Pen spinning

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Pen spinning is a form of object manipulation that involves the deft manipulation of a writing instrument with one's hands. Although it is often considered a form of self-entertainment (usually in a school/office setting), multinational competitions and meetings are often held.^[1]

This pastime is referred to as "pen mawashi" in Japan, or, literally, "pen spinning." It is regarded as more prevalent among "rōnins", or high-school graduates who take a year off in order to study by themselves in preparation for university entrance exams.^{[citation needed]}

Pen spinning is very prevalent in Hong Kong, often taken up as a hobby by Hong Kong students. When displaying signs of nervousness, a person would bite their nails or do other similar activities; students usually spin their pens. There have been many witness accounts where masses of students spun their pens while doing their HKCEE exams.

Pen spinning is also incredibly popular among high school and college debaters in the United States.

1 History
2 Fundamental tricks
3 Pen Spinning in Popular Culture
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Presently, there is no documentation to show who started the pen spinning phenomenon. A lot of people believe it originated in South Korea then spread across Asia. It was then picked up in Europe and North America. However, it is understood that a Japanese pen spinner named Hideaki Kondoh was one of the earliest pen spinners to start a pen spinning website.^[2]

[edit] Fundamental tricks

Four of the best known basic penspinning tricks are:

[edit] ThumbAround

Photograph of a Thumbaround.

The ThumbAround is performed by pushing a pen by one's middle finger so to initiate the pen to spin around one's thumb a single time, then catching it in between the thumb and index finger. There are many variations, but one used most often for combinations uses just momentum and only a rotation around the thumb with a jerk of the hand. ThumbAround was previously known as 360 Degrees.

[edit] FingerPass

The FingerPass involves spinning the pen through the four fingers of the hand going back and forth forever.

The FingerPass was used in the James Bond film GoldenEye by Boris Grishenko. However, the FingerPass Boris performed is a variation which involves only three fingers instead of the usual four.

[edit] Sonic

Photograph of a Sonic.

The idea behind the Sonic is to move the pen from one finger position to another finger position in as little time as possible. In this trick, the pen is normally held between the middle and ring fingers and is moved so that it is between the middle and index fingers. As this trick can be executed in very short time, its name means a supersonic movement.^[3]

[edit] Charge

The Charge does not involve spinning the pen around any fingers or any body parts, rather, the pen is manipulated in such a way with two fingers, that it seems to spin in a very fast motion, in a conic-shaped path. Its conic path and its speed thus create an illusion of the charging motion of the pen. This trick is often performed by drummers using drumsticks rather than pens.

[edit] Pen Spinning in Popular Culture

In the film Good Will Hunting, a student can be seen spinning his pen in one of the classroom scenes at MIT.
Boris Grishenko, the fictional character in the 1995 James Bond movie Goldeneye portrayed by Alan Cumming, often spins pens while working.
Val Kilmer's character, Iceman, can be seen spinning a pen in the films Top Gun and Real Genius. Kilmer often manipulates objects, normally coins or poker chips, in his films.
The main character Light Yagami of the anime series Death Note is seen doing 4 faked revs, while being distracted from his studies, in episode 14 called "Friend".
One of the characters of anime series Great Teacher Onizuka, Urumi Kanzaki, can be seen doing a ThumbAround while on a lesson.
In the PC game America's Army, during the Special Forces training lecture and test, one of the user's classmates is doing the "Charge" trick as he listens to the lecture.
In the anime series Code Geass, Lelouch is seen to be spinning the queen chess piece around his thumb.
In the music video, "Your Smile" by F.I.R, Faye is seen performing Twisted Sonic.
In an episode of Azumanga Daioh, Kagura is seen doing a ThumbAround while studying.
In Ken Akamatsu's Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, the character Sayo Aisaka can be seen pen spinning frequently.
In the American Mercury Signature commercial, A pen is used to perform a sonic rise to a thumbaround
In the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya the main character Haruhi Suzumiya can be seen doing the sonic during episode seven approximately ten and a half minutes in.
House and Chase are occasionally seen spinning pens in the television show House.