I'm against it for the most part, but I can't really provide a good reason why. I consider Poi to be on the same level as any other sport/hobby (like juggling or skateboarding, and no, I don't draw distinctions between those two). But for some reason, I don't like the idea of getting paid to teach poi.

This might seem hypocritical because I'm current teaching poi classes, but we're charging pretty much nothin ($10 for 2 hours) and I'm only accepting money because I have to take 4 hours off work every sunday to teach it... I'm still making less than I would have at work. Don't hurt me!

If someone comes to me and says "Hey, how much do you charge for lessons?" Ill tell them $50/hour. If someone comes to me and says "Hey, I really love poi. I started practicing a few weeks ago and I can do xxx moves. Do you think you could teach me something?" Ill gladly do it free of charge so long as it doesnt interfere with what Im doing. The difference? If someone is willing to spend 50$ on poi lessons from me, Im willing to take it and in return, give them 100% effort on teaching them as much as I can in a structured manner. If someone simply wants to learn a new move or two, Ill try to teach them something but I dont feel obligated in any way.

Teaching someone and showing someone how to do moves are different subjects.

What qualifies a person to teach? Well if someone offers to pay you, thats qualified enough IMO.

Fire safety? It depends. If the person is learning with full intention on doing fire, yes. If they are just learning cuz its fun, no.

The only real obligation Ive had is to leave the customer satisfied. I may not have been the best teacher in the world. Someone else might have been able to teach them 10 moves in one session where I only taught 5... But if they're happy and feel their money was well spent, I did my job.

What makes you think that paying for lessons makes you any more cookie cutter than free lessons? I've watched a whole generation of really bad spinners come out of the HOP video library, and very few good ones that didn't get training elsewhere. I've seen people get free lessons in person and become a duplicate of their teacher, and I've seen others become completely unique.

I know three girls who trained themselves to be powerful bad-asses in the poi commuinty in six days and people who are still performing the same routine after 6 years.

Carl, they can't answer this problem in Community colleges. How the heck do you think you're gonnna get an answer here? :P

I think it really comes down to how much of a guarantee of time/effort you're looking for as a student. I'm not opposed to people charging for lessons... in fact, it's a good way to make sure that someone will definitely show up and you'll walk away with something (as long as you're working with a reputable teacher).

learning for free from friends and other spinners is great, but they're not obligated to spend X amount of time with you, unike someone you paid to show you the ropes.

*shrug*

I'd never encourage someone to go out and pay for lessons. I maintain that I'll give unstructured lessons to anyone that asks. I want to encourage people to take responsibility for learning rather than paying someone else to take it. I believe that'll yield a better spinner in the end.

That said, I'd never criticise anyone for giving lessons and charging whatever amount they like for those lessons. The free market will sort out who really is and isn't qualified to do so.

I've considered doing some donations-only classes where the donations would entirely consist of beer.

Poi is a skill, a sport and an art.
Like ALL things that fall into this catergory YES you can learn for free and for pay... the quality diffrnece in the two can overlapp but in the end the teachers who last and get the high rates generaly are more skilled AND better techers.. not all who are skilled can teach.

Look at it like this...
In my community I can go to free workshops on sculpting OR cheap workshops through parks and rec or slightley more exspensive courses via the community college or even more exspensive universtity level courses OR higher a private instructor to give one on one lessons.
all are and art and skill the teachers qualifications and abilitys vary yet I doubt any one would say its wrong for any otherthese people to chose to be compensated or not... its there skill they may choose to use and gift it as they please.

