YoYo Related News From Around The World
Today Dread released UniqueName Part 2, the sequel to this fantastic video he dropped back in June. As you would expect, it’s nothing short of amazing. Dread is one of the most unique voices in yoyoing today, and this video definitely raises the bar.
Yoyo used is the CLYW Cliff.
Duncan Toys has given us a first look at the Echo 2, which looks to be a MUCH improved version of the Echo. The Echo 2 comes with a new shape and weight distribution, and could be a huge turning point for Duncan’s mid-range metal yoyos…if the quality is up to par with the Strix, then Duncan Toys fans have a lot to look forward to with this release.
From Duncan Toys:
Available in six beautiful colors, Echo 2 will be landing in retailers this December with an MSRP of $45! This new addition to Duncan’s De-Luxxe series of yo-yos features a new v shaped profile, improved weight distribution for optimal stability, a large concave bearing, and machined groove rings which reduce friction for grind tricks!
The IYYF has announced that that venue for the 2014 World YoYo Contest will be the Archa Theatre in Prague, Czech Republic.
The venue is in the heart of Prague, and was the location of the 2011 and 2012 European YoYo Championships. This is a VERY welcome change from the notoriously shabby set-up at the Rosen Plaza in Orlando, where this year we were treated to a backdrop that looked like it was falling down for all three days of the event and lighting that was detrimental to the players and made it incredibly difficult for people to get quality video. The live streaming capabilities for the venue and organizers are also light years ahead of the Orlando setup, which seemed to max out at 360p, if you could catch the stream when it was working at all.
Looks like we’re in for quite a treat, and a huge step forward for next year’s World YoYo Contest!
YoYoExpert just dropped a new yoyo holder created by kendama players in Boulder, Colorado and it looks really nice. This recent trend towards more elegant, “grown up” looking accessories and holders is a pleasant change of pace, and seeing things like this and the Descender by Unknown cheers up this old guy who’s outgrown having everything he owns made of black rip-stop nylon with red printing on it.
First World yoyo holders are available in several different finishes/colors, are retailing for only $7.50 and are available at YoYoExpert.com.
It didn’t take long after the launch of Instagram video for yo-yo players around the world to start sharing their tricks in ≤15-second bursts. The hashtag #trickcircle started popping up, and there have been over a hundred yoyo tricks posted under that label in the past three months. We here at @YoyoNews have been monitoring that tag closely, and are now endeavoring to bring you the choicest morsels of instagoodness every week with a #trickcircle roundup. Want your 15 seconds of fame? Study these well, and start shooting…
This trick from @yoyoingadam (AKA Adam Brewster of CLYW) is called “Kefka’s Tower”, intended to be part of his Final Fantasy series showcased in “Eleven” but left off until “The Only Thing Worth Saying”. Adam’s always had a gift for creating (& naming) new elements, and the central feature of this one is something he calls a Portal. In his words: “A brother to the folding gate concept: with a ‘portal’ the yoyo breaks plane as it’s pushed through a gap in the mount, instead of remaining stationary while the mount folds over it as with a gate trick.” Gates (folding the string formation over/under a yoyo) are a relatively underused triangle entrance, and the pushiness of the portal gives the concept new energy. A frontstyle combo was the natural choice for the best view of the off-plane movement, and Adam ties the rest of the moves together nicely.
@werrdtranton (AKA Eric Tranton of Werrd) brings us a short & sweet sequence blending some recent favorites. He opens with a regen popularized in Gentry Stein’s winning US Nats 2013 freestyle: a bind caught in the off-hand, which is then tossed up and regenerated into… well, for Gentry it was a split-bottom mount, but where Eric really ups the ante is landing in a four-point star. This one might be hard to learn without slomo, but the concept is definitely one worth exploring, and maybe if you study some Ryosuke Iwasawa videos you’ll come around to your own variation.
@raygstl (AKA Ray Godefroid, AKA Baby Bear Treezy) takes us into the future with a 3D 5A trick that reminds me of a cross between Red’s double pinwheel sequences and the Red Rocket spintop trick. The root concept of the trick—up/down off-plane 3D pinwheels—is more than cool enough on its own, but there are some subtleties and that imply a lot of room for growth. My personal favorite part of the trick actually lies at the very beginning, as Ray uses a smooth & subtle rejection to enter the trick, which builds the proper amount of momentum while simultaneously creating a tantalizing bit of slack just begging to be incorporated in a tech combo. Ray naturally ends the combo with a bucket, the traditional endpoint for tricks with horizontal dice movement.
Let’s take a quick trip across the Pacific for a monster of a trick from @sakatuca, AKA Tsukasa Takatsu of One Drop. He’s been making jaws drop this year with his dense, intricate chopsticks tricks, merging a Japanese sense of trick economy with the technical sensibilities of Mark Montgomery and Sid Seed. As you can see in this clip, though, Tsukasa is much more than just a fusion of his influences and has fresh ideas to spare: the opening mount alone should be enough to keep you busy for the week, a herculean magic drop/chopsticks/bucket conglomeration that looks borderline impossible on a fullsize yoyo. In addition to being mindnumbingly difficult, this mount sets up a sequence of visually stunning slacks that form the backbone of the trick. The strongest impression I took away from this trick is the way a well-placed slack manipulation can break up the pace of a combo and raise the impact of the other elements.
We’ll wrap this week up with a trick from YoyoNews favorite @david0ung, AKA David Ung of Yoyofactory. This combo is a takeoff of a lesser known Spencer Berry trick, Inhale, a sister trick to his masterwork Breath, first seen in Debt in Knowledge. Inhale works off of the idea of setting up a hanging potential GT knot halfway down the string, something played with by luminaries like Kohta, and then resolves the snag by swinging the yoyo through. David applies his own spin to the concept at every stage of the trick, from setting up the knot with a GT chopsticks slack to resolving with a risky triangle suicide. The best part of the trick, though, may be how much restraint is used: both David and Spencer let the elements speak for themselves, using subtle mounts that invite the viewer to really study what’s happening instead of getting caught up in flash or needless technical flourishes. Also, did we mention that this trick is hard? It’s so freakin’ hard.
Tune in next week, and don’t forget to follow @YoyoNews on Instagram and tag your insta-clips with #trickcircle for a chance to be featured!