I’m not creating any sort of rivalry. Like I’ve said I own just about every single one of them. All I was saying is that branching out too far means you’re not focusing on any one craft. Which is fine, but I’d rather be a master of one. Some people are trying to say that practicing other skill toys will make you better at yo-yoing, which I think is bull. The only thing that will make you better at yo-yoing is yo-yoing. You might derive inspiration from other skill toys, but that just that… inspiration. You don’t devote your time to practicing Kendama if you want to get better at yo-yoing. True story.
Stookie never said anything about YOU specifically. And it is reasonable that other skill toys can help your yoyoing, and vice versa. Different toys have an emphasis on different skills, so if you develop that skill with one toy, you’ll be able to utilize it with others more effectively.
I disagree. If you spend all your time practicing, you most likely will develop bad habits. If you practice for hours upon hours a day, so much that you are dead tired and lazily doing your tricks, you WILL develop bad habits, which hinder your ability.
Now, on the other hand, if you practiced until you got what you wanted correctly enough times to form a habit, then stopped and did something else, you would improve far faster, because you formed good habits while practicing.
Take 2a for example. I could not get the motion down. I tried and tried and tried, but it wouldn’t come to me. I took a break and juggled for about 15 minutes. When I picked up my yoyos again, and started looping again, I suddenly got a ton better. Why? Because juggling requires alternating a similar motion, smoothness, efficiency, and use of peripheral vision.
Juggling also made my 1a smoother once I could do a few hundred passes at a time in varying juggling patterns.
It’s actually NOT less practice. For example, say I’m working on a trick that requires a fast, difficult hop that I just can’t seem to land. I have a different skill toy that requires “hopping” an object (kendama for example), so I go and play with that for a while. When I come back, I have an easier time landing. That’s because even though I was using a different skill toy, I was working on the same or similar skill, just through a different medium.
No, it has nothing to do with you going and playing kendama. It has to do with you taking a short break. Some people have mentioned it here, it’s the reminiscence effect.
Reminiscence is defined as a gain in performance without practice. When subjects performing trial after trial without rest (massed practice) are given a short break, perhaps midway through training, scores on the very next trial will show a significant improvement when compared with those of a massed group given no break.
Essentially you forget the small details that were hanging you up and remember the big picture.
The benefits you gained from the Kendama were marginal. I used to think the same you some of you think. I was big on XCM (extreme card manipulation) and I thought practicing other skill toys would make be a better XCMer. I was wrong, so many people proved that to me. The only thing that makes you a better XCMer is practice. Having knowledge of other skill toys is fine. You can derive inspiration from that knowlege. I can support that. But don’t expect that practicing kendama is going to make you a better yoyoer.
I believe that the style of one skill toy can influence another. Alexis JV does this cool string-hop stuff in his “Her” video that is directly influenced by his kendama play. Short little hops, bending at the knees to catch it delicately on the next string segment… it’s obvious that one has influenced the other.
However, that’s primarily a style influence. “Hey, let’s see if I can take some kendama-like elements and apply them to yoyo.” And sure, the knee bending and timing can be improved by kendama practice (where it got its roots), but to land those tricks on yoyo takes practicing with yoyo.
In broadly sweeping ways, practicing anything that takes hand-eye coordination, timing, and rhythm can help you with anything else that takes hand-eye coordination, timing and rhythm. But the kind of muscle memory required of any individual skill toy is only built by practicing with THAT skill toy.
In other words, it’s not all “one or the other”. I lean MORE towards what JetEyeNight is saying (it’s the break that was most important, not the practice), but I’m not willing to say that practicing other skill toys would have ZERO impact on your yoyoing abilities. It’ll contribute on a small scale, but probably a smallER scale than is being proposed.
Then there’s the example of the juggler with the kens and tamas. He needed the skills of both to do what he was doing. It’s not an example of kendama helping his juggling or juggling helping his kendama… it was seeing an opportunity to develop and repurpose skills for a new and entertaining combination. He needed to practice juggling with kendamas in order to pull it off!
