A thought came to my mind and I was wondering what got you started? For me, I was looking for something I could have fun with and learn that when I get a kidney transplant, I can still yoyo during recovery. I’m really happy to have picked up yo-yoing and I can’t wait to get better. What made you start yoyoing? An illness? An accident? Maybe a mental or physical disability? Or maybe just because you wanted to. I’d love to hear everyone’s story. Great stories inspire and motivate. And we all know we can use a little of both
Man that’s intense, sorry to hear about that. Hope all goes well and you have a speedy recovery. 
Basically, I owe it all to Hiroyuki and Jensen. I stumbled across his “yoyo god” video on youtube one day, and I was completely mind blown. I couldn’t believe how far yoyoing had come from what I could remember. :o
Of course, my first thought was “He’s Japanese. Theres no way a non-asian could do that.” Granted, it was a misguided thought, but we all know how good the Japanese are at anything involving dexterity.
That was, until I clicked on Jensen’s 2010 freestyle in the related videos. Then I was all “daaaang this tall Canadian guy is killing it!”
From that point on I was hooked. I googled “yoyofactory” since I remembered the name from somewhere, and after a bit of browsing, I found myself on here. The rest… as they say… is history. ;D
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I got started in 5th grade. There was a big yoyo fad that hit my school. Then the dad passed. Fast forward about 13 years. I was sitting at home one night bored surfing YouTube and came across a video by CLYW. Once I saw that video I knew I was going to get a yoyo. I ordered on from Yotricks and worked through their videos and was hooked. Haven’t stopped since.
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The Pro-yo boom in ~1999 and a really popular anime called Super Yo-yo.
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Mine started from a cheapo party favor yoyo my cousin got at the dentist “for being a good boy” (for suffering a painful cavity treatment). We were seeing how long we could keep it “dribbling.” That night my mom bought us a full-sized Imperial-shaped yoyo (could not sleep, was strictly an “up and down” yoyo). Got pretty bored with it after a couple days.
About a month later I was at a party when I saw someone playing with a Yomega Brain. Seeing it sleep and return on it’s own looked pretty awesome so I begged my parents to go get me one. I had a birthday coming up so naturally I had to wait (for what felt like an eternity). I had $5 on me so I opted to just buy a Duncan Imperial and that’s where it all started. This was back in 1996, just before the yoyo boom.
1997 I smuggled my Yomega Brain I finally did get to school and showed a few friends some tricks after watching one play with a cheap “promotional” yoyo making it dribble. It only escalated from there, more people started bringing theirs or buying Duncan’s after seeing some of the (rather basic) tricks I was pulling off. I kind of took a break once the actual boom died down.
2009 I got back into it when I got a Duncan Imperial as a gag birthday gift. 2010 I actually bought my first “modern” yoyo and began learning some of the new stuff and found this site.
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Way back in the day my father took me to a community center that had a local yoyoer that taught classes. From there I just started going each week and was hooked.
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I used to throw around a knock-off brain, but it faded out because I couldn’t do many tricks. I found my dog chewing on it much more recently, and thus a passion was reignited!
I heard about Ed’s yoyo club at learning express and went to try 
Wow, there are some really interesting stories, it also helps me learn more about yo yoing. And Get to learn a little about everyone here. It’s amazing to how or what made us pick up a yoyo. To be honest, I’m happy I did. You get to meet a lot of friendly and helpful people. And not many communities are like that. You guys are awesome!!
I started in mid/late 2008.
I was 12, and my younger brother brought home a blue Ned Show Boomerang from a garage sale. We couldn’t even figure out how to get it back up the string consistently. When my Dad saw, he picked it up and demonstrated a few classic tricks, much to our amazement.
He then took us to the store to get our own Yo-Yos, where I acquired a green Duncan Pro-Yo that included a reprint of “The Original Duncan Yo-Yo and Spin Top Trick Book”. I spent about a month learning classic tricks from a booklet on a wooden axle before I found a Duncan Mosquito at Walmart. The sudden increase in sleep time from the ball bearing axle completely flabbergasted me.
