There's something unbelievably badass about knowing the rules well enough to know your routine won't win, but believing hard enough in your routine's value to spend hundreds of hours perfecting it and performing it anyway
He's like a sherpa climbing everest as a bunch of rock climbers critique his form from a telescope on the ground. "He's climbing way too fast. That isn't how youre supposed to do it."
Yeah. I would think that if it weren't already obvious from the fact that someone this good wouldn't do this by accident, it should be obvious from that wink at the end of the routine.
@@gokuswanson2037 : Sorry! I didn't mean it that way. I just meant I totally agreed with you and that all the people who disagree aren't paying attention.
@BrooksMoses it's a joke chill bro 😂 I didn't think I had to add context but I did which ruins it but that's ok. Sorry for the confusion I just thought fans would get it
A lot players in the yoyo community are confused why Hajime didn't win and this video perfectly explains why it really happened. Hajime is the perfect example of "People's Champion". He didn't win the fight but he won the night.
The rules are bad. This is the exact reason most sports with similar judging don't have these rules. Look at gymnastics for a good example. Tge fact that the routine was entertaining, different, and only ONE other 4A competitor could have even done...should make it obvious it's the best performance in history. Terrible rules.
@@johnmaynard3463 Skateboarding was a perfect analogy. Street League skateboarding is painfully boring to watch to me. I lived and breathed actual street skateboarding, I'm 48 now so can't skate like I used to. But I know sick street skating when I see it. And Street League or the Olympics just don't capture the magic. The same goes for what happened to Miura.
Some of us encountered a similar problem, 50 years ago, or so in skateboarding. They were trying to come up with rules and real skateboarders. We’re pushing the boundaries of what could be done, especially with the new grippy, polyurethane wheels, and the rules couldn’t begin to keep up so the judges would see some thing that was truly amazing, but required that one of the skateboarders hands touch the ground, which was an immediate disqualification in the beginning tournaments.
Same in water skiing. Early rules tended to favor trick density and would result in lots of simple but quick movements. A more generic overall score that is wildly open to interpretation has taken over in the higher level competition.
And the same thing happened in competitive whitewater rodeo, at one point some of the coolest new moves were either unrecognized as mind-numbingly difficult or reduced your trick density so that less creative boaters ended up on the podium.
Jay Adams and the Z-boys at the 1975 Del Mar Nationals is a perfect example of this - Jay Adams riding around like a surfer and then launching off the edge of the course was something the judges didn't know what to do with. Or Neil Blender at the Tempe Streetstyle Competition is another kinda related example - he pulled out spray paint and graffiti'd the course because to him thats what streestyle was really about
shit, the same shit STILL happens in skateboarding. its one of the reasons many people (myself included) find contest skating incredibly boring. i'll watch a street part and see the most absolutely bonkers shit imaginable, shit you would never imagine is even possible, and then i watch a contest and everybody is doing the exact same shit simply because it scores well with judges. i can only watch yuto horigome nollie back 180 lip a handrail so many times before i have to go watch a fancy lad part as a palate cleanser.
Its kind of hilarious to me that Hajime's score wasn't that high cause the rules are designed like a DMC game: Do as many different moves as possible, with as much variety as possible, without messing up. Like, he's doing incredibly impressive stuff on a technical level, but is only earning a B on the style meter cause he didn't weapon swap.
@@TheMaulam12345 It isn't a one trick pony; the rules are limited, you fool. To think arbitrary rules can both be as fair as possible to competitors and also capture how the best truly is means you are foolish and ignorant
Rules are arbitrary and everyone knows he performed better; the competition doesn't determine who is the most skillful or the best; it determines who plays the best according to arbitrary rules
We didn't know it back in August 2019, but this would be the last in person World Yo-Yo Contest for years to come. I remember finding it strange that 4A was scheduled last rather than the much more popular 1A division. As the defending champion, Hajime was at the bottom of the 4A competitor order, so his freestyle marked the very end of the contest. Props to the organizers for recognizing that Hajime was the true main event, a fittingly bittersweet send-off for competitive yo-yo as we knew it for the foreseeable future.
