Anyone into Yoyos out there? That's right: yoyos.

If you think they're just toys, it's time you know they're much more than that... 8)

i got into the 'sport' a while ago after seeing some pros pulling off some awesome tricks on youtube. It's become very popular in Japan, and is even being labeled "otaku." Some gurus of the art are Hiroyuki "Mickey" Suzuki, who specializes in 1A string tricks, Shinji Saito (2A looping tricks), and Taiki Nishimura (4A offstring tricks). There are plenty of interesting categories and techniques. I personally dabble in the realm of 1A, using Mickey's signature: the YoyoJam Speeder. Its great fun, especially when choreographed with background music.

Anyway, here are some highly impressive vids. They're from the 2006 Worlds Competition...

Hiroyuki Suzuki, 2006 Worlds, 1A, 1st
[url]http://youtube.com/watch?v=5rTgJcpAoz8[/url]

Shinji Saito, 2006 Worlds, 2A 1st
[url]http://youtube.com/watch?v=snqF_FEizWs[/url]

Taiki Nishimura, 2006 Worlds, 4A 1st.
[url]http://youtube.com/watch?v=_xjInNt9KW8[/url]

There are plenty of other great performance and instruction videos available. And BTW, there was a weird anime made a while back called "Super Yoyo". it was all about the competitive world of yoyo-ing. I've watched some and its pretty entertaining.

Anyone into yoyos?

Bean Bandit wrote:they're much more than that... 8)

Polynesian battle-field weapons, in fact.

Mr. Tines wrote:

Bean Bandit wrote:they're much more than that... 8)

Polynesian battle-field weapons, in fact.

SWEET...You open the chest. You find Yoyo of the Shadow Mage +5 atk!

I can't work those things

Bean Bandit wrote:Anyone into yoyos?

I used to be a long long time ago. Then I saw videos like that and decided to quit while I was ahead and spend my time doing something that I'm actually good at.

Ornette wrote:

Bean Bandit wrote:Anyone into yoyos?

I used to be a long long time ago. Then I saw videos like that and decided to quit while I was ahead and spend my time doing something that I'm actually good at.

Yeah, these guys are some of the best of the best. But seeing them perform doesn't need to dishearten the viewer. Sometimes they fuel newborn interests.

...i sound like a motivational speaker...

Bean Bandit wrote:...i sound like a motivational speaker...

when your living in a van down by the river!

I love Yo-Yo's. We sell them at the store I work at, so whenever I get bored during the slow hours, I always have something to do.

The Eva Monkey wrote:

Mr. Tines wrote:Polynesian battle-field weapons, in fact.

StarTropics anyone?

Bridget anyone? (inb4 "It's a trap!")

btw, there were also the 3A and 5A (pretty amazing) winners on youtube.

Ornette wrote:btw, there were also the 3A and 5A (pretty amazing) winners on youtube.

Yeah, they're great also.

3A - string tricks with 2 yoyos at the same time. It can get pretty complicated! And 5A - Freehand tricks: you use a weight instead of a knot. It's usually a plastic weight no larger than a ping-pong ball. Several yoyos are made especially for this style of play, predominantly Duncans.
There are also several other styles, i think it goes up to 9A. They're mostly experimental though. For example, one style of play uses two left halves or two right halves rather than both. It's called a pagoda shape...
...Pagoda shape.
They're all great fun to watch though (and try). :)