Poi is no diffrnet.

thought I would chime in here.
the people are qualified to charge money are the ones that people say "hey can i give you money and have you show me how to spin?" whether or not the qualified person wants to teach I can't tell you.

on a personal level, I have used a great number of resources to learn. I used the HOP 1-20something lessons to get a bunch of moves. anything more complicated and I just don't seem to be able to pick it up off of video.
I had some one give me a lot of personal attention at open spin jams.( is Sizzle even reading this?) I have gotten really topnotch spinners to show me things at festivals. Riffion and Andy House get a shout out for their knowledge, skill, and willingness. I spend hours with the poi in hand, playing trying, and never taking things serious with them. and lastly at this point if I watch it in person, I can usually experiment my way to a working trick.
I have never taken a paid lesson. I wouldn't pay for online video. I can't picture sitting watching, then running off down stairs and outside then running back in and repeating. I would probably take lessons from a small group of people that I know offer something outside my range of knowlege, not cause they are better then me, but because they know something I don't and I hope to short cut the time needed to learn it :) but since I have never been in a location at the time a lesson is being offered, it hasn't happened.
as for giving lessons. I have traded services for lessons, I have given lots of free lessons, I don't know if I could ask for money for lessons but a hard attitude about it isn't there. i hold no illusians that if some one says "here's $50, show me the 5 beat weave" I would take the money, but mostly I just like showing people poi :)

later
taz

Great topic!

[A short answer]
My opinions on "paying to learn poi" vary. I don't believe in paying for or charging for beginning classes in anything - I'm a hippy like that. But I do believe in paying for advanced classes. If I'm willing to pay a performer to perform, I should be willing to pay a performer to teach.


[the long answer]
"Qualified" yeah, qualified - that touches on the skillism, ageism, competition threads we've been hashing through for weeks. I've seen realitvely new poi spinners become excellent teachers due to their grasp on the concepts of movement and physics, coupled with their ability to communicate well. But I raise an eyebrow if they have only been spinning for a year or something - but who am I to question someones ability to share? I've also seen people who've been spinning with outstanding skill for years, stutter through explanations of the most basic cursory moves.

Fire safety is absolutley required, even if you're not using fire as a learning tool. You, as a teacher are responsible to have imparted the importance of safety as an attitude as well as a practice.

I don't think paid lessons equate a cookie cutter style. I don't think I've ever ever been able to identify someones teacher by seeing them spin.

Paying for online classes - it's a noble effort, if that works for someone cool. but the smart ass in me says pfffftttt

Free online classes are certainly a good place to start, if it works for you. Everybody is a different learner, and has different access to learning materials and recources.

Other obligations a teacher should encompass? Safety, local safety codes, openness, basic moves, willingness to learn from their students, patients, focus, humor, time, history (if you can nail it down) show the bredth of styles, stick with the common names for moves, share the different practice tools (socks/beanies/zunis/tenis balls/box of rocks), encourage people to explore their own style, and perhaps most importantly I think potential teachers are obligated to not be judgmental/predjudice what-have-you of their new students, prior teachers, other teachers, learning methods - your student is with you now.

I've been looking for affordable spinning lessons locally for a little while now. Though I am fortunate enough to live in an area that has what seems to be a community of fire dancers, I would be much more comfortable getting a lesson or two, instead of showing up at an event hoping to interest someone in "mentoring" me.

Right now I practice the breed of "make your own stuff up and try to get comfy" spinning 4-5 times a week. I don't know anything that I think would qualify as a trick and barely manage to keep both poi going at once, but I enjoy it. I have avoided tutorials and other online or book resources (besides FAQs) since historcially I learn physical things very poorly from books or videos.

An in-person teacher, without the overhead of "hey, fire dude, sorry to distract you, but would you help me" or the even more DREADED "hey newbie! that's not how you do it!" is worth the money.

Who is qualified? Any patient person that has more spinning skill then me.

Yes, they should teach fire safety, even if they are only using cloth for the practice. Most people seem to eventually want to try the flashy fire stuff.

I think that cookie-cutter moves depend on the people involved and, frankly, I really don't care if dancers are similar. I like to watch fire dancers, even if they aren't very good ones. At events in Santa Cruz, I consider ANYONE spinning or dancing there a bonus. Unless they light themselves on fire and have to be taken to a hospital, I am grateful for their presence, and the energy they add to an event.

