치 (switch); 외회전내리기 (outside revolving fall) [FLow9 , 2021]
Powerpass reverse Clockwise | Frequent (7.7/10)
An around rev 0.5 rise [p f←P].

Powerpass reverse, Backhand powerpass reverse [Fel2Fram103 , 2011]
パワーパスリバース (powerpass reverse)
외회전오르기 (outside revolving rise) [FLow9 , 2021]
Mirrored powerpass Clockwise | Frequent (7.7/10)
An around rev 0.5 rise [p f→P].

Mirrored powerpass [Fel2Fram103 , 2011]
ミラードパワーパス (mirrored powerpass)
대칭외회전오르기 (mirrored outside revolving rise) [FLow9 , 2021]
180 Oblique arounds
Mirrored powerpass reverse CCW | Frequent (7.1/10)

also known as MPR Common (5.2/10)
An around 0.5 fall [p f←P]. It’s sometimes called MPR, which is an

acronym of mirrored powerpass reverse. Both backhand and palm variations
are popular among modern powertrickers.
Mirrored powerpass rev. [Fel2Fram103 , 2011]; MPR [abbr., i.suk, 2018]

ミラードパワーパスリバース (mirrored powerpass reverse)
대칭외회전내리기 (mirrored outside revolving fall) [FLow9 , 2021]
Palm powerpass Counterclockwise | Rare (2.7/10)
An around 0.5 rise [p f→P]. This trick was commonly done by Korean
spinners, which triggered the development of the other powerpasses.
Japanese It was named 昇りガンリバ (rising gunman rev), about a year
after discussing the difference between pass and passaround (see: Pass).
Palm powerpass [Fel2Fram103 , 2011]

パームサイドパワーパス (palm side powerpass); 昇りガンリバ (rising
gunman reverse) [∼2008]
내회전오르기 (inverse revolving rise) [FLow9 , 2021]
Palm powerpass reverse Clockwise | Rare (2.5/10)
An around rev 0.5 fall [p f←P].

Palm powerpass reverse [Fel2Fram103 , 2011]
パームサイドパワーパスリバース (palm side powerpass reverse)
내회전내리기 (inverse revolving fall) [FLow9 , 2021]
Palm mirrored powerpass Clockwise | Rare (2.5/10)
An around rev 0.5 fall [p f→P].

Palm mirrored powerpass [Fel2Fram103 , 2011]
パームサイドミラードパワーパス (palm side mirrored powerpass)
대칭내회전내리기 (mirrored inverse revolving fall) [FLow9 , 2021]
Palm mirrored powerpass reverse CCW | Rare (2.5/10)

also known as Palm MPR Rare (2.3/10)
An around 0.5 rise [p f←P].

182 Oblique arounds
Palm mirrored powerpass reverse [Fel2Fram103 , 2011]; Palm MPR

[abbr., i.suk, 2018]
パームサイドミラードパワーパスリバース (palm side mirrored power-
pass reverse)
대칭내회전오르기 (mirrored inverse revolving rise) [FLow9 , 2021]
Knuckle powerpass Clockwise | Common (6.7/10)
The trick is usually started from a charge T1 from which, assisted by

the thumb, the pen is placed over 12. The hand is slightly palm up and all
fingers are bent. With a bit of movement, the pen is passed from 12 to 23
and finally 34. In the original video, it’s followed by a pinkybak.
Etymology In 2017, Menowa* discovered and popularized the trick. The

first time a trick of this kind was done was in 2013, by Ponkotu, although
it wasn’t exactly the same (it’s some sort of inverse knuckle powerpass
reverse), which he called zipower pass/compression powerpass.
Notation The actual mechanics of the trick are, in a way, more similar
to a pass than to an around, although the slots are unstable.
knuckle powerpass = (PU) pass rev 1b2b*-2b3b*>3b4b*
It’s hard to determine if it’s a pass normal or reverse. However, if the fingers
could be straight while doing the trick, which is the standard position, we
would see the pen moving counterclockwise. As for the locators, either b,
k or yz could be used to determine the position of the pen. In the above
breakdown I opted for b as it’s the shortest and most well known.
関節パワーパス (joint powerpass); ナックルパワパ (knuckle powerpass)

Knuckle powerpass; Menowa* powerpass
Zipower pass, Compression powerpass [Ponkotu148 , 2013]
Overlapping powerpasses Counterclockwise | Rare (1.9/10)

A variation in which two backhand powerpasses are done at the same
time, thus adding 0.5 extra revolutions to each of the individual parts. They
were first done by Leftfinger, and further popularized by Beck.
overlapping powerpass rise = powerpass rev + mirrored powerpass
overlapping powerpass fall = powerpass + mirrored powerpass rev
Overlapping powerpasses [Beck88 , 2020]; Alternate powerpass

[Leftfinger182 , 2017]
Switch spread Counterclockwise | Infrequent (3.2/10)

The switch spread is a powerpass and spread minicombo. In the trick
presentation video, Supawit did the following:
powerpass T1-12 > midspread > powerpass 12-23
> ringspread > powerpass 23-34 > pinkyspread
However, nowadays, the name is used loosely to refer to any sequence that
has a powerpass followed by a spread.
Switch spread [Supawit158 , 2010]

スイッチスプレッド (switch spread)
스위치 스프레드 (switch spread)
Switch fingerpass CCW | Mainly Korean | Rare (1.0/10)

A Korean name referring to the following minicombo
cont (powerpass > pass 34-23-12)
스위치 핑거패스 (switch fingerpass) [≤2012]
Switch pun new CCW | Mainly Korean | Very rare (0.8/10)

A Korean name referring to the following minicombo
(PU) cont (IA 0.5 ~> MA 0.5 ~> palmspin 0.5)
In other words, the first two arounds of a powerpass are done, after which
some sort of pun new is done, pushed by the middle finger and caught with
the index, continuing the motion.
스위치펀뉴 (switch pun new)

184 Conical
8.4 Conical
Charge Fundamental | Clockwise | Well-known (9.9/10)
Charge 12
One of the four fundamental tricks. In a charge, the pen spins without
changing fingers, with a conical movement. To do a charge, the two fingers
move relative to each other to achieve the desired circular motion. The pen
is usually, but not necessarily, held by its center of gravity.
Etymology The name charge was given by Kam. The earliest record that
we have of that name is from 2001, where it appeared on Pentix, although it
may have been given even earlier. Prior to Kam, this trick was independently
discovered and named by at least 3 other spinners: Szeto, Wrenn and Hideaki.
Japanese Hideaki called the trick フェイクトソニック (faked sonic) in
1998, and this name is still used today. However, sometimes the direct
translation, チャージ (charge), is also used.
Charge [Kam42 , ≤2001]
フェイクトソニック (faked sonic) [Hideaki60 , 1998]; チャージ (charge);
フェイソニ (feisoni) [abbr.]
원 그리기 (circle drawing)
Gyrating twirl [Szeto44 , 2000]; Drumstick Twirl [Wrenn40 , 1999]
Sonic Fundamental | Clockwise | Well-known (9.9/10)
Sonic 23-12
One of the four fundamental tricks. A sonic is a hybrid between a charge

and a fingerswitch, as it follows a conical motion while changing slots.
Etymology The name ソニック (sonic) was given by Hideaki. Then,
Kam added its translation to Pentix. The trick was also discovered indepen-
dently by others, like sula_la (his name, 雙龍取水, means the twin dragons
fetch water) and Szeto, who gave names to three slot combinations.
Korean The Korean name, 계단 (stairs), originated independently from
the rest. Names for sonic and its basic variations were used since the begin-
ning of the board. But it wasn’t until the 2005 NX lecture when they were
standarized into using the 역 (reverse) and 내 (inverse) modifiers.
Deprecated New expressions

English equivalent
(Until 2005) (Since 2005, NX lecture)
Sonic 계단 올리기 계단
Sonic reverse 계단 내리기 역계단
Inverse sonic 역계단 올리기 내계단
Inverse sonic reverse 역계단 내리기 역내계단
ソニック (sonic) [Hideaki60 , 1997]

Sonic [Kam42 , 2000]
계단 (stairs) (see the table above)
Three-Two Jump, Four-Three Jump, Two-Thumb Jump [for sonic
23-12, sonic 34-23 and sonic 12-T1 respectively, Szeto44 , 2000]; Sonic
jump [for sonic 34-12, ≤2003]
クラシカルソニック (classical sonic) [for sonic 23-12];
裏ソニック (rear sonic) [for inverse sonic, Hideaki60 , 2001]
雙龍取水 [sula_la78 , 2003]; 履霜冰至 [for sonic rev, sula_la, 2003]
Inverse sonic Clockwise | Well-known (9.0/10)

186 Conical
An inverse sonic is like a sonic, but the fingerswitch happens while the
pen is in front of the middle finger instead of on its back.
Etymology The trick seems to have been discovered independently by
Kam and Hideaki, as both gave it different names. This is the origin of the
inverse modifier in English and the symmetrical modifier in Japanese.
Inverse sonic [Kam42 , 2001]
シメトリカルソニック (symmetrical sonic) [Hideaki60 , 2001]
Moonwalk sonic Clockwise | Frequent (7.0/10)
Moonwalk sonic 12-23

A moonwalk sonic is a sonic with the usual direction of rotation, but
with the order of the slots inverted. That is:
moonwalk sonic = sonic 12-23
The name comes from Japanese notation, although it’s unknown who named
it. In English, the usage of moonwalk is discouraged whenever the fingerslots
can be written. For this reason, the Naming Committee deprecated the trick
name in 2008, although it’s still used nowadays.
ムーンウォークソニック (moonwalk sonic) [MITSU, 2001]
Moonwalk sonic
문워크계단 (moonwalk stairs)
Sonic clip Clockwise | Frequent (7.4/10)
Sonic clip 23-12

A sonic clip is a hybrid between sonic and charge. For example, in a

sonic clip 23-12 (shown in the figure above), while the pen is being held
by 13, the middle finger is bent completely and a charge 13 is done. This
adds at least 1 revolution, but it could add many more.
sonic clip 23-12 = sonic 23-13 ~> charge 13 > sonic 13-12
Etymology The first time that the name sonic clip is seen is in
November 2003, in PenstudioZ. It doesn’t appear on the Pentix trick names
table, so it originated some time between 2001 and 2003, but the creator is
unknown. The Japanese term スリップトソニック (slipped sonic) may be
younger, as it doesn’t appear in any of the trick lists from Crasher (2001)
Korean There are various names for this trick. 원계단 (circle stairs) is
used as a general name for all variations. Sonic clip 34-12 (this is, with a
charge 14) is a particularly popular variation, and it was named 초난강 (cho
nan gang) by Sound, as it reminded him to a typical hand gesture from
草彅剛, a Japanese comedian. This trick was then renamed by FLow to
더블원계단 (double circle stairs).
Sonic clip [≤2003]

スリップトソニック (slipped sonic)
원계단 (circle stairs) [2007]; 더블원계단 (double circle stairs) [for sonic
clip 34-12, FLow9 , 2021]
하이퍼소닉 (hyper sonic) [until 2007]; 초난강 (cho nan gang) [for sonic
clip 34-12, Sound, until 2021]
Pseudo sonic Clockwise | Common (6.1/10)

also known as Sonic still Rare (2.5/10)
It’s a sonic that finishes in the same slots as where it starts. E.g.:
pseudo sonic 23 = sonic still 23 = sonic 23-13-23
188 Conical
Etymology A spinner named Tomohiro Yamada discovered the trick in

2001, who sent a video to Hideaki. He provisionally named it pseudo sonic,
and the name stuck. After some time, in English, the direct translation
pseudo sonic became the most popular name for the trick.
However, other names were also given. nhk_9 saw MITSU, a Japanese
spinner, doing this trick, and thus called it Mitsuki’s fake sonic, although
that name didn’t become popular. After the development of shadow still
by Kangandgeon (see: Shadow), the still modifier was also applied here,
thus creating sonic still.
スードウソニック (pseudo sonic) [Hideaki60 , 2001]
Pseudo sonic; Sonic still
제자리계단 (stairs in place) [FLow9 , 2021]
Mitsuki’s fake sonic [nhk_954 , 2003]
캔슬계단 (cancel stair) [FLow9 , until 2021]
Side sonic Clockwise | Frequent (7.7/10)
Side sonic 23-12
To do a side sonic 23-12, start with a sonic 23-12 and when the pen
is in 13, pass the middle finger between the index and ring, finishing the
movement with an inverse sonic 23-12.
Etymology The first spinner who recorded the trick was Flip. Shortly
after, Fratleym also recorded it and gave it the name side sonic. [180]
Notation Since it can be somewhat confusing, here we show how the

reverse and inverse modifiers apply to a side sonic:
side sonic nor 23-12 = sonic 23-12 ~ inv sonic 23-12
side sonic rev 12-23 = inv sonic 12-23 ~ sonic 12-23
inv side sonic nor 23-12 = inv sonic 23-12 ~ sonic 23-12
inv side sonic rev 12-23 = sonic 12-23 ~ inv sonic 12-23
Side sonic [Fratleym109 , 2007]

サイドソニック (side sonic)
전환계단 (conversion stairs) [FLow9 ]
MISS Clockwise | Infrequent (3.2/10)
MISS 23-24-23
A variation of the side sonic. In a correctly executed MISS, the wrist

shouldn’t turn and the moving finger (in the case of the image above, the
ring finger) should stay straight during the first part of the trick and then
clearly move to the other side of the hand.
Etymology MISS is the acronym for moonwalk inverse side sonic. It

was first done and named by i.suk in mid-late 2018, who then popularized it
as a staple of technical spinning.
Moonwalk inverse side sonic [i.suk, 2018]; MISS [abbr., i.suk, 2018]
Transparent sonic Clockwise | Infrequent (3.9/10)
Transparent sonic 23-12

A hybrid between a sonic and a spin. It has 1.5 revolutions, 0.5 more
than a sonic. It could be formally notated the following way:
transparent sonic 23-12 = sonic 23-13 ~ spin 0.5 2* >~ switch 2*-12
Transparent sonic [≤2007]

190 Conical
Flush sonic Clockwise | Frequent (8.2/10)
To do a flush sonic in its basic variation, we start in 23 with the

movement of a charge. After that, the middle finger is moved outwards,
the ring finger inwards and the pen is caught in 14. Without changing the
direction of motion, a pass 14-23 is done.
Etymology It was first done and named by Key3 (JEB) and further
popularized by Fratleym (FPSB). The precise year of its discovery is unknown,
since Key3 deleted all of his Youtube videos.
Notation The traditional way of breaking down the trick is:
flush sonic = inv sonic 23-12 ~ sonic 13-14 ~> pass 14-23
Which successfully explains in simple terms the position of each finger during
the trick. However, it’s also a bit awkward since the sonic 13-14 is almost
instantaneous. We could solve this with special positions:
flush sonic = sonic 23-14 [2←P; 3→P] ~> pass 14-23
flush sonic = sonic 23-14 [2 out 3 in] ~> pass 14-23
Or we could do it with dot notation:
flush sonic = sonic 23-14 ~> pass 14-13.42-23
Although it may not be immediately obvious, putting the slot with the dot
on the pass also fully specifies the trick. Its inverse would be:
inv flush sonic = sonic 23-14 [2→P; 3←P] ~> pass rev 14-23
inv flush sonic = sonic 23-14 [2 in 3 out] ~> pass rev 14-23
inv flush sonic = sonic 23-14 ~> pass rev 14-12.43-23
Notice that the direction of rotation of the pass changes for its inverse.
フラッシュソニック (flush sonic) [Key3128 , ≤2007]
Flush sonic
플러쉬계단 (flush stair) [FLow9 , 2021]
꽃계단 (flower stairs) [until 2021]
Side flush sonic Clockwise | Common (5.3/10)
A variation which combines both flush sonic and side sonic. When
doing a flush sonic, and when the mod is in 14, exchange the positions of
the middle and ring fingers. That is, the one that is near the palm should go
outside it and vice versa.
Notation The most clear way of breaking down this trick may be with
special positions:
side flush sonic = sonic 23-14[2←P; 3→P]-14[2→P; 3←P] > pass 14-23
The reason why dot notation is unfit for this breakdown is because the dot
notation of the 14 slot on this sonic is undefined, and it’s at that point when
the fingers change positions. Because of this, when breaking down flush
sonic (see: Flush sonic), the dot notation was used on the pass and not on
the sonic.
Side flush sonic
サイドフラッシュソニック (side flush sonic)
Cthulhu Sonic Clockwise | Rare (2.7/10)
A (PS) inverse tw sonic 12-24 >~ MISS 24-23. When correctly executed,
the wrist motion should be minimal.
Cthulhu Sonic [Monheim, 2019]

192 Conical
Bending finger charge Clockwise | Rare (2.3/10)
During a bending finger charge, the two fingers involved in the move-
ment bend alternatingly, each once per rotation.
Etymology This trick was first done by ayaNo in Japen 14th. He made
a tutorial shortly after, where he coined both English and Japanese names.
指曲げチャージ (finger bend charge) [ayaNo87 , 2019]
Bending finger charge [ayaNo87 , 2019]
Co sonic Clockwise | Very rare (0.8/10)
In the basic variation of a co sonic, a charge 23 is done, partially pushed

by bending the index finger, once per rotation.
Etymology It was first done by some spinner from Sendai (Japan),
who called it コミュ障ソニック (comunication disability sonic). It was just a
meme name, only known by other spinners from the area. Malimo discovered
independently the charge 23 countered by the thumb and then taught it to
Mesi, who developed new variations and showed them in his 2018 solo [188].
Inspired by this, Siva made and compiled eight possible variations, which he
then uploaded in 2019 under the censored name co...sonic [152].
Notation Although it’s very naive to think that the push of this trick is
done solely by the index finger, we could write it as:
co sonic = charge 23 [p 1]
co...sonic [Siva152 , 2019]; co sonic
コミュ障ソニック (comunication disability sonic) [≤2014]
Fishing Counterclockwise | Common (6.3/10)
Fishing is an general term for continuous fingerless charges in un-

stable slots. When done on the thumb, it’s usually called thumb fishing.
Although the notation of these tricks is poorly defined, they usually follow
the same criteria as arounds (counterclockwise is normal).
Etymology The name comes from Ian Jenson, from PSH, who was the
first spinner to implement this concept from contact staff, another manipula-
tion art, into pen spinning.
魚尾 (fishtail) [Ian Juggler115 , 2017]

Fishing [Ian Juggler115 , 2017]; Thumb fishing, Index fishing...
釣り (tsuri); フィッシング(fishing); サムフィッシング(thumb fishing)
피싱 (fishing)
Fishtail Counterclockwise | Common (6/10)
Fishtail is the name given to one particular kind of fishing. With

all the fingers straight, starting from a palm side position, the pen does a
fingerless charge rev over the index finger. The hand and wrist motion
alone keeps the pen spinning over 1.
fishtail = Fl charge rev 1*
Etymology This trick was devised after Ian Juggler had already made
his videos, where he showed other kinds of fishings but not this one. It was
Menowa* who thought of the trick, Kay who named it fishtail, and Iteza
who first captured it on video and uploaded it, on February 23, 2018 [108].
The history of this name is interesting, because in contact staff the broad
term for these tricks is fishtail and not fishing.
フィッシュテール (fishtail) [Kay, 2018]

Fishtail
Bust fishing Backhand counterclockwise | Infrequent (4.9/10)
One particular kind of fishing. It can be done just on the index finger, or
with the whole hand (fist bust fishing).
Bust fishing; Fist bust fishing

194 Conical
Drowsy motion Clockwise | Rare (1.3/10)
It consists of the following. The TA rotates vertically:

(PS) MA rev 0.5 23-T2 > charge 0.5 T2 > TA ~ thumb fishing ~ TA rev T*-23
大嵐 (big storm) [Drowsy99 , 2020]

Drowsy motion [2020]
Lever trick Counterclockwise | Frequent (7.1/10)
Index lever
It consists of doing a palm side backaround, after which there are an extra
0.5 revolutions in which the pen rolls around the middle finger.
Etymology The trick was discovered and named by A13X, who popu-
larized it by using it during his WT13 run.
Notation The hardest part when breaking down this trick is to interpret
the last 0.5 revolutions. We could see them as a middlearound 0.5:
index lever trick = (PS) backaround ~ MA 0.5 1*-12
but it could also be interpreted more abstractly as half of an inv sonic:
index lever trick = (PS) backaround ~ inverse sonic rev 1*-12*-12
Lever trick [A13X85 , 2013]; Lever
レバートリック (lever trick)
레버트릭 (lever trick)
Thumb lever Counterclockwise | Common (6.4/10)
The correct thumb lever is obtained when applying the same concept of
a lever trick to the thumb.
Controversy A13X was the first to use this name, and during his first
videos (for example, his WT13 R3) the final 0.5 revolutions weren’t added,
making the trick just a (PU) Fl TA rev. Whether this inconsistency should
be kept or not was discussed extensively. Nowadays, most people think that
for consistency, a correctly executed thumb lever should also have the final
0.5 revolutions, as it was done in the image above.
Thumb lever
サムレバー (thumb lever)
PU Fl TA reverse Counterclockwise | Infrequent (4.2/10)
The palm up fingerless thumbaround reverse is a very common trick

in modern pen spinning, popularized by A13X and often confused with the
thumb lever (see: Thumb lever).
PU Fl TA reverse
アレリバ (alex reverse)
Thumb lever [A13X, 2013]
196 Conical
Swivel Backhand counterclockwise | Frequent (7.5/10)
In a swivel, we start by holding the mod while palm down. By doing a

sudden wrist movement, the pen rolls on top of the hand, doing 1.0 revolutions,
after which it hits the index finger and is then caught in 12.
Etymology The name swivel was given by Lindor in 2009. Originally,

he used the index, ..., pinky prefixes to indicate in which finger it started,
thus the basic variation being a pinkyswivel.
However, Lindor wasn’t the first to do this trick. Twisted cobra bite
predates swivel and is a pinkyswivel rev. Even prior to that, the Japanese
spinner Coulomb did a pinkyswivel bust in one of his videos, which was
then called Coulomb combo (see: Coulomb combo).
In Taiwan, the name 水蛇 (water snake) is very commonly used, and it’s
the only trick name that is more often written in hanzi than in roman letters
by experienced spinners. In PSH’s last set of tutorials, done in 2013, the trick
was called swirl.
Notation The fact that this trick is a fingerless sonic was first pointed
out by Jamie Enns and disputed at the time [209].
pinkyswivel = (PD) fingerless sonic P4-12
Thus, we could write it like that. The initial slot can be interpreted as 44, if
we think that it’s held just by the pinky; or as P4, if we think that it’s held
between the pinky and palm of the hand.
Swivel, Pinkyswivel, ... [Lindor133 , 2009]

역손목휘감기 (reverse wrist winding) [FLow9 ]
水蛇 (water snake)
Swirl [≤2013]
슉슉이 (swoosh)
Swuck CW-CCW | Infrequent (4.1/10)
Swuck 23-P3
In a swuck the pen goes from being held between two fingers (in the
original version, 23) to being held between those fingers and the palm, with
a charge rev motion. Afterwards, there is a direction change and the mod
changes fingers again, now going to Tf.
Etymology The trick was popularized by Fratleym, who did it twice in

his combo for the first round of WT09. Afterwards, a discussion thread was
opened in the FPSB laboratory. There, Fratleym named it swuck, a word
formed as a combination of switch + stuck (fingerswitch and fingerstuck). This
was a bit controversial, as fingerstuck was used when two fingers remained
together during an extended period of a combo and Lindor argued that there
was no fingerstuck in a swuck.
Notation We can break down swuck formally the following way. The
last slot, P3, could also be written as 33, depending on how we interpret it
(whether the pen is between the palm and the ring finger, or between two
phalanges of the ring finger):
swuck 23-P3 = (PS) charge rev 23 ~> (PD-PS) fingerswitch 23-P3
In the original video, Fratleym also did a trick which he called swuck around,
which consisted of the following:
swuck around 12-12 = swuck 12-P2 > IA P2-12
Another trick in that video was the palm swuck
palm swuck 23-34 = swuck 23-P3 > palmspin 0.25 P3-34
Korean The trick is called 좀보 (Zombo), due to its similarity to that
trick (see: Zombo trick).
Swuck [Fratleym110 , 2010]

좀보 (Zombo)
198 Conical
Twisted cobra bite Backhand clockwise | Common (5.4/10)
Twisted cobra bite
In a twisted sobra bite, starting from a neobak 12, the pen then rolls
over the back of the hand, after which it’s caught with all of the fingers.
Etymology In 2007, the French spinner Skatox created and named both
the cobra bite and the twisted cobra bite, the latter being the version
with conical rotation of the former (see: Cobra bite). The name was inspired
by the cobra stall .
Notation It’s a (PD) fingerless sonic reverse (see: Swivel).

twisted cobra bite = (PD) fingerless sonic rev 12-44
Twisted cobra bite [Skatox154 , 2007]

손목휘감기 (wrist winding)
8.5 Spins
(Finger)spin Counterclockwise | Well-known (9.7/10)
Thumbindexspin
In a spin the mod rotates counterclockwise on some part of the hand.
Notation Where the pen spins is indicated by using finger prefixes. For
example, during a thumbspin, the pen spins over the thumb. In the case that
the pen spins over multiple fingers at once, we can use various prefixes, like
thumbindexspin. If it rotates first on the thumb and then on the index, then
we would write it as thumbspin ~ indexspin (Section 4.2.4).
These prefixes don’t specify on which part of the finger it rotates. For
example, an indexspin could rotate on the palm side, the most common case,
but also on the back side of the index finger (see: Indexspin).
Etymology The evolution of spin notation has been quite complex,
particularly in English. For this reason, instead of just listing all names as
usual, let us organize them like this:
Hideaki, 1998: シングルアクセル (single axel), ダブル (double), ダブル
アクセル (double axel), ...
シングルアクセルリバース (single axel reverse), ダブルリバース (double re-
verse), ダブルアクセルリバース (double axel reverse), ...
Weis, 1998: Forward 1&1/2, Forward double, Forward 2&1/2, ...

Reverse 1&1/2, Reverse double, Reverse 2&1/2, ...
Kam, 2000: Forward 1.5, Forward 2.0, Forward 2.5, ...

Reverse 1.5, Reverse 2.0, Reverse 2.5, ...
Weis, 2002: Thumbspin 1.5, Thumbspin 2.0, Thumbspin 2.5, ...

Thumbspin reverse 1.5, Thumbspin reverse 2.0, Thumbspin reverse 2.5, ...
Kam, 2002: Indexspin

200 Spins
Indexspin Counterclockwise | Frequent (7.1/10)
During an indexspin the pen could spin in the palm side, lateral side or
back side of the index finger (see: (Finger)spin). However, the most common
one is spinning on the palm side, usually pushed by a twisted sonic:
(PD) twisted sonic 23-12 ~> (PU) indexspin
If the pen spins on the lateral side, it usually receives different names. In
English, indexsidespin (see: Sidespin). In Japanese, 変形インデックススピン
(different form indexspin) and in Korean, 수평 돌리기 (horizontality rotation),
one of their names for halftap [189].
Indexspin [Kam42 , 2002]

インデックススピン (indexspin)
인덱스스핀 (indexspin)
Sidespin Counterclockwise | Frequent (7.7/10)
In a sidespin, the pen spins on the side of a finger. If no finger is specified,

then it refers to the trick in which the pen spins below the thumb (see picture
above). If it’s used with finger prefixes, like thumbsidespin or indexsidespin,
then it means that the pen spins on the side of that in particular finger.
Sidespin [≤2003]
サイドスピン (sidespin)
사이드스핀 (sidespin)
Shadow Backhand counterclockwise | Well-known (9.8/10)
Shadow 23-12
The pen spins on the back side of some fingers, usually while palm down.
It can either go up some fingers (e.g. shadow 23-12, stay in the same slot (e.g.
shadow 23-23, aka shadow still 23) or go down slots (e.g. shadow 23-34).
Etymology The trick was discovered by Hideaki Kondo in 2001, who

called it シングルアクセルソニック (single axel sonic), with single axel being
the modifier he used for 1.5 revolutions. In 2002, kangandgeon published on
his website the first video of this trick starting and finishing in the same slots,
and coined the terms shadow and shadow still. For the next few years, in
UPSB v2, both tricks were considered different:
“It’s a Shadow if the pen stays in the same slot (23-23) or moves down
the hand (23-34). Sonic 1.5 moves up the hand (23-12).” (Sketching204 , 2005)
In October 2006, the Naming Committee published an article in the UPSB
wiki unifying both concepts, which is how we understand them today.
“There is no longer a single direction specified that a Shadow must follow.
Shadows Normal and Shadows Reverse can each now travel up the hand,
down the hand or stay in the same place.” (Naming Committee, 2006)
In Japan, the name single axel sonic has fallen out of favor, with the
direct translation シャドウ (shadow) being preferred by most spinners.
In 2003, sula_la showed on his page a shadow 12-T1, which he called
飛龍在天 (The Dragon Soars in the Sky). Another name from Hong Kong,
albeit more recent, is script spin, which is sometimes used to describe a
shadow 12-12 executed palm up, with bent fingers.
Notation During a shadow, as defined by the NC, the push and catch
are the same as in a sonic, 0.5 revolutions each. The spin in the middle has
to have at least 0.5 revolutions. Thus, one possible breakdown is:
shadow 23-12 = (PD) charge 0.5 23 ~ spin 2b ~ charge 0.5 12

202 Spins
Shadow [Kangandgeon117 , 2002]; Shadow still [when initial and final

slots are the same, Kangandgeon117 , 2002]
シングルアクセルソニック (single axel sonic) [for shadow 1.5, Hideaki60 ,
2001]; シャドウ (shadow)
백스핀 (back spin) [FLow9 , 2021]; 손등d (backhand-d) [for shadow 12-T1]
Script spin [for (PU) shadow 12-12 (with bent fingers)]
飛龍在天 [sula_la78 , for shadow 12-T1, 2003]
손등돌리기 (backhand turning) [until 2021]
Inverse shadow Clockwise | Common (6.5/10)

During an inverse shadow, the pen spins over the palm side of the fingers,
with the hand in palm up position. Just like in a shadow, the pen can travel
up, stay still or go down slots.
Notation Both push and catch are the same as in an inverse sonic,
thus a notation example could be:
inv shadow 23-12 = (PU) charge 0.5 23 ~ spin 0.5 2p ~ charge 0.5 12
Inverse shadow
シメトリカルシャドウ(symmetrical shadow); シメシャ(simesha) [abbr.];
手伏せシメシャ(hand turned over simesha) [for (PD) inverse shadow, ≤2013];
伏せシメシャ(turned over simesha) [for (PD) inverse shadow]
팜스핀 (palm spin) [FLow9 , 2021]
Neobackaround Backhand clockwise | Well-known (9.3/10)
Neobackaround 12
A neobackaround is a fingerless shadow rev.
neobak 12-12 = Fl shadow rev 12-12
Neo-BackAround [Weis39 , 2003]; NeoBak [Weis39 , 2003]; Neobackaround
ネオバックアラウンド (neobackaround)
Palmspin Counterclockwise | Well-known (9.0/10)
Palmspin
In a palmspin, the pen rotates counterclockwise on the palm of the

hand. It is frequently, but not always, done after a thumbaround. When done
continuously, it’s considered a different trick (see: Palmspin (powertrick) ).
Palm Spin [Kam42 , ≤2002]

パームスピン (palmspin)
팜스핀 (palm rotation) [2021]
Palm rotation [Wrenn40 , 1999]
손바닥 돌리기 (palm rotation) [until 2021]
Palmspin (powertrick)
Counterclockwise | Well-known (9.4/10)
also known as Peemspin Rare (2.4/10)
also known as Rarka trick Mainly in Poland | Very rare (0.6/10)
Cont (Fl TA ~> palmspin)
A palmspin (powertrick)
is cont (Fl TA ~> palmspin 0.5).
Etymology The Polish spinner Rarka is said to be the first one to

achieve this trick. The Thai spinner Spinnerpeem mastered it and popularized
it. Because of this, in PPP everyone calls it Rarka trick and in other
communities, some prefer to call it Peemspin.
204 Spins
Fl TA ~> palmspin; Palmspin; Peemspin; Rarka trick [used in PPP]

コンティニュアスパームスピン (continuous palmspin); コンパム (kon-
pamu) [abbr.]
팜스핀(파워트릭) (palmspin (powertrick)) [2021]
Pun new Counterclockwise | Frequent (8/10)
Index pun new
The pun new is cont (Fl IA ~> palmspin 0.5).
Etymology The trick was discovered and named by Spinnerpeem. “Pun”

means “winding around” and “new” means “finger”.
พันนิ�ว (pun new) [Peem157 , 2010]

Pun new; Fl IA ~> palmspin
プンニュー (pun new)
펀뉴 (pun new)
Spider spin Counterclockwise | Frequent (7.9/10)
Spider spin
While palm up, the mod spins over flexed 2 and 3. It is frequently, but not
always, done after a thumbaround. When done continuously, it’s considered a
different trick (see: Spider spin (powertrick) ).
Etymology The trick was created by Kam, first published in Pentix,

November 20, 2002. Inspired by the movie “Spider-Man”, released just a few
months prior, his idea was to make a pen spinning trick using his iconic web
shooting finger positioning.
Notation There are two main ways of breaking down the trick. In the
first one, we just focus on the fact that the hand is palm up and the pen
rotates on the back of 23, which implies that 23 are bent, but says nothing
about 14. In the second version, the position of all fingers is specified.
spider spin 23 = (PU) spin 2b3b*
spider spin 23 = (PU) spin 23* [146=P; 23=P]
Spider spin [Kam42 , 2002]

スパイダースピン (spider spin)
Spider spin (powertrick)

Counterclockwise | Well-known (9/10)
Cont (Fl TA ~> spider spin)
Nowadays, the term spider spin is used to refer to the power sequence
cont (Fl TA ~> spider spin), but also used occasionally for the family of
powertricks involving around + spin, in a general sense. This is thanks to
spinners who have greatly developed the concept beyond its basic definition,
like i.suk, who made a series of 4 videos classifying dozens of spiderspin
variations according to their difficulty [194]. The SS abreviation is also said
to come from i.suk.
Fl TA > Spider spin; Spider spin; SS [abbr., i.suk]
蜘蛛旋転 (spider rotation); コンティニュアススパイダースピン (con-
tinuous spider spin)
스파이더스핀 (spider spin)
蜘蛛迴旋 (spider spin); 蜘蛛轉 (spider spin)
206 Spins
Advanced spider spin Counterclockwise | Common (5.7/10)
In the case of a TA ~> spider spin over just one finger instead of the
usual two, it’s called advanced spider spin.
Etymology Menowa* made a video in 2011 doing the trick where he

coined both English and Japanese names. Shortly afterwards, other spinners
spotted the funny acronym and started using it as well.
Notation The original variation was done over the ring, so if no finger
prefixes are specified, it refers to that one:
advanced spider spin = (PU) cont (Fl TA ~> spin 0.5 3*)
middle advanced spider spin = (PU) cont (Fl TA ~> spin 0.5 2*)
蜘蛛旋転改 (spider rotation revised) [Menowa*138 , 2011]
Advanced spider spin [Menowa*138 , 2011]; ASS [abbr., 2011]
어드밴스드스파이더스핀 (advanced spider spin)
Knuckle spin Counterclockwise | Infrequent (4.4/10)

also known as Fist spin Rare (1.2/10)
While palm up, with all of the fingers bent, the pen spins on top of the
index and middle fingers. It’s frequently, but not always, done after a TA.
Notation We could break it down as (PU) spin 1y2y*.
Knuckle spin
ナックルスピン (knuckle spin)
Fist spin [Lindor132 , 2008]
Butterfly spin
스파이더스핀 (spider spin) [until 2007, now it only means spider spin]
Fl IA ~> SS Counterclockwise | Frequent (7.4/10)

also known as Spider pun new Mnly. Jp | Infrequent (4.4/10)
Like the cont (Fl TA ~> palmspin 0.5) but being pushed by a Fl IA
instead. It’s sometimes written as Fl IA - SS or Fl IA SS because YouTube
doesnt allow users to write the character “>”. Spider pun new is the direct
translation of the Japanese name.
Fl IA ~> SS [abbr.]; Spider pun new

蜘蛛プンニュー(spider pun new); スパイダープンニュー(spider pun new)
Scissor spin Counterclockwise | Frequent (8.9/10)
Scissor spin
A scissor spin is a spin on Tf. It is sometimes done after the push of a

(PD) charge 12. If pushed by a twisted sonic, then it’s called corkscrew
(see: Corkscrew).
scissor spin = spin Tf 0.5
Scissor spin [Weis39 , 2003]

シザースピン (scissor spin)
바운드 (bound)
넘기기 (pass over) [until 2005]
208 Spins
Corkscrew Counterclockwise | Common (6.2/10)
A corkscrew is a (PD) twisted sonic > scissor spin.

Etymology Conor Jacobs published this trick in his website, Larry’s
Pen Spinning Site, during the same year that David Weis published scissor
spin. It’s uncertain who was first, but what’s clear is that Conor’s original
intentions with the trick weren’t to link a tw sonic with a scissor spin:
“This is essentially a Twisted Sonic into a Half Tap with the push made
near the end of the Twisted Sonic. As the pen is rotating after one spin,
lightly tap the pen horizontally with the index finger. The motion is awkward,
but with enough accuracy, the pen will have enough momentum to do a half
spin horizontally.” (Larry53 , 2003)
Corkscrew [Larry53 , 2003]
コークスクリュー (corkscrew)
옆윈드밀 (side windmill)
Corkscrew wide [for a corkscrew done on the tip of the mod, Larry53 , 2003]
Scissor spin ~> Fl TA Counterclockwise | Common (6.9/10)

The trick scissor spin ~> Fl TA is a common finisher in combos from
all comunities. The reason it’s listed as a different trick is because in Korean
it has its own name, 레이스 (lace).
Scissor spin ~> Fl TA
레이스 (lace)
Basketball spin Clockwise | Common (5.7/10)

In a basketball spin, the mod spins clockwise on the tip of a finger. This
is opposite to all other spins, which are counterclockwise.
basketball spin = spin rev 12-2t*-23
The traditional basketball spin starts by holding the pen in 12, with the
pen parallel to the fingers, similar to a TA rev position. By quickly extending
the fingers, the pen starts spinning on top of the tip of the middle finger, after
which it’s caught in 23. Zombo also did other variations, like the basketball
spin double transfer, where it started spinning over the middle finger, to
then spin on top of the ring and finally be caught in 34 [191].
Etymology The trick was devised and popularized by Zombo. The

earliest record that we have of the trick is in 2004, when Zombo’s basketball
spin 2.0 with a green RSVP mx was uploaded to PenstudioZ
Controversy The trick was heavily criticised. For example:

“This trick is one of those totally useless tricks only known because it was
proposed by a famous person. This trick is not only very difficult and a result
of pure luck, but it is also very hard to fit in a combo. Its interest is limited,
so I never practiced it...” (Fratleym210 , 2006, translated)
Zombo made a short tutorial for the trick, but since he offered almost no
tips on how to do it and lasted only 19 seconds, it was massively downvoted. A
French spinner called aaa practiced it since his friend s777 was very bad at it.
He filmed the world record multiple times, up to a 5.0 in 2008, while spinning
a s777 mx [193]. Nowadays, the stigma against this trick has disappeared
and its inclusion within combos isn’t thought to be impossible. Spinners like
JNK have been exploring new variations [192].
Basketball spin [Zombo, 2004]; BBS [abbr.]
バスケットボールスピン (basketball spin)
베스킷볼스핀 (basketball spin) [until 2007]; 스크류백 (screwback) [for
basketball spin T1-1*-12, until 2007]
Copter spin Backhand counterclockwise | Rare (1.8/10)
In a copter spin/wrist spin, the pen spins over a bent wrist, palm
down. It’s usually pushed by the other hand.
copter spin = Wrist spin = (PD) spin W
Copter spin [≤2007]; Wrist spin
Dual pass(i) Backhand counterclockwise | Infrequent (3.5/10)
Dual pass 12
210 Spins
In this kind of dual pass, the pen spins over the backside of two fingers,
originally over 12. The pen is pushed by those fingers doing a scissoring
motion, by opening and closing.
Etymology The trick was invented and named by Le0n, from GPC,
together with a few more tricks in his video “New PenSpinning Trick-Concepts”
[129]. While this is the first instance of a dual pass, it has remained mostly
unused. Fel2fram called this kind of trick linear spin while the other kinds
of dual pass, he called linear spun pass.
Notation We can write it with push notation without going into the
details of how this push is really done.
dual pass = (PD) cont spin 1b2b [p 12]
There aren’t too many ways of pushing this kind of spin with 12, but if we
want to be even more precise, we could write:
dual pass = (PD) cont spin 1b2b [p 1→←2 0.5][p 1←→2 0.5]
Dual Pass [Le0n129 , 2008]; Linear spin [Fel2Fram, ≤2013]
Dual pass(ii) Counterclockwise | Common (5.6/10)

also known as Continuous powerpass Infrequent (4.4/10)
also known as Powerpass still Infrequent (3.2/10)
Dual pass 23
While palm side, the pen spins over the backside of one finger (e.g. 2)
while pushed by one of the fingers below it (e.g. 3).
continuous powerpass 23 = (PS) cont. spin 2b* [p 3]
Etymology This trick was first created and named by Fire@fox as cont.
powerpass, but for some time the trick remained unused. It was first used
within a combo by Van, three years later. He described it as 2 fingered
inverse T-pass 23 but, together with other UPSB shoutbox members, finally
named the trick dual pass. After being used by smile in 2012 and Sutomo
in WT13 the trick became way more popular, and received other names like
powerpass still and linear spun pass. [200]
コントパワーパス (continuous powerpass) [Fire@fox, 2009]; コンパワ

(conpawa) [abbr.]
Continuous powerpass [Fire@fox, 2009]; Dual Pass [Van, 2012]; Power-
pass still [Blue, ≤2013]; Linear spun pass [Fel2fram, ≤2013]
Dual pass(iii) Counterclockwise | Common (6/10)
Dual pass T2
It’s a trick similar to a triangle pass, but using only two fingers, one
of them usually being the thumb. There are only two points of contact, so
it is harder to balance the mod on the fingertips. The mod is pushed by a
pinching motion of the fingertips.
Etymology The trick was both conceived and named by the French
spinner A13x, who first used it in his WT13 R3 combo.
Notation Similar to a triangle pass, the trick could be further broken

down into either passes or fingerswitches.
dual pass T2 = cont pass rev 12*-12* 0.5

dual pass T2 = cont fingerswitch 12*-12* 0.5
However, this has an obvious problem: we need to write the same initial and
final slots for those! This awkwardness can be solved by writing it as a spin
over the tip of a finger:
dual pass T2 = (PU) cont spin 2t [p Tt]
Dual pass [A13X86 , 2013]; Linear spun pass [Fel2fram, ≤2013]

デュアルパス (dual pass)
212 Spins
Triangle pass Counterclockwise | Well-known (9.1/10)
Triangle pass T12
This trick consists of passing the pen between three fingertips. In a

correctly executed triangle pass, the mod rests on top of the fingertips and
it’s not held between them. Because of this reason, it could be considered
a spin instead of a pass, and early names reflect that. The simplest one is
considered to be the one over T12.
Etymology The first known appearance of this trick is in Szeto’s website,

where he actually had a variety of similar ones listed. He called them fingertip
spins, the easiest one being the six fingertip spin, which is a triangle
pass assisted by the corresponding three fingers of the nondominant hand.
After that, four fingertip spin, assisted just by the index finger and finally,
three fingertip spin. Later on, Kam called the trick triangle spin on
Pentix. Who originated the change from spin to pass is yet unknown.
Notation Each individual triangle pass has 0.5 revolutions, which

consist of three movements, each of ∼ 0.166 revolutions. Those movements
can either be notated as pass rev or fingerswitch. A pass is usually 0.5
revolutions and fingerswitch, 0.0, so no option is perfectly suited.
triangle pass T12 = cont pass rev 12*-T1*>T2*>12* 0.5

triangle pass T12 = cont fingerswitch 12*-T1*>T2*>12* 0.5
The 0.5 revolutions aren’t spread out evenly among the three movements for
all variations (e.g. triangle pass 123), but sometimes they are. If we want
to stress that fact, we could do it the following way:
triangle pass T12 = cont 0.166 pass rev 12*-T1*>T2*>12*

triangle pass T12 = cont 0.166 fingerswitch 12*-T1*>T2*>12*
Notice how in both cases, the number of revolutions has been written out of
the usual order for the sake of clarity, as explained in (Section 4.3.9).
Triangle pass [Kam42 , 2002]; T-pass [abbr.]; TP [abbr.]; Triangle spun

pass [Fel2fram, ≤2013]
トライアングルパス (triangle pass); トラパ (torapa) [abbr.]
삼각패스 (triangle pass) [FLow9 , 2021]
Three fingertip spin [Wrenn40 , 1999]; Triangle spin [Kam42 , 2000]
삼각돌리기 (triangle rotation) [until 2021]
Inverse triangle pass Counterclockwise | Infrequent (3.8/10)
Inverse triangle pass 123
Most commonly done with three of the non-thumb fingers, it consists of

a triangle pass done on their back side.
Notation Here, the use of inverse is quite different from its formal
meaning. In a regular triangle pass, the pen doesn’t really spin on the
palm side but rather on the tips of the fingers. In addition to that, in the
so called inverse triangle pass, the pen is sometimes pushed by the palm
side (and not the back side) of one of the fingers. We can just notate the slots
in a more detailed manner, which doesn’t require stretching the meaning of
inverse. Fel2fram also sometimes notated it like this:
inverse triangle pass 123 = triangle pass 12b3
Inverse triangle pass; Inverse triangle spun pass [Fel2fram, ≤2013]
Quadrangle pass Counterclockwise | Rare (2.3/10)

214 Spins
A quadrangle pass is done when we extend the same idea of a triangle

pass to four fingers. Its basic variation is in T123.
Notation Following a discussion analogous to the one held with triangle

pass, it can be broken down into combinations of either fingerswitch or
pass rev.
quadrangle pass T123 = cont pass rev T2*-13*>T2* 0.5
quadrangle pass T123 = cont fingerswitch T2*-13*>T2* 0.5
Quadrangle pass [NooBenjy139 , 2008]
Square pass Counterclockwise | Common (6.6/10)
Three similar tricks exist: the original by Fire@Fox (i), a similar one
done by 3ternity and Enzo (ii) and the most common today, done by i.suk
and PPM (iii). In (i) and (ii) the middle finger is always bent while in (iii)
it’s not. All are 1.0 revolutions for each repetition. i.suk also popularized
the fingercrossed version, originally made by Zarne (JEB). [202] The (iii)
variation is considered oversimplified, since it’s just a flush pass rev.
Notation The breakdowns for each of the versions have been made so
that the differences between each can be seen more easily.
square pass (i) = cont pass rev 23-23*-14>23*-23
square pass (ii) = cont pass rev 23-23*-14>23
square pass (iii) = cont pass rev 23-14>23
fc square pass = cont pass rev 23-14[fc 32]>23
Square pass [Fire@Fox202 , 2010]

スクエアパス (square pass)
스퀘어패스 (square pass)
Tap Counterclockwise | Frequent (8.3/10)

A tap as a term used to describe several, similar tricks. It could be
fingerless, pushed by a wrist rotation (e.g. backtap); or finger-pushed, moving
just one finger (e.g. halftap/palmtap). A pen usually doesn’t change slots
during its spin and is usually 0.5 revolutions, but could be more. When using
this term, the emphasis is on how the push is done.
Korean FLow has divided 탭 (tap) as a concept into three different
categories: 백탭 (backtap), 사이드탭 (sidetap) and 팜탭 (palmtap).
Tap
탭 (tap) [FLow9 ]
Halftap Counterclockwise | Frequent (8.1/10)
Halftap is a tap 0.5 which is pushed by the index finger.

