Well let’s hear your list then.
Let’s not forget Kazuaki Sugimura.
1 Like
jesse christe and yuji kelly.
Gotta agree. Think his style is very artistic to say the least.
Black
Justin Weber
Sid Seed
James Reed.
Grant Johnson by far…so good, yet so underrated
Dudes just mad nobody’s licked his nuts in this thread.
Care to call out which of the players listed here you don’t find creative and artistic? Guessing not, since you’ll likely see them face to face at some point.
1 Like
1.) Rafael Matsunaga
2.) Kota Watanabe
3.) Hank Freeman
Too bad his personality and friendliness can’t meet up with his yoyo skills
K-Stross
1 Like
Tomanari Ishiguro
Tomiyuki Watanabe
2 Likes
I tend to split this into categories, in order of preference.
- Artistic style/visual appeal
- Technical ability
- Fun/Joy
- Innovation
The most important aspect to me is the first category. The second category is also very high in importance, but in general it has to also be very appealing visually as well. Don’t really care if a new trick is invented if it doesn’t appeal to me visually.
For the most part I can’t speak of players regarding technical innovation because I generally just watch videos to learn tricks and have no idea who created them.
- Jensen Kimmit: Not sure anybody else can make any trick, simple or difficult, look as good IMO.
- Malcolm Chiu: Mind boggling technical skills AND it looks good. Not necessarily for the combos, but individual tricks, he’s definitely one of my favorites. He hits a lot of grand slams, in my opinion.
- Tsukasa Takatsu - Beautiful combos and incredible control, especially for how long he’s been playing
- Tomoyuki Kaneko - Only 2A player that I have watched more than once, on purpose
- Janos Karancz - duh
- Drew Tetz: Fixed axle play…Artistic style and innovation
- Guy Wright: Can make yoyo look beautiful
- Anthony Rojas - Everything!
The ‘Fun/Joy’ category is all by itself, but has to have elements of the other categories for me to enjoy watching. I’ll put a few of my favorites off the top of my head for this category as I approach videos from these players with a different mindset, without critically analyzing their tricks to the same degree that I do others. These players inspire me to have fun.
- Augie Fash
- Ed Haponik
- Charles Haycock
- Kyle Nations
My critical and analytical approach to life can be offensive and hurtful, but that is not my intention so my apologies if I’ve hurt anybody’s feelings in the way I have described anybody here. My apologies also if my not including people was also offensive. I’m sure I’ve forgotten many that have been a real pleasure to watch. This hobby is chock full of skilled players that deserve recognition and I’m not the person to remember them all.
Ky
Drew Tetz
Rojas
Conde
Seven
Oooh that’s my fifth one
Ky
Rei
BLACK
Gee
Yee
yoyo2442, that’s a heck of a thing to say about a guy. Have you met Steve? I’ve only spoken with him via PM, but between that and close personal friends who HAVE hung with him, Steve Brown is a very cool guy. Plus, that dude has contributed an IMMENSE amount to yoyoing. If creating the 2nd biggest category in an international activity doesn’t an artist make, I’m not sure what does.
Anyway, imho,
Jensen
Adam Brewster
André Boulay
Eric Koloski
plus, an honorable mention for Chuck Haycock. I’m not sure if he’ll ever win Worlds or anything, but I respect the heck out of everything he’s been up to in the last year. From both sides of the lens.
-bpg
Lol
There are a couple of guys from x3 that I love to watch. Xela, or Alexander Valin, I think is his real name, the founder of x3 yoyo’s and a guy named Lapin that does some tutorials under xela’s youtube account. I’m not sure if Lapin is a username or his real name. They just have this flow about them that I really enjoy watching. I feel like I’m a kid again sometimes while I watch their tutorials b/c I want to be able to yoyo just like them, lol. So, although they don’t perform in contests as of now,(I know Xela has in the past and I’m sure Lapin has as well) they have a very unique style about them that IMO, is pure art.
Why yes, I would like to have my nuts licked, but that is a topic for another day so excuse me to allow to answer. I apologize that I cannot answer on a steady fast whim as my outside life renders me from doing that. Also, I met many of these mentioned people in this thread, does that mean I do not have the right to disagree? I don’t have to agree with people here without there being malice.
Art is subjective, thus people’s opinions are different. I just shook my head cause I do not agree.
Players I see artistic:
Adam Brewter
Shingo Terada
Naota Okada
Hironori Mii
Rei Iwakura
Eric Tranton
Two peoeple were mentioned before I could reply:
Justin Weber
Black
For myself, I appreciate a more graceful approach to it while including a stable technical skill. Justin and Adam really fit this. Then there is those such as Naota and Terry and Hironori Mii that has a compelling dynamic to their presence in tricks, its graceful, slightly more simplistic and flowing. I am not much of a fan for modern based yoyoing. My style does not reflect my taste however.
~Z