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Interview – Charles Haycock

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Charles Haycock

Charles Haycock is an extremely creative, skilled, and unique yoyo player who is continuously creating amazing tricks, tutorials, videos, and more. The Team Manager for CLYW, Charles in an integral personality within the company and does a lot of great work in both promoting the company online and working with the company behind-the-scenes. To the yoyo community, Charles embodies creativity, and is a favorite amongst countless players for his unique, well-developed tricks. Charles was requested for an interview more than once, and I was beyond excited to talk with him about tricks, videos, CLYW, and more!

Charles, first and foremost, how did you start yoyoing?

My dad first bought me a wooden yoyo when I was about 8 or 9 years old (it might have been a Tom Kuhn yoyo actually, now knowing what they look like). He taught me Gravity Pull, Sleeper and Forward Pass, but it wasn’t long before I lost it. I ended up kind of forgetting about it for a long time; however, I still seem to remember how it intrigued me. Years later, when I was about 13, I snatched another wooden yoyo from a tourist shop while traveling in Oregon.

During that trip, I also obtained a back injury which, for me, meant no gymnastics. So, I had a lot of time on my hands. My neighbor knew and taught me Eiffel Tower and Rock the Baby. Thanks to the internet, I then found the Yomega website where I learned some more basics, and was introduced to yoyos that looked more capable. My little sister knew of my interest, and for Christmas she bought me the most expensive yoyo she could find: the Metallic Missile. After that, I learned Trapeze and Double or Nothing, and soon found yoyonation.com and Andre Boulay’s tutorials on Expert Village. That was when the infinite portal was opened, and I’ve never been bored since.

How long did it take you to get to the “Master” level on Andre’s tutorials?

Oh, I really can’t remember, maybe a year after the portal opened? That could be inaccurate, but I remember skipping Ladder Escape and Superman because they were too hard for me. I ended up learning Superman years later from a friend, it’s a great trick.

What were some of your favorite tricks that you actually did learn back then?

It was so long ago, that time frame is a blur to me in some regards. But, I remember that some of the tricks/concepts that stuck with me early on were Kwyjibo, Magic Drops, Boing-E-Boing variations, and Whips/Hooks, of course. Then, a bit later from other places, I learned and liked Yuuki Slack Chops, Hashbrowns (Jake Bullock), Rancid Milk, and other Yuuki, Spencer Berry and Jake Bullock elements that I picked up from videos. There were many other inspirational players to me, but it was mostly those guys.

By the way, for a laugh if anything, you can check out some of my super-old videos here: http://vimeo.com/user445659/videos

Was that the period where you learned some of Spencer’s old tricks that you later made Cabin Tutorials for, like Enigma and Havoc?

Yeah, Enigma came fairly early on, Sterling [Quinn] taught me that one, and Havoc some time after. I also learned elements from Breath and the Superman-ish trick in the “Spencer Berry’s Apartment” BAC 2008 video. I watched that video a ton.

“Spencer Berry’s Apartment” is such a good video, that’s like the equivalent of having most of the CLYW team in the same video nowadays.

Haha, well thanks man. But yeah, the camaraderie felt in that video is so appealing, and the tricks happen to be amazing as well.



When did you first start getting into making up your own stuff?

I started making up my own stuff very early on. That was, and is, where most of the fun is for me. I look at the yoyo and the string as me on a playground. So, I just play, letting my curiosity roam free to discover new things (‘new’ for me at least). Of course, it is easier to explore after you have learned some basics elements to work off of. But yoyoing can also just be pleasurable in itself, the feeling of doing a trick or how it looks. That’s why I have always enjoyed learning other people’s tricks, and it definitely affects my style.

It’s like Ernest Hemingway, he used to write out entire Charles Dickens novels just so that he could know what it feels like to write a great book. Not to say that this is the only way to go about it; playing yoyo means something different to everyone, and even within the creative realm the process can vary greatly. Jensen, for example, never learns other people’s tricks. He is a real off-grid-type-hermit in that creative sense. Although, starting out, even he had to learn from others to implement that playground structure.

Do you remember any of the early things you came up with?

I can’t really remember that far back, but I think you can track it pretty well with my early videos. I started making videos fairly soon after I started, within the second year I think.

Did you start competing early on? How did you get hooked up with CLYW?

Well, I went to my very first contest in Seattle (PNWR) after about two years of yoyoing, and that happened to be where Chris asked me to join the team. I had put out a couple of videos at that point, and Jensen was messaging me before the contest to say that they were interested. So, I was very comfortable to not accept the other sponsorship offers I got.

For those that don’t know, can you explain what you do at CLYW aside from just being sponsored by them?

I work with the team to make videos, make sure they are getting gear, answer questions, support projects, make travel plans, etc. Then, I also contribute on CLYW’s social media.

Speaking of videos, what’s your personal favorite that you’ve made or appeared in?

My personal favorite that I’ve made is Ill Vibes. I think the idea was neat and it was fun to collaborate with Jensen. Good memories.



How do you pick what tricks to throw in a particular video?

As far as choosing tricks goes, sometimes there will be a theme for a video, so I’ll put in the tricks that work alongside that. For example, in Ill Vibes the theme was horizontals (simple enough). For Goldmine, we knew that we would be shooting slow motion and that tighter, more technical tricks would look better.

Then, a lot of videos have just been me doing the most recent tricks that I’ve been working on since the last video. Actually, most of my videos have been done this way. For my next project, however, I’m going to try to group tricks a little bit better together according to their vibes and flows and such (there will be 3 different parts to the video). Some tricks feel more complete and look good just by themselves, whereas other tricks look better in a combo strung together with complimentary elements.

At least, these are just some of the things that I think about. But, I’m really not that organized, so I should shut up, haha.

Ill Vibes is one of my favorites too, along with The Yeti. Other videos that you’ve obviously appeared in are The Cabin Tutorial series. What inspired you to start making tutorials?

Chris and I had talked about making tutorials for a while before it all started. We were inspired by Jensen’s Ghetto Tutorials and the fact that there weren’t any other resources out there that were teaching the more advanced, specialized, personal tricks that we like. So, it just made sense.

Is the trick selection process similar for those as well?

As for choosing tricks, I really just do the ones that I like from either myself, or what I’ve learned from other people.

Based on what you wear in the tutorials, what’s your favorite sweater/pair of socks that you own?

My favorite sweater has got to be that green/brown plaid one I got; it literally feels like wearing a blanket and has thus been the cause of much comfort throughout these cold winters. I have a thick pair of knitted socks that I got (yellow/orange/green stripes) that are hella comfy and durable. I dress for comfort exclusively if you can’t tell already.

Next, what, in your opinion, makes a trick “good”? What do you look for in yoyoing that you like?

Well, I usually try not to over-analyze why something is appealing to me, because beauty for the sake of beauty is not something explicable by reason or logic. There are things that come from the heart, and I submit to that (admiration is also subjective). However, I will try to articulate a bit of how I think and what I tend to admire. I will be talking about the creative and expressive side of what the toy can be, not the sport/competing side, which I respect but have less interest in.

I never understood what people meant by “finding your voice” or “hitting your stride”, but I think more recently I’ve gained a better understanding of what that means. I think that it’s quite simple, organic and just takes a very long time. I think “hitting you’re stride” is when you have practiced and put so many years into a medium at hand that it becomes a natural extension of yourself, a third limb so to speak. Then, you are able to use that new medium to express yourself seamlessly, as you would with a hand or eye gesture. It’s not a place you can think yourself too or reach in a forced intellectual way, it’s just a slow, ever-evolving natural progression. Of course, this is a theory of types, that I think proves to be useful.

So, what I’m trying to say is that the tricks and styles that I feel drawn to and love most of all come from the people I feel have hit their stride and turned their yoyoing into a reflection of their personality. They’ve become so comfortable with the toy that it effortlessly channels their essence and their interests and frames it in a way that connects with others.

Let’s take an example: Ky Zizan. When you meet this dude and then see his yoyoing you just think, “Yeah, that makes sense.” His style is so honest and genuine to who he is that, even if he tried to, he couldn’t do it any differently. It’s organized chaos in the most harmonious way. His concepts are hooops level complex and borderline alien, and his flow is as confident and as organic as a curvy beach babe. His execution is Mr. Clean clean too- you can really tell that he’s an old school player and has put in the time to get good. Of course, this is me trying to put his style into words.

Then, you get someone like Anthony Rojas who is just as dope in a completely different way. Anthony’s style is almost like watching comedy because he is such a master of the element of surprise, you can never predict where the trick is gonna go, and he always makes it better than you can try to guess. In the framework of conventional play, Anthony’s tricks are basically non-linear. Moving in unusual planes and axes is just what he does naturally. His style is also very musical and has a prominent dance-like rhythm to it (the way he incorporates his body is very rhythmic too).

So, there are many different tools available to one’s disposal, and as you can see with Ky and Anthony, you can use totally different tools (or the same tools in a totally different way) to make something just as totally dope. Totally.

I hope that sort of translates how I look at it.

Another reason why I don’t attempt to break down what makes a trick good in completely technical terms is because there is so much more to a yoyo trick than the mathematical reduction of elements. You could learn a Yuuki Spencer trick, but you could never learn how to do it the way that he does it. That’s where flavor and personality comes into play, the real inexplicable good stuff.

Part of what I admire about the old school generation (and why I think that it’s important for everyone to keep looking back and learn from these players), is that they seemed to have had a strong focus on execution and style (plus many of the tricks themselves have stood the test of time). Back then, players were brought up on responsive plastic and wooden yoyos, which are far more strict in nature and forces, which causes your movements to be more fluid, composed, and organic. If you want a Renegade to not snap back and hit you in the face, you have to do the trick right.

I think that there are a lot of great new school players who’s content (tricks) are fantastic, but perhaps a little bit sloppy and interrupted in flow because they don’t have those fixed axle instincts engrained into their execution, and modern yoyos are too forgiving. I think that a lot of players (myself included), would greatly benefit from putting more time into responsive play. It would probably influence the content of the tricks themselves as well.

Wow, I hardly ever talk as much in person.

I totally agree. So, what are you planning for the near future?

Right now, I’m finishing a set of videos for the team, but afterwards I’ll be working on my own project (which I’d like to keep as a pleasant surprise). It will take some time too.

Do you think you’ll ever have a signature yoyo with CLYW?

As far as the signature yoyo, Chris and I met up recently to work on the design. So, hopefully we can get the ball rolling soon.

Lastly, what advice can you share for any aspiring yoyoer out there?

To me, there are two different types of advice I can think of; from the soul, and from the player.

From the soul; I would advise any player to have an honest answer to the question, “Why do you yoyo?” If you find that you are doing it to appease someone else, impress others, get some sort of attention, status, achievement… essentially using it as a means to an end (of which I have been guilty of), then there will be trouble. However, if you can do what it is you do with this toy (whether for you that is a hobby, an artistic expression, a form of socializing, a creative outlet, a sport, etc.) simply out of love, all shall be gravy, baby.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs…”

From a player’s perspective, I can give some suggestions of technical things to try that I have adopted along the way and found to be helpful, enjoyable, or refreshing.