Locally, the only lessons I've been able to spot are in the $100 range... since I am still periodically having problems affording food, I suppose that means I'll just keep chilling out in my parking lot hitting myself in the head.

Not surprisingly, I have a few things to say on this topic.

Before I start, I'd like to say two things: first, I'm mostly self taught. Second, I've been taught by every poi artist I've ever watched, taught, or interacted with.

You see, every time I see, hear, feel or experience something about poi, my own brain metabolizes it -- again and again in different contexts, deeper ways with more expansive applications. This is intentional. So everyone shows me things -- and I teach myself what to do with that.

We all have that capability... Even now, you might be noticing how that idea itself impacts the very way _you_ learn poi. . .

Anyway, on to the questions.

"Do you believe it is right to encourage others to pay for lessons?"

"right"? I neither think it is "right" nor "wrong". I think it is about informing people of the options available to them. Nor do I think I have the right to tell someone else if it is right or wrong for them to encourage others to pay for (or not) lessons.

"Many, if not most, poi spinners have learned for free... And there is certainly no shortage of training material free online... "

This is a misleading statement I think. We all share our time with others when we teach. Time, the only thing I have in this life I simply can not replace (until we invent time travel) is not free. If I am giving away my time, that is something of value I am using up and can not be replaced. Sometimes I teach for free because I get the experience of teaching in exchange for the time they are giving.

Many people who have learned for "free" often learn by interacting with other people. In that instance, people are trading time for time, just not time for money. It is not "free" though, IMO.

As for free material online, mostly, in my experience, you get what you pay for. And I haven't looked at stuff in a long while. AND, I come from a school of thought that encourages teaching people how to learn to teach themselves which all of the free videos I have seen do not do. That is at the core of our classes once people graduate from the beginner classes.

"Who is "qualified" to charge money for lessons?"

anyone. the consumers will sort out who is competent. But those are different questions. ;)

"Should teachers be of a certain skill-level before charging money others $$ to share poi-knowledge?"

LOL. this is a fun(ny) question. if someone did not know how to do the 5 beat weave and could not teach it (not necessarily the same thing, mind you) then they shouldn't charge money for it because they can't do it. I believe people ethically should only charge for things they can actually do. Beyond that, as long as you know one thing more than the person you are teaching, you have something worth offering. the question then becomes is it worth paying for?

"Does taking paid-lessons truly benefit the poi-student in the long-run, or create an attitude of dependence, and a "cookie-cutter" style of spinning? "

As compared to what? I mean, there are lots of spinners out there who are doing the same weave pinwheel butterfly sequence again and again -- regardless of if they learned the move because they paid or did not pay for it. People are only going to get as far as they allow their creativity and imagination to take them.

Ultimately it is the artist who will create their own style. It is no different than painting a picture.

I mean, was Matisse an amazing artist or a bore? that is as subjective as it is with Poi. I think of the moves/patterns/transitions/technical stuff as the "paint" -- it is all a matter of how you apply it to the canvas.

I believe a _good_ teacher will show students how to learn for themselves. A good teacher will share a process for growth and a structure within which artists can play and express themselves. Part of teaching _is_ helping the student learn artistry. For me.

I mean, we've had 680 students in the last 3 years come through the Temple of Poi. Under 50 of them have a unique style and have developed enough to be powerful spinners. I wonder though, is that ratio any different than people who spin on their own and don't go through a school?

I've had lots of talented people come through the school who quit poi after a while having never found their style. I know a lot of people who don't have a breakthrough for 18 months or so (I am one of them) so if someone quits 6 months in, did the school make a mistake for only teaching them a set of "cookie cutter" moves/patterns/etc. or did the student decide it just wasn't something they were called to do?

If you're asking if the ideas of going to a school an be limiting, the answer is of course yes, they can be. If the curriculum is really built with "learning with the student's best interest in mind" as the most fundamental value of the classes, then the classes will be expansive, not limiting. Ultimately though, the student must take responsibility.

