Josh Yee has been experimenting with a new way to find trick elements. He calls it “Anxiety Style”.

Well actually, he calls it:”A̶̡̗̖̣̥͈̠̮̝͙̔̀̏̒̐̀̐̀̄͊̏͐̈́̿̓ ̵̱͇̞͛̽̊̾N̵̛̯̣̘̲̻̜̠̯͎̩̼͇͖͔̒͐̌͛̉̋̑̈́͂̈́̈́̉͆̕͝ ̴̢̟̲̬͉̳̮͙̯̼̱̠̻͉̺̪̰̦̰̈́͒X̷̰̘͇̠͚̹͈͖̻̲̭̀͆̽̈̔̃̆͜ ̸͇̒̽̀̍͆͗̅̋Į̴͍̺͈̳̤͕͖̜̙̙͋̋̈̈̈́̉̎̓̈́̌́̌̈́̐̈́̇͊̚̕͝ ̷̭̟̖̼̻͍̭̙̦̌͑͂́̀̾́͐͂̽̂͆̓̕͠ͅḘ̴̩̜̗̪͉͚̒̓͂̒̏̌̂̋̓̊̉̿̀̅̇͋͘͜ ̷̨̠̥͉͍̮̖̮̼̺̝͇̲̃̅͐̑̇͛͜Ţ̴̤̣̮̬͓̬͔̤͍̲̖͌̄̉̐̌̋̑̾ͅ ̴̣̼͔̫̤̯͖̯̬͈̩͔̗̼̠̤̀̔̓̅͗͆̿͐̃͜Y̷̢̮͎̫͇̳̼͖͔̳̘̰̆̒͒͋͌ͅ style”

The basic idea is that you push yourself into overly complex string positions to force you out of your comfort zone. Here’s an example from his Youtube page.

Along with this video, Josh shared a fantastic description of his thought process. I’m sharing it below:

Hey y’all!
I wanted to present to you something I’ve been working on for a while that’s pretty unique and something that has opened up a new style of exploration of tricks for me.

I started a unique trick approach about a year ago with the idea of “solving a puzzle”, with a heavy influence from cubing. In solving cubes, there are many points where patterns are “familiar” and the solver knows how to get out of that part of the puzzle. I realized this could be done with yoyo tricks as well. Within many complex mounts, there are points where elements will feel “familiar” with a direction that you know well enough to get out of that section.

I started experimenting with trick formations that seem ridiculous, abnormal, overly and unnecessarily complex, with the goal to have those sections as starting points, and having to use my past yoyo mount and element knowledge to challenge myself to “solve” and exit those formations.

The result is something that is more for the player than an audience as a lot of these tricks won’t look very “pleasing” or flowy, and are purely meant for the thrower to solve and have fun with.

There are definitely parallels with the “Fully freestyle” tricks that MarkMont has dived into, but with a different approach.

The term A̶̡̗̖̣̥͈̠̮̝͙̔̀̏̒̐̀̐̀̄͊̏͐̈́̿̓ ̵̱͇̞͛̽̊̾N̵̛̯̣̘̲̻̜̠̯͎̩̼͇͖͔̒͐̌͛̉̋̑̈́͂̈́̈́̉͆̕͝ ̴̢̟̲̬͉̳̮͙̯̼̱̠̻͉̺̪̰̦̰̈́͒X̷̰̘͇̠͚̹͈͖̻̲̭̀͆̽̈̔̃̆͜ ̸͇̒̽̀̍͆͗̅̋Į̴͍̺͈̳̤͕͖̜̙̙͋̋̈̈̈́̉̎̓̈́̌́̌̈́̐̈́̇͊̚̕͝ ̷̭̟̖̼̻͍̭̙̦̌͑͂́̀̾́͐͂̽̂͆̓̕͠ͅḘ̴̩̜̗̪͉͚̒̓͂̒̏̌̂̋̓̊̉̿̀̅̇͋͘͜ ̷̨̠̥͉͍̮̖̮̼̺̝͇̲̃̅͐̑̇͛͜Ţ̴̤̣̮̬͓̬͔̤͍̲̖͌̄̉̐̌̋̑̾ͅ ̴̣̼͔̫̤̯͖̯̬͈̩͔̗̼̠̤̀̔̓̅͗͆̿͐̃͜Y̷̢̮͎̫͇̳̼͖͔̳̘̰̆̒͒͋͌ͅ style comes from some fellow throwers who exclaimed that watching this style gave them anxiety. And as someone who also deals with anxiety, the name hit close to me and ended up sticking.

In the end, Anxiety style is:
1: Create the most abnormal and unfamiliar sort of mount set up you can make. Make knots, add wraps, do something weird.
2: work step by step to find your way out, looking for things that are familiar along the way.
3: Complete the solve, and exit in a simple element (trapeze, gt, tower, any “standard element”)

I hope some others will give this kind of trick approach a try! If you give it a go, use the tag #anxietystyle on IG so others can see It!

Much love.

M̶͚̀̀̊̀̿̎̋͐̾̐̔͐̃̌͋̉̓̃̚͝E̷̗̣̹̖̰̳̙̘̰̟̺͓̗̣̔̈́̇̂̈́͐̅̀̔͜͝ͅO̷͓̙̻̝̭͓̗͚̠̹͍͈̥̥̞͆̅̌̇̈́̍̿Ẉ̷̧̭̬̩̤̗͖̗̱͖̣̳͙̪͉̺̤͌̒̾̈̏̈́̆͐͒̿͐̓́̌́̌̏͝ͅ

– Josh Yee, August 7th, 2023

The folks at Adegle have made a tool for quickly creating slipknots on yo-yo string. I thought this was silly at first, but I guess it could be handy if you are making a huge batch of strings, or if you are a 2A or 3A player who is looking for a way to consistently get your strings knotted at the same length.