Trying new yoyos: If you do the same movements with your hands using a light, round, small yoyo vs. a large, v shaped, heavy yoyo, the respective yoyo will go into completely different places, at different speeds, and with a different flow. Neither is better or worse, and I personally enjoy the variety it brings, and how it spices up your play style. Of course, after a long time I have found certain designs that I will gravitate more strongly towards. But nevertheless, if you have the privilege to try new throws, do it!

Playing in front of a mirror: I know John Ando does this as well. It’s visually quite pleasing and I think it makes your brain look at tricks differently which helps to find new sorts of movements and concepts.

Playing responsive: I’ve touched on this earlier, but again, not only do I think it effects execution, but playing responsive has taught me how enjoyable a trick can feel if performed in a more elegant and concise manner. The feeling of executing a trick properly on a responsive throw is the closest feeling that I can get to what I imagine Tressley Cahill feels whenever he’s playing 🙂

Listening to music: yoyoing to music is where it’s at. It’s hella fun, get’s me energized, and it helps me believe that I have some inkling of rhythm or flow to my tricks. Plus, music can be a great source of inspiration.

Good lighting: I take a lot of pleasure in how visually pleasing yoyoing can be, and if you have good lighting (I find that a strong source from directly above yourself is best) it can inspire much enjoyment indeed.

String length: I believe it was Mark Montgomery or Jensen that first told me that string length should be proportionate to the size of the yoyo that you’re playing. I definitely think that’s a good rule to take loosely, but still, do some experimenting! Playing long string vs. short string is just like variety in yoyos, it forces you to do things differently. To me, it’s all about the exploration and discovering new things, and I just kind of bounce back-and-forth between the two while loosely sticking to the rule of proportions.

Bearings: A bearing is responsible for basically 50% of the performance of a yoyo. If you don’t like how something plays, don’t be quick to judge the design, put a good bearing in first.

I’m pretty sure that’s about all I can think of!

That is all amazing advice, thanks Chuck! Good luck with everything, and keep up the great work!

Thank you dude!

Interview – David Ung

By

David Ung

Photo by YoYoFactory

David Ung is kind of a genius when it comes to making up yoyo tricks and putting together great clip videos. For a while now, David’s been sharing his innovative tricks with the community and making a name for himself as an extremely creative yoyoer with a lot of talent. Sponsored by YoYoFactory, David recently released his new video, “Daydream” and is without a doubt maintaining his reputation as a force to reckoned with in regards to trick creation. His short, subtle tricks are amazing, and he is along the same lines of great, modern trick-creators like Adam Brewster and Guy Wright. I was really excited to interview David, and we talked tricks, his videos, and more! Enjoy!

David, you’re one of my favorite yoyoers and are, in my opinion, a master at coming up with super creative tricks. When did you first pick up a yoyo?

Thanks for the kind words, Matt! I think my story with yo-yos is pretty similar to most people’s my age. When there was the huge yo-yo boom in the late 1990s, I learned to throw a sleeper on a cheap transaxle yo-yo and that was pretty much the extent of my tricks. Then in middle school (around 2005), I saw a FAST 201 commercial on TV and thought it looked super cool. A friend of mine bought one at the store and started to learn, so I did some research online and came across JD’s Worlds 2003 freestyle. It blew my mind and I was hooked. I bought a Kickside shortly after (which I then broke–long story).

I remember those commercials! So, I’m guessing you learned most of your tricks back then online?

Yup! I learned most of my fundamentals from André’s old website, Mastermagic. I think I got stuck on the more advanced tricks (ie: Black Hops, Spirit Bomb, Superman, etc) so I started to watch clip videos and tried to come up with my own stuff.

Aside from JD’s stuff, what were some of your other favorite tricks and influences when you first started?

As a beginner, I really tried to absorb anything I could, so there is a lot of influence from pretty much all of the big names. I would probably say that Spencer Berry and Jason Lee were the biggest influences in my early style, you can see this in my older videos “Visage”, “Incidental”, and “To and Fro”. Actually, if you watch Spencer/Jason’s video “The Fidget” and watch my videos “Incidental” and “Broke,” you’ll see that my videos were actually a bit of a tribute. I think my yo-yoing is mainly focused on doing subtle moves rather than constructing whole tricks (which is why I started filming short moves on Instagram–which I think lead to #trickcircle), so I find a lot of inspiration from pretty much everyone.

I love a lot of your older videos, when I started making my own tricks they definitely inspired me because they seemed like something that I would come up with. As I went on though, my tricks kind of branched out into something more unique to me. I definitely see the Jason/Spencer influence! What was your method to making up your own stuff then?

Back then, I was a big proponent of learning on a responsive yo-yo to get proficient at yo-yo control. After I had a solid foundation (smooth yo-yo control + tricks like White Buddha, Skin the Gerbil, etc) I just sort of stumbled on things. I spent a LOT of time watching yo-yo videos back then, so sometimes I would see a trick and then think of my own variation and sort of keep it in the back of my mind until I had a chance to try it out.

That’s definitely a good method, it worked well because a lot of your older (and newer!) tricks are really good. How did you end up getting sponsored by YoYoFactory?

Ben used to run the “Project Red Alert” blog back in G5/GM2/888 era which was basically the YYF blog that had all of the info on new releases. He posted my video “Visage” and I was super excited about it. It was a really big deal for me at the time, so I sent him an email just saying thanks. He responded saying how he really enjoyed the video and he mentioned wanting to sponsor/support me somehow, but I wasn’t quite at the Contest Team level. After a couple of emails, he asked me if I would be interested in joining a YoYoFactory Junior Team if they started one. I said yes, and that’s how the Junior Team was started. We then had video “auditions” and ended up adding Paul Kerbel, Patrick Borgerding, John Chow, and Yuji Kelly to the team. Looking back, it was a really impressive line up.

That is an impressive line-up, that’s awesome! One of my favorite videos of yours is “Broke”, which is a straight up trick video that’s over 4 minutes long. How long does it take you to compile enough tricks for a video like that?

“Broke” is a good one, I was always a big fan of those pure trick videos. Four minutes of new tricks sounds impressive at first, but I think it’s important to note that it was released three years after my last video at the time, which was “Your Future’s With Us” (I’m not counting “Edit,” which was just a quick clip).

What do you do to stay creative?

I don’t really do anything in particular to stay creative, I have periods of highs and lows. Being invited to Steve’s 365 Yo-Yo Tricks project with Ed, Drew, Nate, and Guy (+ guests!) was a big help, though. That year was really good for me. Actually, a lot of the tricks in “Daydream” have moves that directly came from that project.

That’s true, I’m not sure if I could come up with that much great stuff even in 3 years. For those that can’t tell yet, you make a lot of good clip videos. Do you have any creative inspiration behind those? You have a good variety with your videos too which I like.

In high school I got really interested in film making after talking to Miggy and Spencer a lot. “PATH to Agartha” is a tribute to Miggy’s “Tunnels” video, while “Incidental” and “Broke” are a tribute to Spencer’s “The Fidget.” I also remember talking to Bergy about making yo-yo videos that are tributes to the music video of the song. I think he wanted to do a video to Lisztomania by Phoenix. I thought that was such a neat idea and was really into Tokyo Police Club at the time, so I tried to make “Your Future’s With Us” a tribute to the music video for “Your English Is Good.” I thought it did a great job of capturing the feeling of a bunch of friends relaxing and hanging out.

“Daydream” was made as a goodbye video to LA. I was born and raised in LA and I’m moving to Seattle soon, so I wanted to celebrate my time in the city with a video that incorporated beautiful LA scenery with a nostalgic vibe. I like to think that the most important thing in a yo-yo video is the quality of the tricks, but I try very hard to incorporate a theme to give my videos an extra oomph. That’s partly because I’m not a very competitive yo-yoer, so a lot of my presence in the community is through my videos.

So, what were the ideas and process behind your new video, “Daydream?”

“Your Future’s With Us” was my favorite video I’ve ever made. It was my first time shooting in HD video, I filmed it with the help of my friends, and I learned how to use some video editing software for it too. It had good vibes, music, and color. For years I wanted to make a sequel to it, but I felt a ton of pressure (mostly from myself). If I went through the work of making a sequel, I wanted it to be better.

It had to stay true to theme of “Your Future’s With Us,” it had to have better tricks, and it needed to feature some of my favorite places in Los Angeles.I have tried filming for a sequel for a couple of years now, and I’ve always scrapped the footage because the shots weren’t good enough, or the tricks weren’t good enough, or I couldn’t find the right music. But in late December 2013, I learned that I was accepted to the University of Washington for a graduate school program in Chemistry and I decided that I wanted to get a video out before I moved. I decided I wanted to use the song “40 Day Dream” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and I wanted it to be a goodbye video to the city I grew up in, Los Angeles. So I gathered up some friends, and we did a ton of filming in January 2014. I had just gotten a new camera (Canon Rebel T3i) and was learning how to use it. I had 32+ gigs of footage and I ended up sitting on it for the months because school started again and I was really busy. I eventually went back to look at the footage and scrapped almost all of it–it just didn’t look good. I was still learning how to use the camera at the time, and I wasn’t satisfied with the results.

I moved back to LA in June and I rounded up my friends again to do some more filming. We filmed a ton in the peak of the summer and it was HOT! Unfortunately, I wanted to keep my look consistent between the footage in January and now, so I wore my oxford shirt and long pants for continuity. Eventually we finished filming and I sat down to edit it. I went back and forth editing for about a week. The hardest part was getting the colors right, I ended up having to try a couple of different programs to get the color to look the way I wanted it to. There was a lot to do and learn, but I think it all paid off at the end. “Daydream” is a tribute to the city I grew up in, the people I’ve met, and the memories I’ve made. It sounds a little serious for a yo-yo video, but I love LA and all of my friends I’ve made, and I’m going to miss them a lot.

That’s so cool, the whole experience definitely paid off. I think yoyo videos with that kind of thought put into them are the ones that turn out the best. It was so nice to see fresh tricks and a fresh, great video from you! Nice work! I personally think that impressive tricks in impressive clip videos are just as impressive as impressive contests freestyles.

Have you ever thought of having your own signature yoyo? As much as I love competition-ready throws, I also like yoyos that have more of a laid back, steady feel to them which I could see a signature throw of your’s having.

Thanks Matt. I appreciate it! It’s funny, I think I’m actually one of the guys that have been on the YYF team for the longest and doesn’t have a signature yo-yo. I don’t really mind, though, my yo-yo preferences change pretty rapidly. There are days where I’ll want something solid like a Superstar, or something plastic like a Northstar, or something lighter like a Shutter. Maybe a signature colorway or something would be nice. We’ll see!

You’re welcome! My preferences change a lot too, so I know what you mean. I would really have to generalize everything I like best into one yoyo if I ever had my own signature throw. I’ve noticed in “Broke” that a ton of your tricks start with a simple trapeze and all transcend into something different. Do you have any favorite elements or mounts to work with, like the trapeze?

The start/end in trapeze was actually my shoutout to “The Fidget.” Each one of Jason’s tricks ends in a trapeze in that video, and I thought it was a neat way to add a recurring theme into a video. As far as favorite elements go, I really like Magic Drops.

Oh yeah, I never thought about that. You definitely have some of my favorite magic drop tricks. It’s cool how you were inspired by other yoyoers, and made the inspiration into your own thing. What kind of advantages do you think making shorter tricks has as opposed to making longer ones?