It was amazing getting to witness Hajime Miura's set next to you man. I am sad that I haven't been able to spectate more cool shit with all y'all. I am definitely on the abstract spectrum of the yoyo enthusiasts' rubric. I'm more about spreading the love of throwing. I don't care about how good I could do in a competition. Though I do get satisfaction from pulling off a trick flawlessly, so I guess I'm my own judge?
This is the perfect combination pf Summoning Salt and chart party from Secret Base. The charts and the statistics, the live action and the understanding of the art, thank you for making this happen
BobbyBroccoli also came to mind while watching this, he's more science oriented but the same level of graphics and quality. He typically aims for a full 3 hour documentary though, which I would love to see for this style on a subject like this.
The thing about having someone so good at something that they win pretty much everytime since 10yo is that eventually he will get bored of the same perfect routines he perfected, so comes the need to innovate. This is a perfect example of how, when someone is too good at something, the RULES should follow THEM, not the other way around. This is why I think so many people didn't get it. "How can we follow the rules when they don't say this guy is number 1 when he clearly is, inside and outside the rules". This calls for rule changes IMO.
This video feels very respectful to both the judges that gave Miura 7th as well as people that think he should have placed higher! I think it highlights the problem of needing objective guidelines for fair competition and the limitation that places on performances. It reminds me of how beatboxing competitions have performances that focus more on being technically impressive and showcasing your skills instead of just being awesome to listen to.
Wow, man. I'm enamored by the quality of this video. I love the way you expressed the idea of "cool shit" haha. People who win contests don't necessarily have the best tricks. They are simply able to do the things that the rules reward them most for. This is why the term "the people's champion" is so important. Because that person was the one who brought the coolest shit.
"People who win contests don't necessarily have the best tricks. They are simply able to do the things that the rules reward them most for." I'm an ancient competitor (1999-2002), but I remember learning this CLEARLY with Joel Zink in 1999. He won Internationals, US Nationals and Worlds that year doing, what I remember to be, the same performance each time. It was clear to me (even as a 14 year old) that he did not do "cool shit", but he did what was needed to win. I honestly felt a similar way after watching Masahiro Tanikawa win the 2001 US Nationals 2A. Nothing really "new" in that routine, not any "cool shit", but he did good tricks and he did it nearly flawless. Sometimes that's all you need to win.
The Tony Hawk 900 is a perfect example where it goes beyond competition and simply into artistry recognized by the community...the YoYo community missed its opportunity to celebrate what Miura accomplished despite whether he won by score or not. Its the reason why people outside of these communities recognize these incredible feats and remember things like the 900 and Evo moment 37 so well and no one cares about the Yo Yo community at all despite this guying doing something 'otherworldly'.
We see this in most performance-based sports. I'm most familiar with modern wushu, Chinese martial arts, where significant rules changes over the years (with the most recent one being just this past year) have massively shifted how forms are constructed and performed at a fundamental level. Focus on dynamism, difficulty of tricks, density of tricks, speed, precision, cohesion, etc. have all shifted over the decades.
This reminds me of a situation in the Grand Beatbox Battle Loopstation category of 2019, although it's kinda flipped. In Loopstation you record sounds from your body (vocals, beatboxing and body percussions). Then you add effects to them and arrange them to create a song live on stage. In order to do this you use an approved loopstation and any approved add ons to it. These determine what you can do to the sounds you create. Notably these machines are not allowed to create any sound by themselves, so no drum kits and no synthesizers are allowed. In 2019 Inkie a looper from Russia showed up with an add on that was not very standard in the scene, but which the organizers approved. When he faced off against NME in the semi finals he lost the vote unanimously 5-0. This decision was controversial to say the least and a lot of people saw Inkie as the winner. Even some of the judges who voted against him acknowledged, that his performance was of superior quality. The problem was that when he started his performance he very quickly built up a soundscape. The judges unfamiliar with the device ultimately decided that these sounds could not be built regularly and must be synthesized, both because of their unfamiliar sound and the speed in which they were built. It seemed like either the judges were not convinced by the organizers approval process or were straight up unfamiliar with it. Ultimately it ended what could have been a tournament winning run for Inkie. So in this case the rules strictly allowed for what was done, but the pre conceived notions of how loopstation performances are supposed to sound prevented him from using the space the rules provide.
