Makin' up dem' comboh's? Help?

So yesterday I showed my school counselor what I can do with my yoyo. She was so impressed that she told a few other teachers and made me show them it, blah blah blah. But then that kind of got me thinking and started to dislike something. I had to stop and bind after every trick/move, and I don’t really like that too much. I only made up one 10 second move, which I showed them yesteday. But it got me to notice to myself that I didn’t know how people make combo’s up and its driving me crazy. I will (literally, not joking) most likely stay up all night wondering how people make up one trick that lasts between 15 seconds to 1 minute long. I’m talking about someone like Harold Owens (my personal favorite) how he just does what seems like one move, all until he has to bind. Now, I am still somewhat learning, i’m on advanced part 1, and have done a few tricks on advanced part 2. Should I wait until I learn more tricks before I start to worry about my ability to make up combo’s? I can do “2 trick combo’s” where, say, I do a matrix once, and when I get back into a double or nothing from that matrix, i’ll do a cold fusion. Or a houdini mount, drop the thumb to a trapeze to a green triangle, then end with a slack trapeze. But nothing more than those types of little ones. Am I worrying too much, or what? If you need me to somewhat explain more, let me know.

As you improve, you’ll have more skills and be able to transition better.

I like to start with a double or nothing. if I want flair, I can then do a single Matrix . I can then transition from that into a kwijibo, with or without rolling into a trapeze first. I can then roll out of the kwijibo back to a trapeze, which I can then go into a trapeze and bro and then a slack ninja vanish. Pop out of that, back into a double or nothing, then a cold fusion or Dr. Strange. Slack trapeze next. If I have enough spin, I can do a Buddha’s Revenge and then exit with the last part of Cold Fusion.

You just need more experience and then you can start to see how tricks can move into each other. See what components you can use to transition as well. Rolling out of a 1.5 mount into a trapeze, then trapeze and bro and then double or nothing gives a lot of flash. Rolling that 1.5 back into a trapeze and then into rewind, then hop out(as in part of black hops) is cool too. The second part of McBride’s Roller Coaster(from the Trapeze) is fun too and is a good way to roll into something else.

Front style, a combo I like is atomic bomb 3 times, then 3-5 revolutions of mach 5, then zipper. If I want, I can get back into the split bottom mount and do wormhole. Exit and do a brain twister. Bind it back.

So I guess the key word is “transition”, huh. How about making up long combo’s such as Harolds’ combo’s? Not sure if it is just me, but I don’t see him use that many tricks (if any) that would be on a website or on youtube. But I kind of get it a bit better now.

It’s not terribly long but one combo I like to do is start with a matrix then from there go into a cold fusion and end with a kwijibo. They go really smoothly together and it looks cool.

Thanks for that, but I’m asking how someone like Harold makes up his own tricks. I’m asking this because I don’t see him use any tricks that are known such as the ones on this website or on yotricks or anything like that. So how do they just make up a “maze”, like just a whole long combo that looks lime you could knot it easily if you mess up. Do you know what I’m saying?

Ya I get what your saying. I think they just make up their own. Idk I’m not really good yet. :wink:

To do combos, it takes experience and practice. Look for common elements, often by “where do I end up when the trick is done, and where can I go from there”. The 1.5 mount i can swing to a Trapeze and bro, and then to a trapeze or double or nothing to get to my next trick, which will start from one of those two positions usually. If I have to go into a wrist mount from a 1.5, I start again with the trapeze and bro, but then I go into a wrist mount instead of a trapeze/double or nothing. You just need more experience.

As far as making up your own tricks, it’s the same thing: use your experience to let you try new things. Keep in mind that Harold is playing at an extremely high level and has extensive knowledge and skills based on his hard word and dedication to this toy. Don’t worry, you can get there too. It takes time to get to that level.

As I said before, dissect tricks.
Cross-arm trapeze is the first half of Kwijibo.
Cold Fusion’s first half is just a method of transitioning into a 1.5 mount off of double or nothing.
The second half of Cold fusion can be used on its own(from the 1.5 mount to the swinging and hop).
McBride’s Roller Coaster contains many elements: Around the World Tour, which you could use to go around the world, then trapeze, or miss the trapeze and go into double or triple or nothing. Once in the 1.5 mount, you can then use the rest of the trick to exit from any trick where you end up in a 1.5 mount. I might do a Buddha’s Revenge, where I end up in a 1.5 mount after the repeats, then finish off with the 1.5 mount and on portion of McBride’s Roller Coaster.
When you’re in the trapeze, you can do the portion of McBride’s Roller coaster that starts when you get to the Trapeze

Some tricks don’t slice and dice too well. Find parts you can use by themselves. See what you can or cannot do with them. See where you are at certain points and see if you can go in a different direction.