I would add, not everyone does poi so they can geek out on it or get on a tribe forum and talk about it. Some people do it to get out of their house every week. Some people do it just to try something new. You'd be surprised. I've had students sign up for classes and not even know what it is and never having seen it at all. It is like taking a class in college that falls under your general education requirements for some folks. And that's a fine place to be too.

I guess what I'm getting at is there are a lot of people in the world with different values and ideas. A good school can work with them all, IMO.

"How about the latest trend of paying for access to online video-lessons? "

same as above.

"How about "donation only" classes? Or "trading skills" (I will teach you poi, if you teach me to drum)? Or classes on how to make fire-equipment. "

I have and/or do all of these things. it is on my terms when I do that because I am moved by the experience to do so. I can't run a business on that though. I mean, I need to count on rent and money for food, so I can't do my whole business that way. Of course, I am the only one I know of in the world who runs a school dedicated to teaching flow arts as my sole source of income so I'm in a somewhat unique situation with a particular perspective. ;)

"Do teachers have an obligation to teach fire-safety, even if they aren't teaching with fire? What other "obligations" should a potential teacher have?"

Obligation? uh, technically no. and in reality, I tell all my students three things when they start -- always have a fire safety, always wear natural fibers and no synthetics and cover your head before spinning fire. And I direct them to our safety page on the web site. I do that because it is good information to share not because I feel obligated.

That said, I think of Temple of Poi as the Harvard of Poi Schools only not so stuffy and a bit more hip. ;) my intention is to create an open environment that welcomes _everyone_ as they are, not as they could be, should be or ought to be based on someone else's standards. we foster growth -- not just our student's growth but our own. I mean, I know sooooo much more now than I did a year ago or 3 when I started the school. I am proud of that -- because learning is a process not a destination. so I live that and show my students my own weaknesses and humanity -- why wouldn't I?

having a school creates a classroom for exploration. You may think it is for cookie cutter learning, but I am subsidizing my staff and investing thousands of dollars in teaching my teachers how to be better communicators and more effective at their work so that we can create a proactive learning sphere for all parties.

And I have some classes where that's all we do -- explore ideas and concepts. this is not a style of learning that works for everyone though.

I don't think there are any other inherent "obligations" that a teacher "should" have other than to deliver what the student is paying for. Or, in my case, I want to give them far more than they thought it was worth. I had a student who did a drop in last week and I asked for feedback at the end of the class and his comment was, "definitely worth the price of admission."

I want every student to walk out of every class feeling that way. Strictly speaking, there is no obligation to do that. But that is a business choice I make because I want students who are ecstatic about their poi experience at Temple of Poi.

Q also said something we should probably all remember. Being a good performer does not make someone a good teacher. And vice-versa. Some students learn by feeling it, some learn by hearing it, some learn by seeing it, some use some combination of them all. I am paying money to learn how to be effective at teaching people who prefer to learn using different modalities (visual vs.. kinesthetic vs.. auditory). Am I obligated to do so? for me to meet my own standards of excellence, yes. And, that's probably why 680 students have come through the school in only 3 years...

thanks for reading,
...isa
founder, Temple of Poi

Hey Carl, good to see you on the tribe boards. :)

In defence of poi teachers: I have some of the same concerns about teaching. I've beem teaching regularly this past year, and I try hard to encourage people to think that they don't really need me. I also try hard to make sure they don't fall into the certain traps that new spinners sometimes fall into. I.e. if you can do a butterfly with the right hand on top, do it with the left hand on top. If you can do it overhand, learn it underhand, etc. This saves people from having to re-learn later.

I like the student/teacher relationship, when it's a healthy one. I think a learn-it-myself attitude is great, but if you're only learning yourself, you tend to re-invenet the wheel the hard way. Why not draw on the knowledge of others, and blaze your frontier from there? My Tai Chi teachers gave me generations of knowledge, which I benefited from tremendously. I love giving money to my Tai Chi teacher, because I know how dedicated to his art he is, and I want to support him. If he was teaching me for free, he'd be working some lame job, and he wouldn't be able to dedicate as much of his time to learning and teaching. He flies back to China every year to track down the living masters. I think that's great.

