There’s already some who have answered the call. Come along for the ride, if you like.
A few clarifications:
Doesn’t matter what yoyo you use, just so long as you can learn something and have a meaningful experience with it.
You don’t have to start on any particular day. Start your month whenever.
Don’t be afraid to share your thoughts, feelings, fears, triumphs, pics, vids, etc. I don’t know about anyone else, but I wanna hear and see it all. One of things I love about yoyoing is the people and how they relate to our strange little habit.
If you’re Ed Haponik, you’re welcome to participate. But you will probably have to tie some twine to a rock and throw with that for a month to see any real benefits.
The only thing exclusive about this exercise is the yoyo. So, anyone and everyone can participate.
If you get a new yoyo for Christmas, take a break and throw it. I mean, it’s Christmas. And it’s not like you get new yoyos every day.
So, I just opened a package of 100 white cotton type-8 strings which signified the beginning of my month with a No Jive. Part of me was really excited, part of me not.
I picked up a Frantic in a trade a few weeks back (thanks, Jason) and I’m really liking it. My yoyo learning process has been relatively slow because I can’t practice as much as I’d like even though I throw pretty much every chance I get. I’m just now landing some of the more complex tricks and in the last few days have worked out a pretty decent combo. Now I’ve had to pack up everything but my No Jive and set that burst of progress aside for this experience.
I’m a little worried that I’ll spend the next month doing nothing but Hop The Fence and Bird In Hand mounts without learning any “cool” tricks. I’ve had my No Jive for a few weeks and have thrown it enough to know that I like it, or at least what it represents. At the same time, it feels very alien to me after most of a year with nothing but bearing throws. It’s like stepping out of your current car and getting into one that doesn’t have power steering. It’ll still get you there but the turns are gonna be a little more work.
However, I am commited to going the full month. I’m glad there are others coming with me, others who want to grow in a unique way. I’m pleased Ed is pumped about it. It was kinda his idea, after all.
I’m doing this, but I think not for a full month. Maybe 2 weeks? I’ll get to that later, but it won’t be for a while Because I’m getting some new yoyos tommorow hopefully (were suppose to come today >:( ) But I am definaly doing this.
I’m so stoked for this!!! I’m just torn, should I go w/ my wood Smothers Brothers or my FH2? I love both yo’s but am horrible at both 2A and 5A. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not great at 1A either, but way better then 2 & 5A. I am stop’n at X-mass, because I know my little sis got me an M1 and I’m die’n to throw that bad boy!!! What yo to use? WHAT YO!!!
only you can decide.
i think the most important thing for me was the commitment. i did it for lent a few years back (SIX weeks - booyah! ;)), and it was all about saying ‘i’m doing this.’ it was more of an exercise of will than it was of yo-yoing, and as much fun as the latter may be… the former is more important. so whatever you choose to commit to… COMMIT.
as for not learning/doing ‘cool’ tricks… you gotta be kidding me. even on the yye list, virtually nothing is impossible on that blue no jive. you might have to back up a bit to go forward, but in my experience, you hit what you expect and determine to hit. before ringca dared me to do cold fusion on wood, i assumed it was beyond some imaginary glass ceiling along with a ton of other stuff. decide what you want to hit, and transcend it. decide to amaze yourself, and you will.
plus… you’ll find yourself coming up with junk that isn’t hard, but which you love anyway. even years later.
I’m not so much worried that I’ll never learn cool tricks so much as I had a fleeting concern that I’d be missing out on carrying some recent learning inertia forward and capitalizing on it. It’s a lot like taking a kid who’s just getting the hang of rock guitar and taking his electric away and handing him a classical. He’d have to back off of the blues solos and start back at Minuet. I’m not dismayed. I’m enjoying this experience. I just need to find my angle of approach and I’ll catch on.
After the watching the video above, I noticed there was a stall tutorial. I’d hit some stalls on accident and couldn’t figure out how I was doing it. I thought I needed to take up the slack from my throw-hand. Now I know better. Four square feet of my basement is now Stall City, and it’s party time. Wheee!!!
LOL, I love pulling things off on accident!!! I’ve been to busy getting my 5A throw down to really land anything but I did manage a One Hand Mount and a One and a Half Mount for 5A. So I think one trick a day will be my goal, then on X-Mass eve I will try and put them all together. We’ll see how well that will go,
um. the entire point is to use a yo-yo you can’t play well. it’snot about what you LIKE or DON’T LIKE. the butterfly is a string trick yo-yo. if you can’t do anything cool with it… i mean that’s kind of what this is about. you 'd be able to at the end of a month (assuming your b-fly lasted that long - terrible plastic).
That’s one SICK Butterfly vid!!! Ed is right, the point of this is to use something you don’t like, or am not good with when used. I’m use’n my FH2 for 5A (I’m horrible at 5A), but I am learning and having a great time doing it too. I have also already bruised my middle finger because I missed the Yo, LOL!! Anyway, back on track, the butterfly is a fun little yo and would be great for this. My oldest son had one (before he lost it) and I had plenty of fun w/ it for both 1A and 2A, trying to mix em both together. Challenge yourself, its the only way to grow w/ anything you do in life.
There’s a lot more nuance to fixed axle play than I had initially anticipated. Some tricks you throw hard on and others you go easy. And getting a good sleeper is far different experience than with a bearing yoyo. Also, the response level is constantly changing and possessed of completely different dynamics than bearing throws. The string tension (unless you use stickers or pads) determines your response level because the axle is the response system. This is taking some getting used to. Not to mention, cotton string is pretty rough. My left index finger is tender from throwing stalls for the last two days. I believe it’s my first real case of string burn. I feel like I’ve passed through a rite of passage because of that.
When I first started throwing I used to think the idea of taking a yoyo everywhere with you was kinda weird. I’ve since changed my mind (not recently though. I’ve been packing yo for months now.) I worked Saturday and was throwing forward passes in my truck while waiting for my Qualcomm system to boot up.