I’m not sure if it has any advantages/disadvantages… it’s just an individual style thing. Some people can come up with really long, cohesive tricks (ie: Yuuki, Zach, Ando)… but I can’t. I don’t think I have the trick vocabulary to make really dense, long tricks like those guys do. On the other hand, I can still come up with neat moves and put them in short, < 15 second, tricks. I think Drew (Tetz) and I are really similar in that regard. Short tricks por vida.

I don’t think longer tricks are “better,” but I do think that the players that can create long tricks have an incredibly impressive trick vocabulary and consistency. But I pride myself in making neat, subtle moves in my yo-yoing.

I never thought about that comparison between you and Drew, but that’s totally right. I definitely like your mindset when it comes to making tricks. What advice would you give anyone trying to make their own stuff?

Learn the trick history. There is a ton of gold that people were working on in the old-mid school era when the technology wasn’t as good. A lot of those ideas deserve a second look. Also, style is just as important as originality. If you’re having a hard time coming up with something new, work on being able to perform a trick in a specific way or with a specific look.

I totally agree with all of that! There really is a goldmine of elements from back in the day, and I also think that being able to do things stylishly is important too. Lastly, what can we expect to see from you in the future? Do you have anything yoyo-related planned for when you get to Seattle?

I’m not too sure! I’ll probably do more #trickcircle stuff, but I am pretty much tapped out on new content. I’d love to make a sequel to “Broke” or “Daydream.” I want to try to get Sterling back into yo-yos (maybe film a video!) and I’m hoping to compete at PNWR next year and to do well.

That sounds like a great plan, good luck David! Thanks for doing this!

No problem, Matt. Thanks for having me!

 

Interview – Zach Gormley

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Zach Gormley - CLYW

Zach Gormley is without a doubt one of the foremost names in modern yoyoing. His innovative, genius tricks have not only gained him recognition within the yoyo community but actually outside of the yoyo community as well. Zach is a double threat in his combination of innovative and competitive tricks on stage, all the while remaining pretty humble and just being a pretty nice guy in general. If technical, well-developed tricks are what you’re looking for, Zach Gormley is definitely the yoyoer to watch. I had the opportunity to interview Zach and was super excited to learn more about one of my favorite yoyoers!

Hey Zach, thanks for doing an interview! First of all, how did you start yoyoing?

I got into yoyoing when I received a Yomega Brain as a party favor from my friend’s birthday party. After that I began looking up Youtube video of professional yoyoers and was hooked. I then purchased a FHZ and started to learn more advanced tricks. However that yoyo broke and I didn’t get back into yoyoing until a couple months later when I bought a Throw Monkey at a toy store in Japan.

We definitely had some of the same first yoyos. So, what’s your creative process like behind your tricks and videos?

My creative process behind my tricks are always changing. Someday I may look at a mount and think about where to send the yoyo next compared to other times where I will already know how I want my trick to look and I’ll work to make it happen. Lately I have been trying to make tricks that feel natural and make sense composition wise. Inspiration from other players certainly helps too. I think we naturally yoyo more and more like the players we always watch. When it comes to videos I try to portray my tricks in a way that are easy to see and also work to make the video in a way that will create interest in the hobby itself.



That method honestly works, I know some of your videos have been watched by a lot of people that don’t yoyo. In your opinion, how do you make up a “good” trick?

I personally think that the two biggest factors for making up good tricks is originality and trick composition. By trick composition I mean the way you order each element in your combo. In this current generation of yoyoers I think trick composition will be huge for standing yoyoers apart from the rest. So many players right now have good ideas but when those ideas are put together in an order that makes sense and flows it becomes all the more impressive. Takeshi Matsuura, Tatsuya Fujisaka, Sebastian Brock, and Charles Haycock are all great examples of players with good trick composition.

I totally agree. How do you prepare for all of the contests that you always seem to do really well in?

For me the hardest part of making a good freestyle is just finding the right song haha. Once I do that I can just start putting my tricks in places that fit the music until I have a complete routine. I try to have this done around a month before so I can practice during that extra time but it doesn’t always end up being that ideal..haha.

Nice! As a super creative yoyoer, who are some of your favorite yoyoers?

When it comes to 1A I have many yoyoers that I like, but my absolute favorites are Yuuki Spencer, Takeshi Matsuura, Charles Haycock, Tatsuya Fujisaka, Takahiro Iizuka, Anthony Rojas, and Shinnosuke Miyamoto. All of these players have an outstanding mix of tech and creativity in their yoyoing. They manage to tie those two components together into clean, aesthetically appealing tricks. I could watch them for hours! I also really enjoy watching Shu Takada, Shinji Saito, Rei Iwakura, Ben Conde, and Hank Freeman.



You definitely have good taste in yoyoers! You’re sponsored by CLYW, how did that come about?

I got sponsored by CLYW in May of 2009. This happened because Chris liked some of the recent videos I was putting out. I was always showing off my tricks and ideas through videos and in a sense promoting myself. He contacted me prior to BAC and told me he wanted to ask in person there if I’d be willing to join CLYW. You can probably guess what my response was.

I would assume that you said yes! You are also one half of Innovation Movement, which is kind of exactly what the name implies in regards to yoyo tricks. What’s the story behind Innovation Movement?

Innovation Movement was a project that Isaac Sams and I decided to start up to try and get players thinking outside the box. We wanted to feature a wide variety of players and have many players from all over the world including Russia, Japan, Hungary, and more on our channel! If you would like to see you can visit our page at InnMovement.com.



I have to say, I’m a big fan! Next, what are some of your favorite qualities in a yoyo?

I wouldn’t say that I am too picky when it comes to yoyos. Lighter, more nimble playing yoyos can be more fun but a very solid yoyo you can rely on can be nice as well for that reason. You don’t have to try as hard to keep the yoyo centered or spinning fast. Of course you’ll always want to be trying to do so when in competition.

Absolutely! Speaking of which, what’s your favorite contest to compete in?

This is a no brainer. My favorite contest to compete at would have to be Worlds. Nothing can beat the roaring crowds and level of competition at that contest!



For sure! Last, but not least, what can we expect to see from you in the future?

In the future you will definitely see me at more competitions. I plan on going to US Nationals and 44 Clash next. I’ll also always be working towards that Worlds title. When it comes to videos I plan on posting more tricks to Instagram. A full fledged video for YouTube will hopefully come in due time haha. They require a lot of time and can be hard to make without another yoyoer who knows how to use a camera.

I’d personally really like to see you get a Worlds title. Good luck, and thanks for doing this Zach!

You can next see Zach compete at the 2014 US National YoYo Contest in Chico, California and at 44Clash in Kanagawa, Japan. His signature model yoyo, the Arctic Circle: 2nd Expedition, has another release scheduled for Thursday, September 11th at 10 pm EST.

Interview – Anthony Rojas

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Anthony Rojas

When it comes to modern yoyoing that is equally creative and competitive, Anthony Rojas’ tricks are basically everything that you could possibly want and more. Anthony has proven himself countless times in winning several contests, and will undoubtedly remain a relevant name in yoyoing through his creative style and memorable freestyles. I decided to catch up with Anthony on his recent contests, creative process, and more!

Anthony, you’re one of the most creative and talented players I know of that’s around today, how did you start yoyoing?

I had a yoyo or two as a kid in the 90s, but it was only a toy to me then. I got into Astrojax some years later, and through that I started discovering modern yoyoing. I consider August 2005 the beginning of my serious yoyo “career” when I got yoyos like the YoyoJam Dark Magic and Free Agent. I also started going to the Sunshine Kite Company in Redondo Beach, CA because of their yoyo classes/ hangouts. Lots of great players learned at that shop. It’s actually really crazy thinking how I’m in Europe right now because of yoyoing, along with other players that also came from the kite shop.

That is crazy, who were some of the other players that frequented the shop?

Yoshi Mikamoto from YYJ taught at the shop. There was also Grant Johnson, Patrick Borgerding, Alex Hattori, Alex Kim (RecRev), Dylan Benharris, and others too.

What was your approach to learning tricks early on?

Learning tricks early on, I didn’t necessarily have an approach. I just learned what I could from people in person, or watched tutorials and videos. I never dwelled on tutorial watching too long though, I liked making up my own tricks and learned things along the way. I think it’s good to have a solid foundation as a beginner, but I never had a plan or a goal at that time. I just did what felt right.



I also agree with that being a good approach. Being known best for your really creative tricks, when would you say that you started to become good enough at making tricks to be recognized within the community?

I definitely started to get more attention outside my area when I won South West Regionals in 2009. Not long after, I got 5th at Worlds. Looking back my style has changed a little over time, but I’ve always tried to be both a creative and competitive player. Right now it’s a little difficult, I wish I had more time to focus on both realms. After this year’s worlds I almost feel a little behind. So many good players right now!

I totally agree! I’ve only been yoyoing for a few years but I’m even amazed at the amount of talent that’s came out since I’ve started. So, you just kind of decided to start competing eventually?

I started competing pretty quickly. January of 06 was I went to my first contest and did sports ladder and 4a in X division. I don’t think I thought about it much at first, but I believe it’s good for beginners who are serious about competing to get some stage time. Even if you think you won’t do well, just worry about doing the best you can and gain experience. Learn the system, learn how you can improve. Even now, if I execute my freestyle flawlessly and still lose, I can’t complain much. I did the best I could and will learn from that experience.

Did you have any aprehension at first about combining creative and competitive yoyoing on stage?

I never had any apprehension when it came to doing certain creative moves in the past, but recently it’s more difficult. You have to find the right balance of creativity while still keeping in mind points and the judging system, at least when you’re trying to win. In the future, I’d like to show less point driven freestyles that are just nice looking creative routines, whether it be filmed or on stage.

Definitely, your tricks are so good that I think they look good just about anywhere. What’s your process like in making up tricks?

My process isn’t really set in stone, but it’s usually a lot of experimenting and trial and error. It depends on the trick, but I’ll usually just have an idea or mount, and keep exploring possibilities until I like the outcome. Sometimes you have to scrap ideas that simply don’t work, or keep working on them for months before something comes out of it. There’s not really a secret formula for good tricks or concepts I guess, just don’t limit your exploration.

Yeah, I feel that like that’s definitely true. I just started getting serious with making tricks a little while ago, and it really did take me about a month to figure out where to go from the first few moves of a trick I made up. What are some of your favorite elements or mounts to use? I know you like a lot of arm/body tricks.

Some of my favorite tricks are made of simplified elements in general. Or things that have a nice movement to them. I do like arm and body stuff, but that’s really just me trying to be different when I can. It’s funny because I think maybe there’s kids watching freestyles who haven’t met a lot of other yoyoers, and probably think those are the kind of tricks I always do in my free time. Or that such and such person always yoyos super fast or something. I think some yoyoer’s styles are the same on and off stage, but it’s not like I normally do weird, kneeling, horizontal, body tunnels when I’m just chilling haha. I think the same goes for a lot of others.

You recently took 5th Place at the 1st ever Duncan IYYC, which is definitely impressive. Did you plan on placing so high?