After getting frustrated trying to understand what on earth “Braintwister” was supposed to look like based on the book’s illustrations, I got the brilliant idea to look up Yo-Yoing on the internet. This is when I stumbled upon a video of Hiroyuki Suzuki and realized “Split The Atom” was not the hardest trick I would ever have to learn.
About three months after I started, I bought a Duncan Metal Zero and I actually started to learn string tricks from Andre’s Yo-Yo tutorials. By the time I purchased my first unresponsive throw, a YoYoJam Speeder, I had already been throwing for around eight months total.
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I’m actually watching that anime with my fiance right now. Really funny show.
Growing up as a little kid, my mom got me an imperial. This was before I could even keep track of any toy let alone do tricks. Then years later when yomega brains just started getting popular, a friend of mine have me his beat fire ball. Learned basic tricks like around the world. Rock the baby. That was as far as I got but was pretty pro at those. Saw someone on tv do a double or nothing and thought that was the very hardest trick. Was determined to do that. Bought a saber wing, never managed to do double or nothing. Then gave up.
Blast forward to a couple months ago, a coworker and now good friend of mine, brought in a popstar. Wow. Haven’t seen a yoyo in ages. Now 26. Gave it a shot, didn’t know why it wouldn’t return. Showed me a bind. Gave up immediately. A few weeks later he gave me some beat metal yoyo to get back into it. So I played with it but it was in poor condition. Would fall apart as I played it. Actually did a double or nothing but couldn’t get it back cause it wouldn’t sleep long enough. Decided enough of that, did sone serious research, bought a galaxy too hot about a month ago. Now I’m able to do cold fusions, some whips and handful of advanced tricks. Now starting to put them together. Fells good to be able to do some combos when I was so discouraged before hand.
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that’s so rad. stoked you’re still throwing!
in the mid 80’s my dad bought me a clear yomega brain as a present. i couldn’t make it come back, so i traded it to my friend almost immediately for a cheapo duncan midnight special. i got a duncan trick book at the toy store and learned stuff VERY slowly up to trapeze. then i was a y camp counselor when the 90’s boom happened and i started learning “cool” tricks, really just so the little kids would listen to me. i was still really into surfing and skating though and would only work on stuff sporadically, mostly on ken’s world, which was the only yo-yo website i knew. then in 2005, a kid named ace brought a yo-yo to school and did a few easy tricks. i had an old yo-yo banging around in my teacher desk, so i bummed a spare string off him to show him some stuff. that was on 5/21/05, and for whatever reason, i’ve played every day since.
and that’s how i started, but i’m a beginner every time i throw down (when i’m doing it right, at least).
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Everyone is sharing such great stories of how they got into Yo-Young, I realized I didn’t really tell mine completely about what got me into yo-yoing. I was around 11 or 12 years old when I took up skateboarding, spent 4 years practicing my heart out. Until one day, I was in horrible health condition and found out I had kidney failure. Both of my kidneys have failed. I spent a year on dialysis until a childhood friend of mine passed away from a head injury while skateboarding. After my first transplant it made not want to touch a skateboard again. All my friends stopped talking to me and i ended up playing video games alone in my room for about 6 years till i met my now fiance online. Which is another story. Anyways. Fast forward another 4 years, June 2014. The transplant kidney i had is now failing and I’m back on dialysis. I hated the fact that I couldn’t do certain activities due to my condition. I wanted something i could excel at, but not have to worry about having to quit because of my illness. It wasn’t till around the time of the 2015 Sacramento State contest, when i picked up a Duncan pro z, i have been practicing everyday since then. It truly makes me happy to have found something that can challenge you and reward you all at the same time. That i don’t have to stop or put it down because of my illness. Instead i can continue to practice and grow no matter what.
. I don’t tell this to get sympathy or even pity. But to show that we as human beings can be and are truly strong when you have friends, family or even a lover to share your experiences with and to help you along the way. It is also good to find something to work the mind and body. Which in doing so, heals the soul. Yo-yoing is a great tool for many things and for many people. You guys are awesome, and remember. We are all strong. Every last one of us. Its how you make the most of it and who you share it with that counts. And it great to share with you guys as I know you have shared your stories with me. Thank you.
