YoYo Related News From Around The World
Cirque du Soleil has kicked off the North American tour of its “Kurios” show, featuring yoyo player Tomonari “Tom Black” Ishiguro! The show got a nice bit of press for opening night from The Torontoist, and apparently Black’s yoyo routine is somewhere around 10 MINUTES. Crazy!
Click through for the full article…congrats again to Black for realizing his life-long ambition of performing with Cirque du Soleil!
L to R: Tomonori Ishiguro, Johnnie DelValle, and Nathan Crissey
At this years US National YoYo Contest, the National YoYo Museum awarded three more players the rank of National YoYo Master. The rank of Master is an honor reserved for players who have provided outstanding contributions to the art, sport, and industry of yoyo play. It’s just shy of a Lifetime Achievement Award, as the honorees are people who are still actively contributing and are nowhere near retirement.
The National Master award is not given out yearly; only when an individual shows in some way to be a valued and long-time contributor in multiple facets of yoyoing is their name brought up by the Museum, and then vetted by existing Masters.
This year, three players were honored with the rank of Master.
Tomonari Ishiguro, who performs under the name BLACK, is a Japanese player and performer as well as a two-time World YoYo Champion. He has served as an inspiration to countless players in the worldwide yoyo scene with his polished and unique stage presence, and recently took the world by storm as one of the most lauded and talked about speakers at the 2013 TED conference, with video of his talk reaching more than 800,000 views.
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Nathan Crissey’s contributions to yoyoing have been as a stalwart judge and organizer for an incredible number of yoyo contests. Nathan has served as a Deputy Chairman for the World YoYo Contest, a co-organizer of the Bay Area Classic, and is the organizer and Contest Director for the Pacific Northwest Regionals. A passionate yoyo player, Crissey is a regular fixture at judges’ tables across the country where he frequently serves as lead judge, and manages score tabulation. Crissey is the first phone call made from any contest with a scoring problem or question, and every contest organizer in the country is wise enough to default to his experience and knowledge.
Tomonari “BLACK” Ishiguro finally fulfilled his dream this month in Montreal, where he was able to perform with the Canadian troupe in a closed event!
BLACK went through an extensive training period after retiring from competition, sharpening his performance, athletic skills, and showmanship. He passed the Cirque’s audition in 2009, and was finally given the opportunity to perform. His inspiring TED talk earlier this year may have set things in motion!
While footage from this month’s event is not available, we at YoYoNews are hopeful BLACK shall soon join one of Cirque du Soleil’s mind-blowing shows!
Congratulations, and good luck, BLACK!
As we gear up for the 2013 World Yo-Yo 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.
The Single A Division has grown and evolved from the division for people who “couldn’t play two-handed” into the most creative and competitive division in every single yoyo contest in the world. At any given contest, the number of contestants in the 1A Division will outnumber all other divisions combined by 5 to 1. One yoyo, one string, endless possibilities. It was difficult to select only five players for our list…we could easily have filled a Top 20. But the players listed below have proven themselves above and beyond their competition, and have inspired entire generations of players to follow them.
5. Johnnie DelValle – 
In 2003 Johnnie DelValle won the big three: Bay Area Classic, US Nationals and Worlds. In his iconic 2003 World routine he was the first to ever incorporate a range of body, finger and arm grinds into his routines. In addition, he had technical slack and a striking stage presence (who could forget the dramatic removal of his over shirt?) that perfectly complimented his style.
4. Jensen Kimmitt – 
Jensen’s run to the world title in 2010 saw a man unbeatable. With an array of US contest wins at the Bay Area Classic, Pacific Northwest, California State, and twice Japan’s 44 Clash, Jensen dominated parts of 2009 and all of 2010 capped off by his decisive win on the World stage. Jensen was known for his incredible flow and style in combination with his eccentric personality which inspired endless yo-yoers. Jensen remains an inspiring figure in yo-yo today.
