In the newest episode of PopCast Yo-Yo Vlog, I teach an original trick called “Bus Flow”. This is an extremely smooth and flowy trick, along the lines of Skin The Gerbil. Bus Flow has mostly intermediate trick elements, with a few advanced moves at the end. So if you are an intermediate player looking to push yourself a little, this is a great trick to work on.
This is my first new video since the Desert Island Yo was released, so I talk about that a little bit as well.
Also in this video, I talk about a graffiti handstyle that developed here in San Francisco that was an inspiration for the trick I shared. The style is called “Bus Flow” or “Frisco Flow”. Here this short video by Dregs One:
I’ve just added a new video to my Responsive Counterweight Tutorials, but the core concept of this trick could work for un-responsive 5A play as well. The trick is called The Prayer Catch. Here it is in action:
I’ve been playing around with a new concept that I like to call “Scrunchies”. It’s an element with a lot of flexibility that can be used as a new mount for most of your yo-yo tricks. Watch the video here:
Hey all, I’m hosting another yo-yo meetup in San Francisco today. This one is going to be in the Yerba Buena Gardens (near the Metreon) on September 30th, between 2 and 4:30pm. All are welcome!
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!
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.
The newest episode of the PopCast Yo-Yo Vlog was shot during a short camping trip at Fallen Leaf Lake in South Lake Tahoe. I talk about bears, yo-yo concepts, and my favorite bird app (it’s not Twitter).
The main focus of this episode is a trick called “Falling Leaves”, which I made up while on this vacation. So I’m sort of teaching Falling Leaves as I’m still figuring it out myself. I think I’m known mostly for my yo-yo moves and concepts, not my tricks, so I’ve been trying to branch out into longer tricks and combos.
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 ?
I’ve made a new clip video to help show off my newest yo-yo, The Populist. The Populist is the first bi-metal yo-yo I’ve produced and was designed in collaboration with my Patreon sponsors.
It’s been really windy in our neighborhood lately, so I ended up shooting this over a few mornings, while the air was a bit calmer. This gives the yo-yo a foggy early morning feel, that I felt went well with this wonderful song by Benjamin Mørk and a classic 4:5 aspect ratio. I feel that ratio helped add to the intimate feeling of the video, like we are just hanging out and yo-yoing together.
I’ve also posted a full PopCast video about the Populist and some behind the scenes of this clip video.
June 6th is #NationalYoYoDay, so I’m running a huge sale on Icarus yo-yos and more! I’ve also released a small batch of Cerakote Weekenders! Here’s a quick set of links to items on sale:
