Two of the best yoyo players in the world throwing down on a bi-metal yoyo that’s become a Turning Point team favorite?
All. Day. Long.
Yoyo used is the Turning Point Anubis.
Perfect Elements Presents: Friends + Worlds
Perfect Elements, the film production name of Russian super awesome guy Igor Galiev just dropped an epic video featuring nearly 8 minutes of brilliant yoyo tricks from the best players in the world. All you are doing for the next hour is watching this over and over. I’m not even kidding here. Shot at 60fps, so make sure you watch it full screen at full size!
Featuring Ben Conde, Riccardo Fraolini, Yoshi Mikamoto, Justin Weber, James Reed, Charles Haycock, Jensen Kimmitt, Harold Owens III, Petr Kavka, Vashek Kroutil, Kentaro Kimura, Paul Kerbel, Takeshi Matsuura, and more.
First Look – YoYoFactory Cyborg
YoYoFactory released pics, specs, and video of their new signature model for US National 3A Champion Patrick Borgerding – the Cyborg! Designed for Patrick by Kentaro Kimura, the Cyborg is meant to be the ultimate 3A yoyo for one of the leading players in the style. Specs and video are below, as well as YoYoFactory’s official statement on this new release, due out June 1st.
Talk of signature yo-yos usually starts with an off hand comment, usually after a major contest win. Patrick Borgerding didn’t even need to make the comment when he won the USA National Contest. We already had it planned. The plan involved working with Kentaro Kimurra, long time friend, World YoYo Champion and owner of Turning Point, a boutique Japanese manufacturer. Kentaro had ideas for the perfect yoyo for Patrick and we all agreed on a design direction and plan. We tested in both 6061 and 7075 with knowledge we could choose to produce both, either or neither. We took our time. We wanted this to be a special yoyo. We made it local (every stage of the production was performed in USA) and spared no expense for finish or looks. In the end we went with 6061. Its finish stood up to hits better than 7075 and the performance couldn’t be bettered.
The end result is one of the finest yo-yos we have ever made.
YoYoFactory Cyborg Specs:
Diameter: 56.4mm
Width: 43mm
Weight: 66.3 grams
Response: 19mm Slim Pads
Bearing: Size C (.250 x .500 x .187) CBC SPEC Bearing
Release Date: June 1st, 2014
Perfect Elements – The Movie
Our friends at Perfect Elements have finally released their 45-minute film, “Perfect Elements: The Movie”. Instead of making this a commercial release, they’ve decided to just release it for free on Vimeo! Featuring Palli, Igor Galiev, Daniel Budai, Bryan Figueroa, Jason Lee, Kota Watanabe, Marcus Koh, Kentaro Kimura, Vashek Kroutil, and many more! Check out the filmmakers description below.
Welcome to the world of yoyo.
Yoyo is not just a game. It’s something bigger. You can see all this huge world with a place for everyone, here in this movie. It’s not only an hours of practice and learning tricks, but travels, adventures, parties… Tricks that was just a fantasy yesterday, today became a reality. It’s not an easy way, because without work and patience you can’t make even a first step, but that’s what makes it precious. Every new trick brings the joy of creation. It’s when sensation is what important, not the result, when you come on stage not attending to win, but to show your skills. It’s when you come back home all full of impressions and inspiration. It’s the awaiting of that very moment, when it appears in your head, perfect element!
Perfect Elements x Turning Point 2014
Russia’s Perfect Elements crew have teamed up again with Turning Point for a new video, and the results are mind-blowing. There is so much talent crammed into this video! Featuring Jano Meboniya, Victor Gravitsky, Igor Galiev, Kentaro Kimura, and Igor Vishnyakov.
2013 Winter Freestyle Contest – Top 1A Contenders
The 2013 Winter Freestyle Contest and Polish Nationals is tomorrow in Krakow, Poland and we’ve got a look at the top contenders for the 1A Division.
Tomas Bubak (C3YoYoDesign)
Just last month, Tomas announced his departure from Duncan Crew to join the C3YoYoDesign team, shortly after taking 3rd Place in the Czech National YoYo Contest. Tomas is one of the brightest stars of the European scene, and is always a contender for Top 3 in any event he wants to win.
Petr Kavka (CLYW)
Petr is the 2013 Czech National Champion, and easily the top contender for this year’s WFC 1A Division. But for all his talent, Petr is just as susceptible to nerves as anyone else, and at this level of play it only takes one mistake to knock yourself out of First Place.
Ben Conde (YoYoJam)
Ben Conde is a wild card for this event…while not usually one of the top competitive players in 1A, he’s a much better 1A player than many people realize. His trick construction is extremely well regarded among top-name players, but his natural tendency towards absurdly difficult banger tricks makes him a hit-or-miss in a contest setting.