The “yo-yo string knotter” is available as a 3D printable file on Printables.com. If anyone ever makes a version of this tool with a built in string cutter, I’ll be glad to buy it from you. I’d love to see a sleek metal version of this tool, sort of like Zipline’s knot-removal tool.

Yo-Yo meetup in SF this Sunday, July 30th. Sunday Streets is happening in the Mission District, so I thought it would be fun to host a yo-yo meetup to coincide with that.  

The meetup will be in front of Mission Playground (the Valencia Street entrance between 19th & 20th) from 1pm till ?

The following is an interview that Paul Escolar for The Method Makers in 2018. The interview was online for a few years, but disappeared after a big update to their site in 2021. Sadly, Paul passed away a few months later. I recently reached out to The Method Makers to see if we could try to get this interview back online, and a TMM contributor was able to find the original emails. Below is the unedited interview with Paul Escolar.

-Name, where ur from, how you know Tsyonsyn

Name is Paul Escolar, from Alameda. I know Chons from the old party days in the 2000’s when he was doing “The Fcks” DJ Gigs in San Hoe w/ Cellus. They all thought they were going to be the next Trap Daft Punk, and I believed it too – Still do. Good times, good times…

-I googled you and you are really fucking good at yo-yoing – do you still do that? How’d you get into that and where can I see that live?

I am currently “retired” from that scene, but I was sponsored and worked for Duncan Toys for over 15 years, now I just do occasional contracted design work for them. I’m also known for creating most of the standard and fundamental modern yo-yo tricks kids do today. I also demonstrated, and judged contests all over and ran one of the most prestigious events in the country for the last few years out at Golden Gate park. Believe it or not the Pre/Post Parties I through for that community were lit af.  I got into yo-yos since I was a kid – been throwing for 20 years. I don’t film or play yo-yo in public these days, but if you want a private lesson, come holla at me, haha. Also dead serious about all of this and I can go on and on about yo-yo’s, but its lightweight square shit, even to me, so lets just talk about art!

-Were really impressed with your illustration work. How long have you been drawing, and how did you develop the style of work that you create?

I appreciate the compliment and It’s/I’M totally still a work in progress, still learning and experimenting a bit every day. I’ve been drawing since I was a Kid, I went to the Academy of Art for Art Direction in Advertising but at the end of all that I just ended up wanting to illustrate, do graphics, and work on personal art. Still not sure where I’m going with it but stoked to see where it takes me. So far the waves have been amazing.

-Do you do any work in the street (Tag, Throws, scribe etc)

Unfortunately, I have never done any work in the street. It seemed intimidating to me back then, but I always paid attention and have mad respect for anyone who gets up everywhere. I slap stickers around sometimes, but I’ve always been low key discouraged since there’s such talented community of Artists that already exist in that world. I just enjoy being a spectator and fan, but I’m open to mural work at this point in my life. Holla for any plug on commissions and ill throw in a yo-yo lesson, lol.  Also, side note – I’m too lazy to be carrying around markers, and cans and shit.

-How would you describe your style of work?

Hmmm, Alot of the shit I share is very personal and emotional… at least conceptually. But from an aesthetic stand point maybe its considered “Low Brow Graphic Illustrations”?, I’m not sure about labels. Under the visual surface of it all; it is very social, emotional and self narrative. I try to tell what’s going on in my mind or what I’m going through in my life with one image that hopefully tells the whole story.

-Are there any major influences in the artwork that you create?

I find inspiration and influence in everything; Music, movies, fashion, etc. As Far as art, there are way too many to name. My favorite modern artist of all time is Matisse, but I’ve taken alot of my inspiration and influence from Barry Mcgee, R.Crumb, ESPO, Mike Giant, The Hernandez Brothers, Geoff Mcfetridge, and Others…. maybe it’s visible in my aesthetic?

-Where do you create most of your work? (In your Studio, Coffee shop, etc.) Can you share photos of where you create if possible, and describe what we’re looking at in these photos?

I work from home, in private, in solitude… I zone out and zen the fuck out. Most of my illustrations are part of a very meditative and cathartic process, I keep those sessions pretty low-key but sometimes I have my sketchbooks and computer when i’m at a coffee shop or chill bar, and I’ll just get it out. The times I’m out of my batcave, wandering or partying, I’m just keeping tabs, taking mental notes of things I see, taking actual notes for ideas, and staying inspired by everything and anything. The end result is some* of the work I share on Instagram, but most of the time I just be hoarding alot of it to myself.

-What inspired that piece you drew of Tsyonsyn – shits fucking hilarious!

It was his birthday, I missed the party and I wanted to let him know that i’m not an asshole, so I drew him into the most offensive caricature ever, oopsies! Accurate tho, no? hahaha.

-Tell us a joke.

I was just actually about to google “What’s a funny joke?”, haha. fuck it.

-Ask us 1 question.

If Method Makers was a a 4th Gen iPod (The one with just the scroll wheel) what would be the 5 top played songs in the iTunes playlist? Also, “What’s your poison?”

-Would you be open to do collaborative projects with us? Art shows, Prints, apparel production, air guitar band?

ALWAYS! I fuck with everybody making whatever, whenevers. As long as I keep moving, and making shit, I’m happy. Prints, Shirts, Shows – sure. Air Guitar Band? – Fuck it, …I’ll play bass. let’s sesh!

Right on for reaching out to me Neal and The Method Makers, really excited on joining the band. I really appreciate it everything!

-Paul

Images above were drawn by Paul Escolar. The original interview, “Family Ties With Paul Escolar”, was first published on https://themethodmakers.myshopify.com/blogs/artist-interviews/family-ties-with-paul-escolar Thanks to The Method Makers for finding the original email and allowing me to publish it here.