I was surprised I got 5th actually. I wasn’t sure how landing my freestyle perfectly would place, because it was slower paced and wasn’t as tightly based on points. I just wanted to do a cool freestyle. Unfortunately I messed up with two restarts. So getting 5th is kind of alright in a way. I was more bummed out about not making Worlds finals, although the contest itself was probably one of my favorites I’ve been to ever. IYYC was nice and I hope they can keep it going, but Worlds was a really amazing experience.



They both seemed amazing! At both events, who had your favorite freestyle in 1A?

Maybe Zach’s Worlds freestyle. I’ve seen some of his tricks over and over, but they just don’t get old. Takeshi’s freestyle was also nice, and Sebby’s music choice and execution at IYYC had this really nice feeling to it.

I love Zach’s tricks, his Worlds freestyle was one of my favorites too. What other contests are you planning on entering in the near future?

I plan to go to South West Regionals, maybe the DXL Battle, Nationals, and the Las Vegas Open. I’m actually really looking forward to all of them for different reasons. They should all be nice contests. I especially want to see how the Vegas one turns out, and want to see some of the things going on with SkillCon too. I’m not going to be able to make 44 Clash this year, but I hope I can make it to Japan for Worlds next year.

The Las Vegas Open does sound like an awesome contest, nice! Do you have any other non contest related yoyo endevours planned?

I’d like to say the clip video Grant and I have been planning will come soon, but I can’t be sure. We’ve continued to push back filming because our schedules never meet up right. At this point it will happen when it happens, I’m just sitting on tricks and making up new ones until we can do it right. No need to rush and have a bad video. I’m working on a logo for a small company right now too, so that, and hopefully other design related work in the yoyo world will happen.

Awesome! Lastly, what advice could you give to someone just starting to yoyo and looking to compete and innovate in the future?

People starting out and thinking about innovation and competition could mean a lot of different things, depending on who you are and what you want out of it. Assuming it’s someone that wants to win contests or be known for innovation or something like that, I think for both categories you should try to understand what makes others successful. Study others not only for what they do, but why it worked for them.

Competition has a lot to do with the system, the rules, so learn that first. Try to understand the specifics over time, and gain experience by entering contests even if you think you won’t do well. Try to worry about improving yourself and not worrying about how you place. Remember that not everyone has a competitive style. It also helps if you not only know the rules, but eventually learn how to judge yourself.

For innovation, there are of course no rules or directions for that. Being innovative takes knowledge of what’s been done, but you have to be the one to discover something new on your own. A lot if times, the ideas I had for things that I made up just came to me unexpectedly, or I took something known and added upon it to make something else. Competing or being the next innovator may seem like a daunting task for newcomers, but I think it’s very feasible if you stay dedicated and always remember to have fun 🙂

2014 World YoYo Contest – Interview w/ Boxthor

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Matthew Fernandez Boxthor

We’re less than a month away from the 2014 World YoYo Contest, and everyone is finalizing their travel plans and getting excited for the event. The event organizers took a moment to speak with judge Matthew Fernandez (aka Boxthor), who is flying in from San Francisco to judge several divisions.

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Hello Box! How are you today?

Eh.

We are all pretty excited that you’re heading to Prague for WYYC. Why did you decide to go?
I’ve gone to the World Yoyo Contest for the past 9 years in a row, and now it’s tradition for me – I don’t go for the contest, I go to hang out with friends from all over the world, many of whom I only get to see once a year. I’ve always wanted to visit Prague and now I have the perfect excuse to.

What do you expect from this event?
I’ve watched previous EYYC streams, and from the looks of it, Prague is able to put on a professional looking event LEAGUES ahead of any other contest I’ve been to. I think it’s exactly the direction the yoyo industry needs to go in.

What are your suggestions for making WYYC better than it ever was? Is there something crucial we should not forget?
Paid flights for top competitors and judges would be a great start. I think as a contest, Worlds was always fine, but it was severely lacking in media exposure and recently, didn’t do anything to really promote the industry.

Do you know that the local community sees you as quite a star? Why do you think that is?
Back in around 2007, YoYoFactory started coming out with their first widespread models, and really got players excited about making videos. Vashek rose to fame quickly, and I soon became friends with him and his brother Ondrej, who did all the filming. I don’t know much about the Czech scene, but I imagine Vashek / YYF was a great starting point, as as that community grew, they began to go and search for other yoyo videos, and I was putting out both clip videos and the freestyle videos for a lot of the major contests in the US at the time.

Do you plan to do some special project while you’re here?
I’ll have my camera – I’m not sure what I want to do with it yet. I started a new job 2 years ago and haven’t had the time to come out with a really awesome worlds video lately, but I have plans for the footage once I get some time.

Are you going to participate in the event as a spectator or are you planning to get more involved?
One of the main reasons I love judging is that I get a front row seat to see all of the freestyles – besides that I’m looking to just hang out with friends and take in the sights.

Is there anything special you’re planning to do or see in Prague?
I haven’t started looking in to extra activities but I did book a couple extra days to go sightseeing, so I am open to suggestions as to what to check out.

Any last words?
I want to get a tattoo while I’m there but I haven’t decided on a design. What’s the most Czech thing I can get? I need help deciding, or else I’m gonna end up with a tattoo that reads “Strč prst skrz krk”.

Interview – Adam Brewster

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Adam Brewster - CLYW

Adam Brewster is undoubtedly one of the most creative  and influential yoyo players of the modern age. Alongside a laundry list of great tricks that he’s created, Adam Brewster can also boast a vast amount of videos that he has appeared in or created  as a collaborative effort with his wife. In addition to winning several contests, Adam continues to be a very unique and stylish yoyoer that belongs on everyone’s list of favorites. I’ve had Adam in mind for an interview for quite a while, and was excited to talk to and learn more about him!

Adam, you’ve been a relevant name in yoyoing ever since I started throwing and actually much longer than that. How did you first get into yoyoing?

I was actually just thinking about this the other day, and there are two answers.

The first, is that I have been playing with yoyos, just doing gravity pulls and basic sleepers since I was about 8 years old (20 years ago, holy moly!)

But then, I really got into it around May of 2002 when my family moved from Australia back to the US. I found Yomega’s website, which at the time had was what’s probably best described as an early precursor to YoYoExpert’s trick list. It had Brett Outchcunis and Mark Montgomery doing tricks ranging from basics, to advanced, and then bronze, silver, and gold for the highest levels.

I got my first ball bearing yoyo around then and spammed the web boards looking for tips to learn all the tricks I could get my hands on

How would you describe yoyoing then?

It was a kind of strange time. The gigantic explosion in trick creativity from ’00 & ’01 was done. (Although people like Yuuki Spencer and Johnnie DelValle were still pushing the envelope quite a bit) Fh1s weren’t for sale anywhere so people went from having really good 1A yoyos easily available, to having to settle for something not-quite-as-good (or modding what they had), and I think unless you were in a city that had a decent pocket of yoyo players around you, the best you could do was tinker with the tricks on Sector-Y that were already a year or two old and try and come up with some kind of variation. Since I was in Oklahoma City with the closest players being 3 hours away in Dallas, I just spent hours and hours soaking up/learning all I could.

Wow, so that would be the period between when the Fh1 mold broke and it was discontinued and when the FHZ was released in 2004?

Yeah! That was exactly that period! Haha.

What were some of your favorite tricks early on?

Early on, tricks and trick creators were indelibly linked and any time I liked one person’s tricks, I liked them all.

Jason Lee, Spencer Berry, SAGE, and Paul Escolar WERE my trick influences back then.

Red Clover was probably the biggest non-Spencer trick to influence me… But I remember specifically bugging Spencer Berry more via AOL instant messenger about tricks than anyone else back then. Breath, Rancid Milk/Curdled Mayo, Cataclysm and Enigma were all watershed tricks for me.

I also had an annoying enough personality that since I always felt like I missed out on the trick hey-day of 2000-2001, I bugged people ALL the time to figure out if that ‘crazy new thing’ I tried was actually new or if Steve Brown and Chris Neff did it back in ’99… Haha.

All of the tricks that you mentioned are some of my favorites that I’ve discovered from the era, a lot of them are actually kind of crazy even by today’s standards.

Yeah! It still amazes me how some of those tricks came out so polished and clean from what were essentially very unrefined concepts.

So, back then you were heavily influenced by those tricks when creating your own tricks?

I think back then, as now, I really just played around with things. Taking the time to go, “now I know I’m supposed to ‘x’ but let’s see what happens if I do ‘y’.” Plus a lot of accidental discoveries.

Oh, and I always hated Green Triangles. Everyone kept ending tricks in GTs (’04-’07 was notably bad) so I never let myself finish a trick that landed in a GT, until I figured out a way to make it NOT land in a GT. I do a few nowadays, as I don’t see the need to feel animosity for any trick… but vestigially, you’ll see them few and far between with me.

Oh! And additionally, I always liked the idea of playing around with concepts in reverse. I’m still chasing after a ‘Magic Rise’ so I can go from Trapeze to Magic Rise to Magic Drop, over and over seamlessly.

So, at what period would you say you started to develop your own style? One of my favorite clip videos from you is your “Bend and Fold” video in which you threw a responsive FHZ and features a lot of your folds/gates style.

It was actually a Fh2, not that it matters! Haha.

I started to do a couple of things specifically:

#1. I wanted to go back to the most basic of tricks and see if there were elements there that had been missed out on. I figured, if grinds are basically a glorified, “Walk the Dog” what other fundamentals could be applied with a new viewpoint? (i.e. Rock the Baby/Elevator)

#2. I played a lot with posturing. I still think this is the key to just about any trick that looks good. There’s this old video from ’07 called Back and Forth- Fun in 3D where I played with moving the mount itself instead of moving the yoyo around (for the most part), and after that, I started to realize that a lot of how a trick looks is all in how your hands are held, and it wasn’t just “hitting the mount.”  I think the best take on this I’ve seen since then, is Jason Lee’s “Wiggly Thing” where the yoyo is locked into the mount, and the whole difficulty of the trick is in how everything else is moved around to make the trick look good.

So, how did all of this transpire into you becoming sponsored by Caribou Lodge?

I guess there are a few ways to answer that…on one hand, 2008 was a pretty good year for me!

I won my first contest (SER 2008), I came up with a lot of my favorite tricks (most everything from Eleven still contains concepts is like to re-explore – too bad it’s hard to see anything haha), got 2nd in prelims at BAC, and even got to go out for Nationals. I also got to be in a lot of videos like Brandon’s Throw 2008 DVD, and I think the biggest factor though was that I had started to become good friends with Chris, and Boyd had been trying to convince him to give me  a chance for quite a while.

I think all those things came together, and while on a trip to visit my family with my then fiancée, (now wife) and on Christmas Eve, I got a call from Chris asking if I wanted to join! It was the best gift I got that year!

You appeared in Save Deth Volume II with a pretty great part that kicks off the video, what was the process in filming for that like?

It was a lot of fun! I was living with Seth Peterson at the time, so I kind of had an ‘in’. Haha. Anyway, one day he and Dave scheduled it, we went downtown to Des Moines and shot it! Good times!

What would you say the biggest difference, if any, being a leftie makes in yoyoing? I’m left handed too and I always refer to my hands in tricks as my throw and non-throw hands as opposed to my right and left hands to avoid confusion.

Hey! A fellow southpaw! Alright! For me, being a lefty was weird at first, but when I clued in that I could treat just about every video like a mirror, it opened up a world of trick learning! Now I love it!