As for poi, sometimes teaching has been very rewarding. Othertimes it's been frustrating. I'm giving up the studio at the end of August, and will be re-evaluating things. Really I just don't want to be teaching so much, right now. I want to be a student more. I think I've done pretty well learning on my own, but I've also screwed up my shoulder in the process. Am I going to re-invent physiotherapy from the ground up? No. I'm going to find the right people to study with, and add that knowledge to what I'm developing myself.

Really I want the elusive well paying part-time job so I can go back to pursuing this purely for love. :)

n

I just started spinning in February and came back from my first private class 5 hours ago. My two cents. I started with freind - then a class - now private lessons.

- learning from friends is fun! But you don't want to make a nuisance of yourself and overstep their goodwill. My friends who are good actual want / need to practice at jams, not just show me the 3BW for 30 minutes!

- a class is good for the reasons already stated.

- private sessions are great, because I can ask as many questions as I want, go as slow as I want, change it up when I need to (ie, today we had to stop doing over the head moves because my shoulders were hurting me. In a class, I don't have that option), and get specific feedback about what I'm doing - especially those things that are so wrong as to cause injury.

- a video can't tell you, "nice correction" "better than last time" "you can't do it ... yet!" " we'll come back to that" "want to see this from another angle?" "let me break it down for you".

I like people teachers best :-)

And, if anyone who has taught me anything - paid or not - is reading this I want thank you, each and every one of you, for your time, energy and patience with this clumsy brat.

Im resurrecting a 3 year old thread and dont feel bad at all lol. Mostly cause ive been dealing with this quandary myself. Personally I hate charging for lessons. Ive been teaching for about 8 months now. I started charging 5 bucks a person cause it was taking time I could have been working (like alot of us, and i wasnt coming close to even making up the work I was missing) and to cover my insurance. I was teaching in a park then so there was no over head. I then moved to a studio in september cause it was getting cold and had to start charging 12 dollars cause they told me I had too haha.

The reason I started teaching is because people asked me too. I still dont feel qualified although I should because out of the 15 or so people I have taught 4 have have become incredible and original mind you spinners. Every time we go somewhere we get complemented on our abilities so I guess in that light I should be very happy to have such a high success rate.

Really though when it comes down to it, if Im asking for someones attention and dedication Im willing to pay them. I took workshops this summer with certain Incredible spinners and actually paid more then the class fee just because I appreciated their time so much. I guess it all comes down to what you believe

When I see someone talented and friendly looking, I usually ask how to do something specific. In general, it takes less than 3 minutes for them to show me what's up. Then, before I can do anything else, I need an hour or so on my own. Even if it only takes me a few minutes to get the hang of it, I know that I'll be a stronger spinner if I take what I've learned, figure out some variations and watch how it fits in with the rest of the stuff that I do. Every move has such potential to enrich my style that I'd rather learn them slowly, when the time is right, when someone is inspired to share.

Right now I'll do anything that'll help me learn (hooray for the Big Book of Poi!), but I'd be suspicious of paying because it sounds like a quick fix solution when I know that only racking up hours spent spinning can improve my game.

Hello friends!

We are all self taught. Friends, instructors, and videos can all show us what to do and techniques on how to figure moves out but in the end it is up to the student to learn. On that same note we are all students and we are all teachers. Everyone knows things other people don't. I will teach anyone who wants to learn from me. I won't always be focused and coherent which is why I offer an actual class but I will always try.
I do feel strange about charging to teach in a lot of ways because I have personally learned so much from free sources. A lot of that is due to my own fanatical practicing. However I offer skill trades to anyone who wants them. I am more then willing to teach and play with people at spin gatherings or on the streets, I'll gladly share knowledge on how to make props and practice tools. The way I feel about it is the more knowledge and understanding I help spread around, there more will grow to come back my way.
I think what Carl was asking was not if people should try to teach things they don't know but rather how much they should know before they try to teach those things.
If we know something someone else doesn't then why not share, even if it is only a little bit?