I hope its okay I share this link to a newspaper story about it. http://m.appeal-democrat.com/late-skateboarder-donated-six-organs/article_b535d9eb-0b20-5718-a4dc-53c28120b2d6.html?mode=jqm
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I started back in the summer of 2013.
I had many yoyo’s when I was a child. I always was into yoyo’s, but never seriously got into it. I was amazed with the yoyoer’s that I saw on youtube. This started an on and off chain of being interested in yo-yoing; and then not. I started to learn yo-yoing in 2013, due to many reason’s.
I’m just a regular person, like the rest of you. When I was in middle school, I thought that I had no talent. I wanted to be truly good in something, to sort of be distinguished from everyone else. I wanted to have something that I would enjoy for the rest of my life. I had other interests, but none more than yo-yoing. I believe that this deep interest in gaining and earning something is what moved me into the amazing world of yo-yoing 
I still have the same drive from when I started, but now I do it to enjoy myself ;D
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What originally got me started was the yoyofactory commercial for the Fast 201. In that commercial I saw Boingy Boing, AND I HAD TO LEARN THAT TRICK!
I was in 6th grade when I got my start and learn up a few basic tricks, Cold fusion, that awesome bounty boing trick, and spirit bomb when I quit in 8th grade. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school when I started messing around with the yoyos I had on my dresser to see if I could still do my old trick that I got my desire back. Within the next week I picked up a protostar from a game store, and this is where I’m at after 5.5 years.
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Its really great to hear how everyone started. Really interesting to see what had people start up.
Alot of people reading this thread but not posting on what got them started. Come one, come all. Don’t be shy, step right up and share with the community. There is no story to big or to small. And ill even give you a thank you for sharing.
Hello… Emptiness.
Played a lot when I was in middle school. I remember getting what I thought was the coolest yoyo ever at a mall kiosk. Can’t remember what it was but the guy who sold it was like, “it’s made from the same metal they use in airplanes!”. I thought it was incredible. I learned to do a handful of tricks pretty well and played a lot.
Fast forward through high school, college, got married. Valentine’s day 2015. I bring my wife some gifts to her work and start looking at all the cool toys on her desk. One toy is a butterfly. I ask to throw. Instant - why did I ever stop playing with these things!?!
Later, after work, my wife comes home with Valentine’s day gifts for me. Which included a butterfly she had picked up on the way home. Little did she know, after I left her work I had been googling yoyos like mad. I was thrilled. Two days later I was doing mounts with my eyes closed.
When I get into something, I’m prone to REALLY getting into it. I’m what I would consider intermediate advanced (candy rain, rancid milk, etc. done smoothly), I throw at least 1-3 hours a day. I’ve tried a ridiculous amount of yoyos in 4 months. I mean new ones coming in from all over once a week at least. Kept the one drops, CLYWs, general yos, and a YYR. Palpitation delivered just today.
I love it, it’s like I never stopped and every time I throw I think about my wife and that butterfly she got me. I’m totally hooked.
PS - Paul Dang is a cool mother funker.
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I had mentioned that I got back into modern throwing around 2010 when I picked up a FH2 at Toys R Us. Between 2010 and 2012 is when I picked up on the modern tricks and got through a good chunk of advanced level. From there I got kind of stuck in a rut outside of visiting Bay Area Classic, as well as having a lot going on with some of my other hobbies. I’d throw here and there but kept doing the same things with no real progress.
2015 something re-sparked my desire to start throwing again and I think it happened when I was on my recent trip to Disneyland. I saw some kid dragging his Duncan Strix on the ground pretending he was walking the dog (ouch, that poor thing!) and seeing another just throwing sleepers and catching. I told my friend that we should head to the yoyo kiosk since it’s next to where I was going to do some pin trading (Disney pin collector here). I ended up picking up that same Strix I saw the kid dragging around and began messing around. I messed around quite a bit with it on the trip be it waiting in line (carefully doing stuff), hanging out at the hotel, or waiting for the park to open. From there, I basically just picked back up where I left off.
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