JeiCheetah
(J̵̡̥̦̳̗͎̤̯̟͓̞͔͔̻́͛͐̒͋̔̈́͂̃͝ͅͅ E I H W Δ N̸̢̢̡͙͖̝̩̟͎̹̻͔̳͕̙̗̈̆̆͋̈́͛̀̑̒̂̀̈́̇̚͘͠ͅ)
51
to jedi,
its fine if you disagree, but just know that the experience of many others are very different than yours this oh disagreement with you.
I have been yoyoing much longer than you have seriously, almost 16 years, and having branched out has proven very beneficial for me.
I had trouble learning condors in 3a, I stopped and practiced the motion in poi as I found it was similar to same time hyper loop hybrid wraps. I got it down on poi, and brought it back to my 3a. Instant landing.
I’ve even learned one of Rei iwakuras 4a tricks because I found it in an astrojax transition and from practice of it. I brought to my 4a.
There are countless other examples, but you get my point.
Sorry you have t experienced this yet.
So, what Greg and Jet are saying is that if you want to be good at yoyoing, don’t do anything else but yoyoing.
What everyone else is saying is that doing other skill toys as well as yoyoing will improve yoyoing, due to the reminiscence effect, improving muscle memory, and experiencing new concepts you can pull into yoyoing.
I’ve experienced that second opinion before, so I repeat what I said earlier: Go away. You’re not funny.
No, that’s not what I said. :-\ I was very clear that my opinion is that it lies somewhere in the middle. But not squarely in the middle.
Also, nothing but respect for all skill toys.
Furthermore, it was exceedingly clear earlier that I’d still be excited for a multi-enthusiast get-together, which is the point of this thread (not “hey everybody, learn all the skill toys!”). I’m pretty sure all the above qualifies me for not “going away”, thank you very much. It’s unclear what ANY of it has to do with being “funny”.
Quit being childish. If you don’t want to hear what I have to say you’re more than welcome to leave.The reminiscence effect has nothing to do with practicing other still toys. It has to do with practicing, practicing, practicing yoyo, taking a small break, then returning to practicing yoyo. The other skill toys do not fit in the equation. I’m really tired of arguing with children, so this is going to be my last post on the subject (changed my mind). I never said if you want to be good at yoyo and don’t do anything else but yo yo. What I said was if you want to be good at yoyoing focus on yoyoing instead of branching out too far and spreading out your practice time too thinly. This leads to being a jack of all trades instead of a master of one. I also said that it’s okay to be a jack of all trades master of one. it should be common sense that the more you practice the other skill toys mean the less time you have to practice yo yo.
JeiCheetah
(J̵̡̥̦̳̗͎̤̯̟͓̞͔͔̻́͛͐̒͋̔̈́͂̃͝ͅͅ E I H W Δ N̸̢̢̡͙͖̝̩̟͎̹̻͔̳͕̙̗̈̆̆͋̈́͛̀̑̒̂̀̈́̇̚͘͠ͅ)
58
Maybe in your experience, but for many others its quite different, hopefully you can respect that and not try to state your findings as fact.
Maybe you should take your own advice? My personal experience is just as valid as yours. I’ve been using skill toys since before you were a twinkle in your mother’s eye. You keep trying to pass off your experience as superior to mine. Knock it off man.
Here is a prime example of you passing off your personal findings as fact.
JeiCheetah
(J̵̡̥̦̳̗͎̤̯̟͓̞͔͔̻́͛͐̒͋̔̈́͂̃͝ͅͅ E I H W Δ N̸̢̢̡͙͖̝̩̟͎̹̻͔̳͕̙̗̈̆̆͋̈́͛̀̑̒̂̀̈́̇̚͘͠ͅ)
60
I simply find your reasoning quite flawed to be honest.
But I respect your experience nonetheless.
I’m willing to leave it at that.
It’s not an example of kendama helping his juggling or juggling helping his kendama… it was seeing an opportunity to develop and repurpose skills for a new and entertaining combination. He needed to practice juggling with kendamas in order to pull it off!