Poi was invented by the primitive Maori tribal people of New Zealand many years ago. It was used for a way to gain their strength and flexibility in their arms and hands, as well as developing coordination. The Maori people in New Zealand since practice this tradition of poi today by having rituals to honer their gods. They perform a game using a ball object called a kii. There is light stuff inside of the kii that is either clothing, feathers, or wool. The Maori's ancestors stuffing in the kii was feathers, plant fibres, or dog fur. The kii ball that is used training is called poitoa. The poitoa balls is used in action songs, which this is what started poi to be used as an art form by dancing to music, which is seen today. The art form of poi being used for dancing to music soon spread around the world that is now used in the pop culture of fire dancing and rave dancing.
Maori people doing poi dancing
Photo from http://www.themaori.com/maori-art/poi
The Poi dance was first used by the Maori women for keeping their hands malleable for weaving and by the men for coordination and strength meant for battle. Poi was able to help the Maori warriors train to be able to use weapons, which were short clubs that were Patu or Mere.
Patu weapon
Photo from http://www.ahua-nzmaoriart.com/kohatu/patu-onewa.html
What got me into poi was seeing it being performed with lights and fire whenever I went to outdoor parties and raves. I was able to see a lot of poi dancers the last time I went to the Spring Love Festival in Austin, Texas. The first time I was able to see poi being performed with fire was when I went to one of my friend's birthday party. There was this guy who lit his poi on fire out in the backyard and was able to do all of these spinning tricks on it by even holding them by his teeth. He told me that you have to teach yourself to be able to learn how to use poi, which can be done with two softballs each in a pair of long athletic socks each. After seeing a poi dancing at a lot of events I went to in the past, I decided to buy my own pair of poi on ebay.com.