5x Philippine National Champion and 2x Asia-Pacific Champion Bryan Jardin has teamed up with Kuma Films for a gorgeous look at counterweight yoyoing. What a great way to wind down 5A May, huh?
Yoyo used is the Duncan Toys Origami.
Dang Minh Khoa – Dawn
Dang Minh Khoa kicks off 5A May with a great new counterweight video. Lots of skill on display here…nice to see a rare full-length counterweight video!
Yoyo used is the YoYoRecreation POM Draupnir.
Daigo Komiya – 5A May
Daigo Komiya slides in a little something right at the end of the month for 5A May. Nice work!
Yoyo used is the One Drop Chik.
YoYofficer Presents: 5A Astro Swing Tutorial
Ryan Gee serves up a tutorial for his 5A trick “Astro Swing”, and it’s exactly the kind of ridiculous, fun trick everyone should have in their pocket to make non-players oooh and ahhh. That, and throwing really high aerials. If you can do that consistently, they’ll think you’re a wizard.
Yoyo used is the Yoyofficer Kilter 3.
5A May – Josh Yee – Breathe Me
Josh Yee delivers some nice counterweight tricks in his latest video. It’s a little on the moody side, so if you’re already having a bummer of a day you might wanna come back to it later, but the tricks are pretty solid.
Yoyo used is the Axis Mixtape.
5A May – The Unfinished Battle: Drew vs Red
In 2011, a battle of giants was begun. Rafael “Red” Matsunaga and Drew Tetz decided to have a 5A trick video battle. Simple enough premise: each would submit a video, and then the public would vote on their favorite. The winner would claim total dominion over the entire planet and enact a millennium of darkness, the loser would have to wear a t-shirt that said “I suck”. Pretty typical stakes for a yoyo trick battle.
The videos were completed and posted:
Rafael Matsunaga
Drew Tetz
Then came a twist that no one could have forseen: the online service they used to set up the voting poll went out of business, and all votes were lost. The last time the votes were visible, the players were tied and so the greatest non-grudge match of the modern era came to a crashing halt with all involved scratching their heads and saying “So, uh, congratulations, I guess?”
For the sake of closure, and because I love to see someone lose, let’s open voting again. Who won this 6-year old trick battle? Cast your vote below!
YOYOFFICER Presents: Ryan Gee – Yacare #5AMay
Ryan Gee throws down his signature blend of weird and lovely 5A tricks in his latest video for YoYofficer.
Yoyo used is the Yoyofficer Yacare.
5A May – Jonathan Robinson / 2008 World YoYo Contest
Believe it or not, there was a time when 5A reigned supreme, and was the fastest growing (and most exciting) division besides 1A.
A steep learning curve and lack of promotion all but killed the division, sadly relegating it in recent years to being lumped in with 2A as a “we’ll give the medal to the one guy who registered” division at many contests. But for a few years there, it was truly amazing.
So, to celebrate 5A May, I’m going to spend the month giving shout-outs to my personal favorite 5A routines of all time. There’s no countdown, and I’m not going to rank them, because I love them all for completely different reasons. I’m just going to spend the month digging through YouTube and posting them in the order that I feel like watching them.
And we’re going to start off with one of the most iconic 5A performances of all time, Jon Rob at 2008 Worlds. The stance, the song, the swagger…he was there to hit his tricks and he didn’t give a damn what you thought, he knew they were good. Tyler Severance set the pace in 2007 with his win, but 2008 was when Jon Rob set the tone.
Duncan Magnetude & Counterweight Set Winners
We’ve selected our winners for the Duncan Toys Magnetude Giveaway! We’re emailing all of them tonight to let them know…congratulations everyone, and thanks to Duncan Toys for providing these prizes for 5A May.
Duncan Magnetude Winners
Brandon Lee
Dennis Cinquegrani
Alex Gauvin
Duncan Counterweight Set Winners
Bart Cusick
Joe Harris
Matt Hussey
Cameron Bolton
Tyler (YoYoCourse)
AJ Garcia
Ben Alexander
Tim L
Joe Davies
Jorge Garcia
Christopher Chunn
Mikk Hsptl
5A May – Win A Duncan Magnetude!
5A May has come to an end, but we’ve got a few more things to give away!
We’ve got THREE Duncan Magnetude yoyos to give away to some lucky readers, and TWELVE runners-up will receive full sets of Duncan’s white character counterweight heads!!
Sound off in the comments below and tell us how much you love 5A…we’ll pick our winners on Monday, June 9th!
5a May – Jake Elliott Tutorial – Last Two Tricks
Repeating Bee Sting is hard. It takes absolute perfect timing and immense amount of counterweight and yoyo control.
When you’re first learning this trick, you’re going to want to experiment with how long after the drop you should wait to make the crescent motion and how large the crescent motion should be. The technique for successfully performing this trick varies quite a bit depending on your set up, so experimentation is key.
There is a lot going on in E Fan Deposit. You’re manipulating string segments that both the yoyo and the counterweight are directly influencing. It’s still a really flashy trick with a sudden surprise “How did he get into that” E Fan at the end.
These are the last two 5a May videos that I’ll be putting out in 2014. Thanks everyone who watched them, and good luck practicing and learning new 5a tricks until the next 5a May.
5A May Interview – Bryan Jardin
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!!
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:
- Be yourself
- Know your roots
- Be a role model to others
- Be creative and Innovative
- Be friendly, don’t act like a superstar
- Be active in contests
- Original Tricks are always the best tricks
- Enjoy what you do
Once you’ve learn how to do these things, companies will find you!
5A May – Daigo Komiya
Werrd player Daigo Komiya sends us FOUR new counterweight trick breakdown videos for 5A May and they’re really solid! Check ’em out below and get to practicing.
Yoyo used is the Minute by Werrd.
Arm Attack
Dance
Boom Boom
L-R
5a May – Jake Elliott Tutorial – Z Rolls
My all time favorite trick, Z Rolls. This trick can be extremely challenging to learn, especially if you don’t have enough skill to keep the counterweight perpendicular to the strings between your hands. If it isn’t performed perfectly, you’ll end up in a knot.
Keep practicing and good luck.
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