Jan Hlinka (Turning Point)
With a strong 4th Place finish in the Open division at the 2013 Czech Nationals, Slovakian player Jan Hlinka is definitely a top contender this year. While other competitors might benefit by coming from larger scenes, the smaller scene in Slovakia and less exposure for Jan leaves him with a lot of room to roll in and surprise everyone. And while swagger will get you noticed, more than a few judges have crowned champions on skill + surprise.
Grzegorz “Plamek” Wójcik (C3YoYoDesign)
With a solid 2nd Place finish at the 2013 European YoYo Championships, Plamek is not only a lead contender for the title but he’s also got the home-field advantage. While venue may not help much in yoyoing, being able to represent your country at a major event IN your country definitely boosts the confidence…and since Plamek already has the skill, that extra boost of confidence may be just what he needs to take home the gold.
Adrian Koniecki (YoYoJam)
With only an 11th Place finish at this year’s European YoYo Championships, Adrian Koniecki is an unlikely name on our list…but his play shows a ton of promise, and watching his freestyle you can see that he’s just on the edge of being a serious threat for the Top 3. He lost his nerve with a major mistake in the first minute of his finals routine at EYYC, but if he can keep it together and learn to recover quicker, we could easily see Adrian in the Top 3 at WFC.
Marcin Drzewiecki (YoYoFactory)
Last year’s Polish National Champion Marcin Drzewiecki has kept a low profile this year, but it’s hard to deny his skill. Without recent contest standings to guess from, it’s hard to say what kind of a contender Marcin is going to be tomorrow. But with piles of talent, a home town crowd, and last year’s Polish National title under his belt, he’s got everything he needs to take home another win.
Marcin Fresel
Marcin Fresel only took 17th Place at the 2013 European YoYo Championships, but watching the video above it’s hard to understand why. One of the most unique players in Poland, Marcin has a style all his own and trick construction that has tons of potential. If Marcin can speed things up a bit and get those points in, he stands a good chance at Top Five.
Michał Zakrzewski (YoYoFactory)
With a strong 6th Place finish at EYYC and a 1st Place win at the 2012 WFC, Michał Zakrzewski is one of the strongest contenders for the Top 3.
Kentaro Kimura (Turning Point)
It’s REALLY hard to know what Kentaro is going to do! Competitively, his focus is primarily on 3A but he is such an effortlessly amazing 1A player that he can show up, completely unprepared, and land in the Top Five easily. Kentaro walked away from EYYC with 4th Place in the 1A Open division and rumor has it that he only decided to compete at the last minute and hadn’t prepared at all. No idea if that’s true, but Kentaro has the chops to pull if off and everyone else better bring their A-game.
Patrick Borgerding In Santa Barbara Independent
YoYoNews contributor and YoYoFactory-slinging 3A badass Patrick Borgerding got himself a great write-up in the Santa Barbara Independent, the main newspaper in Santa Barbara, California. Full article pasted below!
After coasting through statewide, regional, and national yo-yo contests and collecting a shiny first place medal at each stop, a UCSBstudent continued on to win second place in the 2013 World Yo-Yo Contest this summer.
Patrick Borgerding performed a three-minute choreographed routine before a panel of retired yo-yo champions. They judged his routine on technical execution, cleanliness, performance, and ability to thrill the audience.
Borgerding placed second in his division, division 3A, which is specific to contestants wielding two long-string yo-yos. Though this is the first year Borgerding qualified for the world championship, he is no stranger to competing, and winning.
“Everyone went through phases when they were young. First it was Pokémon, then Yu-Gi-Oh!, then everyone started yo-yoing,” he said. “But it was just a phase; everyone quit except me. ”
“I was such a competitive little kid — I had no control over how much I wanted to win. I got first in the little regional competition and that kind of hooked me,” said Borgerding.
His winning streak had only just begun. After getting second place in the national competition two years in a row, Borgerding decided something had to be done. He practiced three to four hours each day for two months in preparation for this year’s national tournament, at which he finally won first place, automatically qualifying him for the world contest.
In the 10 months preceding the international competition, Borgerding continued to practice every day, slowing down only when UCSB’s coursework picked up. He’s double-majoring in economics and psychology.
Armed with a sponsorship from the largest yo-yo distributor in the world, YoYoFactory, Borgerding is frequently flown to make appearances at yo-yo events. He also owns more yo-yos than he can count, literally. He does not know how many he has but estimates upward of 500.
His current favorite, the Proton, was designed by his all-time-favorite yo-yo champion, Kentaro Kimura, who once personally told Borderging he had potential.