When making stuff up, be prepared to have gigantic failures: knots, tangles and more. Don’t quit. You might be onto something. Then again, maybe you’re not, but you’re taking risks and most likely learning what is working and what isn’t working. Either way, that’s positive progress. Learning what NOT to do is equally as important as learning what to do. However, sometimes what not to do in one situation may be something you SHOULD do in another. NEVER be afraid to fail. If you take something away from the experience, it is NOT a failure.

Whatever you do, don’t feel the need to make up tricks. In time, you’ll be able to make up your own stuff. I find creativity flows on its own. It doesn’t work when forced. In the meantime, keep progressing on your trick learning. Notice how usually, at least for YYE’s videos, they often introduce a trick element one at a time, so you can see how things don’t necessarily build off each other, but elements learned in a previous trick will have further application down the line. I am working on Spirit Bomb, which takes elements of the wrist mount, double, cross arm play on and Kwijibo, with some new stuff added into the equation. Again, note how tricks can be broken down. The elements will give you your building blocks The better you know this, the better you will be prepared to make up your own stuff.

Studio42 has spoken! :smiley:

AznnboyaZ has a great video on how to make up your own tricks/combos. I looked for the link but i forgot where i saw it last time,

What helped me come up with original tricks was to actually analyze what you are doing in a trick, understand why even the small steps are necessary in a trick, this will help when you need to decide where you want to flow and combine tricks. This way, your tricks will seem fluid and seamless. Also, set a goal for your trick combo, say you want it to end in a green triangle. Then you ask your self how can I combine tricks I know well to get to a green triangle, and make it look smooth? Know which tricks are easiest to start from, like double or nothing, trapeze, brother, etc. Then add simple elements like whips that will stylize your combo. So you could do go trapeze, to trapeze whip, to a standard wrist mount gt. Practice the steps of your combo in sections, untill you fully understand what you are doing, then start doing one fluid combo. Using this method of trick analyzation and goal oriented trick paths can help you make simple combos.

I haven’t gotten to the point of making my own tricks, but I have a few combos I like to run through when I’m throwing. Like Studio said, think about where a trick ends. Once you’re there, think of another trick you can get into easily from that point. The first combo I would do was pretty simple, but it looked cool. I would start with a Mach 5. The dismount from that puts you in a perfect spot to do a Brain Twister, from there, I would do a Zipper, and finish with a bind. simple, but it has a lot of flipping around and the last swing of the yoyo ends easily into a bind.

More recently, I’ve been throwing more trapeze based tricks. My favorite, and the one I’m working on now is breakaway, pinwheel, hook, Spirit Bomb, Kwijibo, Matrix, into an air bind. I don’t land it every time, but it’s fun to see how many I can do in a row.

Well, I don’t know if this will help, but the mount is good for tech and creating combos. I start of with a Jade Whip Motion and catch the slack on my pointer finger or thumb. That creates a nice mount. To end tricks or combos, I would use suicide bind and do a regen. That makes the end of my combos nice and smooth.

I know that now I’m being just plain annoying, but how about making up something like the grandma kimmit sandwich? All I saw was a double or nothing. So is it still all experimenting and practicing to make tricks like that up?

Pretty much. Just start out with a mount you want to use, such as double or nothing and mess around! But I’m not sure this would help a lot, as I am not super good with the yoyo.

P.S. I follow Zammy’s yoyo trick tutorial ways. Purposely mess up, just experiment and let your creativity flow

Hey i got it! Here-

Its long, but very very helful. Ive watched it 3 times haha.

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This is the best yoyo tutorial video I’ve ever seen by far. Thank you for linking it. And thanks to aznnboyaz for making it!

Thats exactly what i said!

Most people don’t use transitions that you will find in tutorials. They like to be original.

Wow! Thanks for that! Big help! And that’s pretty long for a semi tutorial haha.