When SriKanta stopped teaching his poi classes I asked him what I could do to continue learning poi. He told me to go down to the beach and play around for a half and hour when ever I got the chance. That may have been one of most useful lessons he ever gave me. Our teachers show us new moves and techniques, it is our task to master them. When my other local teachers stopped teaching their poi classes I asked them the same question and they told me to explore some different styles of dance. Any student will for one reason or another lose their teacher at some point, it is then up to them to find new sources of knowledge and ways of making their own connections. So really, if a teacher has helped their student understand how to continue growing without them then they have done their job.
I would always rather learn from my teachers and community then to study videos and practice by myself. I have been told I emulate aspects of my teacher's style and I take that as great compliment. My teacher is an amazing performer. As I learn more and more from different people I take aspects what they do and incorporate it into my own movements. We are creatures of imitation my nature. That a large part of how we learn. Even before I began dancing I knew that one of the best ways to learn was to walk with the masters, to copy what they do and understand how they do it.

I have learned as much from Nick Woolsey's (I'm glad to see you on this discussion) videos on Youtube and Playpoi as I have from any other single source. I would gladly pay him to teach me or buy his DVD's if it meant that he could keep doing what he does. I want to support people who inspire me when ever I can.
when we learn from others we are in a way also learning from who they learned from and from who that teacher learned from. Information gets passed down and on to be absorbed by the student who then combines it with everything else they know, allows it to evolve, then pases it on to their students. It's a good system.

Carl, I am really grateful to have met you. Every time I have had the opportunity to spin poi with you or play with you in any other any other activity you have done things to impress and inspire me. I was disappointed when you declined my request to join my troupe but it just added another aspect of my respect for you and your free spirited path.
I love your story about the boy and the butterflies. It is a incredibly important lesson to remember that while our paths are often filled storms and obstacles, it is these trials which more then anything else in our lives cause us to grow and give us the wisdom and strength to be good beings. Some of the most vibrant and beautiful people I have had the privilege to know are seldom the ones who have always been stable and protected but rather the ones who have experience hardship and risen to meet those changes. In order to be strong we have to figure out things for ourselves.

I agree that Burning man is not necessarily a good place to find dense concentration of object manipulators since they are relativity small minority of BRC. I am one of type who went to BM primarily because I had become a fire dancer and when I arrived was surprised to find dozens of people who didn't know what that big "stick" I had on my back was (which also taught me an important lesson about the gathering in general). However, I had no trouble finding people to teach me and spin with me at any given moment. I found Shiva vista on my first night, I knew where the Pyronauts where, I knew where the OMCC was, I could always find spinners at center camp, I ran in to dozens of new and old friends all over the Playa. The inspiration is out there if we are inspired to look, even in the default world.

the glow stringers rock. I've seen them do some amazing things, most of which can easily cross over to poi. Actually everything can cross over to everything. two nunchaku are an interesting mix of poi and double staff, so are clubs, meteor is a mix of poi and staff, the stuff Rif (and now some other people I've seen) does with swords and contact staff is amazing, Salza came out with a levi-stick which is a blend of Prisna's flow wand and double staffs, and that's just the props, then there are all the blends of movements, the list of cross-overs is huge.

some mantras on teaching I've collected:
-"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Teach a man to create an artificial
shortage of fish and he will eat steak." - Jay Leno
-"Do not try to satisfy your vanity by teaching a great many things. Awaken people's curiosity. It is enough to open minds; do not overload them. Put there just a spark. If there is some good inflammable stuff it will catch fire." - Anatole France
-"There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can't move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies." - Robert Frost

Joe, I appreciate the resurrection, I didn't even realize how old this post was when I started responding to it.

I think all object manipulation teachers should know some of the ideas in this thread. I've learned a lot by reading it, thank you all for sharing.