Borderging says that being a part of the yo-yo community since he was 9 years old helped him mature and foster creativity, as well as awakened a thirst to win, one he satiates constantly.
Top 5 3A Yo-Yo Players of All-Time
As we gear up for the 2013 World YoYo Contest, we take a step back to appreciate and admire the greats of years past. We will be posting the top 5 in each division in the weeks leading up to the World Yo-Yo Contest.
Triple A is another style that has roots in the Duncan demonstrators of the 50s and 60s, but it took a modern player to see the potential and bring it into the current day. Early promotional images of Duncan demonstrator Wayne Lundberg show the most rudimentary of 3A play….a Sleeper with one hand, a Trapeze from the other. With the wooden yoyos of the 50s and 60s, this is generally all that was possible, but with the move from fixed axles to ball-bearing axles in the 90s, suddenly the equipment could handle a lot more. In 1998, Mark McBride created the first string trick involving two spinning yoyos, Velvet Rolls. Created as part of a bet with Steve Brown, Velvet Rolls is the trick that served as the catalyst for modern 3A play. From there, McBride worked on dual-mount tricks and kink mounts, while Brown focused on “assisted” 3A tricks…using one yoyo as a slave to create an additional anchor point within a trick. From early tricks like Assisted Suicide (ironically still one of the most difficult single tricks) and Blue Line Rolls came the foundation of modern 3A play; brought from being a “parking lot” division held for fun after established contests to one of the most complicated and difficult divisions in competitive yoyoing, 3A has grown tremendously and is one of the fastest growing divisions today.
5. Paul Yath – 
- 1x World Champion, 4x National Champion, 4x Regional Champion
A huge early innovator with concepts that combined 2A and 3A, Paul paved the way to what is now modern 3A. Complex tech tricks, visually appealing mounts and tangler combos, Paul had it all. Capturing a world title in 2006, as well as multiple National titles over some others players on this list, Paul demonstrated why he is one of the greats.
4. Hiroki Miyamoto – 
- 1x World Champion, 2x National Champion, 1x Regional Champion
Bursting on the scene at the Central Japan regional competition, Miyamoto brought to the stage tricks that had concepts never before been attempted. His unmistakable methodical style saw him to the top spot in the world of 3A in 2008. Many of his tricks from 2007-2008 would still hold up against todays competition. He injected a level of innovation that took 3A to a whole different level and thus earned his spot as one of the greatest to ever throw the style.
3. Hank Freeman –
- 2x World Champion, 3x National Champion, 1x Regional Champion
With unmatched flow and ease, Hank is quickly cementing his place in the 3A hall of fame. With three National titles and back-to-back World titles, Hank proved what so many knew for so long—he’s incredible. Hank’s personality shines bright on stage with his laid back attitude when performing extremely difficult tricks. If Hank decides to continue competing, he may take over the greatest of all time in 3A.
ARVE Error: need id and provider 2. Kentaro Kimura – /
- 1x World Champion, 1x Asia Champion, 2x National Champion, 4x Regional Champion, 2x State Champion
The single most incredible 3 minutes of 3A yo-yoing belongs to this man. After several previous years of disappointment, Kentaro beamed with confidence after he completed the legendary 2009 routine. Kentaro is perhaps one of the fastest 3A players of all time and innovated a style of 3A that is very popular today. He is undeniably one of the greatest, and with his recent decision to compete again he may have more to add to his list of achievements.
1. Daisuke Shimada –
- 4x World Champion, 1x National Champion, 4x Regional Champion
Daisuke Shimada brought so much to 3A, it is very easy to put him at the top. With four World titles as testimony, his level of play was far beyond anyone at the time; creator of possibly the most visually impressive single trick in Sword Dancers in 2004, Daisuke still blows minds with his trick in 2013. He has proved his influence on the style and inspired many to start. Daisuke is the greatest 3A player of all time.
Honorable Mentions: Yuki Tanami (World Champion), Minato Furuta (World Champion), Maya Nakamura (National Champion), Jun Aramaki (Regional Champion) , Masanobu Iwata (Regional Champion)
Who do you think are the greatest 3A players of all time? Feel free to post your thoughts below!
As a reminder, these rankings take into consideration competitive players from around 2000 and on.
Japan National YoYo Contest – Day 1 Results!
Day 1 of Japan Nationais is over in Nagoya! A few of the crowd favorites did not make it, but there are plenty of big names competing for the national title!
In 1A, the favorite is no doubt the current world champion Hiroyuki Suzuki, but team C3’s newest addition, former world champion Shinya Kido, and former national champions Tatsuya Fujisaka and Ryosuke Iwasawa won’t make Mickey’s life easy.