Yep, the “mirror” thing with tricks is what I’ve always done too, I don’t even realize I’m doing it anymore half the time. Despite being married and in the scene for so long, you still put out clip videos and new tricks on a pretty consistent basis. If you had to pick, what’s your favorite clip video that you’ve ever made?

All in all… it’s a tough call. Honestly, a lot of my videos aren’t that “good” as far as production quality, since I’ve always been more interested in just documenting the tricks (thank God for Instagram).

As far as videos for the sake of videos go, I’d have to say that I’m honestly partial to Pacific Bonfire, and Greetings from Lake Superior at the moment, just because the locations were so beautiful.

There’s also a Gnarwhal 2 promo vid I shot a couple of months ago that we’re keeping a tight lid on for now, but when the time’s right, we’ll release it and I had a ton of fun with that one.

I also feel like I need to mention this fun video that my buddy Bo-Jack made for me. Never really got the exposure I was hoping it would’ve, but there are a ton of tricks  that I really enjoy in it.

So how’s that for a clear & concise answer? Haha.

To touch on something else that I’ve always been curious about, what’s the story behind the name of Spencer Berry’s combo, “Adam Brewster Won”? That’s a good combo that takes some getting used to due to the lack of hand movement.

Yeah, so ECC 2008 was my first time meeting Spencer Berry face-to-face, and even though we’d been long-time internet friends, we really hit it off in person. Well, I also practiced my ass off for that contest and got 3rd place, and was kinda bummed out, but Spencer said that I won in his heart, so he named that combo to cheer me up.

Ah, that’s awesome! Speaking of which, one of my favorite tricks of yours is Eureka, which is your answer to Spencer’s Enigma. I know this is probably impossible to answer, but if you had to pick what would your favorite trick that you’ve invented be?

Haha oh man… can I default to the always-lame answer of “whatever I’m working on at the moment?” Haha.

If I think about it, I’ve always like Shadowgraphs and Deep Dungeon, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t toot my horn also for, Gunshots, Tether, Tie Me Up! Untie Me!, and Elevators too.

Tether would have to be on my list of favorite tricks ever, that’s a cool one!

What would your advice be for any aspiring trick creator?

As far as advice, I’d say the 2nd best thing to do is learn a lot. The more of a library you have to reference and draw from, the more likely you’ll see or understand something in a new way.

The best thing I can say is to just try to be open to being creative. Creativity is in how you talk to people, in making sure you take the time to read good books that challenge you, or listening to music that inspires you, or even the food you eat and how you work your day job (or schoolwork). I say it over and over again, but I believe it wholeheartedly.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

Hmm… well, I was just at Triple Crown this past weekend and then there’s the Iowa State contest which will be sometime in September, but after that, things will wind down for me for a little bit ’til contest season starts up again next year. So maybe another video or two? (I hope so!) Thanks so much for the opportunity Matt, I really appreciate it! 🙂

Interview – Daniel “Zammy” Ickler

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Love him or hate him, Daniel “Zammy” Ickler (2012 Trick Innovator of the Year) has been involved in yoyoing for a long time and is well-known for his unique 1A and his promotion of the Moebius style of play. Moebius is when the slipknot loop is opened and manipulated into tricks, and Zammy has been almost single handedly promoting this style for a considerable amount of time now. Despite going through numerous sponsors over the years, Zammy has continued to push his creative concepts and to remain involved in various interesting projects throughout time. I was excited to interview Zammy, and learn more about everything that he does.

You’ve been a relevant figure in yoyoing for a really long time and have accomplished quite a bit including having an extremely original style of 1A and your promotion of the Moebius style of play. How did you start yoyoing?

I started yoyoing when I was 9 or 10 yrs old. I distinctly remember starting BEFORE the 1999 yoyo boom hit. Just imagine a little chubby Zammy trying to land a Trapeze. Priceless. I was learning from a small book I bought from a now extinct book store.

1999 was the big “yoyo boom”, and that was when I was in 6th grade. Every kid had a yoyo, whether it was a Duncan Butterfly or the extremely popular Yomega X-Brain. I started to throw at school during this time but towards the end of the school year the “fad” had died down and I was the last one. I pretty much got yoyos banned inside the school due to accidentally hitting people.

I think it’s that kind of dedication that really pays off though. With that period of time being around 1999, did you get involved with the internet yoyo scene of the time?

Between when I started, till around 2001, yoyoing actually angered me. It would irritate me so much when I couldn’t land something and that anger kept driving me to accomplish the trick. Yoyoing has personally evolved as to what it means for me now over the course of my “career”.

During ’99 into the new millennium, I would go to my sister’s place and would constantly watch the videos on Sector Y. I personally idolized the Spindox with all their clip videos and innovative material. Then, there were the web boards like yoyoing.com. I interacted on there, and I was such a brat though trying to find identity. I’m still a brat just not as young.

I was able to find a yoyo club semi-close to Wisconsin, the Chicago Crew “String Demons” where I met legends like Tommy Gun of Extreme Spin and my good friend Scott Nesham. I wanted to learn so much and have yoyo friends..gosh time flies by quick!

I’ve heard of/watched some of the String Demon’s old videos. Come to think of it, I was once doing some research for no reason on old Spintastic’s yoyos and I think I remember reading a review you did on the Spintastics Great White Shark from way, way back.

The Chicago String Demon’s clip video was the first clip video I wad ever in! This interview is making me so nostalgic!

Yes, I remember reviewing the Great White Shark and I believe it was on yoyovideos.com when it was up. I went through a ton of those throws. Still one of my favorites compared to today’s current modern spinning toys.

I actually own a couple Great White Sharks that I bought just to try, they’re pretty nice! They remind me of a responsive FHZ but a lot lighter and not as grabby at first due to the wide gap.

GWS’s are still so much fun! BEEFCAKE, BABY (Hi Doc Pop)! That was such a big deal back in the day before size C bearings became the standard. Now we got these absolutely huge gaps and crazy bearings. Still, all respect to Konkave bearings.

After learning for a while, at what point did you start coming up with your own stuff?

I think I started to try and do my own material starting in 2003. The year of Johnnie DelValle, grind type tricks and heavy slack use. But even then, I was still trying to learn everyone else’s stuff before I tried to branch off into my own thing.

It wasn’t until roughly 2006-2007 that I decided I truly had enough of learning everyone else’s stuff and to test my creativity.

During those days, I didn’t have a video camera, I didn’t have good internet access and I had zero confidence in my abilities.

That all changed when Alex Berenguel introduced me to Moebius at Madfest 2007..or 2008..can’t remember. But he introduced me to something I never imagined I would get behind and gradually take my world by storm.

I was about to ask how you got into Moebius. So it was through Moebius that you first really got into making tricks up?

Yes, Moebius really had unlocked my trick development and theory because its A) really “out of the box”/original and B) incredibly difficult. It was so new, so fresh, like shooting in the dark when I started. It still feels that way even in this day and age. I love it and always will.

A lot of your 1A kind of reminds me of Moebius style-wise, do you think it helped you develop your own style of 1A?

My 1A style is a direct result of Moebius. People get confused when they see my videos and wonder “Which is he playing?” I apply the same thinking when I play either style, so cross influenced ideas will happen.

So yes, it definitely has. I always label my videos so people know directly what style I’m playing. But then again, Moebius is “classified” under 1A and yet still it’s own style…let’s not open that can of worms.

Back in 2007, you started your “Yoyo Drive”, in which you donate a bunch of yoyos to charity around Christmas time. What inspired that?

The Yoyo Drive idea was something I came up with as a way to make a small difference to spread the love and joy of yoyoing while giving gifts to children in lesser-income homes for Christmas. I wanted to do something charitable at the time, something unselfish. During the Christmas holidays, my family has always struggled when it came to money so I know how tough it is.

When I introduced the idea to the community, there was a backlash. People didn’t think I should do it because “I was not a good representative”. It stung a bit, because I was hoping others would follow and do something similar. I went through with it anyway, contacted Yoyo Jam, and they sold me around 50 ProJams. I donated 25 to the local Social services and 25 to a different donation organization.

In January of 2008 I received a letter stating that all of yoyos donated were given to children. All 50. I’m glad children were given a present for Christmas!

I personally think that’s an awesome idea, hopefully it continues to be successful in the future.

Since 2007 I’ve been able to do some form of a Yoyo Drive, and I am still continuing to do it. The past three years, I have had help from YoYoFactory with the YoYo Drive! Thanks y’all.

Also, back around 2007 you released your “signature” yoyo through Yoyo Jam, The Black Death. I know that is was a modded Yoyo Jam ProJam, but how did that project come about?

It was in 2008 that the “Black Death” was released. This was another Yoyo Drive idea where I was to make a signature mod yoyo, a la Doctor Popular’s “The End”, but the money received from selling would be used to buy more yoyos to donate.

I bought around 40 white ProJams with custom sidecap art. The halves were dyed black by, I believe, a man named “Clifford” (I think). The caps were red-blood splatter painted by “YoyoRobin”. Ricerocket did the custom schmoove rings, grind resurfacing and cleaned the bearings, My grandma made the black velvet bags and G-strings made the custom string.

About half of them sold in 2008 which was disappointing. The money from those sales was used to buy Duncan yoyos that I donated. I gradually sold the rest in 2009, but unfortunately that money was used for a major dental surgery I needed. Overall, l that project was basically a flop but I do not regret it.

That project inspired Ricerocket to make his bootleg “Boltlegs”, and Chris Allen’s versions.

That’s still pretty cool, I’ve never thrown one but from the looks of it, it looked like a pretty cool throw.

They were modded Projams so they had the “plastic vibe”. I had issues getting those sidecaps in, it was quite difficult. The people that got em, loved em!

Moving forward in history, after being briefly sponsored by One Drop, and dropping (no pun intended) some great clip videos with them you released “Zype”, your signature string through Toxic Strings. What did you have in mind as far as how you wanted that string to be?

I was sponsored by One Drop between 2011 to 2013 which to me means that I had a good run with them. I wouldn’t call it brief, but that’s just me. I owe so much to them and I really regret leaving them but life was pure insanity for me at that time. I didn’t know which way was up.

2013 yielded some interesting results like the April fools YoYoFactory Soul Doubt and the Toxic Zype string!

The story for that was at U.S. Nats 2012, Evan of Toxic approached me on the idea of making a “Moebius specific string”. I had loved Mack Finley’s prototype signature string so I based it off that right away. Over the course of 6 – 8 months I went through many revisions of the string. Unfortunately, I told Evan he basically developed a string good for Moebius, which is the Metz string, so I convinced him to develop a string that would be useful for my 1a style AND Moebius style.

Evan and I went through 7 different versions of Zype until we decided on a final version. We experimented with two different poly strings put together to create the feeling of “Zype”. Zype is “Zammy” + “Hype” put together. I am a sarcastic person, always making crude jokes about swag, hype..those kinds of things. I think the name fits well, honestly..

The string needed to be long for my tech-arm combos, be able to hold slack well, smooth so I can comfortably open the slipknot, and have the slipknot loop open well for “no-handed” tricks.

It was awesome string, and from what I remember it was pretty well recieved too!

It definitely was! When the string was handed out at PNWR 2013 people were raving about it, and Andre and Johnnie DelValle were really excited to sell it! I’m glad it was a hit, hoping more will be available soon.

