Today I got a PM on the YYE board asking me about how I felt about the “divided” belief in competition yoyoing… so I decided I would post my answer for everyone to see…
Yoyoing is the representation of ones inner most self so it Ain’t got nothing to do with if your old school, new school, West Coast, East Coast. This is about us, this our thing,This came from the gut, from the blood, from the soul. Right here man, this is our thing man take it how you wanna take it. Cause if you’re asking me Why is old school competition yoyoing dead? It’s a pretty good chance you’re the reason it died, man. Hope this helped (Insert Username)
Yours Truly,
Dylan
What do you think too harsh? Also would like to hear if you guys have any personal feelings on the subject that you might be willing to share, thanks.
i don’t really get it, myself. are they talkin’ 'bout how tricks have ‘advanced’? the introduction of silicone response? or the innovation of metal yo yos?
many years ago, when i was in grade school - there was always division on the playground. social groups, ‘in’ kids, outcasts, hippies, whatever. and i see a lot of that in the yo yoin’ scene. i just think it’s somethin’ that carries over.
consider the demographic, before decidin’ on how much thought you want to put into a response - would be my suggestion.
mgodinez
sunny…
Not too harsh, it just doesn’t make any sense. What is “old school” competition and when did it die? Why would it be this kid’s fault? Competition is very dependent on string hits. Faster tricks get more points. Got someone who’s a great showman? They don’t have to be as fast. Feeling too nervous to get the crowd pumped up? Better make your hands into a motion blur. If you go out on that stage, you’re going to get points whether you’re yoyoing with a Spintastics Tigershark and doing Atom Bombs or whether you’re doing body tricks with a Genesis. As far as the yoyo is concerned, it’s not so much about blood, guts, or soul, it’s a common progression of technological advancements. People want to play with the latest and the greatest. However, Jensen Kimmitt won with only a plastic yoyo at Worlds, so that says something about the problem with the old and new school labeling. Maybe if someone went to Worlds and did a elegant ladder of advanced tricks from their childhood, they could win.
I don’t understand the question, hence the answer makes equally little sense. The answer is apparently more coherent.
What is the “divided belief in competitive yoyo’ing”? Am I missing something? Am I blissfully unaware(likely)? Am I ignorant on the topic(very much a reality)?
Are we talking about judging?
Someone clue me in here.
Kansas it wasn’t always judged how it is today… duh dont be so quick to think that it wasn’t different only a half decade earlier competitive yoyoing used to be about more than just string hits. Thats what the difference that most people see in the old school versus new school belief is that the old school seem to believe that the person who does the BEST TRICKS should win and the new school seem to believe that the person who gets the MOST STRING HITS deserves to win and me being kinda in the middle of both can say I see many great players come from both sides but its changed the way that competitions are being held and yoyoing is losing its luster from the olden days when you would watch freestyles and literally see yoyoing develop as new tricks were being shown off at worlds and other contests… now you can still see that happen a little bit with the best players innovating stuff but the majority of players dont innovate anything especially those who win a great majority of contests ya they have one or tricks that have some originality in their freestlyles but thats not really the point isnt the point of contests supposed to be to see whos the best yoyoer not who can make the freestyle with the most string hits?
Not that yoyo’ing has peaked by any means, but this is the way of all competition. Doesn’t matter if it’s racing or team sports or yoyo’ing or hopscotch.
There’s a period of obscurity where the activity gets no attention but from diehards, and then its popularity grows. Then you move into the creation of sanctioned competition, and innovation goes wild as everyone discovers what is possible with the medium. That’s usually the time that is later considered to be “pure”. And finally, once enough competitions are held and a winning formula can be identified, the focus becomes training players specifically to win competitions.
It’s not something you can fix. There’s too much money and notoriety at stake, and the skill level is too high now to go back. Doesn’t matter what rules you change, there will be players and companies ready and waiting to exploit that rule set to within an inch of its life to take home the win. It’s inevitable, and 3 years later we’d be complaining that everyone is doing the same thing again and that they should change the rules.
It’s lucky that yoyoing also has an artistic component that we can still explore. You don’t have to practice to win like you might in basketball, you can simply practice to practice. That will always be alive in the enthusiast community regardless of what is happening at the professional level…and every once in a while, you get a pro who goes their own way and really shows us something.
Not too harsh. Though at the end, I would’ve added:
puts on sunglasses, hops on motorcycle, and rides off into the sunset
Now THAT is cool! 8)
This was easily one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to read.
[quote=“yoyomafia,post:5,topic:42386”]
You say that like they’re mutually exclusive…
That run on just made me dizzy.
There’s no way to qualify “best trick performance” without some kind of quantifiable variable. String hits are recorded as a way to be more objective and less subjective. When the trick lists were smaller, such as my previous statement about ladder tricks, it was easier to decide which was better. Now things are different and more advanced than ever. Who in the world is able to say definitively one trick is better than another?