3. Tomonari ‘Black’ Ishiguro – 
Innovator of some of the most classic string tricks today, Tomonari ‘Black’ Ishiguro was rewarded with a world title in 2001. Many of his trick elements are still in use today and that only speaks to the level of creativity ‘Black’ brought to the table. His unforgettable performances, most popularly his matrix themed routines, demonstrated he was more than just a competitor; now retired, Black is a full time performer and inspiring many more through the theatrical aspect of yo-yoing as well as his wildly popular TED Talk.
2. Yuuki Spencer –
Another innovator of some of the most classic string tricks today, Yuuki Spencer is undoubtedly a legend in the world of yo-yo. As the only player other than Hiroyuki to win more than one world title in 1A, Yuuki is technically unmatched. His 2002 and 2007 routine both demonstrated his creativity; in particular Yuuki’s 2007 routine injected a level of intensity and energy that was unheard of at any level of yo-yo competitions. Yuuki’s contributions to yo-yo bolster his resume and secure his spot near the top of yo-yo’s most competitive division.
1. Hiroyuki Suzuki –
Over a decade of top 3 placing in the World—it is not difficult to place Hiroyuki ‘Mickey’ Suzuki as the greatest single A player. His incredible choreography, ridiculous speed and technically difficult tricks have proven time and time again why he is the best. Capturing his fourth World title after a full eight years after his first, Hiroyuki has managed to maintain an incredible pace of innovation, accuracy and passion. With no signs of slowing down or retiring from competition, he is clearly not done.
Honorable Mentions: John Ando (World Champion), Marcus Koh (World Champion), Jason Lee (National Champion), Paul Han (National Champion)
Who do you think are the greatest 1A 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.
We mentioned back in February that two-time World Champion Tomonari “BLACK” Ishiguro would be giving a talk at TED 2013 in Long Beach, CA. His inspiring talk is now available at the TED website.
BLACK “graduated” from competitive yoyoing in 2007. After winning his second World Title, BLACK went on to build his professional performer career, which ultimately led him to a spot among the elite Cirque do Soleil artists. His contest performances were always superb, and inspired an entire generation of yo-yo players in the early 2000’s.
His TED talk is also inspiring, and not just for yo-yo players. Not many people are that passionate about what they do!
(via TED)
“When I was 14 years old, I had low self-esteem,” yo-yo champion BLACK begins his talk during session 4 of TED2013. “Then one day, I bought a yo-yo.” The first trick he tried — well, it didn’t work. But after a week of practice, he started to get somewhere. He remembers, “I thought, ‘The yo-yo is something for me to be good at. For the first time in my life, I found my passion.’”
But practicing for hours a day and winning the World Yo-Yo Contest four years later in 2001 didn’t take him on the path he hoped. “I thought I’d become a hero! I will get many sponsors. Money. Many interviews! I will be on the TV,” says Black. But fame and fortune never came. Instead, BLACK went back to school and became a systems engineer.
Eventually, though, he had to return to his passion. “I wanted to show how spectacular the yo-yo could be. I wanted to change the public image of the yo-yo,” says BLACK. “So I quit my company and started a career as a professional performer.” He won the World Yo-Yo Contest again in 2007, and even passed an audition for Cirque du Soleil.
On the TED stage, BLACK gives a performance set to dramatic music, a yo-yo spinning quickly and maseterfully around him like a ribbon around a rhythmic gymnast. Soon, he picked up a second yo-yo, spinning them wildly, as if juggling. Bending backwards to the floor, he keeps the yo-yos orbiting just millimeters from his face. The performance is both graceful and thrilling.
Two-time World Champion Tomonari Ishiguro, also known as BLACK, will be one of the speakers at TED2013. TED (acronym for Technology, Entertainment, and Design) Conferences gather the World’s most prominent thinkers and artists, and speeches are made available on their website.
BLACK had previously given a speech at TEDxTokyo in 2011, but this time he’ll be talking at the main TED event, in Long Beach, California, on February 27th (Session 4: Disrupt!).
The conference runs from February 25th to March 1st, and other speakers at the event include Bono, Peter Gabriel, Sebastião Salgado, and Vint Cerf.
Via yoyonews.jp.