So, moving onto your tricks and clip videos, what’s your process like in creating a trick?

It’s not anything special, not really different from any of the other top players out there! I made a dedicated video specifically stating how to develop tricks and combos to help those out there and shows how I go about doing it.

First it does start with influence. Many yoyoers will see an element/concept that someone else does and mutates it to their own desirable outcome. This happens in everything. The thing is though, I generally DO NOT get influenced. Many of my ideas come from out of nowhere and or while sitting down doing critical thinking. I write down every idea I come up with, sometimes in bits and pieces. Some ideas are left to the side and I come back to expand on them. This happened specifically in 2012 where I did A LOT of videos..because so many ideas were left to the side in order to be re-explored. Experimentation/mutating, critical thinking, re-checking over and finalization are the usual steps I take.

What’s your process like in making a clip video?

It’s the same thing with my videos. The first thing about my videos is what kind of feeling I want to give for it, then I decide if my tricks are worth putting in there. Themes and feelings are always present in my videos even if people can’t see it. I go through multiple songs to pick which fits right for the combos, the angles of the tricks, which spots I should highlight in the video with slowmo (usually for slack type tricks), which order the tricks should go in…there is quite a bit going on for my videos. It doesn’t take me long as I always pre-plan on paper what I want.

All of that totally makes sense, it’s easy to see how all of that pre-planning pays off. Your style may be unorthodox, but it’s pretty well developed and really fun to watch.

Pre-planning is always important as a stepping stone. I can always track back ideas on paper, or even take previously completed ideas to develop something new, like sequel tricks. All in all, that’s just me.

If you had to pick, what would be your favorite 1A trick that you’ve invented?

For 1A, there is my neck based rolling green triangle I call “The Ballista”. It’s a real flashy type of trick that is kind of dangerous due to fear of hitting the face. I always get a good reaction when I do it.

Favorite Moebius trick?

For Moebius, I pick my signature trick “Moebicide” which is kinda hard to explain. I get into a specific hold and do a “slack pinwheel” with my left hand and immediately let go, causing the slipknot loop to be in the air along with the yoyo. The yoyo stays inside the loop while it flies. No hands are holding the loop, it’s all in the air. I then catch the loop with my right hand, and the yoyo captures inside the slipknot loop.

I’d say both the Ballista and Moebicide are trademark tricks of mine that if someone saw they’d be reminded of me.

I know both of those tricks and I would totally agree!

So, what would your advice be for an aspiring yoyoer? Particularly, an aspiring yoyoer trying that is trying to develop their own style?

Well, for new yoyoers that are developing their own style, they need to realize one major thing: everyone is different. Even if one person does one trick and the other person does the same trick..it will be different. Some people go fast, some go slow, some have different posture and stance..things like that. The reason I say that is because there will be fellow throwers that will say “Oh he throws just like so and so” or “Well he copied so and so tricks”. People need to stop worrying about that and just play yoyo.

Secondly, another tip for yoyoers is to try and grasp as many concepts/elements as possible. This will help you to expand your creativity. Having a greater understanding of the connection between the spinning object and the string will help the yoyoer overall. If you are able to grasp these ideas, this can yield greater results in developing new concepts, maybe even something revolutionary.

I believe the other thing worth mentioning is not to force yourself to be creative unless you’re ready. For example, my yoyo style is very raw and aggressive. It doesn’t always work for everyone. Sometimes if you just ease back and yoyo without thinking, you may yield even better results. Everyone is different, so everyone will evolve their style at different paces.

Be sure to also understand what your favorite elements are. Its good to be a solid overall yoyoer but it’s sometimes better if you are a specialist at something. Janos seems to be heavily always using slacks with rejection-like concepts.

It’s all up to the yoyoer to decide their path.

Very true, that’s all such good advice.

Lastly, what can we expect to see from you in the future?

The future is something I don’t know, yoyo-wise. I’m a wild-card type person so at first I could go full force at something and then the next…stop.

Right now, I intend to get back into the Moebius 101 project sponsored by Yoyoexpert. More people need to learn it. I’ve taken a very long break from the style. It’s time to take it above the next level and show what I am capable of.

I intend on exploring other styles of yoyo, I’ll still be making clip videos/trickcircles..I’ll still be doing my thing vs. what everyone else is doing, and I plan on doing a GoPro-style tutorial series on beginner, intermediate and master level tricks like what Yoyoexpert has done.

Don’t expect me to ever be sponsored again or another signature yoyo. I seriously doubt any company will give me another chance, but that’s okay. I can’t “pump out” videos like I used to since my creativity has slowed down. But it’s still there.

Awesome, I wish you luck in whatever you decide to do. Thanks Zammy!

5A May Interview – Bryan Jardin

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Hot on the heels of his recent 5A May Torque video, Filipino wonderboy Bryan Jardin has agreed to answer a few questions about his 5A philosophy and yo-yo experience. With multiple championships under his belt at both Philippine Nationals & the Asian Pacific Yo-yo contest, he has already proven himself to be a formidable force on the Asian competitive scene, and a podium finish at the Bay Area Classic suggests that he has not slowed down upon moving to the US. In addition to being a great player, Bryan is well-known for his energetic off-stage antics and his huge smile. Pull up a chair and learn a little about the man behind the tricks.

How did you get started in yo-yoing?

I started yo-yoing when I was 9 years old, around the time that the Super Yo-yo scene crashed in the Philippines. Everyone had a yoyo. To make the long story short, Edmund San Antonio ( Duncan Crew Philippines ) introduced me to the advanced tricks, and I thought it was the coolest thing that I’d seen in my whole life. So he made me buy a ball bearing yoyo. I learned the tricks really quick because I’m into it. I tried competing for Basic, Intermediate and Advance- freestyle but I ended up losing. But I don’t care, I had fun! . Yoyoing helps me to build my confidence in the outside world, I’ve met a lot of friends and learned a lot of things in life.

Who are some of your favorite players & biggest influences?

Many of my favorite yo-yo players are old school players. Steve Brown, Rafael Matsunaga, Kohta, Yuuki Spencer, Sebby, Paul Escolar, Gary Longoria and Spencer Berry. I still look up to them.

For new rising star yoyo players, I like Michael Kurti, Isaac Sams, Andrew Maider, and Janos Karancz,

3. How do you generally create your tricks & combos? 

I usually use 1A mounts for my 5A combos. I’ll create a lot of mini-tricks and put them together, I always make sure that the flow is right and I don’t usually care about technical. If I can’t come up with new tricks, I look back to the old 5A tricks, but I’ll add more style and put it in a competitive way.

4. You’re known in the community for your high energy both on and off the stage. What was the most fun you’ve ever had at a yo-yo contest? 

Hahaha! This always happens, so I’m kind of used to it… After Sean Perez’s Freestyle, people will congratulate me because they think that I’m Sean. One time, a kid ran up wanting to hug me, take a picture and get my signature. I find it so funny because I always hang out with him and we both have the same Duncan Shirts. Brothers!!

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5. You’re doing a great job showing off yo-yoing for Duncan at Downtown Disney. Is it more fun to perform for non-players who are impressed by everything or yoyoers who appreciate the technical difficulty of what you do?

For Non-players, I rarely do competition/technical/difficult tricks for them because even though it looks good, they don’t really understand it. Haha! One thing I like for the non-player crowd is to teach them tricks, I find it more fun and exciting.

I really like showing my tricks to yoyoers because at least they can understand the difficulty, style, flow and smoothness of my tricks. And if they like it, it gives me more hope to create new tricks!

6. What’s your favorite 5A trick of all time, and why?

My favorite 5A tricks are body tricks and aerials, because my definition of 5A is the counterweight/string/yoyo is away from me. I like it when I can add aerial moves and move the yoyo around my body.

7. You recently placed at BAC and have a history of strong performances at AP. How are American contests different from contests in Asia?

I’ve been competing in Asia for years and years, so I do tricks that fit to Asian Contests, which is more speed+technical. Here in the US, they focus more on style+flow+technical, which I find way easier to compete in, and I feel that this is were I belong when it comes to contest. I mostly like American 5A players because I can see the tricks whenever they freestyle, it’s much clearer. I really do appreciate a routine with good flow and not so fast. In my opinion, fast tricks are too robotic, especially for 5A.

8. What’s your favorite nickname for Brandon Jackson?

Haha! Before I answer this question, I would like to describe him. Brandon is Impossible. I think he is a walking Google, he knows everything! Brandon is a really good higher up and a friend… I always call him boss, because he is actually my boss! But I really want to call him BJ, Because we have the same acronym, I’m BJ too!

9. How do you plan your freestyles?

I plan my freestyle first before picking a song. I divide my freestyle into three pieces. It’ll help me to compress my freestyle so I can put more tricks in. It’s a little bit risky because I ended up putting a lot of tricks, and I don’t have spare time if I make a mistake. But that’s how I roll, I’ll go big or go home.

10. What do you think is going to be the biggest yo-yo trend of 2015?

I 2015 will be the battle of young yoyo players, they’re so crazy and innovative. I think kids will dominate the big stages in 2015. Old yoyo players will be history.

Any closing bits of advice?

For the kids out there dreaming of becoming a sponsored player:

  1. Be yourself
  2. Know your roots
  3. Be a role model to others
  4. Be creative and Innovative
  5. Be friendly, don’t act like a superstar
  6. Be active in contests
  7. Original Tricks are always the best tricks
  8. Enjoy what you do

Once you’ve learn how to do these things, companies will find you!

5A May Interview – Petr Kavka

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CLYW Petr Kavka

Petr Kavka is a yoyoer from the Czech Republic who just so happens to be the 6-time 5A Czech Champion as well as the first European 5A Champion. Petr is a member of the CLYW team, and can often be seen throwing his well-known signature throw, the Cliff.

Petr, as the 6-time 5A Czech Champion and the first European 5A Champion, you’ve definitely proved yourself within 5A. How did you start yoyoing?

Originally, I started around 2003 when I got a Duncan Dragonfly from my friend in exchange for a baguette. Unfortunately, all that I could do with it was a Sleeper. Then, I got a Freehand 2 because my Dragonfly broke and I learned Around the Corner. Since my Freehand 2 broke as well, I gave up till like early 2006. I started again because my friend in the Boyscouts won a whole set of Duncan HardCore line yoyos. He let me try them and I was hooked up. I bought myself a YoYoJam Lyn Fury, learned how to bind and shortly after also bought a Duncan Throw Monkey which comes with a Duncan bouncy ball counterweight, and that was the reason I started 5A. I always loved to experiment with different forms of yoyoing outside of 2A.

Wow, that’s good! How did you get involved in the actual yoyo community?

I was attending yoyo meetings in Prague since it was only place to get good quality yoyos for a good price in the Czech Republic. I was attending the meetings every week and met, for example, Vashek Kroutil and Tomas Bubak there. Vashek was already a superstar and Bubak was almost on the same level as I was but he was like half a year or year ahead. I think the Czech yoyo community started to notice me after I won X-Division at Czech Nats 2007 with 5A. They noticed me, but I feel like I was kind of an outsider till like 2010 when we started SLUSNY.

What style of play did you focus on most at first?

I always focused mainly on 1A and only played other styles when I was tired of 1A. It was not hard to become good in 5A since there were not many 5A players and none of them were really competitive.