Etymology The original name is continues half-taps, by David Weis
in 1998. Kam listed the trick in Pentrix as half taps and for some years,
taps was the preferred term over tap.
Korean The difference between 수평 and 옆수평 is which finger is used.
In 수평, the middle finger is used to push the pen, while in 옆수평 it’s pushed
by the index finger.
Half-tap [Weis39 , 1998]; Halftap
ハーフフェイクトノーマル (half faked normal)
사이드탭 (sidetap)
Half spin [Szeto44 , 2000]; Faked 180 [Larry53 , ≤2003]
수평 돌리기 (horizontality rotation) [until 2021]; 수평 (horizontal-
ity) [abbr., until 2021]; 옆수평 돌리기 (side horizontality rotation) [until
2005]; 옆수평 (side horizontality) [abbr., until 2005]; 옆검지 돌리기 (side
indexfinger rotation) [until 2005]
216 Spins
Fulltap Counterclockwise | Common (6.2/10)

also known as Faked normal Mainly Japanese | Rare (2.3/10)
It’s a tap 1.0 which is pushed by the index finger.
Etymology The original English name is full-tap and the Japanese

name, フェイクトノーマル (faked normal). However, the direct translation
faked normal can be seen in some English sources like the UPSB trick book
from 2007, and is more or less widely understood.
Full-tap [Weis39 , 2003]; Fulltap

フェイクトノーマル (faked normal) [Hideaki60 , 2001]
Faked 360 [Larry53 , ≤2003]
TA 0.5 Counterclockwise | Infrequent (3.5/10)
In a TA 0.5, the push is the same as in a TA but after 0.5 revolutions, the
pen falls back to the initial position, without completing the around.
Notation The official name for this trick is uncertain. TA 0.5 is the
simplest, but some could argue that TA 0.5 ~ fingerswitch, thumbsidespin
0.5 or even Neo TA (see: Neo around) are more accurate.
TA 0.5; ThumbSideSpin 0.5; Neo TA

옆엄지 돌리기 (side thumb rotation)
Flick Clockwise | Common (5.2/10)
The mod starts by being held in T2. By extending the middle finger, the
pen is pushed so that it then rotates 0.5 revolutions clockwise on top of Tf.
Etymology The trick had been done for some years, usually lumped
together with the slightly different semi reverse (see: Semi reverse). In 2007,
Eso made a tutorial and called it flick, which has then been used for tricks
with a similar push (see: Flick TA).
Flick [Eso100 , 2007]

딱밤 (finger snap) [FLow9 ]
역수평 (reverse horizontality)
Fl TA rev 0.5 CW | Rare (2.9/10)
Starting with the push of a fingerless thumbaround reverse, the pen

spins 0.5 revolutions clockwise on top of the thumb, after which it falls back
to the initial position without completing the around.
Fl TA rev 0.5
올려치기 (upperhit) [until 2005]
218 Spins
Semi reverse CW | Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.2/10)
With the same push as a TA rev (that is, pushed by the index finger),
the pen spins 0.5 revolutions clockwise on top of the thumb, after which it
falls back to the initial position.
Etymology The first name for this trick is semi reverse. Although
Hideaki changed it to half faked reverse in 2001, nowadays semi reverse is
still more common, even in English. The official English name would be TA
rev 0.5.
セミリバース (semi reverse) [Hideaki60 , 1997]; ハフフェイク
トリバース (half faked reverse) [Hideaki60 , 2001]
TA rev 0.5; Semi reverse
Fake reverse Clockwise | Mainly Japanese | Rare (2.7/10)
With the same push as a TA rev (that is, pushed by the index finger),
the pen spins 1.0 revolutions clockwise on top of the thumb, after which it
falls back to the initial position.
Etymology In 2001, Hideaki changed the name from double semi reverse
to fake reverse, which became the most used one. The name was also used
in English since at least 2006, as it appears in trick books from that year.
However, the official English name would be thumbspin rev 1.0.
フェイクトリバース (fake reverse) [Hideaki60 , 2001]

Thumbspin rev 1.0; Fake reverse [≤2003]; Flick 1.0
리버스 (reverse)
ダブルセミリバース (double semi reverse) [Hideaki60 , 1998]
Baktap Backhand counterclockwise | Common (5.9/10)
Baktap 12
A tap 0.5 done on the back of the fingers. For example, in a baktap 12,
the pen is parallel to the fingers, on top of 1 and 2, in palm down position.
With a sudden wrist movement, the pen starts spinning counterclockwise,
usually 0.5 revolutions.
baktap = (PD) tap 12*-12*
Baktap [Weis, 2003]
バックタップ (baktap)
백탭 (baktap)
Palmtap Clockwise | Infrequent (4.2/10)
In palm up position, the pen spins clockwise after being pushed by the
base of the index finger, which remains straight throughout the movement.
It’s sometimes said that a palmtap is an inverse baktap but this is incorrect,
as the pushes are different.
Etymology While the name palmtap comes from Le0n, the actual trick
was almost certainly already done before.
Palmtap [Le0n129 , 2008]

パームタップ (palmtap)
팜탭 (palmtap) [FLow9 ]
220 Spins
Darren tap CW-CCW | Rare (1.3/10)

Darren tap is an old name for bak ~> baktap.
Etymology It was named after Darren Chan (nhk_9).
Darren tap
ダーレンタップ (Darren tap)
DArKT trick CW-CCW | Rare (2.0/10)

This trick usually refers to the following:
DArKT trick = (PD) wiper 34 > baktap 34
with the wiper 34 done so that the pen moves vertically and upwards. However,
other sequences are also understood as DArKT trick.
DArKT trick
Hook CCW | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.7/10)
In a hook, the pen is just held by the index finger, which moves so that
the pen rotates 1.0 revolutions counterclockwise on top of the side of the
index finger. Although the normal version was found first by Kazuhi, who
sent the video to Hideaki in 2001, the hook rev is the easiest to implement
in a combo, and thus the most used one.
Notation It’s a spin mostly over 1 with a special finger position, so it

could be formally notated as follows:
hook = spin 1s* [1x=1z] [p 1s]
This indicates that the proximal and distal phalages of 1 are in contact during
the trick, and that it’s pushed by the side of the index finger.
フック (hook) [Kazuhi124 , 2001]

Hook
Bend tap CW-CCW | Very rare (0.7/10)
A bend tap consists of pass 23-12 ~> halftap.
Bend tap [Smile155 , 2008]
Soft tap Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.8/10)
Soft tap 12
To do a soft tap, start in palm side position, with the mod over the
lateral side of 2 and next to the back side of 1. The index finger is then bent
and moved backwards, so that the pen spins over 2. It is finally stopped by
the palm side of 1. The trick has 0.5 revolutions.
Notation We could break down the trick as:

soft tap 12 = (PS) tap 1b2s-1p2s 0.5 [p 1b]
We could also write it as
soft tap 12 = (PS) tap 1b2s-1p2s
By omitting 0.5 [p 1b], as there aren’t that many other options available
for a tap in those slots, but it may be better to write them down for clarity.
Soft tap [Lindor134 , 2008]

222 Spins
Fist tap Clockwise | Very rare (0.7/10)
The pen starts in fist stall position. From there, 4 is slightly straight-
ened and the pen starts spinning clockwise over the fingers, after which it’s
caught by 4.
Fist tap [Lindor132 , 2008]
Spider tap Clockwise | Very rare (0.8/10)
The pen starts in spider stall position. From there, 1 is bent and
the pen starts spinning clockwise over 23, after which it’s caught by 4. In
the original video, in spider tap reverse, the pen is pushed by 4, spins
counterclockwise and is then caught by 1.
Spider tap [for 0.5 revolutions, Lindor131 , 2008]; Spider fulltap [for 1.0
revolutions, Lindor131 , 2008]
8.6 Wipers
Wiper Clockwise | Well-known (10/10)
Wiper T1
In a wiper, the mod follows a sweeping motion while held by its tip, which
is pushed by either the fingers, the hand, or helped by gravity.
Etymology Although tricks from the wiper family like the infinity
had been known since the year 2000, it was in November of 2002 when Tohlz
from PenstudioZ named wiper and its reverse:
“Wiper got its name from the idea of the car screen wiper (the thing
which wipe the car screen when raining). The trick looks similar to a car
screen wiper and can be link to other tricks. A very nice and simple trick for
beginners to learn.” (Tohlz46 , 2002)
Japanese The name ハーフウィンドミル (half windmill) originated some-

time around 2002-2003, although its exact origin isn’t known. The direction
of rotation of the Japanese half windmill is opposite that of a wiper. It was
in none of the early web pages; its origin is in the bulletin boards. One of
the earliest instances of the trick is from 2003, in a Shitaraba thread [195].
One theory is that someone gave the name “windmill” to figure 8 so

a single wiper became “half windmill”. Some spinners remember that use,
and it’s also written down in Aysh’s wiki [197]. Another theory is that the
trick “windmill” was listed at some point in Hideaki’s website, so people
speculated what half a windmill would be. However, there’s no trace on the
archived version of the website of that ever happening. Another theory is
that the mysterious “windmill” trick was a direct translation of the Korean
윈드밀 (windmill), which is a twisted sonic. This is unlikely since there are
no other pen spinning loanwords from Korean in Japanese.
224 Wipers
Korean Originally there were two tricks for wiper, done with the thumb
and index fingers: 엄지 올리기 (thumb raise) and 엄지 내리기 (thumb fall).
After the 2005 NX lecture, 올리기 (raise) and 내리기 (fall) began to be used
with other slots as well. Nowadays, FLow always specifies the hand position
in which they’re done:
Palm down Palm side Palm up
Wiper normal 백올리기 사이드올리기 팜올리기
Wiper reverse 백내리기 사이드내리기 팜내리기
Wiper [Tohlz46 , 2002]

ハーフウィンドミル (half windmill) [for wiper reverse]
올리기 (raise), 내리기 (fall) [for wiper and wiper rev respectively, 2005]
엄지 올리기 (thumb raise), 엄지 내리기 (thumb fall) [for wiper T1 and
wiper rev T1 respectively, until 2005]; 와이퍼 (wiper) [for cont (wiper
> wiper rev) while changing direction quicky]
Figure 8 Clockwise | Well-known (9.3/10)
Figure 8 T1
Figure 8 consists on cont (PD wiper T1 > PS wiper rev T1).

Etymology The trick was created by Tohlz in 2003. In PenstudioZ, he
explains how he found it while doing wiper harmonic. He gave it that name
since it looked like a horizontal 8 when done correctly, and infinity was
already taken.
Korean Wiper tricks aren’t very popular, so this trick doesn’t have its
own name. In Korea, it’s often said that figure 8 is just a badly done
인피니티 (infinity).
Figure 8 [Tohlz46 , 2003]

フェイクトインフィニティ (faked infinity)
Infinity Counterclockwise | Well-known (9.8/10)
Infinity T1-12-T1
An infinity is the following minicombo:

infinity = wiper rev T1 + pass T1-12 > wiper rev 12 + pass rev 12-T1
Etymology It’s the first wiper minicombo to ever be found. The first
person to record the trick was Szeto, who called it infinity loop. Kam then
listed the trick on Pentix as infinity, which is the name that has stuck.
Kam considered including it among the fundamentals, but didn’t do so in
the end. However, modern trick guides like Megas’ trick learning order do
include it as a fundamental.
In Japan and Korea, infinity style is used to refer to the spinning style
that consists mainly of wipers (what in English would be called wipers).
Infinity [Kam42 , 2002]

インフィニティ (infinity)
인피니티 (infinity)
Infinity loop [Szeto44 , 2000]; Single infinity
휘젓기 (stir) [until 2005]
Double infinity Counterclockwise | Well-known (9/10)
The double infinity is a wiper minicombo created by Kam:

double infinity = wiper rev T1 + pass T1-12 > wiper rev 12 + pass 12-23
> wiper rev 23 + pass rev 23-12 > wiper rev 12 + pass rev 12-T1
Double infinity [Kam42 , 2002]

ダブルインフィニティ (double infinity)
226 Wipers
Triple infinity Counterclockwise | Frequent (8.2/10)
The triple infinity is a wiper minicombo created by Kam:

triple infinity = wiper rev T1 + pass T1-12 > wiper rev 12 + pass 12-23
> wiper rev 23 + pass 23-34 > wiper rev 34 + pass rev 34-23
Triple infinity [Kam42 , 2002]

トリプルインフィニティ (triple infinity)
Quadruple infinity Counterclockwise | Frequent (7.4/10)
The quadruple infinity is a wiper minicombo created by nhk_9, unlike

the previous three, which were made by Kam.
quad. infinity = wiper rev T1 + pass T1-12 > wiper rev 12 + pass 12-23
> wiper rev 23 + pass 23-34 > wiper rev 34 + pass 34-T4
> wiper T4 + pass rev T4-34 > wiper rev 34 + pass rev 34-23
Quadruple infinity [nhk_954 , 2005]

クアドラプルインフィニティ (quadruple infinity)
Extended infinity Counterclockwise | Common (6.8/10)
An extended infinity is an infinity with extra charges in between:

extended infinity = wiper rev T1 + pass T1-12 > charge 12
> wiper rev 12 + pass rev 12-T1
The same logic has been applied to the other minicombos, e.g.:
extended double infinity = wiper rev T1 + pass T1-12 > charge 12 >
wiper rev 12 + pass 12-23 > charge 23 > wiper rev 23 +
pass rev 23-12 > charge 12 > wiper rev 12 + pass rev 12-T1
Etymology The trick was created by sula_la in 2003 under the name
神龍擺尾 (The Divine Dragon Swishes its Tail), which was translated to
English as extended infinity by nhk_9 the same year.
Extended infinity [nhk_9143 , 2003]

神龍擺尾 [sula_la78 , 2003]
Triangle wiper Counterclockwise | Rare (2.5/10)
Triangle wiper T12
Triangle wiper is a wiper minicombo:

triangle wiper = wiper rev 12>T1>T2
Etymology The trick was made by Tchus but named by Blue, originally
triangle pass en wiper and shortened as TPW. Shortly after, they changed
its name to the nowadays more commonly known triangle wiper.
Notation Although wiper rev 12>T1>T2 is correct, the fingerswitches

could be specified if someone wanted to be very precise:
triangle wiper = wiper rev 12 > switch 12-T1 > wiper rev T1
> switch T1-T2 > wiper rev T2
Triangle pass en wiper [Tchus & Blue162 , 2014]; Triangle wiper [Tchus,
2014]; TPW [abbr., Tchus, 2014]
Triangle infinity Backhand counterclockwise | Rare (2.9/10)
Triangle infinity T12
Triangle infinity is a wiper minicombo:

triangle infinity = wiper rev 12 > wiper T2 > switch T2-T1-12
Triangle infinity [LMnet136 , 2007]

228 Wipers
Palmwiper Clockwise | Infrequent (3.3/10)
Palmwiper P.23
Palmwiper is a wiper done while holding the pen between some fingers
and the palm. In the example image above, we show a palmwiper P.23 but
it could be done in other slots with P as well. For example, wiper P.1.
Palmwiper; Palm wiper
Cardioid Counterclockwise | Frequent (8.7/10)
Cardioid T1
Cardioid is the following around and wiper sequence:

cardioid = (PS) cont (TA > wiper rev T1)
Etymology The name カージオイド (cardioid) was given by Hideaki
in 1997, as it was one of the initial tricks in his website. It was named
that way since the trajectory of the pen tip resembles the cardioid shape (a
heart). Although we can suppose that Kam knew about it, the trick doesn’t
appear in Pentix nor Pentrix, nor on Phya’s 2004 trick list [172]. The earliest
appearance of the name is in PenstudioZ, as a part of the breakdown of “1st
Year Anniversary Celebration Final Strike” combo (2003).
カージオイド (cardioid) [Hideaki60 , 1997]

Cardioid
와이퍼휘감기 (wiper winding) [FLow9 ]
Pinkybak cardioid Backhand CCW | Common (5.0/10)

also known as Kanonier trick Rare (2.1/10)
Cardioid is nowadays used as a modifier to indicate doing a wiper or a

wiper rev after an around or around rev respectively:
pinkybak cardioid = (PD) pinkybak > wiper rev 34 = Kanonier trick
pinkybust cardioid = (PD) pinkybust > wiper 34
Etymology The abstraction that a cardioid (see: Cardioid) could also
be done with other arounds other than TA most probably comes from the
Polish spinner Kanonier, in 2010 [118]. He did a pinkybak cardioid for the
tournament MP ’10 and Smile, who was a judge, was impressed by it and
named it Kanonier trick. Smile popularized it in French meetings: his friend
Kinger used it in FPSB 5th and aaytowi2 was the first to do it twice. They
tried to do its reverse, but Menowa* was able to pull it out first, during his
WT15 run. The reverse Kanonier trick was presented to neir’da and i.suk
as one of the hardest tricks. i.suk managed to master it and popularised it.
Similar cardioid baks were discovered, most probably independently, by
other JEB spinners: Beige, ctionist, Menowa*, and Yuera, among others.
Kanonier trick [done by Kanonier118 , named by Smile, 2010]; (Fin-

ger)bak cardioid; (Finger)bust cardioid
Key3 trick Clockwise | Infrequent (3.5/10)

also known as Helix1 Very rare (0.4/10)
The mod is held between the tips of both index fingers, and it then spins
by moving the arms. It’s a two handed cont wiper.
Key3 trick = helix1 11’ = cont wiper 11’
Key3 trick
Key3トリック (key3 trick)
Helix
230 Rolls
8.7 Rolls
Roll Infrequent (4/10)

Roll is a general term for any trick in which the mod rolls over a part of
the hand or any other surface.
Roll
Blaze ring Rare (1.9/10)
Blaze ring (just a roll)
The blaze ring is a trick in which, with the thumb and index making
an O shape, the pen rolls on its inside, pushed by the movement of the
hand. There are various versions. In the first version, which comes from
neoknux_009, the pen rolls perpendicular to the ring made by T1.
Blaze ring (roll + charge)
In the second version, which was first done by Lindor, the pen rotates
oblique to the O-ring, thus being a combination of roll + charge. Ponkotu
also discovered the trick independently and almost at the same time. This
version with charge was done by Menowa* with both hands, making an O
shape both thumbs and index fingers, in a video called “kaleidoscope”, thus
the 2-hands version is often called like that. [199]
Blaze ring [neoknux_009, Lindor, Ponkotu, 2011]; Kaleidoscope [for
the 1p2h version, Menowa*, 2016]; Fukrou’s trick
Backhand tracer Rare (1.3/10)
Backhand tracer
Backhand tracer is a palm down roll over the back of the hand, pushed
by the movement of the fingers and not by tilting the hand.
backhand tracer = (PD) roll 12-23>34
Etymology Although it’s sometimes attributed to Kam, Kam mentions
in Pentix how the trick was discovered by a spinner called Alexander Koo. It
was first posted to Pentix in April 2002.
Backhand tracer [Alexander Koo, 2002]

バックハンドトラッカー (backhand tracker)
Drill Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.7/10)
With the mod perpendicular to the table, put the tip of your index finger
on the upper tip of the pen. Then, assisted by the other fingers, make it roll
in place.
ドリル (drill)
Drill
Freedom drill Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.3/10)
A drill that continues spinning when you take your hand out (like a
spinning top) is called a freedom drill.
フリーダムドリル (freedom drill)

Freedom drill
232 Slides
8.8 Slides
Seasick Common (6.9/10)

also known as Slide Rare (1.5/10)
Seasick T1
To do a seasick, you let the mod slide between your fingers, pushed
either by gravity, a hand movement, finger movement or the pen inertia.
Seasick; Slide
アップ (up); ダウン (down)
슬라이드 (slide) [FLow9 ]
Sliding pass Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.2/10)
A sliding pass is a pass either done simultaneously or hybridized with

a slide, changing the grip from one side of the mod to its opposite.
sliding pass = pass + slide or pass ~ slide
滑らしパス (sliding pass)
Sliding pass; Seasick pass [OhYeah!144 , 2017]
Arc Very rare (0.4/10)

also known as Twisted lever Very rare (0.6/10)
The arc is a swing that, instead of being caught as the pen falls, it’s
interrupted by a slide, thus having no change of direction.
arc = swing ~> slide
Etymology The trick was found and named by Lindor. Just like lever
was renamed to swing, twisted lever was renamed to arc, but this name is
even less known (see: Swing).
Arc [Lindor135 , 2009]; Twisted lever [Lindor135 , 2009]

8.9 Rotationless stable
Fingerswitch × Spinless | Common (6.1/10)

also known as Switch Infrequent (4.4/10)
A fingerswitch, also called switch, is a trick in which the pen just

changes slots without any revolutions. However, sometimes the name is used
in a looser way to refer to the trick in which the pen changes slots with a
small amount of revolutions (see: Triangle pass).
Etymology The exact origin of the name is uncertain, although what

popularized both fingerswitch and switch was Hexbinmos’ and Fel2Fram’s
elementary notation, as well as its usage in Fel2Fram’s videos. There have
been other names for these movements: InvisiblePass is used in [173] when
notating a bakfall. One type of fingerswitch is Lindor’s go round tricks
or Eso’s magical reset.
Fingerswitch [≤2010]; Switch [≤2010]

InvisiblePass [≤2006]
Magical reset × Spinless | Rare (1.7/10)
Magical reset 34-23
Magical reset is a fingerswitch between some pair of fingers, Tf and

finally another pair of fingers, without doing any revolutions. While the pen
is held in Tf, the fingers are moved somewhat like a wave.
magical reset = fingerswitch 34-Tf-23
Magical reset [Eso, ≤2008]

234 Rotationless stable
(Finger)hold × Spinless | Very rare (0.8/10)
During a (finger)hold, the pen is hold steady

just by one finger, in a position that usually requires
unusual flexibility. For example, in a middlehold (the
trick shown in the figure) the pen is held between 2z
and 2y, while locking the 1st interphalangeal joint (2xy). This is usually done
in palm side or palm down to emphasize the fact that the pen is actually
held by the finger and it’s not just balanced over it.
middlehold = (PS) hold 2y2z
Although it’s not its original meaning, hold is also used to denote tricks
in which the pen is held still in a certain, non-unstable slot. For example, if
the pen is in 12, we could call that hold 12 (see: Stall).
Etymology It’s probable that other double-jointed spinners did the

trick before, but Challenges (SPSC) recorded himself doing a middlehold
in 2008, which led Freeman to make a video. Shortly after, the middlehold
name was given by Shadowserpant in the UPSB NC.
Middlehold [Challenges, Freeman, Shadowserpant111 , 2008]
Palmhold × Spinless | Very rare (0.8/10)
The trick was first done by Freeman and shortly

after named by Shadowserpant (see: (Finger)hold).
palmhold = (PS) hold P.P
Palmhold [Freeman, Shadowserpant111 , 2008]
8.10 Equilibrium
(Finger)stall × Spinless | Frequent (7.8/10)

A stall is done by keeping the mod still, in a certain slot, without
movement. The vast majority of the times, that slot is an unstable slot (i.e.
the pen is over some fingers rather than between them), while hold is used
otherwise (see: (Finger)hold).
The notation (finger)stall is used to indicate where it sits still, for

example: index stall. The pen can be placed either horizontally or vertically
on the fingers, the latter requiring more skill and effort to maintain the pen
balanced. Thus, the name horizontal stall and vertical stall have been
used lately to distinguish them.
Etymology Chris was the first to name these kinds of tricks, in 1999,
which were caled balancing. Tohlz created the term stall in 2003 in contrast
to that.
“Stall means to stop or to delay something and Balance means to get into
a steady position, without falling to one side or the other.” (Tohlz46 , 2003)
However, as I have explained before, the meaning has shifted and stall
is nowadays used mostly for the unsteady ones while hold is used for the
steady ones.
Stall [Tohlz46 , 2003]; Horizontal stall

Balancing [Wrenn40 , 1999]
Cobra × Spinless | Infrequent (3.8/10)

A cobra is a stall over the middle finger:
cobra = (PD) middle stall
Etymology The name was used since around
2003. It’s said to have originated from De’vo cobra
cut, an XCM move. Although in English it’s only used for this particular
trick, in Japanese it’s used for any horizontal stall over one finger.
Cobra stall, cobra [De’vo179 , ≤2003]
コブラ (cobra)
236 Equilibrium
Cobra bite × Spinless | Infrequent (4.3/10)
The cobra bite consists of, while palm down with the pen over your
fingers, moving back your hand very fast so the pen falls, then moving the
hand forward so that the pen is caught with your full hand.
Cobra bite [Skatox154 , 2007]
Fuck you × Spinless | Infrequent (3/10)
The Fuck you was invented by Kam to laugh at

whoever ridiculed XCM, pen spinning etc.
fuck you = (PU) stall 13.2*
Fuck you [Kam42 , ≤2008]
Offering × Spinless | Very rare (0.2/10)
An offering consists of holding the pen steady

over the palm of the hand. Since in the original
video and in Freeman’s tutorial, inverse shadow ~>
offering was shown was an example, some people
misunderstood the trick as being a palmspin rev.
offering = (PU) stall P*
Offering [Phya, ≤2006]; Hand stall [Tohlz46 , 2003]
Devil’s stall × Spinless | Rare (1.5/10)
The pen sits on the tip of an extended index finger.

devil's stall = (PU) stall 1t*
Devil’s stall [≤2008]

Devil’s horns × Spinless | Rare (1.4/10)
While palm down, with 2 and 3 bent, the pen sits

on top of the back of 1 and 4.
devil's horns = (PD) stall 1b4b*
Devil’s horns [≤2008]; Horns stall [≤2005]
Fist stall × Spinless | Rare (2.2/10)
With all fingers bent, palm up, the pen sits over
1234, perpendicular to the fingers.
fist stall = (PU) stall 1234*
Fist stall [Lindor132 , 2008]
Spider stall × Spinless | Rare (1.7/10)
With 2 and 3 bent, 1 and 4 straight, in PU, the

pen sits still over 23, perpendicular to the fingers.
spider stall = (PU) stall 23*
Spider stall [Lindor131 , 2008]
Noel stall × Spinless | Rare (1.7/10)
Noel was the first to do the trick in 2019. In 2020,

Menowa* popularized it with his submission for the
collab Styl.
Noel stall = stall Tb4b.1xb
Noel stall [2019]; Menowa stall [2020]
Copper stall × Spinless | Very rare (0.4/10)
It’s the following stall:

copper stall = (PD) stall B1k2k*
Copper stall [Pierre147 , 2007]
238 Equilibrium
Vertical stall × Spinless | Frequent (7.4/10)

The pen is in equilibrium on one of its tips.
Notation The trick is usually done on
the palm side of the hand. If it’s done in
its back side, in Japanese notation it’s called
シメトリカルペン立て (symmetrical pen stand).
Vertical stall
ペン立て (pen stand)
Metronome Rare (2.1/10)
In a metronome, the pen keeps changing direction due to the push of the
thumb. Between pushes, it’s suspended on one of its tips on the palm.
Metronome
Pesp ladder Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.8/10)
Pesp ladder 12-23

To do a Pesp ladder, do a palm side IA rev with the center of gravity of
the pen offset in the opposite way from a regular IA rev. Because of this,
while the mod is over 1, it changes direction and ends up in 23. Both of the
following ways could be considered for breaking down this trick:
Pesp ladder = (PS) IA rev 12-1* ~ Fl IMA 1*-23
Pesp ladder = (PS) tipped sonic 12-1*-23
Pespラダー (Pesp ladder)
Windshield wiper × Spinless | Rare (1.2/10)
Unrelated to wipers, the pen goes from the back to the front of the hand
by changing the hand position from palm down to palm up.
Windshield wiper = cont (PU-PD-PU) fingerswitch P*-B*-P*
Windshield wiper [≤2006]
Swing Rare (1.5/10)

also known as Lever Rare (2.7/10)
To do a swing/lever, while palm down, hold the pen between two fingers.
Now, either extend your fingers or do a sudden wrist movement so that the
upper tip of the pen touches the back of your hand, and the rest of the pen
becomes suspended. Due to gravity the pen falls back to your fingers, where
it’s caught. Not to be confused with the lever trick.
Etymology The initial name was Lever and even though it was quickly
changed to Swing by Lindor, Lever still stuck because of its usage on Lindor’s
video title, related UPSB threads, and the first tutorial made by Freeman.
In 2010, Freeman did a new tutorial with the name “Swing” in the title and
explained the confusion in the description.
Swing [Lindor135 , 2009]; Lever [Lindor135 , 2009]

스윙 (swing)
240 Throws and catches
8.11 Throws and catches
Starburst stream Infrequent (4/10)
With the hand in palm side and a finger extended, the pen is hit alternately
by its palm and back sides. In the original version, the push was done with 3,
but it can be any finger.
Starbust stream = cont (RA release 0.5 1b* > RA release rev 0.5 1b*)
Etymology The trick was named by the Japanese spinner Ctionist in
2014. Starburst stream is the name of one of the techniques used by Kirito in
the manga, anime, and games franchise “Sword Art Online”. A very similar
trick was already done by Ponkotu in 2009, in his 3 year solo video. [181]
スターバーストストリーム (starburst stream) [Ctionist93 , 2014]