Imagine being so good at something that even the “professional judges” can’t grasp their heads around the fact that you actually made the noises and didn’t cheat using something not allowed…. While upsetting that you lose because of that, it’s also one of the greatest compliments to get unintentionally.
@@danielandree3947 To be fair to the judges, a lot of the confusion stemmed from them being unfamiliar with the add on device and the sounds it can produce.
What I love about Hajime's decision to throw out "variety" is the fact that it is still VERY much a demonstration of skill and artistry. Dude showed up just to flex and show everyone how creative he was while having fun within boundaries he set for himself, that's performance art at its finest baybey! Maybe knowing he wouldn't score high took the pressure off himself to win, and it kept the sport more fun for him instead of dominating everything ever just for the sake of it king AND cool shit
I had no clue there were these kinds of competitions, but I stayed for the whole video. This was super super well made and your script was super good -- I didn't need to use subtitles like usual. Really appreciate you sharing this, thank you
It's an underrated sport. It deserves more attention from major sponsors and state acknowledgement, which it seriously lacks. Since Japan is the leader in yo-yoing, the government should acknowledge it and perhaps even give grants to the federation as a way to boost soft power and tourism.
THIS is how you should make presentations of anything. 20 minute presentation of a single yo-yo competition result is not an easy task and to make it this interesting is a great skill!
I wonder if a judging system more akin to Olympic skating might help - knowing what tricks award what points; difficulty tiers; planned routines with theoretical scores. Maybe that’s too tricky for such a trick-dense; creative endeavor, but my main take away as an outsider was that this person did tricks that were way harder and cooler than others but that they weren’t awarded in accordance with the difficulty, and then was dinged because they took longer. Imagine some of the first people to land triple axles (or whatever) only getting credit for two spins because no one had ever done a third, and then dinged because they cut some easier filler tricks. Anyway. I don’t know anything about skating or yo-yo-ing. This video was a delight. Bravo sir.
if i was a judge i would have added tons of positive clicks at the end of the performance seeing that it was all soloham, and to indicate the ''that was some cool shit" vibes. but idk, thats probably against the rules haha
@@sadmochineko Hell yeah! Or add clicks because of the rousing ovation and how clearly everyone loved what he did. It’s just hard to view it not as a failure of judging if they can’t appreciate the best performance. Yes he got the place he deserves because I’m sure he understood the judging system. And the judging system needs to be overhauled if it is not encouraging this kind of creativity and skillfulness.
This reminds me of a similar problem in figure skating. In the nineties and early 2000's Lucinda Ruh was a swiss skater who was sort of perfect in every way except for her jumping. A little different from this situation, because she had an obvious flaw, but juxtaposed to her lack of jumping skills, in particular she is still considered to be the best spinner in the history of the sport. Problem was, the scoring system never allowed her to be credited for that fact, because it always has favoured jumps over spins. So she never even placed high in major events. Even though she never won a world medal, or got even close to it, she is still well known for being an genius within the sport that was never properly recognized. She still holds a guiness world record as well for spinning. Kind of extraordinary that the competitive scene was never able to acknowledge her (and similar skaters) brilliance.
well seem like still not genius enough to know how to win lol, like football if u dribble through like whole team but dont know how to score than its pretty much useless, in almost every competition u dont have to do best at everything, just almost best at anything, u will win.
Football is just about putting a ball in a cage. Simple. Skating, yoyo, gymnastics, dancing, include both technical and artistic grading. The artistic part is the issue, as the définition varies. Imagine if football goals were pondered by the "style" of the shoot... that would actually become interesting.