I’m not too familiar with the Czech yoyo scene but I’m familiar with those two and I know they’re definitely big names there. For those that don’t know, can you explain what SLUSNY is?

SLUSNY was originally just Vashek’s blog, but in 2010 the SLUSNY team was born from a group of people that happened to travel together around Europe to any possible contest. At that time, we also decided to start an e-shop and a few years after that we also opened our offline store. As of today, SLUSNY is an e-shop, brick-and-mortar store, contest organizer, group of competitors and yoyo collectors, video production team, yoyo brand and many more things. Huge thanks to Vashek for all of his work! The Czech and European yoyo scene would look really different without his influence. I am really happy to be part of this huge project! We also really appreciate all the support from so many people from all around the world!

SLUSNY is totally an incredible project! Who were some of your favorite yoyoers in any division when you first started?

There was no YouTube when I started, so I watched lot of Czech videos on yoyo.cz and shortly after I discovered yoyoing.com/videos where I watched videos from all around the world. I spent many days just watching anything there. I miss that website! So many gems there! I think the first international player that I recognized was JD with his 2003 Worlds freestyle. His play was soo different from all the other players! Other 1A players that I can think of were Yuuki and Black. In 5A, I was always a fan of Jake Bullock for his killer concepts. Rafael Matsunaga and Tyler Severence were also influential. Tyler is my big hero and I think my 5A was influenced by him on a big scale. I got in touch with him for a first time when my Severe 2009 had a bearing that was too tight and I did not like it. I emailed him, and he was nice enough to send me 3 other Severes that I used to claim my 5A title at EYYC!

That’s so lucky! What was your first contest?

My first contest was Czech Nats 2006 where I competed in the Beginners and X-divisons. I placed 5th out of 6 players in the X-Divison and 3rd in Beginners.

What’s your method to prepare for a contest?

I don’t really have any method to prepare for a contest. Many times, I just improvise on stage. But, when I prepare my freestyle I usually just put my tricks in some logical order and then I find a song that will somehow fit into my freestyle. I know that most players do music first, but I find it really hard to fit my tricks into music I choose. In 1A, I try to be as innovative as possible but in 5A/4A I pretty much do the same tricks over and over again with some upgrades from time to time. I know that I have to work on my freestyles much harder then I do now.

How did you get hooked up with CLYW? Was it mostly from your freestyles?

I was kind of like a CLYW fanboy since like 2009, when Jensen visited Prague. I bought a Caribou t-shirt from him and I had it on during almost all of my  freestyles. I actually got that offer after I made my first video that was dedicated to Caribou Lodge. That was a few weeks after EYYC 2011 where I used an Avalanche for my freestyle. I was soo happy and I feel like that really pushed me forward!

Definitely, I know what you mean. Your signature CLYW throw is the Cliff, what was the process like in designing that amazing yoyo?

I designed the Cliff together with Chris during the 2012 World YoYo Contest. I had a pretty clear vision in my eyes and Chris did such a great job by making my dream come true! The prototype was a success for a first try and we started production pretty fast after spending some time with a prototype. Its such a special yoyo. Its not for everyone, but I think that some people find it pretty special.

I can’t say much else, but I guess I can reveal that we are working on the new design!

CLYW Cliff

I was just about to ask about the new design, sounds good! You mentioned earlier that you like JD, was he a big influence in your use of slack in a lot of your tricks? What do you like most about slack?

I don’t feel like he was a big influence for me. His tricks are way to complex for me. I don’t think I use slack more then others but I guess I do. Its an element that feels natural to me. I think Black was a really big influence, but I realized this not so long ago.

On another note with tricks, what are some of your other favorite elements to add to your 5A tricks?

I really like tricks with a good use of momentum with both a dice and the yoyo and tricks with good rhythm. Any kind of arials are fun as well!

Lastly, what is any advice you would have for any aspiring 5A player and what can we expect to see from you in the future?

Just grab a dice and start playing. Try to be inspired by some of your favorite players but stay true to yourself. You have to experiment, develop your concepts, and practice and it will pay off. Also, try to convert your moves from other styles into 5A. You can definitely expect more videos from me, attending as many contests as possible, a new signature throw with CLYW and much more will come.

That all sounds great, thanks Petr!

5A May Interview – Jake Elliot

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Jake Elliott

Jake Elliot was the 2013 National 5A Champion and has quickly became a well known name and force to be reckoned with within 5A. In celebration of 5A May, I had the chance to interview Jake and learn more about this interesting competitor and highly talented 5A player. Jake and I talked his start in yoyoing, contests, and more!  Be sure to check out Jake’s daily trick videos here all throughout May of 2014, and be on the lookout for him getting 1st at a contest near you sometime soon!

Jake, in killing the contest scene lately and throwing 5A for a while now, you’ve definitely left your mark on yoyoing. How did you start?

I’ve been playing with yoyos for as long as I can remember. They were always one of my favorite toys when I was young, though I never got farther than just the basic tricks – two or three loops, rock the baby, walk the dog, that kind of thing.

Then, six years ago in my 7th grade science class I read an article about yoyoing in one of those three page scholastics magazines they hand out in public schools. The article covered the basics of the modern yoyo – A ball bearing, rubber response, and free spinning halves. It really caught my attention, and that day I went home, dug through my closet, found my FAST 201, and learned some basic tricks. After that, yoyo was a daily activity for me and I never stopped.

That’s so awesome, yoyos have definitely been a lifelong thing in my life too. How did you originally learn tricks then?

On the first day I Googled tricks and I was able to find André’s Expert Village tutorials. I remember learning a few picture tricks, like Eiffel Tower and Confederate Flag. That night I found André’s video on the different styles of yoyoing you’ll see at contests. In that video I saw him hit his Electric Fan to Double or Nothing 5A trick. I was amazed, and desperately wanted to learn how to do that trick. So, the next day at school, I brought a regular dice to school and drilled a hole through it in shop class, and then began learning the basics of 5A. Ever since then, 5A has always been the style that appealed to me most.

Wow, that’s early dedication to 5A! What were some of your other early favorite tricks and players in that style?

 My favorite trick has always been Beesting and it’s variations. I had a handful of them starting out, though I must have at least 15 Beesting variations by now.

My two favorite players when I was starting out were Makoto Nakugame and Jake Bullock. I must have watched Makoto’s 2004 worlds freestyle over a hundred times and watched all of Jake Bullocks videos at least twice. I drew most of my early inspiration from those two players.

 Would you say you progressed quickly?

When I first started yoyoing six years ago progress was very slow. It was much more of a casual hobby rather than something I put a good amount of time into every day.

How did you get integrated into the yoyo community and what was your first contest?

My first contest was the 2012 World Yoyo Contest, which I attended after a little more than four years of yoyoing. It was the best time I’ve ever had in my life. I got to meet amazing people from all around the world, and more importantly, I got to see my favorite players compete on stage. Watching players like Takeshi Matsuura, Takuma Inoue, Samm Scott, and Hiroyuki Suzuki inspired me to start taking yoyo seriously and practice for contests.

About a month later I started practicing hard for contests and I haven’t stopped since. In about a year I went from a very mediocre casual player to US national champion. So yes, I would say that I progressed quickly.

I would definitely say so too! Was Nationals your first contest win?

2013 Nationals was my 3rd contest and my first win. The other two contests before that were MER 2013 and 2013 worlds.

I didn’t get any recognition for my 5A before nationals. Both my MER freestyle and Worlds freestyle went very poorly and people didn’t pay attention to them, so no one really knew who I was.

Wow, that’s definitely a way to make an impression on people though! What do you think was different about your approach at 2013 Nationals that helped you get 1st?

Well, after about a year of practice with the goal and placing top 10 at the world yoyo contest, only to place 11th, I realized my current practice methods just weren’t good enough. To make myself progress faster, I borrowed practice concepts and techniques from other skill toys in order to gain muscle memory faster. I also learned how to judge 5a, which was a very valuable skill to have when constructing tricks and freestyles.

Without those two skills I would not have gone far at all.

I would say that method definitely worked! On another note, what would your other favorite aspect about 5A aside from competing in it be?

In my opinion, 5A is the most freeing style. 5A can be anything that you want it to be. 5A can be incredibly technical, or it can have very large body tricks. 5A has trick possibility and variety unlike any other style.

5A can emulate other styles. I’ve seen 5A routines where the player is going all 2A tricks. There are tons of 5A players who do very 1A inspired combos, with minimal counterweight manipulation. Some players clearly draw inspiration from 4A and 3A as well.

It’s the freedom and variety that the style has that keeps me playing 5A, rather than other styles.

As a spectator rather than frequent player of 5A player I still totally agree with you, that’s why I like 5A too. What would your advice be for anyone else trying out 5A?

Learn the basics first. Tricks like 360, 720, Electric Fan, Beesting, those kinds of tricks. Once you understand the basics of how to control the counterweight, then you can start taking 5A in whatever direction you want. Take whatever style you play most and try to incorporate the counterweight into your existing tricks. If you’re a 1A player, add some counterweight manipulations into your favorite combos. 4A players might like the larger body tricks that 5A has to offer. 3A and 2A players will feel right at home manipulating two objects at once.

That’s the beauty of 5A. You can take whatever you already have and make unique and interesting 5A tricks, once you understand the basics.

That’s all totally true. Last but not least, what can we expect to see from you in the future?

Hopefully you’ll see many great freestyles at some large contests from me. I’m quite happy with the progress I’ve been making and I’m excited to show off some of my new concepts and tricks.

I also have an upcoming bi metal signature yoyo which should be coming out soon. I’ve been play testing it for over 6 months now and it’s as close to perfection as I could imagine a yoyo being. I’m extremely excited to see it be released and I hope that everyone loves it.

Here’s hoping for a great year!

I doubt you’ll have any trouble achieving those goals, thanks Jake!

Thanks for having me, Matt.

 

 

 

5A May Interview – Jonathan Robinson

By

Jonathan Robinson JonRob

One of the most well known names in all of 5A, Jonathan Robinson (AKA JonRob) is an extremely skilled 5A player and the kind of yoyoer that really has an aura around him that lets you know that he knows what he’s doing. A member of the YoyoFactory Contest Team, JonRob has competed in numerous contests and had numerous signature yoyos as well. Aside from winning Trick Innovator of the Year in 2007, JonRob also helped popularize some of the most well-known terminology in yoyoing. I had the chance to chat with JonRob and learn more about him, and immediately was excited to learn more about this 5A legend!

JonRob, you’re definitely a very well known name in both 5A and yoyoing in general. How did you first pick up a yoyo?

Thanks, I actually was exposed to “new school” yoyoing (at the time) in Spanish class in high school… Around 1998.

Yeah, that was definitely around the “boom” of the late ’90s. What were some of the trends/popular tricks in yoyoing you remember from back then?

Well… I wasn’t really in the scene back then. I learned as many tricks as I could from the old school Yomega DVD with Jen Baybrook in it. I played with stock Raiders that I would buy from the mall. I then fell in love with a trans-green RBII that I threw for the next five or so years. I did the same few tricks over and over again. Moving to Delaware changed my life.

What happened in Delaware?