Starburst stream
스타버스트 스트림 (starburst stream)
Izumi reflect Mainly Japanese | Rare (2.4/10)
While palm down, the pen is thrown to the air via a pinkybak release.
After hitting the middle finger, the direction of rotation changes and it goes
around the middle finger, after which the pen is caught. It was first used by
Sutomo in his WT13 R4 combo.
Izumi reflect = (PD) pinkybak release ~ Fl MA release 2*-13.2
和泉リフレクト (Izumi reflect) [Sutomo159 , 2013]
Stop and go Backhand clockwise | Rare (2.5/10)
The trick starts by the pen being thrown into the air, for example with
an IA release. It then hits a finger (in our example, the index), the pen
stops mid-air and the hand is moved to the other side of the pen, hitting it
again and continuing the around.
Etymology “Stop and go” is both a trick and a trick name from devil
sticks. The first spinner to do it was Menowa*, in his JC18 Semifinals combo.
Kay first used the name Stop&go in the context of pen spinning in 2019, and
further popularized it in 2020 with a tutorial.
ストップ&ゴー (Stop&go) [Kay123 , 2019]
Stop and go
Bounce Infrequent (4.3/10)

A general term for all tricks in which the pen bounces somewhere.
Bounce
Backhand bounce Rare (2.7/10)

The backhand bounce consists of the pen bouncing on the back of the
hand. It’s the first bounce to have received a name.
Backhand bounce [≤2007]
Mafibo Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.8/10)

After a trick, originally a twisted sonic, the mod is thrown to the air
and then caught between the hand and the table, wall or other part of the
spinning environment, perpendicular to it.
Etymology Short for マミフィニッシュコンボ (mami’s finish combo).
マフィーボ (mafibo)
Mafibo
Stall flip Infrequent (4.3/10)
Forward stall flip

While doing a vertical stall, throw the pen into the air so it does at
least 0.5 revolutions, after which the vertical stall continues. The prefixes
frontwards, backwards or sideways are used occassionally.
Stall flip; Pen stand flip

ペン立てフリップ (pen stand flip); バランスフリップ (balance flip)
Stable jump × Spinless | Rare (2.8/10)
It consists of throwing the pen into the air while in a vertical stall. It
has no revolutions.
Stable jump [DArKT95 , ≤2020]
無回転ペン立てフリップ (no rotation stall flip)
Upside down flip Rare (2.8/10)
An upside down flip is a sideways stall flip that goes under the
hand. The trick has 1.5 revolutions.
Upside down flip [Taber161 , 2020]

Airspin Clockwise | Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.8/10)
The pen (which, for this trick, is usually an unmodded or a short mod) is
held in T12. The index and middle fingers push the pen so that it rotates in
place (thus the length of the pen, otherwise it can’t pass comfortably next to
Tf, which is the problem in the picture above), after which it’s caught.
Etymology The trick was first named air spinning by Hideaki in 2001.
The abbreviated form airspin ended up being more well known and more
widely used. However, both air spinning and airspin also became widely
used for describing a general aerial throw and catch of the pen, so in tutorials
like the one made by the JPSF, the longer but more precise half faked
gunman has been used.
エアースピニング (air spinning) [Hideaki60 , 2001]; エアスピ (air-

spin) [abbr.]; ハーフフェイクトガンマン (half faked gunman)
Airspin
덤블링 (tumbling)
Helicopter Rare (1.3/10)
While palm down, the pen is held with T1 and with a quick upwards
movement of the hand, the pen does 0.5 revolutions after which it’s caught
again in T1. It is usually done continuously.
Helicopter [Lunatik137 , 2008]

Snap flip Rare (1/10)
A snap flip starts with the pen over T and touching the side of 1. With
a fast upwards motion of the thumb, the pen is thrown to the air, where it
does 1.0 revolutions and is caught.
Snap flip [Weis39 , 1998]

スナップフリップ (snapflip)
스냅플립 (snapflip)
BakFlip Very rare (0.8/10)
While beginning a neobak, just as the pen lands between 12, flick 1 so
that it’s thrown into the air, where it does 0.5 revolutions.
Etymology The trick is mostly known because of David Weis, who used
to do it in his combos and also showed it when filming for the “Book of Cool”.
However, around the same time that David Weis discovered it (2003), nhk
also did so independently, naming the trick Air baktap.
BakFlip [Weis39 , 2003]; Backflip; Neo-bak flip [2004]

バックフリップ (backflip)
백플립 (backflip)
Air baktap [nhk_9141 , 2003]
Thumb snap Rare (1.6/10)
The pen is held in T2, with its tip resting on Tf. By applying pressure
downwards with the thumb and upwards with 2 the pen goes flying, after
which it’s caught.
Etymology The trick was made and named thumb snap by Patrick Szeto
in 2000. The trick was listed in Pentix in 2002, which greatly popularized it.
David Weis did a snap flip for the “Book of Cool” and mistakingly called
it thumb snap.
Thumb snap [Szeto44 , 2000]

サムスナップ (thumb snap)
Mid-air flip Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.0/10)
With the hand palm up and the mod perpendicular to the fingers, the
mod is thrown to the air, without rotating. During its fall, the middle, ring
and pinky fingers are flexed and the pen bounces on the index finger, doing
0.5 rotations and then being caught with the whole hand.
ミッドエアーフリップ (mid-air flip)

Mid-air flip
Levitator Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.6/10)

also known as Horizontal thumb snap Very rare (0.2/10)
In a levitator, the pen is held with the thumb below it and the index
above it. Pressure is applied with T so that when the index finger is removed,
the pen rotates over the hand, after which it’s caught.
Etymology First done by Brandon Pannabecker, who sent the trick
to Kam in 2001. He said that “It’s a combination of the Thumb Snap from
Patrick Szeto and the Single Reverse. The pen is snapped into the air while
making a counterclockwise spin.” Later, David Weis created and named the
levitator. Although the execution of both tricks is slightly different, in 2004,
the NC member Phya considered them the same trick [172].
Horizontal thumb snap [Brandon Pannabecker, 2001]; Levitator [Weis39 ,
2003]; Forward levitator [Weis39 , 2003]
Letterman toss Very rare (0.2/10)
Like a thumb snap, but while the pen isn’t resting on Tf.
Etymology The trick was done by Dave Letterman on “The Letterman

Show” fairly regularly. It was then named by Chris from Microjuggling.
Letterman toss [Wrenn40 , 1999]

P-rial Very rare (0.1/10)
P-rial 23-23
While the pen is held by 23, fingers are bent and then quickly straightened,
letting the pen rotate in the air, after which it’s caught.
P-rial [Picool146 , 2006]
Kamehameha Rare (2.4/10)
The pen is held in 13.2 in our dominant hand, with our nondominant
hand positioned next to it. The fingers of both hands are bent, then suddenly
straightened, throwing the pen forward, after which it’s not caught.
Etymology It was done in 2005 by Kelvinchan, for the 7th battle “Aerial
tricks”. Both the name and movement are inspired by the anime “Dragon
Ball”. In the original combo, it was preceded by a double charge, which is
how it’s shown in many tutorials.
Kamehameha [Kelvinchan125 , 2005]
Elbow catch/elbow pop × Spinless | Infrequent (3.8/10)

The elbow catch consists of catching the pen with the elbow after an
aerial trick. The elbow pop consists of throwing the pen from the elbow to
the air by quickly extending the arm.
Elbow catch [≤2005]; Elbow pop [≤2005]
Leigun Counterclockwise | Rare (2.4/10)

Start from the same position as in a half tap, holding the pen with the
thumb and middle finger, lightly resting over the index finger. The pen is
locked between the middle finger and the thumb’s distal phalanx, and by
applying pressure, the pen is thrown to the air.
Etymology The trick was created and named by Kam in 2004. He was
inspired by a move called レイガン (ray gun), showed in an Japanese anime
called YuYu Hakusho. In Kam’s original concept, the trick didn’t necessarily
have to be caught by the other hand, but it was done that way in the video
for illustrative purposes. The trick became a very popular finisher back in
the day and it was almost always caught with the other hand.
“A deadly weapon. Used in an open field, this trick can shoot the pen over
the a room’s length with minimal hand movement. The video only shows the
pen traveling a short distance, but you can see the basic technique in action
(note: in real life, the pen does not need to be caught). There are actually
three variations of this trick: shooting forward, shooting backward, and in
place. Never use this trick against a living target.” (Kam, 2004)
Leigun [Kam121 , 2003]

レイガン (leigun)
레이건 (leigun)
Air clap Very rare (0.8/10)

In an air clap, the pen is held between the palms of both hands. With
a wrist motion, it’s thrown into the air where it does 0.5 revolutions to then
be caught again with both hands. It can be done continuously.
Air clap [Freeman112 , 2010]
Fist snap × Spinless | Very rare (0.0/10)

In palm up position, with all fingers bent, the pen sits over the fingernails
and the palm (P1234*). With a sudden movement, all fingers are straightened
and the pen flies away, and it’s caught with the other hand.
Fist snap [Lindor132 , 2008]

Spider snap × Spinless | Very rare (0.3/10)
The trick is similar to fist snap, but instead of all fingers being bent,
1 and 4 are straight. The pen sits over the fingernails and the palm (P23*).
With a sudden movement, 2 and 3 are straightened and the pen flies away,
where it’s caught with the other hand.
Spider snap [Lindor132 , 2008]
Spider gun Very rare (0.2/10)
The hand is in palm up position, 2 and 3 bent, 1 and 4 straight, the pen
sits between and over 23 (note that this is different from spider stall!). 23 are
quickly straightened, so the pen flies to the other hand.
Spider gun [Lindor131 , 2008]

250 Historical
8.12 Historical
Drummer Clockwise | Infrequent (4.2/10)
Drummer is a pass minicombo. It starts with the second half of a fingerpass,

and then finishes with a neosonic.
drummer = (PS) pass 34-23>12 > neosonic
Etymology Hideaki had listed a trick as drummer back in 1998, but that
was just a fingerpass. For now unknown reasons, he decided to remove the
trick from his website and then list it again, now with a video representing
what we understand as drummer nowadays. The earliest appearance of drummer
in English that we know is in PenstudioZ, as it was listed there in January
2003.
ドラマー (drummer) [Hideaki60 , 2001]
Drummer [≤2003]
Reversible drummer Clockwise | Rare (1.0/10)
It’s a minicombo involving the following tricks:

reversible drummer = pass 12-23>34>23>12 > neosonic
リバーシブルドラマー (reversible drummer)
RevToBak Counterclockwise | Rare (2.1/10)
First done by David Weis, it used to be both a very popular trick and
name. There are three versions of the trick, as its meaning evolved over time.
The original trick by Weis is:
RevToBak (Weis) = fake reverse ~> backaround
that is, the pen does 1.0 revolutions on top of the thumb, after which a
backaround is done. The second version was the one uploaded by Kam, in
which he did only 0.5 revolutions on the thumb:
RevToBak (Kam) = semi reverse ~> backaround
The last one, which is the most widely known in both Korea and Japan, is:
RevToBak (KR/JP) = thumbaround reverse ~> backaround
This probably originated since, in Japanese, reverse means TA rev.
Speaking about a video by Weis (circa 2001) in which he did a fake

reverse followed by three backaround 1.5, Zombo said that:
“This combo superceded kam’s 4 loop-combo as the hardest combo of all
times back in the days.” (Zombo203 , 2007)
Reverse-to-BackAround [Weis39 , 1998]; RevToBak [abbr.]

リバーストゥバック (reverse to bak)
리버스백 (reverse bak)
Square Counterclockwise | Mainly Japanese | Rare (2.6/10)
square = (PS) TA > Fl TA

スクエア (square) [≤2004]
Cube Counterclockwise | Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.9/10)
cube = (PS) TA > Fl TA x2

キューブ (cube) [≤2004]
Fake triple Counterclockwise | Infrequent (3.7/10)
fake triple = fake double > TA

Fake triple [Kam42 , 2002]
페이크트리플 (fake triple)
Faked index spin Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.6/10)
In a faked index spin, the pen starts in T1, with the thumb slightly
252 Historical
bent. By pushing with both fingers, the pen goes around the index finger,
finally being caught in 12.
faked index spin = IA 0.5 T1-12
Etymology Although who made up this name is uncertain, it was widely
used in battles during the UPSB v2 era, when breakdowns for each video
were usually mandatory. Back in the day, an IA was called index spin, thus
this variation was called faked. However, when asked, Kam didn’t recognize
it as an official trick:
“Definitions like "Fake" for example, have not been determined, and even
the most knowledgeable pen spinners could have different answers depending
on where they got the meaning of Fake from. ” (Kam211 , 2005)
Korean Although the origins are completely different, there is an equiva-

lent Korean trick, thus both are shown together here. It was called 검지내리기
until the 2005 NX lecture, where it was renamed to 검지수평돌리기, some-
times shortened as 검수돌리기. Although understood by experienced spinners,
it isn’t used anymore.
검지수평돌리기 (indexfinger horizontality rotation); 검수돌리기 (in-

dexfinger horizontality rotation) [abbr.]
Faked index spin [≤2003]
검지내리기 (indexfinger fall) [until 2005]
Flick T12-12 Clockwise
The trick flick T2-12, although considered just a variation in English,

had its own name in Korean in the early days. To do it, first start by doing a
flick, and while the pen is spinning on the thumb, bend your index finger
slightly so that the pen rolls behind it, finally being caught in 12.
역검지수평돌리기 (indexfinger horizontality rotation reverse); 역검수

돌리기 (indexfinger horizontality rotation reverse) [abbr.]
Fake reverse T12-12 Clockwise
The trick fake reverse T12-12, although considered just a variation in

English, had its own name in Korean in the early days. To do it, first start
by doing a fake reverse, and while the pen is spinning on the thumb, bend
your index finger slightly so that the pen rolls behind it, finally being caught
in 12.
검버돌리기 (indexfinger reverse); 검지리버스 (indexfinger reverse)

리버스 내리기 (reverse fall) [until 2005]
Zombo trick Clockwise | Mainly Korean
An indexaround rev which starts in 12, and is then caught just by the
index finger.
좀보트릭 (Zombo trick) = IA rev 0.75 12-11
Etymology The earliest we can see Zombo talking about this trick, or
about its reverse, is in his interview with Aaron Robertson in PS3K:
“I tried to create some new tricks too, but it is very hard to create
something completely original. I only came up with a rather weak reverse
neo-sonic (laugh) and a basketball-inspired spin.” (Zombo21 , circa 2003)
Surprisingly, the trick became popular among Korean spinners, who called
it 좀보트릭 (Zombo trick). It may have gotten popular since then, or maybe
254 Historical
from his videos showing counter tricks, as this is just the first half of a
counter indexaround reverse.
좀보트릭 (Zombo trick); 좀보 (Zombo) [abbr.]
수직잡기 (Perpendicular holding) [until 2007]
Zombo continuous combo Clockwise | Rare (2.4/10)

ZCC = continuous extended thumbaround reverse
Zombo continuous combo; ZCC [abbr.]
Tossed normal CW-CCW | Mnly. Jp | Rare (1.1/10)
The pen is held by 23, with the fingers slightly bent. By straightening the
fingers, the pen moves 0.25 revolutions away from the thumb, after which a
thumbaround is done.
tossed normal = tipped charge 0.25 23 > TA
Etymology Although this trick is mainly used in Japanese notation, its
origin could be from an English site. Circa 2004, the trick Tossed Thumbspin
was uploaded to Larry’s Pen Spinning Site, which was very similar to the
aforementioned tossed normal.
トスィドノーマル (tossed normal)
ps-728 pass CCW | Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.1/10)
The ps-728 pass is the following continuous sequence:

ps-728 pass = cont pass rev 12-23-12
Etymology It was named by the Japanese spinner ps-728 in his blog in
2006. In Japanese, it’s called 浪花パス (naniwa pass), as it’s his nickname
(7=nana, 2=ni, 8=hachi =⇒ naniwa, ha is sometimes read as wa)
浪花パス (naniwa pass) [ps-728149 , 2006]

Passless CCW-CW | Very rare (0.0/10)
passless = IA 12-T1 0.5 > TA rev
Passless, Pass»less [mainly used in FPSB v2]
Cancel CCW | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.8/10)
A cancel is a TA which is stopped by the index finger halfway through:

cancel = TA 0.5 T1-[fc Tb<1p]
キャンセル (cancel)
Floating passaround CCW | Very rare (0.4/10)
A floating passaround is a passaround pushed with a wrist rotation

instead of with the fingers.
Floating passaround [≤2007]
Gravity backaround CW | Very rare (0.7/10)
A backaround whose push is just gravity, not any finger motion nor hand
motion. The pen is held almost completely vertical in 12. After slightly tilting
the hand backwards, the pen falls due to gravity, is caught, and the trick is
completed.
256 Historical
Etymology The trick was made by Phya, an UPSB v2 moderator, as a

part of the video “Evolution”:
“The story of Evolution begins in February 2005. In response to number

of people voicing the opinion that “pen spinning is dead” Phya decided that a
video featuring rare and new tricks would spice things up. On February 25
2005 Phya posted a thread in The Vault calling for people to submit videos
under the working title “Rare Tricks Compilation Vid.” However, despite the
widespread approval of the video the deadline (March 12) for videos passed
with absolutely zero submissions. Not willing to see the project die, Phya
completed the video by himself over the next two weeks.” (Phya196 , 2005)
Gravity backaround [Phya196 , 2005]
Cheat around Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.7/10)
A cheat around starts as a regular IA, but instead of completing a full

revolution, you make it 0.5 by turning your wrist and catching the pen. After
that, go back to the starting hand and finger position.
Cheat around [Pain Spleener145 , 2014]
Super harmonic CCW-CW | Mnly. Jp | Very rare (0.5/10)
It’s a TA 1.5 harmonic. In other words:

super harmonic = TA 1.5 > TA reverse 1.5
Etymology This was a name that Hideaki used to have in his website, but
eventually removed, although some old-school Japanese spinners continued us-
ing it. The correct name nowadays is シングルアクセルハーモニック (single
axel harmonic) but the modifier for 1.5 revolutions, single axel, was created
a year later, in 1998.
スーパーハーモニック (super harmonic) [Hideaki60 , 1997]

Gatling Clockwise | Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.2/10)

gatling = continuous fake double rev
ガトリング (gatling)
Charge gatling Clockwise | Mainly Japanese
The trick consists of adding an extra charge Tf in the middle of a fake

double red (gatling in Japanese). Thus, it’s a:
charge gatling = neosonic 12 ~> charge Tf > Fl TA rev
チャージガトリング (charge gatling)
Korean pass Clockwise | Rare (1.5/10)
korean pass = TA rev > pass 23-12 > backaround > Fl TA rev
Etymology The exact origin of this trick is unknown. We know that

it wasn’t used during UPSB v2 and that Fratleym’s 2007 tutorial greatly
popularized it [185].
Korean pass [≤2007]
Korean extended thumbaround CCW | Rare (1.0/10)
An extended thumbaround in which the index finger is straight at all

times.
Etymology The exact origin of this trick is unknown. We know that

it wasn’t used during UPSB v2 and that Fratleym’s 2007 tutorial greatly
popularized it [186].
Korean It used to be called 엄검휘, which is an abbreviation of 엄지검

지휘감기. Nowadays, the name has changed to 스냅인지휘감기.
Korean extended thumbaround [≤2008]; Korean ext ta [abbr.]

스냅인지휘감기 (snap indexfinger winding)
엄검휘 (thumb index winding) [until 2021]

258 Historical
Charge rev TA rev T1 Clockwise | Mainly Korean
It’s a Korean name for a (PS) charge T1 > FL TA rev.
Korean The name 역원역엄휘d is an abbreviation of 역원그리기역엄지

휘감기 d. Remember that, in ABCD notation, d equals the T1 slot.
역원역엄휘d (charge rev TA rev T1)
Turn Counterclockwise | Mainly Korean
It’s a Korean name for a ThumbMiddleAround T2-23.
턴 (turn)
Turn rewind Counterclockwise | Mainly Korean
It’s a Korean name for a ThumbMiddleAround T2-23 > TA.
턴배감기 (turn rewind)
Faked turn rewind Counterclockwise | Mainly Korean
It’s a Korean name for a ThumbMiddleAround T2-23 > pass rev 23-34 >
TA, with the last TA being pushed by the ring finger. 짭 is a prefix that means
faked.
짭턴배감기 (faked turn rewind)
Shafibo typhoon CW | Mnly. Jp | Very rare (0.8/10)
It’s a Japanese name for a cont (bakfall > bakrise).
シャフィーボタイフーン (shafibo typhoon)

Rishabo Clockwise | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.8/10)
It’s a Japanese name for a TA rev > bak > midbak.
Etymology An abbreviation of リトルシャフィーボ (little shafibo).
リシャーボ (rishabo)
Bofibo Clockwise | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.6/10)
It’s a Japanese name for a cont midindexbak 12.
Etymology Short for ボンクラフィニッシュコンボ (Bonkura finish combo).
ボフィーボ (bofibo)
Cyclone Counterclockwise | Mainly Japanese | Rare (2.5/10)
The cyclone consists of a fake double and afterwards, one Fl TA. It’s
almost not aerial, just very slightly before the last Fl TA.
cyclone = (PS) TA ~> Fl IA ~> Fl TA
サイクロン (cyclone) [Crasher92 , 2001]
Hurricane Counterclockwise | Mainly Japanese | Rare (2.1/10)
The hurricane consists of a fake double and afterwards, the pen is

thrown slightly to the air and one middle spread is done.
hurricane = (PS) TA ~> index spread ~> middle spread
ハリケーン (hurricane) [Crasher92 , 2001]
Storm Counterclockwise | Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.5/10)
It consists of a hurricane and afterwards, catching the pen with a Fl TA.

storm = (PS) TA ~> index spread ~> middle spread ~> Fl TA
ストーム (storm) [Crasher92 , 2001]
260 Historical
Ora ora CCW | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.4/10)
Usually done continuously, the trick consists of:

ora ora = (PS) neobak ~ inverse neobak
オラオラ (ora ora) [Drowsy99 , 2020]
Geji geji Backhand clockwise | Very rare (0.4/10)
It’s a Japanese name for a cont tap rev B [p 4b].
ゲジゲジ (geji geji) [Drowsy99 , 2020]
Waterfall Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.4/10)
It consists of multiple two finger twirls.

waterfall = two finger twirl 11'>22'>33'>44'
Etymology Eso thought about calling each two finger twirl “water”,
and decided that a combo full of “waters” would be called Waterfall if the
pen goes down the hand.
Waterfall [Eso101 , ≤2007]

Side around Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.4/10)

In a side around we start in a slot like 13. Then we do an indexaround
and while the pen is over the index finger, we change the position of the
middle finger from being outside the hand to inside, just like in a side sonic.
Side around, Totoro impulse [Darkou94 , 2008]
Snaparound Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.9/10)

Snaparound is a TA in which thumb and index also do a snap, making a
sound. There’s no aerial push, just TA + sound.
Snaparound
Around the world Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.8/10)

An aerial trick in which, while doing a thumbaround riser, the hand is
very quickly moved from below the pen, to above it, to then below again,
tracing a circle, where it’s caught. The name comes from the football trick
around the world.
Around the world [kasra12321122 , 2007]
Sonic bust CW-CCW | Infrequent (4.6/10)

Sonic bust is a (PS) sonic 23-12 > (PD) bust.
Etymology The sonic bust is the first trick in which the bust word
was ever used.
“You would think that linking a Sonic Normal with an Index Spin Normal
would make the pen change direction. Well, after experimenting with the idea
and forcing the pen to stay in the same direction, I got something that looks
like a double Sonic (a sonic that does two rotations).” (Kam42 , 2002)
Remember that, before the standarization of around and spin, an IA was
called index spin.
Sonic bust [Kam42 , 2002]
ソニックバスト (sonic bust)
계단일회전 (stair one revolve) [2005]
소닉버스트 (sonic bust) [until 2005]
262 Historical
Invisible sonic Clockwise | Infrequent (3.8/10)
During a sonic, while the mod is in 13, the mod is left static behind the
hand for a moment, after which the sonic is continued.
Bonkura made a popular variation of this trick in which, while the mod
was hidden behind the hand, he spread out his fingers to enhance the illusion
of the pen having disappeared (see: Bonkura’s invisible sonic)
Etymology The name was given by Kam, and first shown in Pentix, in
March 2002. He says that it was his background in magic which inspired to
create this trick.
Invisible sonic [Kam42 , 2002]; iSonic [abbr., Kam42 , 2002]; i-sonic
アイソニック (i-sonic)
아이소닉 (i-sonic)
Bonkura’s invisible sonic Clockwise
A mix between a pen spinning trick and a magic trick. Bonkura’s variation
of iSonic (see: Invisible sonic). During a sonic, while the mod is in 13, the
mod is left static behind the hand for a moment. While the mod is hidden
behind the hand, the fingers are spread out so that the viewer gets the illusion
of the pen having disappeared. Then, coming back to the initial position, the
pen reappears and the trick is finished.
Etymology It was called アイソニックを超えるアイソニック (iSonic

beyond iSonic) jokingly by Bonkura, but the name was used even a year
and a half after that. Since Bonkura attended Kyoto University, it was also
called 京大式アイソニック (Kyoto University-style iSonic). Another name
was 真パーフェクト·アイ (true perfect I), which later was simplified to the
current most popular name, パーフェクトアイ (perfect I) [176].
パーフェクトアイ (perfect I)
Bonkura’s invisible sonic
アイソニックを超えるアイソニック (iSonic beyond iSonic) [Bonkura];
真パーフェクト·アイ (true perfect I); 京大式アイソニック (Kyoto
University-style iSonic)
Sonic transfer Counterclockwise | Rare (1.5/10)
Start with a sonic rev in your dominant hand. Before finally stopping
the pen, bring your nondominant hand closer and grab the pen between the
middle and ring fingers. Finally, do a sonic with your nondominant hand.
sonic transfer = sonic rev 12-23 > switch 23-2'3' > sonic 2'3'-1'2'
Sonic transfer [Kam42 , 2002]
ソニックトランスファー (sonic transfer)
In-out sonic Clockwise | Common (5.5/10)
In-out sonic is an inv sonic 34-23 ~ sonic 23-12.

In-out sonic [Tohlz46 , 2003]
インアウトソニック (in-out sonic)
네티스트 (netist)
Out-in sonic Clockwise | Common (5.5/10)
Out-in sonic is a sonic 34-23 ~ inv sonic 23-12.