Dude, i just got this recommendation on YT and I am like wtf is this about? It didnt take 60 seconds for me to go get a cup of coffee and watch this video like my soul needed it. Damn you are a fantastic story teller! Well done! That aside, if i tried to yo yo like these dudes, i'd be in the ER with a busted face. Earned my sub
Performances like Hajime's are exactly why I wish they did a smaller division for these "banger" tricks. In fact in the Texas DFW contest I went to years back had one called "Gunslinger" Gunslinger's rules were easy and were thus: 1 Throw, No Regens. It was a test of your efficiency as a Thrower to be able to pack as many technically impressive tricks/trick elements into a single attempt and am so proud I was able to earn first. So many performances echo that sentiment, Patrick Borgerding's incredible and stylized 3a tricks still wow me today, Ben Conde's most viral performance too. But ultimately I think it's a reminder that you can never truly quantify the *art* of yo-yoing, and that while you can make a metric for what is the best of that year the player and the viewer's perception of it is just as valid as the rules' judgement. Awesome video, fantastic breakdown and editing! Keep it up.👍
EXCELLENT video. Thank you for breaking down the competitive yoyo scene into such a concise and understandable video. Definitely worth watching all the way through.
I used to compete in freestyle DDR about 15-20 years ago. And the idea of sometimes doing Cool Shit for the sake of entertaining and showing off your ability still echoes from back then. I've seen a number of great routines over the years, and some of them were amazing, but a few of them I recall and rave about to this day not because of how they won or how well they did, but IN SPITE of how well they did, because they showed inventiveness and entertainment above and beyond the scoring mechanisms. One of the most entertaining routines I ever saw took hours and hours to prepare and rehearse and finished LAST because it went with entertainment over rules. So I really kinda feel this. Miura showed off his amazing abilities, but I think he knew that he wouldn't win. He went into this wanting to place the best he could and show his skill, but the rules didn't fit the style he wanted to show. It is what it is, but it's still pretty freaking amazing.
I saw his performance live and it's hands down the best yoyo performance I've ever seen. Love this community and love this vid of yours showing off this amazing sport! I've been yoyoing for 5 years and every year I'm more amazed how far people can push this little toy.
I was looking for the "this is what art is" comment, thanks for that. AI doesn't make art, it makes images. You can find art in images, but then the art you find is coming from your soul.@@castonyoung7514
As a yoyoer and Secret Base lover, I couldn’t have asked for anything better to watch. The quality and editing in this video are amazing, as the historical accuracy is on point. Thanks so much for this!!
@@BenTurman Except if Jon Bois did this, we would know about a conversation between the president of Japan and Hajime Miura discussing the importance of brushing your teeth and then be given a statistical breakdown of why the scores at the end compare to every set of scores ever recorded. Blatantly stealing a successful style doesn't make it as good of quality.
Amazing breakdown and presentation. When I saw Hajime Miura's performance I was pretty new to how yoyo contests and scoring worked, let alone 4A in general. I remember saying to the folks I was sitting next to "...can he do that??" when he pulled out the second yoyo and string. I loved the innovation and it's still one of my favorite performances of all time, but I also understand better now what happened when he didn't win. One thing you didn't say in the video is that he had to have known that he would not win with this performance. I really think this was a statement, something that may lead to a new category in the future.
This was not only enlightening on an informative level (to me, knowing next to nothing about yo-yoing, it was fascinating to learn a bit about it), what blew me away here was the video's extremely clear structure that nevertheless allowed for a completely natural flow of narrative. A teachable moment in any "how to do a presentation WELL" class. Well done, I am most certainly going to look into your videos in the future!
@@subjekt5577And I only just saw it for the first time, crazy thing eh? Unbelievable somebody found out about something that's been around a while, I'm sure it never happened to you though bruh. ;-)
I'm not sure how i got recommended this video, but i'm glad i did. Really cool and informative dive into yo-yo competitions. great editing and storytelling too
The quality on this video is insane. While it's a year old, and I just got recommended this, I am absolutely floored. You truly deserve way way way more subscribers and viewers, dude. Absolutely incredible how good your video quality, script writing and voice over is in this video. Truly grateful for this high quality and quite in-depth exploration into Hajime Miura's 4A 2019 run. Thank you so much.
being at the 2019 wyyc and seeing this guy start the routine with soloham was whenever the crowd instantly knew that this was going to be the GOAT 4A performance. great video honestly
Man, this was beautiful. Incredibly well done on so many levels, but maybe most of all, the fantastic research. I've been a professional yoyo player for many years and went to most of these contests. Without that kind first-hand experience, it's mind-blowing you were able to put this together with such great accuracy... Not to mention the great storytelling, pacing, visual, and philosophy of how subjective competition is judged and valued. Loved the Gou Miyagi shoutout too. His videos made the rounds in the yoyo world some years back... Anyway, so great!