2A also sees the current world champion, Shu Takada, facing a former world title holder, Takuma Yamamoto, and a former national champion, Ryo Yamashita.
More former world champions will battle it out in the incredibly strong 3A division, with Kentaro Kimura facing Minato Furuta.
Even more world champions face off in the 4A division. 2012 world champion Rei Iwakura will have a tough time ahead competing against Naoto Okada and Tsubasa Onishi.
Finally in the 5A division, you got it: another world champion! Takeshi Matsuura is the sole world title holder and by far the favorite in this division.
This the order of the final freestyles:
1A
- Kento Noda
- Toya Kobayashi
- Atsunori Tanimoto
- Shion Araya
- Hiroyuki Suzuki
- Izuru Hasumi
- Shinya Azuma
- Masahiro Terada
- Kazuki Okada
- Yusuke Otsuka
- Hirotaka Akiba
- Ryosuke Iwasawa
- Iori Yamaki
- Shinya Kido
- Tatsuya Fujisaka
- Akitoshi Tokubuchi
2A
- Yoshihiro Matsubara
- Toshiaki Onuma
- Ginji Miura
- Shu Takada
- Shuhei Kanai
- Tomoyuki Kaneko
- Ryo Yamashita
- Takuma Yamamoto
3A
- Kentaro Kimura
- Hajime Miura
- Takumi Yasumoto
- Kyohei Hosono
- Taiichiro Higashi
- Ryosuke Ito
- Yasuki Tachibana
- Mizuki Takimoto
- Minato Furuta
4A
- Tsubasa Onishi
- Keita Kido
- Haruaki Nishitani
- Shinya Muraki
- Yudai Kimura
- Shotaro Masuda
- Yohei Kagawa
- Atsushi Takeuchi
- Rei Iwakura
- Naoto Okada
5A
- Junpei Shimizu
- Sojun Miyamura
- Takeshi Matsuura
- Yoshihiro Abe
- Hiroyasu Ishihara
- Naoya Takeuchi
- Sora Ishikawa
- Hideo Ishida
- Takayuki Kuriyama
Fixed Friday – Kentaro Kimura
Turning Point owner Kentaro Kimura shows off his skills on a wooden yoyo in this clip from Igor Galiev. Happy Fixed Friday!
Turning Point Basilisk ft. Shinji Saito & Kentaro Kimura
One minute and fourteen seconds of amazing style from two of the best players in the game, Kentaro Kimura and Shinji Saito, showing off the Turning Point Basilisk yoyo.
Fu Ken Ho x YoYoFactory Proton
Malaysian player Fu Ken Ho just dropped this great video featuring the Proton from YoYoFactory’s second wave Champions Collection. The Proton is a collaboration between YoYoFactory and Turning Point, a small manufacturer run by former YYF team member Kentaro Kimura. Great stuff!
YoYoFactory Champions Collection Wave 2
YoYoFactory presents the 2nd wave of Champions Collection signature model yoyos. They’ve put together a great range of Yo-Yos, from the bright pink Paul Han ONEstar to the silky matte black Miguel Correa Genesis+. They have new, original models like the machined plastic Severe for Tyler Severance, Harold Owen III’s H.O.T.or the game changing Shu Takada Loop1080. They’ve even brought on a new twist on a classic with the Victor Gravitsky Protostar, as well as a new yo-yo with an old friend, the Proton with Kentaro Kimura.
Check out YoYoFactory’s individual posts of each model for the full story on each model, plus specs and detailed photos. Expect the YoYoFactory Champions Collection to hit YoYoExpert around the 1st week of December!
Russian Yo-yo Contest International Division
On December 3rd and 4th, Moscow will host the sixth Russian Yo-yo Contest.
A very welcome addition this year is the Open International Division, which kicks off with a very strong line-up: world champions Marcus Koh (Singapore) and Kentaro Kimura (Japan) from Turning Point, Krisztian Kaluzsa (UK) and Petr Kavka (Czech Republic) from CLYW, Augie Fash, Ann Connolly (USA) and Vashek Kroutil (Czech Republic) from YoyoFactory, and Kohta Watanabe (Japan) from Duncan Crew will all compete in the new division, along with European champions Nandor Groger and David Molnar.
On the home front, YoyoFactory’s Victor Gravitsky will try to defend his title against an ever growing local competition. The Russian winner will receive a trip to the European Yo-yo Contest, to be held in January, in Prague. All divisions will be held for Russian players, including an Artistic Performance division.
In addition to the international guests, the Winter Aero-Yo Fest, featuring a range of juggling and skill toys, should make this a most excellent event!
Be sure to check the official contest page (in Russian) for more information.