Etymology Out-in sonic wasn’t named by Tohlz, but coined years later
for an inverse in-out sonic. Many tutorials got the trick wrong afterwards
(Rarka, Freeman, PSH), confusing it with west sonic [201].
Out-in sonic
アウトインソニック (out-in sonic)
다니스트 (danist)
Rising fans Clockwise | Rare (2.1/10)
A name for a sonic clip minicombo.

rising Fans = charge 34 > sonic clip 34-23 > charge 23
> sonic clip 23-12 > charge 12
Etymology The rising fans is a combo created by Tohlz. He explained
it in his website, and he included it inside his signature move HyperSonic 2.
Rising fans [Tohlz46 , 2004]

ライジングファンス (rising fans)
264 Historical
Falling fans Counterclockwise | Rare (1.5/10)
Falling fans is a rising fans reverse.

falling fans = charge rev 12 > sonic clip rev 12-23 > charge rev 23
> sonic clip rev 23-34 > charge rev 34
Etymology Unlike rising fans, this one wasn’t created by Tohlz (or
at least it wasn’t listed in PenstudioZ), but rather by somebody else between
2004 and 2006, inspired by the aforementioned combo.
Falling fans [between 2004 and 2006]

フォーリングファンス (falling fans)
Trigger sonic Clockwise | Mainly Japanese | Rare (1.2/10)
Depending on the hand position, it’s either of these:

trigger sonic = (PS) sonic 12-T1
trigger sonic = (PD) shadow 12-T1
Keep in mind that in Japanese, a shadow is also written as sonic.
トリガーソニック (trigger sonic) [≤2004]
Toshiko sonic CW | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.0/10)
A pseudo sonic 12. That is, a sonic 12-T2-12. It was created in 2001,
which is the same year the pseudo sonic was developed (see: Pseudo sonic).
In [187], the trick is executed palm down.
Etymology Toshiko is probably a woman’s name.
トシコソニック (toshiko sonic) [2001]
Spiral sonic Backhand CCW | Mnly. Jp | Rare (1.4/10)
A minicombo which consists of the following tricks:

spiral sonic = (PD) sonic rise > trigger sonic
Which depending on the hand position could be written as either of these:
spiral sonic = (PD) sonic rise > shadow 12-T1
spiral sonic = (PS) sonic rise > sonic 12-T1
Etymology It was first named super sonic 1 but then renamed to

spiral sonic in order to avoid the name clash with super sonic 2.
スパイラルソニック (spiral sonic) [Hideaki60 , 2000]

Spiral sonic
スーパーソニック１ (super sonic 1) [Hideaki60 , 1997]
Total sonic rise [Le0n129 , 2008]
Summersalt sonic Clockwise | Mnly. Jp | Rare (1.2/10)
This trick was first named super sonic 2. The first meaning of the trick
was just a sonic followed by a neosonic
super sonic 2 = (PS) sonic > neosonic
It was then renamed to summersalt sonic in order to avoid the name clash
with super sonic 1. After the name change, Hideaki also sometimes changed
the trick at the beginning from sonic to sonic rise.
Nowadays, the trick is understood as having these two meanings:

summersalt sonic = (PS) sonic rise > neosonic
summersalt sonic = (PS) sonic rise > IA rev 12-12
サマーソルトソニック (summersalt sonic) [Hideaki60 , 2000]
スーパーソニック２ (super sonic 2) [Hideaki60 , 1997]
Moonsalt sonic CCW-CW | Mnly. Jp | Rare (1.0/10)
It’s a name for the following minicombo. Notice that there’s a change of
direction between the sonic rev to the pinkyaround rev.
moonsalt sonic = (PS) sonic rev 12-23>34 > (PS) pinkyaround rev 34-34
ムーンサルトソニック (moonsalt sonic) [Crasher92 , ≤2001]
Skyhigh sonic CW | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.8/10)
It’s a Japanese name for sonic rise > TA.
スカイハイソニック (skyhigh sonic) [≤2001]

266 Historical
Trick sonic Clockwise | Mnly. Jp | Very rare (0.4/10)
This minicombo consists of the following tricks

trick sonic = sonic 34-23 > pseudo sonic > sonic
Which can also be written as:
trick sonic = sonic 34-23>23>12
トリックソニック (trick sonic) [≤2001]
Pseudo inverse sonic Clockwise | Infrequent (3.9/10)
pseudo inverse sonic = inverse sonic 23-12 ~ sonic 12-23

Pseudo inverse sonic [≤2007]
Pseudo twisted sonic Clockwise | Infrequent (3.3/10)
pseudo twisted sonic = twisted sonic 23-12 ~ sonic 12-23

Pseudo twisted sonic [≤2007]
Hexagon sonic CW | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.4/10)
hexagon sonic = sonic 23-13 ~> flush sonic 13-T4-12

ヘキサゴンソニック (hexagon sonic) [Fire@fox107 , 2014]
Coulomb combo Backhand CCW | Mnly. Jp | Rare (1/10)
Coulomb combo is a pinkyswivel bust, although Coulomb combo is an

earlier name than swivel (see: Swivel).
クーロンコンボ (coulomb combo)

Coulomb combo
Bonkura trick Clockwise | Rare (2.7/10)
Bonkura trick = TA rev > palmbackaround ~> charge W* > ext TA rev
Bonkura trick
Crystal CCW | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.8/10)
It’s a Japanese name for a twisted sonic bust ~ palmspin.
クリスタル (crystal)
Shade Backhand CCW | Mnly. Jp | Very rare (0.4/10)
It’s a Japanese name for a (PD) tw sonic 23-12>23>12 ~ shadow 12-23.
シェイド (shade)
Dragonaround Backhand CW-CCW | Very rare (0.8/10)
dragonaround = neobak 12 > baktap > shadow 12-P4 > swivel P4-12
Dragonaround
Infinity return Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.4/10)
The infinity return is a wiper minicombo created by $weety:

infinity return = wiper rev T1 + pass T1-12 > wiper rev 12
> wiper 12 > wiper rev 12 + pass rev 12-T1
This trick is easily confused with the double infinity. Notice how here the
23 slot isn’t used at all.
Infinity return [$weety160 , 2008]
Beige trick Clockwise | Rare (2.1/10)
A figure 8, but the wiper rev part is done palm up so that the pen goes
upwards instead of sideways.
Beige trick = (PD) wiper T1 > (PU) wiper rev T1
Sometimes, Beige trick is also understood as cont ringpinkybak cardioid,
as it’s one of the tricks that the spinner frequently does.
Beige trick [made by Beige, named by Sirapob89 , 2017]

268 Historical
Twisted pass Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.5/10)
A name for the following minicombo:

twisted pass = (PS) wiper rev T1 > (PD) pass T1-12 > charge 12 >
(PS) pass rev 12-23>T2 > wiper rev T2
Etymology While the name and concept seem to be from 2003, it wasn’t
until 2004 that nhk_9 was able to master the trick and record it on video.
Twisted pass [nhk_9143 , 2003]
Helix2 Counterclockwise | Very rare (0.4/10)
It’s very similar to Helix1 , but the mod is instead held by its center. As-
sisted by the other fingers of the hand, it spins. It’s a two handed continuous
wiper rev.
helix2 11’ = cont wiper rev 11’
Helix
Helix3 Counterclockwise | Mnly. Jp | Very rare (0.2/10)
It’s the second half of an infinity. This trick can be seen in HAL’s
“Penspinning minor & old tricks video” [198].
helix3 = wiper rev 12 + pass rev 12-T1
ヘリックス (helix)
Angmaramyon-style infinity CCW | Mainly Korean
FLow has called this trick 앙마라묜식 인피 in the past because the spinner
앙마라묜a (Angmaramyon a) used to do this trick. The name is used for both
sonic 23-13 ~> wiper rev 13 and inverse sonic 23-13 ~> wiper rev 13.
확장인피니티 (extended infinity) [FLow9 , until 2021]; 앙마라묜식 인

피 (Angmaramyon-style infinity) [FLow9 ]
OC Fingerpass Very rare (0.2/10)
It’s a trick that Tohlz made in 2003. In OC tricks you first uncap the pen
(in his case, a Pentel RSVP) with the spinning hand, then perform the trick
(in this case, a fingerpass) and then put the cap on back again without any
help of the non-spinning hand.
“OC meaning Open and Closing Technique. A small example of using OC
Technique to open and close your pen. Combining pen spinning moves into
opening the cap of the pen. In this case, the OC is the Fingerpass” (Tohlz46 ,
2003)
OC Fingerpass [Tohlz46 , 2003]
OC Forward 1.5 Very rare (0.2/10)
In this OC trick (see: OC Fingerpass), Tohlz first uncapped the pen, then
did a TA 1.5 and then put the cap back on again, without the help of the
non-spinning hand.
OC Forward 1.5 [Tohlz46 , 2003]
L spin Very rare (0.6/10)
The trick consists on spinning an L-shaped object (like a toothbrush)

with just one finger. This is not a common geometry used in pen spinning,
so both the trick and the name are rare to come across.
L spin [Kam42 , ≤2002]; One Finger Spin [Wrenn40 , 1999]
8.12.1 Devil’s, demon’s and angel’s
Angel sonic Clockwise | Frequent (7.5/10)

angel sonic = twisted sonic 34-13 >~ sonic 13-12
Angel sonic [≤2007]
エンジェルソニック (angel sonic)
윈드스트 (twisted sonic twist)
270 Historical
Devil’s around Backhand counterclockwise | Common (6.5/10)

also known as Devil’s spin Infrequent (3.8/10)
devil's spin = (PD) tw sonic 23-12 > devil's shadow
Devil’s spin [Kam42 , 2001]; Devil’s around
デビルズスピン (devil’s spin)
Devil’s sonic Backhand counterclockwise | Frequent (8.1/10)

devil's sonic = (PD) tw sonic 23-12 > shadow 12-12
Etymology Although nhk_9 claimed that this was his own trick and
name, Penstudioz [175] and Pen Spin Sector [57] attribute it to Kam.
Devil’s sonic [Kam42 , ≤2002]

デビルズソニック (devil’s sonic)
아래위돌리기 (turn up and down) [2005]
아래위로 돌리기 (turn up and down) [until 2005]
Devil’s sonic bust Backhand CCW | Infrequent (3.7/10)

devil's sonic bust = (PD) tw sonic 23-12 > shadow 12-12 ~ bust
Devil’s sonic bust; Snake around [Skahars153 , 2008]
아래위휘감기 (down and up winding)
Demon’s sonic Clockwise | Frequent (8.8/10)

demon's sonic = sonic 34-23 ~> twisted sonic 24-12
Demon’s sonic [nhk_954 , between 2004 and 2005]
デーモンズソニック (demon’s sonic)
트위스트 (twist)
Demon’s spin Backhand counterclockwise | Infrequent (3.5/10)

demon's sonic = (PD) sonic 34-23 ~> tw sonic 24-12 ~ shadow 12-23
Demon’s spin [nhk_954 , between 2004 and 2005]
デモンズスピン (demon’s spin)
Devil’s shadow Backhand counterclockwise | Common (6.3/10)

devil's shadow = (PD) shadow 12-23 > pass rev 23-12
Devil’s shadow [Princeconda, between 2004 and 2005]
Devil’s demon’s sonic Backhand CCW | Infrequent (3.9/10)

devil's demon's sonic = (PD) sonic 34-23 ~> tw sonic 24-12 ~ shadow 12-12
Devil’s demon’s sonic, Demon’s devil’s sonic [nhk_954 , between 2004
and 2005]
Devil’s infinity Counterclockwise | Rare (2/10)

devil's infinity = wiper rev T1 + pass T1-12 > shadow 12-12
> wiper rev 12 + pass rev 12-T1
Devil’s infinity
Devil’s conversion Counterclockwise | Rare (1.5/10)
The trick consists of doing a devil’s sonic, and while the pen is spinning
over 12, change from palm down to palm up while bending the fingers and
continue doing a knuckle spin, without any additional impulse (just the
inertia of the pen).
devil's conversion = (PD) devil's sonic ~> (PU) knuckle spin
Devil’s conversion [Le0n129 , 2008]
Reconversion Clockwise | Very rare (0.0/10)
In the original video by Le0n, it is written that reconversion is devil’s

conversion rev, although the trick that he does isn’t that, he did PU knuckle
spin rev ~ PD shadow rev without finishing the devil’s sonic rev.
Reconversion [Le0n129 , 2008]
True devil’s around Backhand CCW | Very rare (0.7/10)

true devil's around = devil's around ~> fuck you
True devil’s around
272 Historical
Devil’s windshield wiper × Spinless | Very rare (0.5/10)
The trick consists of doing a windshield wiper, but instead of all fingers
being straight, 2 and 3 are bent.
devil's windshield wiper = windshield wiper [23=P]
Devil’s windshield wiper [Lindor132 , 2008]
Twisted demon’s sonic Backhand CCW | Rare (1.9/10)
twisted demon's sonic = tw sonic 34-23 > sonic 23-24 > tw sonic 24-12
Twisted demon’s sonic [≤2006]
8.12.2 Combos
Kam’s 4 loop combo Backhand CCW | Common (6.0/10)
A minicombo made by Kam, usually shortened as K4LC.

K4LC = (PD) sonic 34-23 ~> tw sonic 24-12 > (PS) TA 1.5
Etymology During the early days of pen spinning, long combos were
rare and Kam explained in 2001 that he had been working on K4LC for years.
After K4LC, other names with the same structure emerged. However, only
K4LC has remained popular as a name. Nowadays, it’s usually recommended
as a beginner minicombo.
“This is the first combo ever created that used a tilt of the hand (palm down
-> palm vertical) as part of the combo. [...] The first K4LC video was posted
on 22th Febuary 2002 by Kam, the webmaster of Pentix. When the video was
first created it impressed many influencial pen spinners such as tohlz and
Hideaki Kondoh. [...] K4LC later becomes Kam’s signature move. [...] To
give recognition to the famous tilt-of-the-hand combo, K4LC, a "Variations
of Kam’s 4 Loop Combo" based theme was set as the UPSB Official Battle
#3 in September 2004.” (Tohlz, Phya212 , 2005)
Kam’s 4 loop combo [Kam42 , 2001]; K4LC [abbr.]

Kam’s 4 Loop Combo light Rare (2.9/10)
The combo consists of the following tricks:

K4LC = sonic 34-23 > tw sonic 23-12 > pass 12-T2 > TA T2-T1
Kam’s 4 loop combo light; K4LC light [2002]
Kam’s 3 loop combo Infrequent (3.1/10)
The K3LC is the K4LC without the initial sonic.

K3LC = tw sonic 24-12 > TA 1.5
“In January 2003, the Superhandz Pen Spinning Showcase was released.
The showcase made by Kam also featured a variation of K4LC, which was
called Kam’s 3 loop combo (K3LC).” (Kam120 , 2003)
Kam’s 3 loop combo [Kam120 , 2003]; K3LC [abbr.]
Kam’s neobak combo Very rare (0.2/10)

fake reverse T12-T12 > neobak ~> midbak > halftap T23-T12
Kam’s neobak combo
Kam’s 7 loop combo Very rare (0.2/10)

sonic 34-23 > tw sonic 23-T12 > thumbspin 1.5 > passaround T1-12
> pass rev 12-23>34>T3 > TA
Kam’s 7 loop combo; K7LC
Tohlz’s 6 link combo Very rare (0.4/10)

sidespin 0.5 > thumbspin 1.5 > TA rev > sonic 23-12 > ext TA rev
Tohlz’s 6 link combo [Tohlz46 , 2002]
274 Historical
Tohlz’s 7 loop combo Very rare (0.2/10)

TA > TA rev > TA > (PD) charge > pass > charge > (PD-PU) indexspin
In the original breakdown he didn’t specify the fingers in which the charges
and pass are done. The video is lost, so the exact breakdown is unknown.
Tohlz’s 7 loop combo [Tohlz46 , 2003]
NHK’s 3-loop combo Very rare (0.4/10)
It’s nhk_9’s first original combo.

N3LC = fake reverse 2.0 > backriser 2.0 > tw sonic > bak 1.5
NHK’s 3-loop combo [nhk_954 , ≤2005]; N3LC [abbr.]
NHK’s 7-loop combo Very rare (0.4/10)
A minicombo made by nhk_9, which he did at the very end of the first
promotional video of The Troposphere.
N7LC = fake reverse 2.0 > backriser 2.0 > tw sonic > bak 1.5
“This combo features one of the tricks that I invented, the BackRiser.
This is an advanced combo, since the transition from the BackRiser to the
Twisted Sonic is rather difficult.” (nhk_9140 , 2003)
NHK’s 7-loop combo [nhk_9140 , 2003]; N7LC [abbr.]
Phya’s 9-loop wiper-based combo Very rare (0.4/10)
According to its creator, the last two tricks are optional:

infinity > wiper rev T1 > tw sonic 23-12 > wiper rev T1 > Sonic 34-23
> tw sonic 23-12 > wiper rev T1 > sonic 23-12 > (TA > halftap)
Phya’s 9 loop wiper-based combo [≤2007]
Leon’s 4 loop combo Very rare (0.4/10)

shadow 12-23 > tw sonic 23-T12 > TA
Leon’s 4 loop combo [≤2007]
Masaki’s 4 loop combo Very rare (0.2/10)

sonic rise > charge 12 > TA
Masaki’s 4 loop combo [2003]
Zombo’s 5 loop combo Very rare (0.6/10)

sonic 34-23 > wiper rev 23 > pass rev 23-12 > wiper rev 12
> pass rev 12-T1 > wiper rev T1 > thumbspin 1.5
Funnily enough, Zombo said that he didn’t remember creating this nor any
other 5 loop combo, so its origin is uncertain.
Zombo’s 5 loop combo
Electric fan Clockwise | Mainly Japanese | Very rare (0.6/10)
It’s a minicombo created by Drowsy

electric fan = cont (PS Drowsy motion 23-23 > PD swing 23-34 >
PS west sonic ~ charge 1* ~ IMA rev 1*-23)
扇風機 (electric fan) [in Japanese, Drowsy99 , 2020]
Swing combo Mainly Korean
The 스윙콤보 (swing combo) is the following:

(PD) Twisted sonic 23-12 > (PS) Twisted sonic rev 12-23
> (PD) Sonic 23-12 > TA
스윙콤보 (swing combo)
Butterfly Very rare (0.6/10)
Made by Kam, inspired by butterfly knife tricks.

wiper 12 > pass rev 12-23 > pass rev 23-12 > wiper rev 12
> pass 12-23 > wiper rev 23 > slide (with arm movement)
Butterfly [Kam119 , 2001]

276 Historical
HyperSonic Very rare (0.0/10)
Tohlz released HyperSonic in August 25, 2002. It was one of the first few
combos in PenstudioZ and later became his signature move. A different, more
complex version was shown on May 28, 2004.
HyperSonic v1 = sonic 34-23>12 > pass rev 12-23>34 > sonic 34-23>12
> (pass rev 12-23 > sonic 23-12) x2
HyperSonic v2 = shadow 2.0 34-12 > pass rev 12-23>34 > rising fans > TA
HyperSonic v1 [Tohlz164 , 2002]; HyperSonic v2 [Tohlz164 , 2004]

ハイパーソニック (hypersonic)
Teleporter Very rare (0.0/10)
The teleporter is a trick made by Tohlz. The exact breakdown of the

trick has been lost, and no videos remain. Even Tohlz said that he didn’t
remember when asked about it in UCPSB, in 2006. The only thing that
remains is this quote:
“So i filmed a mini combo which I call it a Teleporter. Its basically a
backhand tracer incoporated with an example of hand movement and quick
wrist motion techniques. I guess it may be a little hard to see due to the colour
of the grip used. ” (Tohlz165 . Jun 19, 2004)
Teleporter [Tohlz165 , 2004]
Chaos Very rare (0.0/10)
Chaos refers to the following combo:

inv sonic 23-12 > sonic rev 12-23 > neosonic 23-T1 > Fl TA T1-T1
“This combo is an example of how you can link Neo Sonic and Fingerless
Thumbspin into a combo. Doing this combo at the right pace can easily amaze
the audience. The crucial part in this combo is to link the Neo Sonic to
Fingerless Thumbspin. After doing the Neo Sonic, you must immediately jerk
your hand so that the Fingerless Thumbspin can be executed without a break
or pause in the combo. The pen looks like spinning all over the place and this
is why the combo is named Chaos.” (Tohlz163 , 2004)
Chaos [Tohlz163 , 2004]

A List of notation articles
A list of most notation articles linking to their archived version is
presented together with their context (shadowed boxes). As you can see, the
highest activity period for notation development was 2006 to 2012. The
decline of the activity of spinners like Fel2Fram, Hexbinmos, Lindor, and
Freeman, as well as the closure of the RD and NC led to a clear decrease in
new proposals. The improvements made in this book aren’t listed.
For NC articles I list the key contributors and use the syntax (Proposal
date → Article release date), using ∅ if unreleased and ? when the proposal
date is unknown. For all other articles, the date is that of the first post. For
some events the day/month is unknown, so it hasn’t been indicated. Some
notes are added in italics.
1990
1st published pen spinning guide by Korokoro comic

Korokoro comic - Big roll, reverse roll, gunman roll, shuttle roll, double roll,
thunder roll
- archive.org/details/korokoro_ronin
1997
“My History with Pen Spinning” by Hideaki (Dec 1)

Hideaki - Normal, reverse, harmonic, twisted sonic, gunman, tornado, sonic,
cardioid, double, semi reverse, super harmonic, ...
1998
“Pencil Spinning” by David Weis

English version of Hideaki’s “My History with Pen Spinning” (1st half 1998)
Hideaki - Drummer, faked sonic, single axel, ...
Weis - Invention and naming of Backaround/Bak, RevToBak, Thumbspin, Half-tap,
Baktap and Snap flip, among others.
1999
278
“Microjuggling” by Chris (1st half 1999)

Chris - Invention and naming of the two finger twirl
2000
“Pentix” by Kam (Jan) “Iluvitar” by Patrick Szeto (Feb 27)

Kam - Fingerpass, twirl, index spin, neo-sonic, l-spin, charge
Patrick Szeto - Creation of the name for infinity
2001
Pencil Turning Cafe (May 31) Pentix board/UPSB v1 (Nov 15)

Kam - Extended, inverse, devil’s spin
Hideaki - Spread double, symmetrical, henkei, skipped, pseudo sonic, faked...
2002
“SuperhandZ” by De’vo “PenstudioZ” by Tohlz (Aug)

Kam - Last update to Pentix’ glossary (May 31)
- archive.org/details/2002-05-31-kam-glossary
Kam - Last update to Pentix’ trick names table (Jun 18)
- archive.org/details/2002-06-18-kam-trick-names-table
(Speculated) Creation of the Japanese name “half windmill”
2003
“Pentrix” by Kam Pendolsa creation

PenDolSa 1st “The Troposphere” by nhk_9 (Aug)
Troposphere (solo) (Dec 18) RD creation (Dec)
“降龍十八轉” by sula_la
NC|Kam - Spin types (?→Dec 27) (Trick family classification)
- archive.org/details/2003-12-27-kam-spin-types
Weis - Updated “Pencil Spinning” with trick names like Scissor Spin and Neo-
BackAround/NeoBak.
sula_la - 亢龍有悔(TA) 見龍在田(TA rev) 雙龍取水(sonic) 履霜冰至(sonic rev)
飛龍在天(shadow 12-T1) 神龍擺尾(extended infinity) (Aug 15)
2004
UPSB v2 release (Jan 11) KiT-KaT release (KiT, Dec 13)

Kam - New names for thumbaround and thumbaround reverse
List of notation articles 279
NC|nhk_9 - BackAround Reverse-FrontAround Difference (May 8→∅)

- www.pentrix.com:80/upsb2/viewtopic.php?t=1722
NC|Niffe - Around vs Spin (?→Jun 18)
- archive.org/details/2004-06-18-niffe-around-versus-spin
2005
“PenSpinningWiki” by Aysh (Mar 18) FPSB v1 creation (Feb 8)

Penzone creation (2kin, Sing, 1st half 2005) JEB v1 creation (Aug 29)
PSH creation (Solar flares, 3+7, Sept 3) GPC creation (Robert, Nov 20)
UCPSB v1 creation (Nigel, Dec 1)
Pendolsa - NX lectures (Korean abcd notation)
2006
UCPSB v2 release (Jan 7) JapEn 1st collab. (Mar 24)

Swespin (Ceedgee Apr 18) PPP (Dante, Kmibar Apr 28)
THPSC (Mr.CsPSer May 19) UPSB + PDS collab. (Oct 30)
UCPSB|Nigel, Rob - Trick book (Jan 07)
- archive.org/details/2006-01-07-nigel-rob-trick-book
UCPSB NC - Sonic/shadow definitions (?→Oct 16) (Discussion triggered because
of its usage in Japan. Conclusion: shadow is a topspin, sonic only 1.0.)
- archive.org/details/2006-10-16-sonic-shadow-definitions
UCPSB NC - Shortened trick/combo names (?→Oct 16) (Acronyms)
- archive.org/details/2006-10-16-shortened-trick-combo-names
UCPSB NC - Trick naming convention (?→Oct 20) (Modifier order/structure)
- archive.org/details/2006-10-20-trick-naming-convention
2007
WT07 (KTH wins) TWPS creation (x1213) UPSB v3 release (Sept 8)

NC|Zombo, Strat - Interrupted tricks (?→May 6) (Hybrid ~ and [p][s][c])
- archive.org/details/2007-05-06-nc-interrupted-trick-notation
NC|Sketching - Renaming Multiple Backarounds (Jun 16→∅) (The proposal was
to rename bak 1.5 to backspin, following the around vs spin discussion.)
- upsb-v3.spin-archive.org/topic/153
NC|Sketching - Mirrors (Jun 16→∅) (Definition or deprecation of mirrored)
280
UPSB|Da Zogger, Useless, Essence Of Life - Trick books (Jun 23)
- archive.org/details/2007-06-23-upsb-trick-books
UCPSB|Skatox - Cobra bite and twisted cobra bite (Also in UPSB NC too)
- z15.invisionfree.com/UCPSB/index.php?showtopic=6433
NC|Mats - Redefining Incorrectly Named Tricks (Sep 10→∅) (Flicked and tapped)
2008
SPSC v2 creation (May 20) SPSC’s “Departamento de Investigación” creation

WC08 (JEB wins) JEB v2 release (Feb 3)
NC|Mats - Passaround (Jan 31→Feb 16) (Deprecation)
- archive.org/details/2008-02-16-nc-passaround
NC|Sketching, Mats - Antigravity (Feb 9→∅) (Deprecation proposal)
NC|Fratleym, Sketching - Expanded trick notation (Feb 17→Feb 23) (while
[p][s][c] is older, here the standalone use of [p] is proposed)
- archive.org/details/2008-02-23-nc-expanded-trick-notation
NC|Eburt, Freeman - Expanded hand notation (Apr 9→Apr 27) (Eburt proposed
P and B, Freeman proposed A, E and W)
- archive.org/details/2008-04-27-nc-expanded-hand-notation
FPSB|Scouto - À propos du Moonwalk Sonic (May 24)
- archive.org/details/2008-05-24-scouto-a-propos-du-moonwalk-sonic
FPSB|Fratleym - Les linkages en block (May 29)
- archive.org/details/2008-05-29-fratleym-les-linkages-en-block
FPSB|gollumsk8 - Korean/Wessian bust (June 06)
- archive.org/details/2008-06-06-gollumsk8-korean-wessian-bust
NC|Sketching, Mats - Release and Riser (May 6→Jun 15)
- archive.org/details/2008-06-15-nc-release-and-riser-definitions
NC|Shadowserpant - Tipped Sonic (Jun 24→∅) (Normal and reverse)

FPSB|Kirgo - Reverses/Mirror/Inverses des hybrid (June 25)
- archive.org/details/2008-06-25-kirgo-reverses-mirror-inverse-des-hybrid
NC|? - Moonwalk sonic (?→Jun 27) (Deprecation)
- archive.org/details/2008-06-27-nc-moonwalk-sonic-deprecation
- z15.invisionfree.com/UCPSB/index.php?showtopic=3351
FPSB|Zoda - Flick TA (Oct 12) (New trick)
- archive.org/details/2008-10-12-zoda-flick-ta
FPSB|Fratleym - Fingercrossing (Oct 19) (New trick + unused notation)
- archive.org/details/2008-10-19-fratleym-fingercrossing
FPSB|Smile - Bend tap (Nov 8) (New trick)
- archive.org/details/2008-11-08-smile-bend-tap
FPSB|Lindor - Nomenclature pour les tricks en 1p1h (Nov 9)
- archive.org/details/2008-11-09-lindor-nomenclature-pour-les-tricks-en-1p1h
2009
UPSB 1st (Aug 9) WT09 (Peem wins)

FPSB|Lindor - Swivel (Feb 4) (New trick, Jamie Enns first to say it’s a Fl Sonic)
- thefpsb.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=2006
FPSB|Synspin - Morphing (Feb 21)
- archive.org/details/2009-02-21-synyspin-morphing
NC|Jamie Enns - Spreads (Mar 20→∅) (Discussion to standarize its notation)
NC|Zombo - Spinner identification modifier (Mar 18→∅)
FPSB|Phlogistique - Étendre la notation des fingerslots (Apr 19)
- archive.org/details/2009-04-19-phlogistique-etendre-la-notation-des-fingerslots
FPSB|Lindor - Nomenclature 1p2h (May 3)
- archive.org/details/2009-05-03-lindor-nomenclature-1-p-2-h
FPSB|T - Nomenclature des phalanges (May 23) (Introduction of x, y and z)
- archive.org/details/2009-05-23-t-nomenclature-des-phalanges
SPSC|Freeman, Kurotsuki - Notación de fingercrossings (Jul 6) (it was first
discussed in SPSC and later posted in the NC)
- archive.org/details/2009-07-06-freeman-kurotsuki-notacion-de-fingercrossing
282
SPSC|Freeman - Tipped Sonic (Aug 1) (More nor/rev discussion)

- archive.org/details/2009-08-01-freeman-tipped-sonic
JEB|Aphsamoth - Pen Spinning Trick Directory
- sites.google.com/site/penspinningtrickdirectory/
JEB|Aphsamoth - Japanese Nomenclature of Pen Spinning Tricks (Aug 31)
- archive.org/details/2009-08-31-aphs-japanese-nomenclature-of-pen-spinning-tricks
NC|Freeman - Neosonic deprecation (?→Jul 19)
- archive.org/details/2009-07-19-nc-neosonic-deprecation
NC|Freeman - Continuous sequences (Dec 3→∅) (Modifier and parentheses)
NC|Freeman - Neobackaround (Dec 7→∅) (Deprecation proposal)
NC|Zombo - Handedness modifier (Mar 7→Dec 14) (’ became the official non-
dominant hand modifier, but Y5678 was proposed as well)
- archive.org/details/2009-10-14-nc-handedness-modifier
2010
WC10 (THPSC wins) UPSB v4 creation (Jun 23)

FPSB|Skatox - Comprendre une grammaire formelle (Jan 3) (Also on the NC)
- thefpsb.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?f=67&t=6587
NC|Freeman - Taps (Apr 8→∅) (Classification and notation)
NC|Zombo - Asynchronous two handed spinning (?→Apr 19)
- archive.org/details/2010-04-19-nc-asynchronous-two-handed-spinning
NC|Freeman - 1P2H tricks spin direction (Apr 24→∅)
JEB|Sunrise - Sunrise’s notation (Aug 5)
- archive.org/details/2010-08-05-sunrise-notation
2011
WT11 (s777 wins)

SPSC|Freeman - Powertricks y notación oficial (May 4) (Descriptive names)
- archive.org/details/2011-05-04-freeman-powertricks-y-notacion-oficial
UPSB|NC - Simultaneous tricks (?→May 19) (The + linking symbol)
- archive.org/details/2011-05-19-nc-simultaneous-tricks
FPSB|Fel2fram - Notation des fingerslots, le retour (Jul 18) (Dot notation)
- archive.org/details/2011-07-18-fel2fram-notation-des-fingerslots-le-retour
FPSB|Hexbinmos, Phlogistique - Proposition de nomenclature 2p1h (Aug 18)
- archive.org/details/2011-08-18-hexbinmos-phlogistique-proposition-de-nomenclature-2p1h
FPSB|Fel2fram - The 8 main Powerpasses (Oct 31) (New variations and notation)
- youtu.be/zyRBHBjvygU
FPSB|Skatox - Systeme de breakdown bas niveau (Nov 28)
- archive.org/details/2011-11-28-skatox-systeme-de-breakdown-bas-niveau
FPSB|Lindor - Un language informatique descriptif des combos (Dec 12)
- archive.org/details/2011-12-12-lindor-un-language-informatique-descriptif-des-combos
2012
WC12 (FPSB wins)

FPSB|Hexbinmos, Fel2fram - Recherche de notation élémentaire (Jul 31)
- archive.org/details/2012-07-31-hexbinmos-fel-2fram-recherche-de-notation-elementaire
FPSB|Fel2fram - Le penspinning mathématique (Dec 27)
- thefpsb.1fr1.net/t971-le-penspinning-mathematique
FPSB|Hexbinmos - Notation tablature (Nov 9)
- archive.org/details/2012-11-9-hexbinmos-notation-tablature
SPSC|Freeman - Artículos en SpinAlong
- archive.org/details/2012-freeman-articulos-en-spin-along
2013
WT13 (Sutomo wins)

FPSB|Fel2fram - Japanese motion (Apr 13) (Name and concept definition)
- youtu.be/x8TGw_oKwDs
FPSB|Fel2fram - In-out charges (Apr 12) (New tricks)
- thefpsb.1fr1.net/t1470-in-out-charges-et-bien-plus-encore
FPSB|Fel2fram - Mirrored quoi qu’est-ce (Jul 3) (Variable plane of mirroring)
- thefpsb.1fr1.net/t1747-mirrored-quoi-qu-est-ce
2014
WC14 (JEB wins) RD & NC closure UPSB v5 release (Dec 20)

284
2015
WT15 (Menowa* wins)
2016
JEB v3 release (Aug 10)

FPSB|Tchus - Le cardioid (Jul 3)
- thefpsb.1fr1.net/t3500-le-cardioid
FPSB|Tache - Nouvelle notation des Pass (Nov 20) (Inverse pass)
- thefpsb.1fr1.net/t3707-nouvelle-notation-des-pass
2017
PWT (Beige wins) WT17 (Sirapob wins)

FPSB|Tchus - Proposition de nomenclature des taps (Jan 26)
- thefpsb.1fr1.net/t3843-notation-proposition-de-nomenclature-des-taps
JEB|Mesi - Some notes about the current notation (Sept 2) (Jp. not. review)
- archive.org/details/2017-09-02-mesi-some-notes-about-current-notation
2018
TWC18 (The Front Row wins) PSO18 UPSB closes indefinitely (Oct 1)
2019
WT19 (i.suk wins) The workshop opens (Mar 29)
2020
WC20 (FPSB wins) PSO20 Covid pandemic

JEB|Drowsy - Introduction to a new theory about symmetries (May 11)
- drowsignal.hatenablog.com/entry/2020/05/11/053858
JEB|AiMo - Aimo’s mechanical notation (work in progress) (Jun 23 onwards)
- aimof.blog.fc2.com
JEB|Laku, AiMo - Laku’s visual notation (Dec 10)
- aimo.hateblo.jp/entry/2020/12/10/002414
References
Most of the references are links to websites. For this purpose, we have
used the following shorthands for websites which are frequently referred to:
[v3:####] https://upsb-v3.spin-archive.org/topic/####
[v4:####] https://upsb-v4.spin-archive.org/thread/####
[spsc:####] https://www.penspinning.es/viewtopic.php?t=####
[thpsc:####] https://thaispinner.forumth.com/####
[wayback:#1], #2 https://web.archive.org/web/#1/http://#2
If you are using the printed version of the book, please substitute the
#### into the corresponding URL on the right column. On the digital version,
the boxes are hyperlinks to the correct URL.
[1] Bic Stylo à quatre couleurs, 1970, youtu.be/xioE4emUaeo

[2] Mechanical pencil rolling Korokoro comic nº142, p384-389, 1990,
archive.org/details/korokoro_ronin
[3] Ronin mawashi Weekly post 21(47)(1027) [140] p58-59, 1989,
archive.org/details/shuukan
dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/3381586
[4] NX lecture Copy of what was written in PDS around 2005 by 원빈택MA,
zlzlzb among others. blog.naver.com/xogml658/30128176803
[5] 펜돌리기 (Pen spinning) Namu wiki, namu.wiki/w/펜돌리기
[6] Korea Penspin Wikipedia Haraboji, rborganize.wikidot.com
[7] Pen spinner Sound’s blog, m.blog.naver.com/PostList.nhn?blogId=nnmm2113
[8] 한국 펜돌리기 협회 KIPS Youtube channel,
www.youtube.com/channel/UCvBTNLGRybJCWsZNKdwsSlg
[9] Many new names in Korean have been given by FLow (former Kipple). Al-
though they aren’t available publicly in a compiled form, he has been kind
enough to explain them to me in private conversations.
[10] English-Korean notation reference 20070910, [v3:546]
288 References
[11] Pen spinning history PenSpinningWiki, 2007,

www.penspinning.info/wiki/wiki.cgi?page=ペン回し史
[12] Pen spinning history J.P.S.F., 2017, penmawashi.com/ps-history/
[13] Pen spinning history Atwiki, 2020, w.atwiki.jp/pshistory/pages/28.html
[14] Pen on the desk Kura/Crasher’s blog, 2017, kura2009.blog100.fc2.com
[15] UPSB (Wiki article) UPSB Wiki, 2010,
www.upsb.info/wiki/index.php?title=UPSB
[16] UPSB v2 history Kam, 20050424,
www.pentrix.com/upsb2/viewtopic.php?t=4472
[17] History of UPSB UPSB History Department, 2007-2010,
[v3:637] [v3:702] [v3:26343]
[18] Kam biography and origins of Pentix Kam, 20021029,
www.pentrix.com/pentix/about.html
[19] Pentix history Kam, 20050424,
[20] David Weis interview by Sfsr, Kam, David Weis in the UPSB podcast #6,
2008,
youtu.be/6Tr43OxldLQ
[21] PS3K interviews Aaron C. Robertson, circa 2003,
To David Weis: www.geocities.com/penspinning3k/dw.html
To Zombo: www.geocities.com/penspinning3k/zombo.html
To Jason Chan: www.geocities.com/penspinning3k/jcinter.html
[22] The Kammys Phya, 2005,
[23] The first tack on game rookie, 20050701,
[24] Capture the throne Zombo, 20050114,
[25] KiT-CaT biography KiT-CaT, 20050506,
[26] Jellpin CLUBMA, 20041120, www.pentrix.com/upsb2/viewtopic.php?t=2780
[27] Modern International Community Fenspinner wiki (2020)
wiki.fenspinner.net/index.php/Modern_International_Community
[28] FPSB Echoes Yaemgo & Neptune (2012). youtu.be/Z-stLEyzo50.

[29] FPSB History Echoes has several inaccurate facts for the sake of producing
a more entertaining video, so in order to have more historical accuracy, the
FPSB history has been mostly based on private conversations with Tache, Tchus
and other members.
[30] History of TWPS Dove (2020) hackmd.io/1TOSnL5CR4qn89FlWSz9vQ
[31] History of pen spinning x1213 (2009) docs.google.com/document/d
/1YD6iifD8-7vAanc8HEyvX58u9Ih3OassxxEyIUCZDq0
[32] Chinese PS History Most of what I wrote comes from talking with members
of those boards. For HKPSA, Kin was able to give me a lot of information and
for PSH, it was mainly Nope and 3+7.
[33] Thailandese PS History Most of the information from 2010 onwards was
given to me by Coffeelucky. The early history comes from these Mr.CsPSer
posts (2006) [1] [2]
[34] German PS History Nashi, Juzzle, 2021
penspinning.de/community/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=83183
[35] Official GPC newsletter Robert
#1 - Dec 2006 www.penspinning.de/community/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=937
#2 - May 2007 www.penspinning.de/community/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3497
#3 - Sep 2008 www.penspinning.de/community/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10810
#4 - Jan 2009 www.penspinning.de/community/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13402
[36] PS-press pspress.mnjopp.de
#1 - Sep 2008 www.penspinning.de/community/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=11253
#2 - Feb 2009 www.penspinning.de/community/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13832
#3 - May 2011 www.penspinning.de/community/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=26053
#4 - Mar 2012
[37] Spanish PS History Although some posts were written in SPSC, like
[spsc:315] & [spsc:5975], most are my own memories as a member.
290 References
List of websites
Each list is exhaustive, to my knowledge, but only in the considered year
ranges. The dates are the website creation dates, being either day-precise,
month/year ranges or upper bounds (denoted with <).
· Personal pages in English from 1998 to 2004
[38] Hideaki Kondo, Pen spinning, partial translation of the original in Japanese,
1st half of 1998.
bennyhills.fortunecity.com/candy/441/index.htm
[39] David Weis, Pencil Spinning, 1998.
ps.davidweis.com
wind.prohosting.com/~kamykaze/pencilspinning/
pencilspinning.davidweis.com
pencilspinning.tripod.com
davidweis.com/PencilSpinning
[40] Wrenn, Microjuggling, < Aug 23, 1999.
members.iweb.net.au/~kith/juggling/pencil.htm
members.iweb.net.au:80/~kith/juggling/Micro/pencil/pencil_f.htm
[41] Planet NJC, Pen Spinning, < Aug 23, 1999.
geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/1117/penspin.htm
[42] Kam, Pentix, Jan 2000.
www.geocities.com/kam_ykaze/ (web prototype)
www.geocities.com/pentix2000/ (1st)
wind.prohosting.com/kamykaze/ (1st - mirror)
pentix.modenstudios.com/index.html (2nd)
www.pentrix.com/pentix/index.html (Backup within Pentrix)
[43] Kay, Pencil flipping, < May 5, 2000.
www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~kay/pencilflipping/index.html
[44] Patrick Szeto, Iluvitar - Pencil Spinning 101, Feb 27, 2000.
www.iluvitar.com/sections/pencilspinning/
[45] De’vo, SuperhandZ, 2002.
www.superhandz.com
[46] Shawn Tohlz, PenstudioZ, Aug 25, 2002.
members.fortunecity.com/tohlz/penstudioz/
www.geocities.com/shawn_tohlz/main.html
www.penstudioz.cjb.net
www.penstudioz.tk
List of websites 291
[47] Mike Paradis, Ethereal Cascade, < Aug 28, 2002.

www.jcpsystems.com/juggling/index.html
[48] moogoo (Jason Chan), Penspinning Palace, Dec 20, 2002.
www.geocities.com/bananacreampie1/pentricks/
pentricks.cjb.net
[49] Kangandgeon, Hantrix, 2002-2003.
guam.globat.com/ feelwiggy.com/hantricks/index.php
penspinning.is.dreaming.org
[50] David Weis, Pencil Ninja, 2003.
pencilninja.davidweis.com
[51] Kam (Fernando Kuo), Pentrix, 2003.
www.pentrix.com
[52] AC (Aaron C. Robertson), PS3K, 2003.
wave.prohosting.com/pen3k/everyroom.html
[53] Conor Jacobs, Larry’s Pen Spinning Site, < Feb 23, 2003.
www.geocities.com/larry_l_larry/index.htm
penspin.cjb.net
[54] nhk_9 (Darren Chan), The Troposphere, Aug 2003.
www3.telus.net/troposphere/
www.troposphere.tk
ca.geocities.com/nhk_9/troposphere/Main.html
ca.geocities.com/nhk_6/troposphere/Main.html
nhk9.yourprivatespace.com/troposphere/Main.html
www.geocities.jp/thetroposphere/top.html
www.penspinning.org
[55] Rodger Brooke, The Spin Zone, Nov 12, 2003.
www.freewebs.com/penspinning/
[56] TJ Bomarito, SwiftHandz, < Feb 24, 2004.
www.geocities.com/swiftpens/
[57] Lordbojo & Phya, Pen Spin Sector, < Jul 19, 2004.
pensector.hollosite.com
[58] Niffe (André Algotsson), Niffe’s PenSpinning Site, <2004.
www.penspinning.com
[59] kaisen, mwahaha91, SubParSpinner & Phya, Turtlespin, Aug 29, 2005.
www.turtlespin.com
292 References
· Personal pages in Japanese from 1997 to 2005
[60] Hideaki Kondo, 私のペン回しの歴史, Dec 1, 1997.

www.tcp-ip.or.jp/~konhide/pen.htm
www.geocities.jp/hatsune95/pen/pen.htm
[61] Sho/Crasher/クラ, ペン回し道場, Mar, 2001.
www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Bay/3593/
[62] MITSU, ペン回し考察所, Nov 22, 2001.
(URL unknown)
[63] いちごだいふく, ペン回し開発所 , Nov 8, 2002.
www10.ocn.ne.jp/~yuki1021/
[64] キュス, 良い子のペン回し教室, Aug 3, 2003.
www11.plala.or.jp/penspin/
[65] MITSU, ゴロゴロ, ペン回し辞書 , originally in ペン回し考察所, recovered by
ペン回し開発所 once its former site closed, Jan 22, 2004.
www10.ocn.ne.jp/~yuki1021/dictionary.html
[66] aysh, ペン回し資料室 , Feb 22, 2004.
2.csx.jp/~penspin/
penspin.s59.xrea.com
www.penspinning.info
[67] hanataro_7, †PENSPIN†, Jul 3, 2004.
penspin.jpn.ch
[68] DaReKa, ペン回しの惑星, Sept 22, 2004.
www4.pf-x.net/~penspin/
[69] Aphsamoth, aysh, PenSpinningWiki, Mar 18, 2005.
www.penspinning.info:80/wiki/
[70] 337, PenSpinning Information, 2005.
psinfo.blog36.fc2.com
[71] mantis, PenspinningStation, 2005.
mantis.jf.land.to
[72] Ryo, WLPS, Feb 25, 2006.
wlps.ty.land.to
List of websites 293
· Personal pages in other languages from 1999 to 2005
[73] Hideaki Kondo, Einen Bleistift drehe ich gern [DE], partial translation
of the original in Japanese, 1999.
bennyhills.fortunecity.com:80/candy/441/index_de.htm
[74] Hideaki Kondo, Интресно вертеть ручка [RU], partial translation of the
original in Japanese, 2001.
www.geocities.co.jp/Athlete-Acropolis/4837/index_ru.htm
[75] Réda, Xtend Spin [FR], Late 2003.
www.xtendspin.ca
www.xtendspin.vze.com
[76] Shalafi / Raul Portales, Girar Bolis [SP], < Jun 8, 2003.
www.shalafi.tk
shalafi.org/Pen_Spinning/
[77] Eddie, ePentix/Penzemi [CH], Jun 6, 2003. The name changed in November
2003 so as not to be a copy of Kam’s site name.
www2.hkedcity.net/citizen_files/aa/ir/ex9438/public_html/index.htm
[78] sula_la, Deep Blue/降龍十八轉 [CH], Aug 10, 2003. Deep Blue may not be
the original name and instead just be how non-Chinese spinners called the
site, as they couldn’t read 降龍十八轉.
sula.all.at
knight.fcu.edu.tw/~d9063070/turn%20pen/pen.htm
[79] (Author unknown), Strong-Penspinning [CH], < Aug 3, 2004.
st-penspinning.hk.st:80 (not archived)
[80] Stephen, Justspin [CH], < Jun 11, 2005.
home.pchome.com.tw/net/lifeonmars77
[81] A_Qui, Scelus, Skatox, Sorez, Spowash [FR], April 21, 2005.
penspinning.skyblog.com
[82] Tourneffaceur, Tourneffaceur [FR], July 14, 2005.
tourneffaceur.free.fr
[83] Chino88 / Gabriel Martínez, El Bolígrafo [ES], <May 5, 2006.
www.elboligrafo.tk
mx.geocities.com/the_boligrafo/
elboligrafo.blogia.com
[84] Robert, German Pen Spinning / Penskills [DE], November 2005 (deleted
on the same month).
penskills.de.vu (not archived)
294 References
Tricks, names and notation

I have tried to consistently cite the original posts, original videos or their
reuploads of tricks as they were created or given a name.
[85] A13X, Lever trick. 20130310, youtu.be/AufhKDxFuzw

[86] A13X, Dual pass. 20130317, youtu.be/D5cvk0TAA_4
[87] ayaNo, Bending finger charge. 20190101, youtu.be/JdttvbsLrv0
[88] Beck, Overlapping powerpasses. 20200325, youtu.be/7onoLvqHnYM
[89] Beige, Beige trick. Named by Sirapob. 20171016, youtu.be/UJshN7oIpog
[90] Chronos, East sonic. 20070318,
thefpsbv2.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?p=83282
[91] ChucKo (CardSharper), Warped sonic. 20060208,
www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/the-warped-sonic-article-t261.html
[92] Crasher, Cyclone, Hurricane, Storm, Moonsalt sonic, Under gunman.
It was either Crasher or one of Crasher’s middle school friends who named
these tricks (source: private conversation).
[93] Ctionist, Starburst stream. 20140502, youtu.be/MiuKsW79LVM
[94] darkou, Side around. 20080118, youtu.be/JWKE28b4l_w
20080117, thefpsbv2.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=7223
[95] DArKT, Stable fall. 20210103,
twitter.com/DArKTpsb/status/1345508168470814720
[96] David Weis, Continuous BackAround 1.5. 2009 revision where he specified
the date of discovery, davidweis.com/PencilSpinning
[97] Drowsy, Comet. 20190212,
twitter.com/Drowsignal/status/1095289430699520006
[98] Drowsy, NGO. 20200801, youtu.be/rp-de1Iqd5w;
twitter.com/Drowsignal/status/1289533769662128132
http://foggle1214.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-191.html
[99] Drowsy, Electric fan, Ora ora, Big storm, Geji geji.
Wazagacha, 2020, drowsignal.github.io/wazagacha/
[100] Eso, Flick. The trick creator is unknown, but he named it.
200705, www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/flick-t6953.html
[101] Eso, Waterfall. Discussion thread, 200712, [v3:2836]
Tricks, names and notation 295
[102] FallenSeraph, Korean Sonic (name). 20060804,

www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/tipped-sonic-t2241-s15.html#p1024411
[103] Fel2Fram, Powerpass. 20110608, youtu.be/OYXbU4ku0k4
20111031 youtu.be/zyRBHBjvygU
[104] Fel2Fram, 1p1h twirls. 20120221, youtu.be/5eUlxRA4Ml0
[105] Fel2Fram, In-out charges. 20130412, youtu.be/vkvMbVqiYW4
[106] Fel2Fram, Japanese motion. 20130413, youtu.be/x8TGw_oKwDs
[107] Fire@fox, Hexagon sonic. 20140314, youtu.be/GjCMP1_q9vQ
[108] Iteza, Fishtail. 20180223, youtu.be/327ZV0mXVog
[109] Fratleym, Side Sonic. 20070831, youtu.be/KYSAXVBTzOM
[110] Fratleym, Swuck. 20101213, youtu.be/ObsYZiKHaN0
thefpsb.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=9936
[111] Freeman, Palmhold, middlehold. 20081026, [v3:12977]
Freeman, 20081220, [v3:14906]
[112] Freeman, Air clap. 20100110, youtu.be/fIExS0d7kt0
[113] grsbmd, Tipped sonic & Tipped charge. 20060805,
www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/tipped-sonic-t2241-s30.html#p1028014
[114] Hideaki, Tornado. 2001, youtu.be/QFRoJ2RoaPI
[115] Ian Juggler, Fishing. 20170126, youtu.be/4sjwgd2Wxu8
[116] Jamie Enns, Powerpass. 20100925, youtu.be/aRr65-_7TqY
20101106 (see comments) youtu.be/tGBJvw6VCaM
[117] kangandgeon, Shadow. 2002, www.pentrix.com/upsb2/viewtopic.php?t=3813
On his site, go to tricks → shadow. penspinning.is.dreaming.org
[118] Kanonier, Kanonier trick. 20101016, youtu.be/fvs09kk5RZ4
[119] Kam, Butterfly. The Pentrix video is lost, its breakdown is in [v3:1040].
[120] Kam, K3LC. 20070923, [v3:923]
[121] Kam, Leigun. Discussion thread, 2003,
[122] kasra12321, Around the world. 20070121,
www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/around-the-world-t4859.html
[123] Kay, Stop & go. 20190305, youtu.be/BKKNwJGa1NY
20200825, youtu.be/QIm9EE392so
296 References
[124] kazuhi, Hook. 2001, www.geocities.co.jp/Athlete-Acropolis/4837/hook.htm