It makes me very happy to hear comments about the accuracy of this story! I spent a lot of time reviewing post, comments, interviews, vlogs, etc. in order to try and tell the story as authentically as possible, so it's great to hear that that work paid off :)
One thing that isn’t brought up specifically in the video, but hopefully most people will notice, is his t-shirt of “one… is not enough”. As was mentioned, he knows the rules. This freestyle was making a statement for sure.
I was really into 1A as a kid and when I saw your tom scott followup video, I decided to check out your channel. I've gotta say, this (quite well-made) video gave me a spark to work with. I was good, but I was never good enough to make up my own tricks. I may be 25, now, but I'm not above the fact that people consider it a children's toy. I think I'll pick it back up. Thanks.
And here I am, 2.33 am, watching a video about a competition I didn't even know existed. And enjoying every second of it, I even discovered new music and artists.
Dude I’m blown away. I wasn’t even aware of the yoyo scene, but the script is so engaging that I was fully there with you. But more than that, the script does that thing that good writing does, where you realize something (true) about the world after it, that you wouldnt’ve gotten to by yourself. That the rules are an approximation for something much more intuitive and nebulous, and we shouldn’t confuse _being able to follow the rules_ for _being able to do cool shit_ . And the presentation! The presentation! I’m in love with this style, Jon Bois/SummoningSalt created something totally unique, and it’s reminding me that there are infinite ways to present information and edit a video, and we’ve naturally funnelled into an aesthetic and pipeline influenced by arbitrarily limited factors. But seeing these types of videos make me feel like you’re blowing the lid off these constraints! I don’t know why yt recommended me this video, but I’m glad it did
Know near nothing about yoyoing and it's competitive culture. But this video managed to be both educational and entertaining to bring me along for the ride and keep me plugged in.
Your explanation of the “cool shit” factor is perfectly laid out. I’ve had the exact same thought about several things in my life. You diagramed it so well.
Good to see more people recognizing one of the most legendary players in the Yoyoing community. and Glad to see more High quality and well planned content related to yoyos. Cheers
I was in middle school when the late 90s yoyo craze hit. It was nuts. They wrre eventually banned in my school because of fights breaking out over them where they'd inevitably be used as weapons. I believe I still have my Turbo Bumblebee in a box somewhere.
It was an absolutely easy to digest video for somebody like me who doesn’t know much about yoyo let alone the competitive scene. Excellent job!!! And lucky to have this video randomly suggested to me.
I was there! I'm not sure if I watched his performance, and if I did, I definitely didn't grasp how crazy it was what he had just done (I was very new to yoyo, the competition happened to be near me and I thought it would be cool to go. Side note, I bought my first nice yoyo there, a b-grade Sasquatch from CLYW! It's still my absolute favorite throw, and lives on my desk. I also met Tessa Fowler, one of my main inspirations and favorite yoyoers! Her tricks are so cool. -- Turns out, after trying to find one of my favorite performers from that year (Paul Kerbel, he did a backflip on stage and people lost their goddamn minds. The energy at that place was incredible), that I realized I had actually gone in 2016! Who knew it was in Cleveland twice?! I thought that the year felt off! I didn't even consider that it was held there again because I knew that in 2015 it had been in Japan, and then in 2017 it was going to be in Iceland! Anyway so this got derailed, no I didn't see that performance live, but if I can recommend anything to anyone it's that if you find out the World YoYo Competition is getting held within reasonable driving distance, definitely go! Even to someone pretty new to throwing at the time, it was amazing! I hope to go back sometime.
