Why does it seem like people are obsessed with yoyos as weapons?

General Yo-Yo
1

I don’t know if you guys have had similar experiences but it seems like every time i yoyo around my friends someone says something like “that could totally be used as a weapon” and over time they’ve come up with many different ideas on how I could kill someone with a yoyo, or how a yoyo super hero would work and so on. They’ve thought of: attaching blades to a yoyo (I always have to explain how this won’t work because i like to keep my hand intact), retractable blades that come out when it’s spinning (this one seems a lot better), coating the string in glass dust or weaving sharp objects into the string so it can cut things (look up indian kite-fighting string, I think it’s called manjhi or something), and just plain using looping yoyos to do some damage.

So what about you guys do your friends fantasize about yoyo violence? or do I just have weird friends?

by the way, one of my stranger friends is making a yoyo-based character after me in his novel that he’s writing. Sounds epic.

2 Likes
2

None of my friends think of yoyos as weapons, they just are amazed by them

3

Ignorance, culture, hear say, imagination, Yoyo Girl Cop! JrSpike, surely you haven’t forgotten YOYO GIRL COP, have you?

2 Likes
4

forgotten it? I’ve never even heard of it. where might I find this yoyo girl cop? (I sure hope it’s not one of those really weird “adult films”)

5

I think people have heard the tall tale of yoyos being weapons (The “Yo-Yos” were big rocks tied to ropes that people threw out of trees… >_< ) and they just want it to be true so badly.

I just tell people that they aren’t weapons but people sure can use loopers with extreme accuracy.

6

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=yoyo+girl+cop&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=32593644&ref=pd_sl_2tvi2ab63u_e

Just googled it and this came up as the first hit.

7

I think it was a weird japanese tv show or movie. defiantly rings a bell!
Yea people are saying i shouldnt be allowed to take my yoyo to school because its a “weapon.”

8

More kids get hurt at school with pencils than yoyos! Tell everyone that you should all go without pencils!

9

These are the same people that will grow up to want to ban guns. When people start going down that line, tell them how you make art with your yoyo, and other art tools(pencils, pens, rules, compasses, etc) are more dangerous.

10

At my school we like to call them shanks.

11

I get the joke! Yes!

1 Like
12

Buy a Noctu just to show them.

13

As a yoyoer and a weapons and history buff, I have heard this many times. Historically, it was just a rock with a rope around it being dropped from a tree, but that is not good enough for people. So I did an experiment to disprove the notion.

In order for the yoyo the be an effective weapon in it’s own right, you need a looping yoyo. I happen to have one made out of wood, which I used for this experiment. (I also duplicated this experiment with a modern looper). I put basic leather armor on my brother, and began hitting him with my loops. (Leather/hide is a generally universal armor, and almost every culture has used it, despite what you see on movies) Not only did he sustain ABSOLUTELY NO DAMAGE WHATSOEVER, but the impact made it extremely difficult to loop. Many times, the impact would stop the yoyo immediately, and it would just be a weight on a string. With a modern looper, it was easier to loop, but not by much, and still with no damage being dealt. The impact still killed the yoyo spin, making it simply a weight on a string.

I, then, showed how easy it was to disable a person using the yoyo as a “weapon.” Here is what you do: you put your arm out. The String then wraps around your arm. Because the other end of the string is connected to a finger, the defender now has complete control over the “yoyong” hand instead of the yoyoer. Not only will his weapon be useless, the yoyoer is now at a disadvantage because he/she has lost control of the limb and stance, making their defense weak.

A simple stick is a more effective weapon than a yoyo, and it takes less energy and resources to create an army of stick welders than an army of yoyoists. Deadliest Warrior: Yoyoist Vs. Guy With a Stick. Guy With a Stick wins.

A yoyo still can be used as a weapon. It is most effectively used by simply staying in your hand. You can use it as a bludgeoning tool. Or you can trow it really hard. Basically, a yoyo works best as a weapon when you treat it like a rock. But, again, it is much more economical to arm men with rocks then yoyos.

In short, almost anything makes a better weapon than a yoyo. For over 2500 years, a yoyo has been a toy. Just like a Barbie doll, you can physically hit someone with it, and use it as a weapon. But, it is no more of a weapon than Malibu Barbie. (Actually, those Barbie high heels make pretty good caltrops) :wink:

2 Likes
14

Mostly urban myth and early Duncan demonstrator hype.

1 Like
15

Fake. But people think it is cool so they believe it. They can believe what they want if they think it is true. I guess it is kind of cool if it was true. Probably a lot from the mountain dew commercial.

16

Actually, they WERE used as weapons in the Phillipines some 5000 years ago… I know because I’m Filipino…

http://knowledgesalad.com/weird/yoyo-used-as-weapon-in-philippines/

Here’s an off topic video of a funny yoyo commercial

1 Like
17

I did a yeart long yoyo project last year, and have a whole 3 inch binder to prove it. Every thing about weapons I came by said they weren’t used as weapons. But they were first recorded in ancient gtreece.

1 Like
18

They weren’t used as weapons.

Hmm… Or were they…

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/images/YoYo.jpg

19

I’m Filipino [lolol because saying that I am might raise up my credibility lolol] but I think the whole ‘weapon’ thing is bull. It’s an interesting but fabricated factoid Duncan made. But nevertheless I used that whole “did you know that the yoyo was used as a weapon in the Philippines” in my speech and everyone bought it because well…not that many go too deep whether it’s true or not.

20

I got -15 thumbs on a funnyjunk.com comment disproving this.
I explained that the whole ‘weapon’ thing was a load of crap, and included the picture of the Greek clay pot with the ‘yoyo object’ on it. People hate you when you try to change culture.