We can’t do 5A May without a 5A Throwback Thursday! Instead of going back all the way to the birth of 5A, let’s take a look at one of the unsung (or rather “less-sung”) heroes of 5A, Duncan Crew Singapore’s Andrew Lin.
His Pure Freehand video series, released over a couple of years, were some of the first clips to feature 5A exclusively, and were most influential in the early 2000s counterweight play.
The first video explored some new concepts in 5A. While aerials and e-fans were commonplace back then, Andrew introduced new mounts and transitions, and opened the path for complex combos in 5A. His shirts were also unreasonably big.
The second video, a true 5A classic, is where the see where the first video’s path led to. While not terribly difficult by today’s contest standards, all the counterweight releases and mount transitions in the video were previously unheard of, and it’s easy to see how those concepts influenced some of today’s greatest combo builders, such as JonRob and Ryota Torigoe.
Finally, the last video of the series explores sliding dice, triangles, and adds a healthy dose of complexity to 5A. The last trick in the video is pure genius, a brilliant finishing touch to the series.
Andrew was not limited to releasing videos, of course, and his 3rd place finish at the 2005 World Yo-yo Contest was a well-deserved highlight in his 5A innovator career.
Put down the metal and grab that good old plastic Freehand today. It doesn’t get any purer than this!
Hey I know that guy.