Overall World Champion...

[Uri_Gottschalk]

this idea has been suggested before but has not gone anywhere because is unfair to all the other contestants, do to the fact that each style is different and as pointed out above the winner would most likely only place first in one division if even that.  In the end you would have one world champion but 30 different people that have beaten him in there respective divisions.

that being said the idea of have a contest that is aimed at having people compete in multiple styles is a cool idea but all the contestants would have to on the same page for it to be fare.  This was what combined was supposed to be but it ultimately took to much time to have the same person win every year.

[I6ify]

Well, for a number of years there was the combined division. 1A, dual, aerial. One freestyle for each. Not surprisingly, Shinji won every year it was held.

Of course he did, lol.

[Haru_Ray_BAN]

If this idea was brought back, I believe it would be dominated by Shinji or Takeshi. Not sure who else is of that level in many styles.
Maybe Connor Scholten possibly?

[TotalArtist]

I agree that such a competition could exist, but I disagree that the winner should be crowned, "Overall World Champion."  Also, I believe the problem is not the idea, it is finding enough qualified people who want to compete in that kind of contest to determine who is the most well rounded player.  As it stands now, players are awarded for doing great in a particular division, but there is something to be said for the player who made an effort to learn all styles very well.  The trouble is, there are not enough of them that exist and are willing to compete with others in that regard.  There should be some credit for a player being well rounded to the extent that he can compete with other well rounded players and do well among peers.  I believe that while the idea has come up before, it has not come to fruition because there are not enough players well rounded enough to say that they play "well" in all areas.  To have a competition, you have to have some interest by those who are qualified and willing to compete.  At this time, I don't think you would have enough players up for that kind of challenge.  While that well rounded player gets credit for being well rounded in yo-yo, we must realize that a jack of all trades is often the master of none.  Someone mentioned a player who is well rounded and competes in all areas, but usually does not place at the top.  I give that player a lot of credit, but it does show you the issues raised in a competition setting.  When you try to be good at everything, you run the risk of spreading yourself too thin and you will be exposed in any weak areas. I think there definitely should be a way to pat the player on the back who has developed enough skill in all areas to compete with others who have done the same thing.  I would like to see it happen.  Eventually, if there is ever a 6A and 7A, you will see the likelihood of this go right out the window.  Talk about spreading yourself thin.  Good topic, a lot of food for thought. 

[hadoq]

there is actually a way. Do something similar to X division, where every contestant would enter playing one style that could be anything. there should be an unified way of scoring (that would take years, if not decades to set up) and the #1 would be crowned world champ.

that's the only way I see it happening. that said, I don't really see the point because all the styles are so different.

[cbeckford]

This idea is... decent. I have to agree with some people, where scoring is different. Also, this kind of doesn't have to do with this but you have people like Bergy last year or Kentaro Mannen in 2010 placing 1st or 2nd in prelims and not making finals, and a reverse example is Hidemasa in 2011 getting the last spot for semis. (26th). And then making finals, and getting 8th overall. And THEN you can throw in dqs, like Clement Bertaux. I believe he could have gotten top 10? IMO. But he got DQed. SO this idea isn't legible.

[Skred300]

I have actually thought of this before but I think it will be a bit messed up because some styles of play generally have more points to earn and even if this there was an overall winner, the public would probably start complaining about how much better some styles are than others (eg. some people might say that the 5a champ should be overall winner because 5a looks the coolest but others might say that 1a is the original style and 4a should just be replaced by diablos.) All these arguments will most likely cause chaos as people start criticising players and from then, the yoyoing community will be ruined. I'm not trying to complain but this is just my opinion and I hope you respect it.