[125] Kelvinchan, Kamehameha. 2005,
www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/kamehameha-t376.html
[126] kensai, Passaround. 20040127, www.pentrix.com/upsb2/viewtopic.php?t=1123
[127] Key3, Symmetrical backaround. youtu.be/BSDz4Mf03hA
[128] Key3, Flush sonic. Threads by Fratleym, 20071106, [v3:1878]
thefpsbv2.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=6326
[129] Le0n, Palmtap, dual pass, devil’s conversion, reconversion. 20080211,
youtu.be/WqU0hKcgy-8
[130] Lindor, Straight sonic. 20080112, youtu.be/bSCjXduTIIc
[131] Lindor, Spider tricks. 20081110, youtu.be/BePOlPmKedY
[132] Lindor, Fist tricks, spider snap, devil’s windshield wiper. 20081110,
youtu.be/kQp6EzkjCFs
[133] Lindor, Swivel. 20090213, youtu.be/mI19-gmxHiM
[134] Lindor, Soft tap. 20090303, youtu.be/WIZjHAnwmzE
[135] Lindor, Lever. 20090407, youtu.be/LHXIMQwwL7M;
Name change twitter.com/Tchus_FPSB/status/1338788900349894656
[136] LMnet, Triangle infinity. 20070917, youtu.be/jkIOqnlWhlY
[137] Lunatik, Helicopter. 20080909, [v3:10804]
[138] Menowa*, Advanced spiderspin. 20110716, youtu.be/UCEItfnbXIQ
[139] NooBenjy, Quadrangle pass. 20080928, youtu.be/5fAAeo4sivw
[140] nhk_9, NHK’s 7-loop combo. Discussion thread,
www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/nhk-39-s-7-loop-combo-thread-t599.html
[141] nhk_9, Air baktap. Video reupload, youtu.be/ASVSfpzwJew
[142] nhk_9, Thumb-tap. Reupload, youtu.be/CUwEBAasadA. Update log, 200309,
ca.geocities.com/nhk_9/troposphere/news.html
[143] nhk_9, Twisted pass. Circa 2003, youtu.be/wTQFAx1kuy0
Discussion thread, also mentions that nhk_9 named extended infinity,
www.pentrix.com:80/upsb2/viewtopic.php?t=1033
[144] OhYeah!, Seasick pass. 20171005,
twitter.com/HighBlade16/status/915620858453831680
[145] Pain Spleener, Cheat around. 20141108,
thefpsb.1fr1.net/t2622-new-trick-cheat-around
[146] Picool, P-rial. Discussion thread, 20080119, [v3:3395]
www.upsb.info/wiki/index.php/P-rial
[147] Pierre, Copper stall. Discussion thread, 20080403, [v3:5163]
[148] Ponkotu, Zipower pass. 20130629, youtu.be/Lt3kYbVOG60
[149] ps-728, Naniwa pass. 20061122,
psn728.blog62.fc2.com/blog-entry-95.html
[150] Pyralux, Armaround. 20080602
thefpsbv2.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?p=221171#p221171
[151] RPD, Pseudo around. 20130618, youtu.be/KoXV4PGvS04
[152] Siva, 8 types of co...sonic. 20190907, youtu.be/qM_OF7gohEQ
[153] Skahars, Snake around. 20080721 [v3:8723]
[154] Skatox, Cobra bite & Twisted cobra bite. 20070426,
20070427, youtu.be/wfmWwhyNAKc
[155] Smile, Bend tap. 20081109, youtu.be/108ulXmffXU;
Smile, 20081108, archive.org/details/2008-11-08-smile-bend-tap
[156] Spinnerpeem, Hai Tua. 20080812, youtu.be/mqiz2-l7qEo
[157] Spinnerpeem, Pun new. 20100425, youtu.be/u3d-sV24cTQ
[158] Supawit, Switch spread. 20100806, youtu.be/RnBgbIsWsFk
[159] Sutomo, Izumi reflect. 20130406, youtu.be/A-QCas88Ias
[160] $weety, Infinity return. 20080224, youtu.be/3VSUSVRUqQ8;
[161] Taber, 1.5 turn upside down flip. 2021312,
twitter.com/TaberPS/status/1370307091026616321
[162] Tchus & Blue, Triangle wiper. 20140728,
thefpsb.1fr1.net/t2491-triangle-wiper
[163] Tohlz, Chaos. youtu.be/6kV9v3sTHTM. Discussion thread, 20060505,
www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/chaos-combo-thread-t1136.html
[164] Tohlz, Hypersonic. History Committee post, 20050822,
www.upsb.info/forums/showthread.php?t=22
[165] Tohlz, Teleporter. Discussion thread, 20060829,
298 References
www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/tohlz-39-s-teleport-t2606.html#p1096533
[166] Tohlz, Windshield wiper. 20051024,
upsb.info/forums/showthread.php?t=117
[167] Zoda, Flick TA. 20081110, youtu.be/tI8FIrbVp1w;
Zoda, 20081012, archive.org/details/2008-10-12-zoda-flick-ta
· Other notation or trick name related posts
[168] Pentix videos and trick list, Kam, 2000-02,

pentix.modenstudios.com/videos/index.html
[169] Pentix learning order, Aug 2002,
www.pentrix.com/pentix/faqs/learningorder.htm
[170] Pentrix tricks database, Kam, 2004-07,
www.pentrix.com/tricks/pafiledb.php
[171] Pentrix updated learning order, 2003.
www.pentrix.com/articles/images/learning_order.gif
[172] Phya’s trick list, Sep 10, 2004, pentrix.com/upsb2/viewtopic.php?t=2604
[173] Trick list DaftSystem et al., 2006-2008,
thefpsbv2.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?p=27703
[174] Japanese notation method Penspinorder, Atwiki, 2014,
w.atwiki.jp/penspinorder/pages/902.html
[175] PenstudioZ “Devil & demon compilation”, youtu.be/nJzx8HiKB9o
[176] Perfect I 20071231, w.atwiki.jp/ps_s/sp/pages/95.html
[177] Triple charge discussion thread, 2006,
www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/triple-charge-t152.html
[178] Spread Discussion thread, 20090224, [v3:17613]
[179] De’vo, Cobra cut (XCM precursor of the cobra stall) youtu.be/gAMSqbHkf5A
[180] Random tricks Discussion thread, 20071220, [v3:2828]
[181] Ponkotu 3 years solo 20091018, youtu.be/lNov9pApdzQ?t=35
[182] Leftfinger, Powerpass show. 20170107, youtu.be/JbEh_KdCWyM
[183] Novy, Fingerpass. (Record, 99 in 1 minute) 20100801, youtu.be/b8UqLUmSBe8
[184] Vain, powerpass tutorial. 20210322, youtu.be/MS4q-Pd5pEs
[185] Korean pass. Tutorial, 20070225, youtu.be/4KPSrfbhVWg
Discussion, 20070513, thefpsbv2.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=4329

[186] Korean ext TA. Tutorial, 20080508, youtu.be/WHZ873TYhZY
Discussion, 20080507, thefpsbv2.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=8742
[187] Toshiko sonic. Riu’s website, 20081229, spinex.exblog.jp/10975736/
[188] Mesi, 2018 Jul. - Dec. solo by mesi. 20190113, youtu.be/wnrz3v58hmc
[189] 수평돌리기. twitter.com/PluspenT/status/1004558980637601795
[190] Zombo, BasketBall Spin "Tutorial". 20061102, youtu.be/G4o_RowlZXg
[191] Zombo, BasketBall Spin Double Transfer. 20061102,
youtu.be/wZSBJBitJ3c
[192] JNK, Youtube channel. www.youtube.com/channel/UC4RwuYiTF1TAS8yEU6wA4ew
[193] aaa, basketball spin 5.0. 20080319 youtu.be/l_2ku_5eWMU
[194] i.suk, isuk’s grimoire, chapters 1-4.
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3gxEupSifW8j9Dzzxh63w5-u7INkQEPD
[195] Half windmill First recorded instance, Aysh, 20030528,
jbbs.shitaraba.net/bbs/read.cgi/sports/7481/1053607897/
[196] Phya, Evolution. History Committee, 20050426,
[197] Windmill PenSpinningWiki,
www.penspinning.info/wiki/wiki.cgi?page=ウィンドミル
[198] Hal, Penspinning minor & old tricks, 20140413, youtu.be/8D7vvQDqmF4
[199] Blaze ring Various sources and tutorials:
Freeman, 20110526, youtu.be/ifvcoIpt8pk;
Lindor, 20110508, youtu.be/EJDdOCYZh2Q;
Menowa, 20160911, youtu.be/vJA5Qjtsjro
[200] Continuous powerpass Various sources and tutorials:
fire@fox, 20090330, youtu.be/a5BG6OZI1XI;
van, 20120329, youtu.be/7EBaPkK8djQ;
smile, 20120619, youtu.be/kxrqMvtjXPE;
blue, 20130530, youtu.be/Agt59-kJUBI,
thefpsb.1fr1.net/t1610-pp-still-pp-with-thumb
[201] Out-in sonic Various sources and tutorials:
Banz, 20060930, youtu.be/IEBFrRS_Tps
JPSF, 20180320, youtu.be/KyYk036eBXk
[202] Square pass Various sources and tutorials:
300 References
Fire@Fox, 20100514, youtu.be/2uojXIpKu8M;

3ternity, 20111008, youtu.be/LZX1_JSp-r8;
Enzo, 20111030, youtu.be/EF2yJjj0InI;
PPM (taught by i.suk), 20161126, youtu.be/dIL9ObD2aCo;
i.suk (fc version, orig. by Zarne), 20171207, youtu.be/PaMZnPq-86I
[203] Zombo on “RevToBak”, 20070529, www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/fake-
reverse-to-backaround-t7021.html#p1566436
[204] Sketching on “Shadow vs Sonic”, 20050929,
[205] Dongza on “Bust”, 20061112,
www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/bust-discussions-t3882.html#p1264748
[206] Kam, David Weis and nhk_9 discuss how a true backaround fall would be
done, end up with neobak fall. 200306
[207] Sketching on “Rise and fall”, 20070510,
www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/rise-fall-t6683.html#p1539057
[208] Jamie Enns on the evolution of the “Powerpass” name, 2015 (see comments)
youtu.be/aRr65-_7TqY
[209] Jamie Enns on the nature of a swivel as a fingerless sonic, 20090409 [v3:19321].
[210] Fratleym on the difficulty and interest of basketball spin,
https://thefpsbv2.penspinning.fr/viewtopic.php?p=40649#p40649
[211] Kam on the definition of Faked, 20050112,
[212] Tohlz and Phya on K4LC, 20050424,
International tournaments
[213] WT07 - World Tournament 2007
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-wt07
Videos & pairings [spsc:3641]
All pairings [thpsc:t177-wt07-world-tournament-2007]
Official site www.alexsimpsononline.com/worldtournament07.html
Participants and rounds
www.penspinning.info/wiki/wiki.cgi?page=World+Tournament+2007
[214] TST - Team Spinning Tournament
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-tst
[215] WC08 - World Cup 2008

Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-wc08
All pairings [thpsc:t178-wc08-world-cup-2008]
WC rulebook proposal [v3:97]
WC idea proposal [v3:96][v3:1991]
Official site www.alexsimpsononline.com
Draw [v3:2139]
R1 [v3:3394] R2 [v3:4228] R3 [v3:4901] R4 [v3:5867]
Final videos youtu.be/pzjVea2-jaI Prizes [v3:7081]
Results www.upsb.info/wiki/index.php/World_Cup
[216] AC08 - Asian Cup 2008
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-ac08
All pairings [thpsc:t184-ac08-asian-cup-2008]
waza.penspinning.jp/2018/05/24/asian-cup-2008/
w.atwiki.jp/penspinorder/pages/913.html
Rules The rulebook hasn’t been recovered yet.
Pairings & videos [spsc:1353] Info [v3:14143]
Official site www.alexsimpsononline.com/rounds.html
R1 [v3:16825][v3:16201][v3:15665]
R2 [v3:17987][v3:17445][v3:16826]
R3 [v3:18673][v3:18374][v3:17988]
R4 [v3:19361][v3:19045][v3:18696]
R5 [v3:20098][v3:19824][v3:19368]
R6 [v3:20492][v3:20735][v3:20146]
Discussion [v3:20754]
[218] WC10 - World Cup 2010
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-wc10 [v3:21561]
All pairings [thpsc:t180-wc10-world-cup-2010][spsc:2482]
Official site worldpenspinning.com/wc10/
Brainstorm [v3:21074] Rosters [v3:22888]
Qualifications [v3:21560][v3:22628]
R1 [v3:23545] R2 [v3:24087] R3 [v3:24764]
R4 [v3:25184] R5 [v3:25678] Discussion [v3:26330]
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-wt11 [v4:632]
Official site www.worldpenspinning.com/?p=607
Lineups [v4:2872] Discussion [v4:5830]
302 References
R1 [v4:3488][v4:3935] R2 [v4:3936][v4:4297]
R3 [v4:4302][v4:4673] R4 [v4:4674][v4:5064]
R5 [v4:5065][v4:5441] R6 [v4:5442][v4:5829]
s777 quits [v4:7531]
[220] WC12 - World Cup 2012
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-wc12 [v4:6586]
Official site worldps.org/wc12
Groups [v4:9343] Discussion [v3:5662]
R1 [v4:9470][v4:9699] R2 [v4:9700][v4:9998]
R3 [v4:10001][v4:10300] R4 [v4:10302][v4:10648]
R5 [v4:10651][v4:11019] R6 [v4:11020][v4:11410]
Sly youtu.be/yMpie2vQfTg Minwoo youtu.be/wK72anrRzLE
All pairings [thpsc:t183-wt13-world-tournament-2013] [v3:13894]
Official site worldps.org/wt13 YT channels [v4:13929]
Info [v4:12783][v4:12963][spsc:5313][spsc:4882]
R1 [v4:13946][v4:14076][v4:14206][spsc:5312][spsc:5328]
R2 [v4:14208][v4:14353][v4:14414][spsc:5329]
R3 [v4:14416][v4:14550][v4:14611][spsc:5345]
R4 [v4:14625][v4:14746][v4:14787][spsc:5360]
R5 [v4:14799][v4:14909][v4:14947][spsc:5372]
R6 [v4:15032][v4:14949][spsc:5383]
Judging complaint [v4:14215]
[222] WC14 - World Cup 2014
Rules The rulebook hasn’t been recovered yet. [v4:15786]
Official site worldps.org/wc14
Qualification [v4:16189][v4:16294][spsc:5791]
worldps.org/wc14/?p=11
Rosters worldps.org/wc14/?p=24
Group stage info [spsc:5901] worldps.org/wc14/?p=26
R1 [v4:16349][v4:16382][v4:16435][v4:16472][spsc:5902]
R2 [v4:16473][v4:16563][spsc:5945]
R3 [v4:16597][v4:16659][v4:16718][v4:16738][spsc:5971]
R4 [v4:16739][v4:16821][v4:16856][spsc:5978]
R5 [v4:16857][v4:16891][v4:16934][v4:16971]
Final announcement worldps.org/wc14/?p=93
[223] WT15 - World Tournament
Participants [spsc:6081] worldps.org/wt15/?page_id=45
R1 [spsc:6082] worldps.org/wt15/?p=73
[224] PWT - Pendolsa World Tournament
Official site doobugi77.wixsite.com/worldtournament
Participants [spsc:6653]
doobugi77.wixsite.com/worldtournament/appliying-community
Twitter twitter.com/official_pwt
Schedule doobugi77.wixsite.com/worldtournament/schedule
YT channel www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzkHvKXEojyl1qEwxxa80A
Qualifications [spsc:6672]
R1 [spsc:6684] R2 [spsc:6695] R3 [spsc:6696]
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-wt17 worldps.org/rules
Official site worldps.org
Participants worldps.org/participants
R1 [spsc:6708] worldps.org/2017/07/30/groups
R2 [spsc:6710] worldps.org/2017/08/28/round-2-matchups-out
[226] TWC18 - Team World Cup 2018
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-twc18
Official site teamworldcup.wordpress.com
Twitter twitter.com/teamworldcup_ps
Lineups teamworldcup.wordpress.com/2018/10/04/the-teams/
[227] PSO18 - Pen Spinning Olympics 2018
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-pso18
Official site penspinningolympics.wordpress.com
304 References

Rules archive.org/details/2019-wt-19-rules
Official site pen-spinning.com/wt19
Judges pen-spinning.com/wt19/judges.php
All participants [spsc:8684]
A side pen-spinning.com/wt19/wta.php
B side pen-spinning.com/wt19/wtb.php
[229] WC20 - World Cup 2020
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-wc20
Twitter twitter.com/worldcup_ps
Official site pen-spinning.com/wc20
Tie twitter.com/worldcup_ps/status/1266790726022684673
SPSC [spsc:8677]
[230] PSO20 - Pen Spinning Olympics 2020
Rules archive.org/details/ps-rulebooks-pso20
Twitter twitter.com/PSOlympics2020
Official site pen-spinning.com/pso20
Rules archive.org/details/2021-wt-21-rules
Twitter twitter.com/PenSpinning_WT
Official site wt21.worldps.org/
Youtube www.youtube.com/channel/UC1R5RY4f8f4mumwQsbWnDww/
Boards and related sites

[232] UPSB - Universal Pen Spinning Board (English-speaking countries)
Pentix board “UPSB v1” pub11.ezboard.com/bpentix
(New domain) www.pentrix.com/upsb/
SuperhandZ forum p210.ezboard.com/fsuperhandzfrm124
UPSB v2 www.pentrix.com/upsb2/
UPSB v3 1st www.upsb.info/forums/portal.php
UPSB v3 2nd www.upsb.info/forum/index.php
v3 archive upsb-v3.spin-archive.org
UPSB v4 forum.upsb.info
v4 archive upsb-v4.spin-archive.org
UPSB Wiki www.upsb.info/wiki/
UPSB v5 www.upsb.info/xforum/index.php
Boards and related sites 305
[233] UCPSB - UCPSB: the Collective Pen Spinning Board (English)

UCPSB v1 ucpsb.forumup.com/index.php
UCPSB v2 z15.invisionfree.com/UCPSB/index.php
(New domain/archive) www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucpsb/
[234] Official UPSB Battles Archive
brc.hollosite.com
upsb.coolinc.info
mwahaha91.rbhscsf.org/UPSB/
[235] Pen spinning research room
www.tcup5.com/511/konhide.html
bbs.nazca.co.jp/10/konhide/
ybbs.nazca.co.jp/1/konhide/
jbbs.livedoor.jp/sports/7481/
jbbs.shitaraba.net/sports/7481/
[236] JEB - JapEn Board (Japan)
JEB v1 penspinning.jp.land.to/phpBB2/index.php
JEB v2 jeb.s3.zmx.jp
JEB v3 japenboard.org
[237] FPSB - French Pen Spinning Board (French-speaking countries)
Cubeforum cubeforum.c9radio.com
FPSB v1 la3e2.free.fr/FPSB/
FPSB v2 thefpsb.free.fr
v2 archive thefpsbv2.penspinning.fr
FPSB v3 thefpsb.penspinning.fr
FPSB v4 www.thefpsb.com
FPSB v5 forum.penspinning-france.fr
[238] 연필돌리기까페 - Pencil Turning Cafe (Korea)
cafe.daum.net/panspin
[239] 펜돌사 - PenDolSa (Korea)
cafe.naver.com/no1penspiners
[240] Naver펜돌사 - Naver PenDolSa (Korea),
also known as KPDS - Korean PenDolSa
cafe.daum.net/990701
[241] UKPS - United Korea Pen Spinning (Korea)
cafe.daum.net/PDSKIN
[242] KPSA - new Korean Pen Spinning Association (Korea)
cafe.daum.net/Kpsa
306 References
[243] KIPS - Korean Institute for Pen Spinning (Korea)

cafe.naver.com/penspinningkips
[244] PSTB - Pen Spinning Tieba (Mainland China)
tieba.baidu.com/f
[245] PSH - PSerHome (Mainland China)
pserhome.chinadance.cn
www.pserhome.com
[246] Yahoo groups
Troposphere English group
groups.yahoo.com/groups/PenSpin_Troposphere1
Troposphere Chinese group
hk.groups.yahoo.com/group/PenSpin_Troposphere
Troposphere Japanese group www.egroups.co.jp/group/penmawashi
Taiwan Pen Spinning tw.club.yahoo.com/clubs/pens
Pentrix Yahoo group tw.club.yahoo.com/clubs/pentrix
[247] KCF - KiT-CaT Pen Spinning Forum (Hong Kong)
kitcat.hkjzone.com
www.kitcat-tricks.net
[248] PZ - Penzone (Hong Kong)
www.penzone.org
[249] HKPSA - Hong Kong Pen Spinning Association (Hong Kong)
Created when KiT-CaT and Penzone merged on July 2008.
www.hkpsa.com
[250] TWPS - TaiWanese Pen Spinning forum (Taiwan)
penspin.net
[251] VPC - Vietnam Pen spinning Council (Vietnam)
vpcenter.freeforums.org
[252] VNPSB - VietNam Pen Spinning Board (Vietnam)
vnpsb.net/index.php
[253] PPSC - Pinoy Pen Spinning Community (Philippines)
ppsc.darkbb.com
[254] PHPS - PHilippines Pen Spinning (Philippines) (Facebook group)
[255] SPSC - Spanish Pen Spinning Community (Spanish-speaking cs.)
Penspinning-latino (SPSC v1) www.foros.net/penmexico.html
SPSC v2 spsc.es
(New domain) penspinning.es
Boards and related sites 307
[256] FLPS - Foro Latino de Pen Spinning (Spanish-speaking countries)

penspin.notlong.com
[257] LSPSC - Latin-Spanish Pen Spinning Community (Spanish-speaking coun-
tries) Closed whatsapp group, now merged with SPSC.
[258] RPSC - Russian Pen Spinning Community (Russia)
ru-penspinning.ru
penspinning.clan.su
penspinning.org
[259] SPSB - Soviet Pen Spinning Board (Russia)
penspinning.su
[260] KzPSC/KPSC - Kazakhstan Pen Spinning Board (Russia)
www.penspin.ucoz.kz
penspinning.kz/forum/
[261] Pen Spinning Club (Russia)
vk.com/pen_spinning_club
[262] THPSC - ThaiSpinner (Thailand)
www.thaispinner.com
thaispinner.forumth.com
[263] BPSC - Belgian Pen Spinning Community (Belgium)
www.penspinning-be.com
[264] GPC - German Pen spinning Community (Germany)
www.penspinning.de
[265] BRPSB - Brasil Pen Spinning Board (Brazil)
forum.brpsb.com.br
[266] PPP - Polish Pen spinning Portal (Poland)
penspinning.pl
[267] MyPSC - Malaysian Pen Spinning Community (Malaysia)
mypsc.30.forumer.com
[268] SGPSC - Singapore Pen Spinning Community (Singapore)
sgpsc.forum.st
[269] PUPSC - Pulau Ubin Pen Spinning Community (Singapore)
Closed whatsapp/telegram groups.
[270] IPSB - Indonesian Pen Spinning Board (Indonesian)
www.indopenspin.com/forum
[271] LPSA - Liechestein Pen Spinning Association
308 Index
Not for Liechestein but a private, invite only board.