"I think a little music is all anyone needs..." - Carl

so true

So I was thinking...
Something that has recently come to my attention has been the dual phenomena of the growing number of young spinners, and the evolution of "classical" poi technique - that is, a widely accepted notion of "correct" body positioning and poi geometry {more on this at the end of the post}. It seems to me that there is now the possibility of creating a generation of spinners who are more adept and skilled than anything we've seen before. But in every discipline that has undergone this stage in evolution, there has been the pattern of weekly private instruction and daily practice. Usually with a parent's emphatic support/fascistic encouragement :P But to use that sort of system, one must have a reliable instructor - one who is guaranteed to show up every week, with an hour's worth of concrete lesson plan, in a long term capacity. The only way I see of obtaining that kind of reliability is through paying for these lessons.

And this train of thought made me start thinking about the two main types of instruction.
One is the kind I think of as the "hands-off" kind, where you show somebody a move, or explain a concept, and they go off and practice it and come back when they want another move. I consider this the "free" kind of instruction. You can do this at festivals, or parties when you have a free moment. It's pretty chill and hands-off. I also include online classes in this category.

The other kind, the "hands-on" approach, is instruction followed by practice followed by instructor critique followed by more practicing. This is the kind of teaching where everything from body positioning to slight planar adjustments are covered. "Drop your tailbone, bend your knees more, and now rotate your shoulders...fix your planes!" is something you might hear in this style of class.
The hands-on approach, I believe, only works in small or individual classes. It usually has a concrete lesson plan, takes preparation, and you get a lot of attention from the instructor...who also promises to actually show up, and be prepared, every time.
I would expand this to include "master class" type lectures, where a top of the line spinner explains the details of their style to a large audience. On the subject of DVDs, they incur packaging costs and pressing overhead, plus they distribute a lot more information at once and usually have much higher production costs, so I am comfortable with people charging for them.

I believe that the "hands-on" approach needs to be something the student pays for. What you are paying for isn't knowledge - that should always be free - but rather the time (and total attention) of the teacher. Direct feedback is the one thing you can never get from an online course. If I could get weekly private lessons with Ronan or Yuta where they teach me the minute details of their style, and correct me when I'm not getting it exactly right - you bet I'd pay for it!

Now as to what qualifies somebody to teach...is it really that complicated? Take lessons from somebody who's style to want to emulate, and who puts the kind of effort into their classes that makes you feel you are getting enough for your money. $25 an hour should buy a much higher level of preparation and quality than $10 or less. If you don't feel you are getting your money's worth, find a new teacher or go back to online lessons.
If your teacher doesn't spin in the style you want to learn, find a new teacher. If the teacher isn't explaining things clearly and you aren't improving even when you are practicing every day, find a new teacher. Don't throw your money away.
While it is a "buyer beware" environment, one should also use online resources to learn if a teacher is misrepresenting himself/herself.
One should also not mistake charisma and flash for class quality. While a teacher should inspire the student, this is very different than quality technical instruction and the student should pay attention to this. Find a class that fits your needs - and if you have to chose between "feel good" instruction and "Stalinistic bootcamp" instruction, ensure that you will leave the class satisfied.

So to sum up, I don't think it should be a matter of "should you charge for lessons" on the part of the prospective teacher, but "do you feel comfortable paying for lessons from the teachers available in your area" on the part of the prospective student.

{Regarding standardization of technique - the evolution of technique in any discipline involves people building on what has come before. If people keep re-inventing the wheel, nobody ever gets around to inventing the rest of the car. There is a widely accepted idea of what is the most ergonomically efficient way of spinning poi, and I truly believe that this was a key consensus in the evolution of spinning technique. I don't feel it creates a "cookie cutter" effect, as people will always be at different levels, working on learning new moves and expanding the art form. Even within the "formalized" world of spinning technique, new moves are being created faster than every before, and brand new concepts are appearing all over the place!}

I am def agianst paying to learn poi. I love doing poi so much I just enjoy sharing my joy with people. I have never charged anyone anything but a hug to teach them anything I know how to do.