After living in Delaware for some years I found out about Mitchell’s Toys Trains & Hobbies. Then, I went to my first contest and the first real yoyoer I ever met was André Boulay. Since I already had some basic fundamentals, André was able to teach me like five tricks in 30 minutes. After that I was hooked and started going to yoyo club twice a week. At the time, AJ Kirk was in charge of club so after learning most of the easy ladder tricks I began to learn 5A tricks from AJ. Around the same time Tyler Severance and his brother Danny began showing up as well. Next thing you know Tyler and decided that we wanted to take over 5A… and we did.

That’s really awesome, so you were basically learning tricks in a one-on-one way back then? Around what year was that going on? I remember seeing you throw some great 5A in Save Deth Volume 2 which Danny and Tyler both also had parts in.

Like 2005/06 I think. Yeah, it was of a group of us. After Tyler and I learned all the tricks we could from AJ we began to try and find our own and show up to club the next week with bigger and better stuff. We pushed each other from the beginning. It was a great time in yoyoing for me. I was hungry and I wanted to be great so I would yoyo 4, 5, 6 hours a day every single day.

That dedication definitely paid off! Some may not know, but your first sponsor was Anti-Yo. How did you get hooked up with them?

It was at 2007 World Yoyo Contest when I first met Kiya and he offered to fly me out to Chico for Nationals that same year. After arriving in Cali he asked if wanted to be on the team. It was hard to say no to the guy who just flew you out to the west coast for the first time and you were sleeping at his house. It was a good look for a while.

You were also sponsored by SPYY for a while. How did that come about?

A lot like Anti-Yo… you get to know people, talk to them and build relationships. SPYY was a real good ride. Steve gave me the yoyo of my dreams! I made a little bit of money and he made a little bit of money. At the end of the day it wasn’t a 100% comfortable fit for me at that time so I decided to do my own thing for a while.

Now you’re with YoYoFactory, right?

Yeah… YYF was probably where I should have been from the start. The yoyos they make fit me, when I’m with the team it feels like family and they are the most professional yoyo company in the business… hands down.

Being involved in a lot of different aspects of yoyoing, what would you say your favorite is between contests, videos, tricks, etc.?

I’ve always felt like a competitive yoyo player first. I played sports my whole life and I like the competitive aspect of yoyoing, even if I’m not that good at it anymore. The tricks are next only because you need those to compete, then the videos cause they help build hype and get your name out there. I could care less about trick innovation and videos. I just want to win one big contest before I stop competing.

All in all, what would you say your favorite moment out of your whole yoyo career would be?

WOW! That’s a good question…
I’d probably have to say my 2008 World YoYo Contest performance. It was hella dirty, but the song, swag and outfit were on point! 2010 BAC was another one of my favorite moments. The original 5AMay movement was at that contest. I had a good freestyle, a great song and I had on some fresh ass Jays that day!

Winning Trick Innovator of the Year award could have been one of those moments, but it has been surrounded by bullsh*t since the year Jake and I won it. I still feel some type of way about sharing that award and everything that has happened with it since then. It’s a joke now.

Yeah, I can’t say I disagree with you there. What would be your advice for any aspiring 5A player out there?

As far as advice, the best thing would probably be to learn all of the basic/fundamental tricks that are out there, then learn some tricks that a few of your favorite players do, then just stop watching 5A players or yoyo players for inspiration and just be creative. Having a solid foundation if tricks is key, though.

Do you think getting good at 5A requires a different approach than 1A?

I don’t even have an approach to 1A, it’s just something I do in between 5a tricks when I’m not thinking. I suck at 1A.

One more question: What can we expect to see from you in the future?

I wouldn’t expect much… lol. It gets harder and harder to stay motivated every year. If I could have just one perfect freestyle I would hang it up. Until then, I’ll probably just keep trying to find new tricks to score more points with. My number one goal right now is to keep my wife happy and my kids on point!

Right! I definitely feel you there. You have a great attitude towards yoyoing, thanks for doing this!

Yup, no problem. Thanks for doing what you do!

5A May Interview – Miguel Correa

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Miguel Correa at Bill Liebowitz Classic.

Miguel Correa at Bill Liebowitz Classic. Photo © John Huber 2011.

Whether you know him as Miguel, Miggy, “Flame”, or the guy who’s name is on the YoyoFactory Genesis (as it’s his signature yoyo), Miguel Correa is a 4x US National Champion and undeniably one of the best 5A players of all time. Starting his yoyo career in the late 90’s, Miguel went on to really pioneer 5A and do a lot of great things for yoyoing in general. Miguel has always been someone I wanted to interview, so upon having the chance I was definitely excited to learn more about him!

Miguel, you’ve been yoyoing for a pretty long time and unbeknownst to some were actually an important figure in the “midschool” era of yoyoing. How did you start yoyoing in the first place?

I have an earlier memory of playing with a yo-yo, but I really started playing in late 1999. I bought a knock off X-Brain at the mall…it shattered within half an hour of play. I took it back and the guy was cool enough to accept it as a return and swapped it out with a real X-Brain. I was young, but even then I knew he probably wasn’t supposed to do that. He hooked it up.

Aha, that’s awesome! You eventually became a pretty prominent 1A player back then, but how did you first start learning tricks and get integrated into the internet yoyo scene of the time?

Early on I bought some trick books and learned through illustrations. Occasionally, I also read text descriptions online. After I built some skill, most of the learning came from one on one interaction and online videos. Then, after convincing my dad to buy a camcorder, I was able to share online the tricks my friends and I were coming up. We only had a few forums and sites dedicated to yoyoing at the time so it was relatively easy, if you had the tricks, to get people to notice you.

Some of your old 1A tricks from back then are pretty cool. How would you describe the process with making up those kinds of tricks back then?

Back then it wasn’t difficult to make up something new. The difficult part was making it look good. For me, I always tried to have some fluidity to a trick. My process was generally to come up with an original move, and then find the natural rhythm it wanted. Basically, the tricks found me.

I think there are a lot of tricks from back then that might not look impressive but are actually pretty hard as far as the technical aspect goes. You went by the name “Flame” then, right? I remember seeing you in one of Spencer Berry’s Phalanx videos from way back then.

Ha! Yeah, Flame was my angsty web handle back then. Wasn’t cool then, still ain’t lol. I was a part of Spencer Berry’s Project Phalanx. Basically, it was an assembled crew of people Spencer deemed worthy. He had a site and we would send him our tricks and he would compile clip videos out of them. There were at least two Phalanx videos I can distinctly remember, “Primus” and “Secundus”. To be perfectly honest, when I was asked to be a part of the project, I wasn’t sure if I was actually good enough. I asked Spencer one time why he chose me to be part of the small collective and he said, simply, “I saw potential”. So, big shout out to Spencer for that motivation.

So, I have a debate with myself on a trick I did in the first Phalanx video, “Primus”. During my section I do a trapeze, to a trapeze and his brother, but right before it lands, I whip it. I never gave this a name, but everyone knows it as Jade Whip. That’s the earliest video I personally have ever seen of Jade Whip, so I’m claiming it until further proof is unearthed. I never gave it a name so I don’t know who named it.

Wow, that’s awesome! What made you want to gravitate more towards 5A?

I had moderate contest success in 1A early on, but my local peers like Jesse Garcia and Eric Hesterman were killing it. They were far and away better than I, so eventually as other styles emerged I decided I wanted to try out 5A. There weren’t a lot of tricks for it at the time so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try and help build something from the ground up. I made that decision around 2002.

It was definitely a good one! How was the 5A climate then as opposed to 1A?

After 1A overtook 2A as king, I feel it really opened up a spot for a new number 2 style. 5A was really really special back then. There weren’t many players at all and there wasn’t a real trick ladder set forth in the style. The style itself was intriguing enough that you would see pockets emerge of different styles of 5A, in particular in the U.S. I had my style of 5A, there was a distinct mid west style of 5A, and a west coast style too. It was the closest thing in the yoyo world to me like there was regional stylistic differences of the same music sub-genre. Punk sounds different in New York than it does in Gainesville, FL. Something about that spoke to me and excited me. This was all truly something NEW and it was all being developed in wildly different ways. Take that music analogy along with Steve Brown’s extroverted personality, it’s easy to see why people like Tyler and myself gravitated toward 5A and really tried to make it our own.

That totally makes sense, I definitely see why you did too. Were you just throwing the standard Freehand 1s then? I remember seeing you throw a Tigershark in one of those Phalanx videos.

I was on Team Spintastics early on, then I was on Team Buzz On after that. Somewhere in between I was throwing a lot of Freehand 1’s. I had a nice collection at one point too. For the Spintastics stuff, we could modify Tigersharks, mostly adding weight and later on changing the guts. I figured a way to get Renegade guts to fit and later Spintastics had spacers made to accommodate the Renegade bearing, then they added domed caps and called it the Eclipse.

That’s what the Eclipse was? Wow! I’ve always been super curious about the old Spintastics stuff. I’ve thrown the Great White Shark from back then, it was really light but it was possible to add weight rings to that too, right?

We used 8 gauge wire to add weight initially, under the cap, then for the Eclipse they added a custom machined brass weight ring.

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That’s pretty legit! What initially led you to competing to 5A, and what was your first contest?

Well, for awhile 5A was part of the open division. So, I lost to 2A players a lot. My first contest was just a local mall contest nearby, I wasn’t even good enough to freestyle. In 2003, U.S Nationals held an exhibition contest for 3A, 4A, and 5A, I won the 5A exhibition. The next year, 2004, the winners were retroactively awarded National Champion trophies at the awards dinner. We were cited as performers showing excellence in our styles and contributing factors to the decision to open U.S Nationals to 5 total championship divisions.

Wow, thats crazy! You later went on to win several 1st place National titles since then. Whats your favorite contest you’ve competed in?

A great contest is never about what happens on stage. I don’t know if I can pick a favorite, the best stories are ones I can’t tell you here. There are many.

Keeping up the theme of 5A, what’s some advice you could throw out there for any aspiring 5A champion out there?

Know your basic and intermediate tricks well. Those are the foundations of 5A and knowing those elements and incorporating them into your more difficult tricks will make your tricks look better and score better.

Definitely. If you had to pick one from each, what would be your favorite 1A trick and your favorite 5A trick?

Speaking generally, my favorite 1A trick is easily Rancid Milk. I think the trick was at least a year old before I saw anyone besides Spencer be able to do it. My favorite 5A trick is one of my own called Siren. I have a tutorial of it up on my YouTube channel.

Rancid Milk is actually my favorite 1A trick too, by far. That sounds good! Speaking of which, you run your own site that’s pretty essential called The Definitive. What inspired to start that site?

There were a lot of factors that went into that. The Definitive right now is a place for my tutorials to live outside of YouTube. I try to update it with a written piece from time to time, but right now it’s not a priority. I do have more 1A tutorials filmed but I may re-shoot them, eventually.

I think it’s a really good site with a lot of good info all in one place. Lastly, what can we expect to see from you in the future?

You can catch me at BAC this year. We’ll see what happens after BAC, one contest at a time. I’ll be posting more promo stuff for the new Genesis. The Pulsar Collection Genesis is coming out to online stores soon, but be quick because they are super limited and some of them are already gone, sold at Japan Nationals. Be sure to follow me on instagram @themiggymigs and subscribe to my Youtube channel. Yeah, I think that does it.