psws-blog.de/board/index.php
[272] SweSpin (Sweden)
www.swespin.se
[273] PSUK - Pen Spinning United Kingdom (United Kingdom)
www.penspin.co.uk
penspinuk.freeforums.org/portal.php
[274] NLPSB - Netherlands Pen Spinning Community (Netherlands)
nlpsc.actieforum.com
[275] QPSB - Quebec Pen Spinning Board (Quebec)
quebecpenspinning.forumactif.net
[276] DPSB - Danish Pen Spinning Board (Denmark)
dpsb.forumup.dk
[277] SPC - Swiss Pen spinning Community (Switzerland)
www.penspinning.ch
[278] ITPSB - ITalian Pen Spinning Board (Italy)
www.penspinning.eu/itpsb/index.php
www.penspinning.it
[279] APC - Austrian Pen spinning Community (Austria)
www.psaustria.gnx.at
[280] CLPSA - ChiLean Pen Spinning Association
www.penspinning.cl
[281] TPC - Turkish Pen spinning Community (Turkey)
penspinning-tr.com
[282] AusPSA - Australian Pen Spinning Association (Australia)
s1.zetaboards.com/GWSC/index/
[283] EuRaPen, European board for those who didn’t like UCPSB, by Fratleym
and Tourneffaceur
eurapen.free.fr/index.php
[284] IPSC - International Pen Spinning Community
www.facebook.com/groups/internationalPenSpinningCommunity
[285] Pen spinning subreddit
old.reddit.com/r/penspinning/
Trick index
Ayatoriトリック, 175 360 degree normal, 157
Itezaトリック, 156 360 degree reverse, 158
Key3トリック, 229 720 degree normal, 163
Pespラダ一, 238
TAリリ一ス, 162 233, 168
コミュ障ソニック, 192 360, 157
シメトリカルペン立て, 238
advanced spider spin, 206
シメペン立て, 238
aerial hai tua, 173
ペン立て, 238
AiMo pass, 146
ペン立てフリップ, 242
air baktap, 244
京大式アイソニック, 262
air clap, 248
伏せシメシャ, 202 airspin, 243
和泉リフレクト, 240 alex reverse, 195
大嵐, 194 alternate powerpass, 183
彗星, 176 angel sonic, 269
扇風機, 275 Angmaramyon-style infinity, 268
手伏せシメシャ, 202 antigravity, 176
指曲げチャ一ジ, 192 arc, 232
昇りガンリバ, 180 arm bust, 176
浪花パス, 254 armaround, 176
滑らしパス, 232 around, 153
無回転ペン立てフリップ, 242 around the world, 261
真パーフェクトアイ, 262 ASS, 206
縦スプレッド, 171 Ayatori trick, 175
蜘蛛プンニュ一, 207
蜘蛛旋転, 205 backaround, 164
蜘蛛旋転改, 206 backaround fall, 166
裏ソニック, 185 backhand bounce, 241
裏パス, 143 backhand powerpass, 179
釣り, 193 backhand powerpass reverse, 179
関節パワ一パス, 182 backhand tracer, 231
310 Index
backriser, 167 continuous backaround 1.5, 167

bak, 164 continuous bust, 169
bakfall, 166 continuous powerpass, 210
bakflip, 244 copper stall, 237
baktap, 219 copter spin, 209
balancing, 235 corkscrew, 208
basketball spin, 208 corkscrew wide, 208
BBS, 208 Coulomb combo, 266
Beige trick, 267 counter, 159
bend tap, 221 counter TA, 159
bending finger charge, 192 crystal, 267
big roll, 157 Cthulhu Sonic, 191
big storm, 194 cube, 251
blaze ring, 230 cyclone, 259
bofibo, 259
Bonkura trick, 266 DArKT trick, 220
Bonkura’s invisible sonic, 262 Darren tap, 220
bounce, 241 demon’s devil’s sonic, 271
bust, 169 demon’s sonic, 270
bust fishing, 193 demon’s spin, 270
butterfly, 275 devil’s around, 270
butterfly spin, 206 devil’s conversion, 271
devil’s demon’s sonic, 271
cancel, 255 devil’s horns, 237
cardioid, 228, 229 devil’s infinity, 271
chaos, 276 devil’s shadow, 271
charge, 184 devil’s sonic, 270
charge gatling, 257 devil’s sonic bust, 270
charge rev TA rev T1, 258 devil’s spin, 270
cheat around, 256 devil’s stall, 236
circle drawing, 184 devil’s windshield wiper, 272
classic finger twirl, 142 double, 199
classical sonic, 185 double charge, 148
co sonic, 192 double infinity, 225
cobra, 235 down, 232
cobra bite, 236 dragonaround, 267
cobra stall, 235 drill, 231
comet, 176 Drowsy motion, 194
compression powerpass, 182 drummer, 142, 250
Index 311
drumstick twirl, 184 fl TA rev 0.5, 217

dual pass, 209–211 flick, 217
flick 1.0, 218
east sonic, 146 flick T12-12, 252
elbow catch, 247 flick TA, 161
elbow pop, 247 floating passaround, 255
electric fan, 275 flush pass, 149
ext TA, 162 flush sonic, 190
extended 360 degree normal, 162 forward, 157
extended infinity, 226, 268 forward 1.5, 199
extended thumbaround, 162 forward 1&1/2, 199
forward 2.0, 199
fake double, 163 forward double, 199
fake reverse, 218 forward levitator, 246
fake reverse T12-12, 253 forward single, 157
fake triple, 251 four-three jump, 185
faked 180, 215 FP, 142
faked 360, 216 freedom drill, 231
faked index spin, 251 fuck you, 236
faked sonic, 184 Fukrou’s trick, 230
faked turn rewind, 258 fulltap, 216
falling fans, 264 fxxk, 172
figure 8, 224
fingerless normal, 160 gatling, 257
fingerless thumbaround, 160 geji geji, 260
fingerpass, 142 gravity backaround, 255
fingerswitch, 233 gunman, 153
fishing, 193 gyrating twirl, 184
fishtail, 193
fist bust fishing, 193 hai tua, 172
fist snap, 248 hai tua release, 173
fist spin, 206 hai tua riser, 173
fist stall, 237 half faked normal, 215
fist tap, 222 half faked reverse, 218
fl IA > palmspin, 204 half fingerpass, 144
fl IA > spider spin, 207 half gunman, 143, 155
fl TA, 160 half spin, 215
fl TA > palmspin, 203 half windmill, 223
fl TA > spider spin, 205 halftap, 215
312 Index
hand bust, 174 Jp motion, 148

hand stall, 236
handaround, 174 K3LC, 273
helicopter, 157, 243 K4LC, 272
helix, 229, 268 K4LC light, 273
hexagon sonic, 266 K7LC, 273
hook, 220 kaleidoscope, 230
horizontal stall, 235 Kam’s 3 loop combo, 273
horizontal thumb snap, 246 Kam’s 4 loop combo, 272
horns stall, 237 Kam’s 4 loop combo light, 273
hurricane, 259 Kam’s 7 loop combo, 273
hypersonic, 276 Kam’s neobak combo, 273
kamehameha, 247
IA, 153 Kanonier trick, 229
in-out charge, 151 Key3 trick, 229
in-out sonic, 263 knuckle powerpass, 182
index fishing, 193 knuckle spin, 206
index spin, 153 Korean backaround, 165
indexaround, 153 Korean extended thumbaround,
indexspin, 199, 200 257
infinity, 225 Korean pass, 257
infinity loop, 225 Korean sonic, 151
infinity return, 267
inv tw sonic, 146 L spin, 269
inverse powerpass, 178 ladder, 151
inverse shadow, 202 leigun, 248
inverse sonic, 185 Leon’s 4 loop combo, 274
inverse triangle pass, 213 Letterman toss, 246
inverse triangle spun pass, 213 lever, 194, 239
inverse twisted sonic, 146 lever trick, 194
invisible sonic, 262 levitator, 246
invisiblepass, 233 linear spin, 209
iSonic, 262 linear spun pass, 210, 211
iSonic beyond iSonic, 262
Iteza trick, 156 MA, 153
Izumi reflect, 240 mafibo, 241
magical reset, 233
Japanese motion, 148 Masaki’s 4 loop combo, 275
joint powerpass, 182 Menowa stall, 237
Index 313
Menowa* powerpass, 182 OC Forward 1.5, 269

metronome, 238 offering, 236
mid-air flip, 245 one finger spin, 269
middlearound, 153 ora ora, 260
middlehold, 234 out-in charge, 151
middlespin, 199 out-in sonic, 263
mirrored powerpass, 179 overlapping powerpass, 183
mirrored powerpass reverse, 180
MISS, 189 p-rial, 247
Mitsuki’s fake sonic, 187 PA, 153
moonsalt sonic, 265 palm mirrored powerpass, 181
moonwalk sonic, 186 palm mirrored powerpass reverse,
MPR, 180 181
muscle around, 176 palm MPR, 181
palm powerpass, 178, 180
N3LC, 274 palm powerpass reverse, 181
N7LC, 274 palm rotation, 203
Naniwa pass, 254 palm swuck, 197
naughty girls online, 177 palmaround, 169
neo around, 156 palmbackaround, 169
neo under backaround, 166 palmhold, 234
neo-bak flip, 244 palmspin, 203
Neo233, 168 palmtap, 219
neobackaround, 202 palmwiper, 228
neobak, 202 pass, 143
NeoSA, 168 passaround, 155
NeoSA233, 168 passless, 255
neosonic, 154 Peemspin, 203
NGO, 177 pen stand flip, 242
NHK’s 3-loop combo, 274 Pesp ladder, 238
NHK’s 7-loop combo, 274 Phya’s 9 loop wiper-based combo,
ninja hai tua, 172 274
Noel stall, 237 pinkyaround, 153
normal riser, 162 pinkybak cardioid, 229
normalizer, 162 pinkybust cardioid, 229
NX식네오백배감기, 168 pinkyswivel, 196
powerpass, 179
oarashi, 194 powerpass reverse, 179
OC Fingerpass, 269 powerpass still, 210
314 Index
ps-728 pass, 254 script spin, 201

pseudo around, 156 seasick, 232
pseudo inverse sonic, 266 seasick pass, 232
pseudo sonic, 187 semi reverse, 218
pseudo twisted sonic, 266 sew, 149
PU Fl TA reverse, 195 shade, 267
pun kan, 176 shadow, 201
pun new, 204 shafibo, 166
shafibo typhoon, 258
quadrangle pass, 214 shuttle roll, 159
quadruple infinity, 226 side around, 261
quarter of fingerpass, 143 side flush sonic, 191
side sonic, 188
RA, 153 sidespin, 200
Raimo backaround, 166 simple thumb spin, 157
Raimo pinkybust, 170 single, 157
Rarka trick, 203 single axel, 199
rear pass, 143 single infinity, 225
rear sonic, 185 skyhigh sonic, 265
reconversion, 271 slide, 232
reverse 1.5, 199 sliding pass, 232
reverse 1&1/2, 199 slipped sonic, 187
reverse 2.0, 199 snake around, 270
reverse double, 199 snap flip, 244
reverse roll, 158 snap pass, 155
reverse thumb spin, 158 snaparound, 261
reverse to backaround, 250 soft tap, 221
reversible drummer, 250 sommersault sonic, 265
RevToBak, 250 sonic, 185
Rex trick, 175 sonic bust, 261
ringaround, 153 sonic clip, 187
rishabo, 259 sonic hineri, 144
rising fans, 263 sonic still, 187
roll, 230 sonic transfer, 263
spider fulltap, 222
SA233, 168 spider gun, 249
saw, 149 spider pun new, 207
scissor spin, 207 spider snap, 249
Scissor spin ~> Fl TA, 208 spider spin, 204, 205
Index 315
spider stall, 237 TA harmo, 159

spider tap, 222 TA release, 162
spiral sonic, 264 TA rev, 158
spread, 171 TA rev 0.5, 218
spread double, 163 TA riser, 162
square, 251 tap, 215
square pass, 214 TAR, 158
SS, 205 teleporter, 276
stable fall, 242 three fingertip spin, 212
stable jump, 242 three-two jump, 185
stairs, 185 thumb fishing, 193
stall, 235 thumb lever, 195
stall flip, 242 thumb snap, 245
starburst stream, 240 thumb spin, 157
stop and go, 241 thumb-tap, 159
storm, 259 thumbaround, 157
straight sonic, 156 thumbaround 0.5, 216
straight up flip, 154 thumbaround harmonic, 159
summersalt sonic, 265 thumbaround reverse, 158
super harmonic, 256 thumbindexspin, 199
super sonic 1, 264 thumbspin, 199
super sonic 2, 265 thumbspin rev 1.0, 218
swing, 239 tipped sonic, 151
swing combo, 275 Tohlz’s 6 link combo, 273
swirl, 196 Tohlz’s 7 loop combo, 274
switch, 179, 233 tornado, 162, 163
switch fingerpass, 183 Toshiko sonic, 264
switch pun new, 183 tossed normal, 254
switch spread, 183 total sonic rise, 264
swivel, 196 Totoro impulse, 261
swuck, 197 TP, 212
swuck around, 197 TPW, 227
symmetrical backaround, 172 transparent sonic, 189
symmetrical gunman, 153 triangle infinity, 227
symmetrical shadow, 202 triangle pass, 212
triangle pass en wiper, 227
t-pass, 212 triangle spin, 212
TA, 157 triangle spun pass, 212
TA 0.5, 216 triangle wiper, 227
316 Index
trick sonic, 266 Zombo, 197

trigger sonic, 264 Zombo continuous combo, 254
triple charge, 148 Zombo trick, 253
triple infinity, 226 Zombo’s 5 loop combo, 275
true devil’s around, 271
true perfect I, 262 アイソニック, 262
turn, 258 アイソニックを超えるアイソニ
turn rewind, 258 ック,
tw demon’s sonic, 272 262
tw sonic, 144 アウトインソニック, 263
twirl, 149, 150
アップ, 232
twisted cobra bite, 198
アレリバ, 195
twisted demon’s sonic, 272
アンダ一ガンマン, 153
twisted lever, 232
インアウトソニック, 263
twisted pass, 144, 268
インデックススピン, 200
twisted sonic, 144
インフィニティ, 225
twisted sonic bust, 170
イ一ストソニック, 146
two finger twirl, 149
ウェ一ブ, 148
two-thumb jump, 185
tws, 144 エアスピ, 243
エア一スピニング, 243
under gunman, 153 エンジェルソニック, 269
up, 232 オラオラ, 260
upside down flip, 242 カウンタ一, 159
カ一ジオイド, 228, 229
vertical spin, 154 ガトリング, 257
vertical stall, 238 ガンマン, 153
キャンセル, 255
warped sonic, 146
キュ一ブ, 251
waterfall, 260
wave, 148 クアドラプルインフィニティ,
Weis backaround, 165 226
west sonic, 147 クラシカルソニック, 185
windmill, 144 クリスタル, 267
windshield wiper, 239 ク一ロンコンボ, 266
wiper, 223 ゲジゲジ, 260
wrist spin, 209 コブラ, 235
コンティニュアススパイダ一ス
ZCC, 254 ピン,
zipower pass, 182 205
Index 317
コンティニュアスパ一ムスピン, スタ一バ一ストストリ一ム, 240

203 ストップ&ゴ一, 241
コントバスト, 169 スト一ム, 259
コントパワ一パス, 210 スナップフリップ, 244
コンパム, 203 スパイダ一スピン, 204
コンパワ, 210 スパイダ一プンニュ一, 207
コ一クスクリュ一, 208 スパイラルソニック, 264
サイクロン, 259 スプレッドダブル, 163
サイドスピン, 200 スリップトソニック, 187
サイドソニック, 188 ス一ドウソニック, 187
サイドフラッシュソニック, 191 ス一パ一ソニック１, 264
サマ一ソルトソニック, 265 ス一パ一ソニック２, 265
サムスナップ, 245 ス一パ一ハ一モニック, 256
サムフィッシング, 193 セミリバ一ス, 218
サムレバ一, 195 ソニひね, 144
シェイド, 267 ソニック, 185
シザ一スピン, 207 ソニックひねり, 144
シメシャ, 202 ソニックトランスファ一, 263
シメソニひね, 146 ソニックバスト, 261
シメトリカルガンマン, 153 ソ一, 149
シメトリカルシャドウ, 202 ダウン, 232
シメトリカルソニック, 185 ダブル, 199
シメトリカルソニックひねり, ダブルインフィニティ, 225
146 ダブルセミリバ一ス, 218
シメトリカルパス, 143 ダブルチャ一ジ, 148
シメパス, 143 ダ一レンタップ, 220
シャトルロ一ル, 159 チャ一ジ, 184
シャドウ, 201 チャ一ジガトリング, 257
シャフィ一ボ, 166 デビルズスピン, 270
シャフィ一ボタイフ一ン, 258 デビルズソニック, 270
シングル, 157 デモンズスピン, 270
シングルアクセル, 199 デュアルパス, 211
シングルアクセルソニック, 201 デ一モンズソニック, 270
ジャパニ一ズモ一ション, 148 トシコソニック, 264
ジャパモ, 148 トスィドノ一マル, 254
スイッチスプレッド, 183 トライアングルパス, 212
スカイハイソニック, 265 トラパ, 212
スクエア, 251 トリガ一ソニック, 264
スクエアパス, 214 トリックソニック, 266
318 Index
トリプルインフィニティ, 226 パ一ムアラウンド, 169

トリプルチャ一ジ, 148 パ一ムサイドパワ一パス, 180
トルネ一ド, 162, 163 パ一ムサイドパワ一パスリバ一
ドラマ一, 142, 250 ス,
ドリル, 231 181
ナウティ一ガ一ルズオンライン, パ一ムサイドミラ一ドパワ一パ
177 ス,
ナックルスピン, 206 181
ナックルパワパ, 182 パ一ムサイドミラ一ドパワ一パ
ネオサ, 168 スリバ一ス,
ネオソニック, 154 181
ネオバックアラウンド, 202 パ一ムスピン, 203
ノマライザ一, 162 パ一ムタップ, 219
ノ一マル, 157 ビッグロ一ル, 157
ハイツア, 172 フィッシュテ一ル, 193
ハイパ一ソニック, 276 フィッシング, 193
ハリケ一ン, 259 フィンガレ一スノ一マル, 160
ハンドバスト, 174 フィンガ一パス, 142
ハ一フウィンドミル, 223 フェイクトインフィニティ, 224
ハ一フガンマン, 155 フェイクトソニック, 184
ハ一フフェイクトガンマン, 243 フェイクトノ一マル, 216
ハ一フフェイクトノ一マル, 215 フェイクトリバ一ス, 218
ハ一フフェイクトリバ一ス, 218 フェイソニ, 184
ハ一モニック, 159 フォリングファンス, 264
バクアラ, 164 フック, 220
バクライザ一, 167 フラッシュソニック, 190
バスケットボ一ルスピン, 208 フラッシュパス, 149
バスト, 169 フリ一ダムドリル, 231
バックアラウンド, 164 プンニュ一, 204
バックタップ, 219 ヘキサゴンソニック, 266
バックハンドトラッカ一, 231 ヘリックス, 268
バックフリップ, 244 ボフィ一ボ, 259
バランスフリップ, 242 マフィ一ボ, 241
パス, 143 ミッドエア一フリップ, 245
パスアラウンド, 155 ミラ一ドパワ一パス, 179
パワパ, 179 ミラ一ドパワ一パスリバ一ス,
パワ一パス, 179 180
パワ一パスリバ一ス, 179 ム一ンウォ一クソニック, 186
パ一フェクトアイ, 262 ム一ンサルトソニック, 265
Index 319
ライジングファンス, 263 곤류윈드밀, 146

ラダ一, 151 꽃계단, 190
リシャ一ボ, 259
リバ一シブルドラマ一, 250 끝휘감기, 165
リバ一ス, 158 내리기, 223
リバ一ストゥバック, 250 내스위스트, 147
リバ一スロ一ル, 158 내회전내리기, 181
レイガン, 248 내회전오르기, 180
レックストリック, 175 넘기기, 207
レバ一トリック, 194 네오백, 168
네오백배감기, 168
亢龍有悔, 157 네티스트, 263
다니스트, 263
反轉, 158 대칭내회전내리기, 181
履霜冰至, 185 대칭내회전오르기, 181
대칭외회전내리기, 180
正轉, 157 대칭외회전오르기, 179
水蛇, 196 더블 덤프 어라운드, 160
더블 원그리기, 148
神龍擺尾, 226
더블원계단, 187
繞大拇指的, 157
더블윈드밀, 148
蜘蛛迴旋, 205 덤블링, 243
蜘蛛轉, 205 데이비드식 역휘감기, 165
見龍在田, 158 딱밤, 217
見龍在田跟亢龍有悔的連續, 159 똑딱이, 159
라이모백, 166
雙龍取水, 185 레버트릭, 194
飛龍在天, 201 레이건, 248
魚尾, 193 레이스, 208
렉스트릭, 175
검버돌리기, 253 리버스, 218
검수돌리기, 251 리버스 내리기, 253
검지 휘감기, 153, 162, 169 리버스백, 250
검지내리기, 251 릴리즈, 162
검지리버스, 253 무한 윈드밀, 148
검지배감기, 169 무회전계단, 151
검지수평돌리기, 251 문워크계단, 186
계단, 185 바운드, 207
계단일회전, 261 백스핀, 201
320 Index
백탭, 219 슬라이드, 232

백플립, 244 아래위돌리기, 270
베스킷볼스핀, 208 아래위로 돌리기, 270
북파식 역휘감기, 165 아래위휘감기, 270
아야토리 트릭, 175
사이드스핀, 200 아이소닉, 262
사이드탭, 215 안휘감기, 165
사지찰, 166 암스핀, 176
삼각돌리기, 212 암스핀투아, 176
삼각패스, 212 앙마라묜식 인피, 268
소닉버스트, 261 어드밴스드스파이더스핀, 206
손등d, 201 엄검휘, 257
손등돌리기, 201 엄돌, 157
손목휘감기, 198 엄지 내리기, 223
손바닥 돌리기, 203 엄지 올리기, 223
숏, 148 엄지돌리기, 157
수직, 144 엄지배감기, 160
수직 내리기, 144 엄지휘감기, 160
수직 올리기, 144 역검수돌리기, 252
수직 일회전, 154 역검지 휘감기, 153
수직일회전응용기, 151 역검지수평돌리기, 252
수직잡기, 253 역검지휘감기, 164
수평, 215 역내스위스트, 147
수평 돌리기, 215 역손목휘감기, 196
슉슉이, 196 역수직 일회전, 153
스냅인지휘감기, 257 역수평, 217
스냅플립, 244 역수평 내리기, 161
스위스트, 146 역스위스트, 146
스위치, 179 역엄수, 161
스위치 스프레드, 183 역엄수 돌리기, 161
스위치 핑거패스, 183 역엄지돌리기, 158
스위치펀뉴, 183 역엄지수평돌리기, 161
스윙, 239 역원역엄휘d, 258
스윙콤보, 275 옆검지 돌리기, 215
스퀘어패스, 214 옆수평, 215
스크류백, 208 옆수평 돌리기, 215
스타버스트 스트림, 240 옆엄지 돌리기, 216
스파이더스핀, 205, 206 옆윈드밀, 208
스프레드, 171 올려치기, 217
Index 321
올리기, 223 탭, 215

와이퍼, 223 턴, 258
와이퍼휘감기, 228 턴배감기, 258
외윈드밀, 146 트위스트, 270
외회전내리기, 179 팔목휘감기, 176
외회전오르기, 179 팔휘감기, 176
원 그리기, 184 팜스핀, 202, 203
원계단, 187 팜스핀(파워트릭), 203
윈드밀, 144 팜탭, 219
윈드스트, 269 패스, 144
이태자트릭, 156
펀뉴, 204
인덱스스핀, 200
페이크더블, 163
인지 휘감기, 162
페이크트리플, 251
인피니티, 225
풍검휘, 170
전환계단, 188
점핑역검휘, 167 풍차검지휘감기, 170
제자리계단, 187 플러쉬계단, 190
제페니즈모션, 148 피싱, 193
좀보, 197, 253 핑거패스, 142
좀보트릭, 253 하이투아, 172
짝네오백, 166 하이퍼소닉, 187
짝네오백4단, 166 확장인피니티, 268
짭턴배감기, 258 회전오르기, 155
초난강, 187 휘감기, 153
캔슬계단, 187 휘젓기, 225

Psbook

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Psbook

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Psbook

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Diego González (RPD)

Pen Spinning History

Please send your inquiries or suggestions to psnotation@gmail.com.

The book is organized as follows: The I

first part covers pen spinning history

the origins of various spinner communities

opment. Chapter 3 explains the history of

of them, as well as their impact in future generations of spinners.

The second part focuses on the language of pen spinning. Notation,

Improvements in the third edition − Community histories were

Acknowledgements − I want to thank everyone who has supported me,

309 Trick index

1.1 Pen spinning history

1.1.1 Before the internet (1970-1997)

Pen spinning started to get even

1.1.2 Personal web pages (1997-2002)

"Pen spinning research room"

Pen Spinning (Par�al transla�on to English)

Pen�x By Fernando Kuo / Kam

Pencil spinning By David Weis

by Chris and “Pentix” by Fernando Kuo, better known as Kam. In addition,

The concept of modifiers was introduced by Hideaki, inspired by organic

1.1.3 Forums (2002-2015)

Hideaki’s bulletin board proved to be an invaluable tool: It was an

The first forum to be created outside of Japan was the 연필돌리기까페

1.1.4 Social media (2016-)

1.2 Aspects of pen spinning

At the beginning, pen spinning consisted mainly of doing tricks separately,

The combos uploaded to the cafe

Pendolsa 1st is a promo (PV): a compilation of previously released videos

Inspired by this, other spinners organized more collaborative projects.

Another type of video also emerged at the time, which contained a

That introduction style would be continued to be used by another Japanese

Even though, at the beginning, the

Pentel Sharplet (Hideaki, 1997) 3000*F (nhk_9, 2003)

Eventually, Penspinstore (Pendolsa’s shop) imported RSVPs from the US,

RSVP V1, V2 and MX (Kam, 2003) Comssa DC (Mr.LSC, circa 2003)

We have seen the origins of double- and single-capped mods, but we

The single-capped style of modding was also perfected. Around 2006

Syrti G3 (Syrti, May 2010) Trinity mod (James, Jul 2012)

In 2009, 2011 and 2013, a Pen Modding World Tournament was

PEN’Z GEAR (2008) PENMAWASHI (2008)

As the popularity of pen spinning increased, factory-made mods were

Additionally, the Chinese spinner Eno worked towards creating parts

commemorative RSVPs (of PSAJ, UPSB, UCPSB, FPSB, JapEn), Aqua

Japen 4th G3, Bonkura PEN’Z GEAR and

As new tricks appeared, more advanced naming systems were made.

Since it was thought that pen spin-

Chapter 3 - “International tournaments” goes into a more detailed analysis of

In Japan, there are two yearly

On February 2, 2004, Aysh launched a website called ペン回し資料室 (Pen

On August 2005, ps-728 was in-

Pen spinning has had a strong presence in Japanese television. Even

In July 2007, the Pen Spinning Association Japan (PSAJ) was

On September 13, 2007, a tragedy struck the community. The highly

As for tournaments, the first one

respectively. 500 units of a limited edition PEN’Z GEAR were created in

dation (JPSF) was founded by Iteza, Takopetty (formerly Miyusu), and

In 2003, the forum called 펜돌