Mastering the Art of Pen Spinning

You may be an ace with a Rubik’s cube, or even a yo-yo champion, but have you mastered that other geek hobby? You know, pen spinning? While most of us probably do it unconsciously while deep in thought, the art of twirling a pen like a baton between your fingers is an emerging sport amongst young people in world.

In response to the pen-twirling boom, a new pen made specifically for spinning is scheduled to hit stores in late February. The Pen’z Gear pen is longer and heavier than a normal pen (15 grams and 19cm long), and also has an adjustable weight feature to make it easier to manipulate..It is five times as much as a regular pen.

According to the article, pen spinning has been popular since the late 1970s, with similar movements in China and the United States.

“The Internet played a key role in launching the inaugural pen-spinning world tournament last February, and video footage from such events triggered an online boom.

The Internet community was inspired by mind-boggling twirls such as the ThumbAround — maneuvering a pen to rotate around one’s thumb — and the FingerPass — which involves twirling a pen through the four fingers of one’s hand.”

One captivated spectator (and fellow spinner) was Masaki Tsukuda, who gathered other online pen-spinning celebs to form the Pen Spinner Association last July. The group already has 800 members and plans to hold an inaugural national competition in March.