As a thrower for over 25 years, following all of these Throwers, and especially following Hajime, man, this is an absolutely fantastic short documentary!!! Please, oh please, make a TON more of these about different players, heck even groups like shaqler! oh man, do one on Jensen!! :D Thank you so much for this amazing video! Hajime's performance is still in the rotation for me!
The ending is exactly why random videos like this about a relatively niche topic can bridge the gap between people in the know and randoms who had no idea there even were yoyo divisions. "Cool shit" DOES come from the soul, and I love the emphasis that scores and points will only ever be a subjective representation of that. For us mortals who will not be winning events, yoyo or otherwise, it's an important reminder to do cool shit, regardless of what other people think. If you do things because you want other people to tell you you're cool, then you are conforming to the rules of the game, and chances are you're missing the opportunity to create your own cool shit.
Amazing video, from story to editing! One remark: Shinji Saito was the first to win two divisions - Combined Division (which was a seperate division mastering three styles in 3 days) and 2A in I believe 2007, 2008 and 2009. I was lucky enough to wittness it live and stand on the podium with Shinji in Combined in 2008 :)
You have an EMPLemon-esque talent for taking something I had 0 interest in, and making me want to dedicate my life to it. Thank you for this video, subscribed for more!
Such is the nature of games and life. Nothing is set in stone and innovation is always possible through creativity. Great video, loved the graphical outline format.
The reality of things is usually far too complicated to understand, so we make these simple models. We make maps and rules and systems for describing things And as you say, we should use the models when they're helpful, and only when they're helpful. When they're not, we put them down and use something else A map is obliged to be a useful description of a territory, but it doesn't work the other way around. The territory is never under any obligation to conform to the map
Holy wow this was awesome!! I wasn't even aware that there was a yo-yo scene until now, and my mind has actually been blown. Your editing and storytelling abilities are profoundly swag, and I'm so glad this was recommended to me
Man, I'm not into yoyoing at all, but I watched this video all the way to the end. Extremely well made, well produced, and well explained. Thanks UA-cam for the recommendation.
I've never known much about the yoyo world, but this video grabbed my attention really well, it was a great watch Took me about halfway through the video before I realized it was "soloham tricks" and not "solo hand tricks" though 😃 If you're aiming for a general audience, then the one thing I wound have liked is just a little more detail on what some of the terms meant. (But I suspect you were aiming for a yo-yo audience, so… never mind, I guess 💜)
@@Arctagon from a bit of googling, I think it's a style where you have multiple yoyos in play, the yoyos aren't attached to the string, and there's only one string (or at least, the yoyos are both on the same string) The site I found described it as having the yoyos "in the same hand", but I find that pretty confusing, given that the yoyos themselves seem to spend very little time in either hand, and they're not attached to the strings either. I expect it makes more sense if you're used to yoyos
@@douglaswolfen7820 I ended up asking ChatGPT myself, who said the fundamental difference is that the string is tied to the thumb, and not either of the fingers. Perhaps it's a bit of both?
@@Arctagonnever forget that ChatGPT's job is to give you an answer that sounds plausible and coherent and consistent. "Accuracy" isn't part of ChatGPT's job. It will never say "I don't know", not even when it really doesn't know. It will make something up instead I don't think the thumb/finger thing is accurate at all, I think it's just something that ChatGPT made up. (I'm happy to be corrected of course)
He himself knows the rules and their implications. He decided to go against the rules and show the world what is possible on his stage time rather than aim for a goal he had already achieved.
This is a fantastic analysis and breakdown. Not super flashy wow-wow, not dumbed down super hard, just some good ol fashioned knowledge. 10/10, would show my family.
There's something unbelievably badass about knowing the rules well enough to know your routine won't win, but believing hard enough in your routine's value to spend hundreds of hours perfecting it and performing it anyway
nah he just found his routine on the back of a cereal box that day and thought "hmm, I'll try that"
This is similar to how I perform my professional work, and why I work as an independent, rare in my field.
@MikeDermksian this is just so very well said ✅
@@delavan9141lol
He's like a sherpa climbing everest as a bunch of rock climbers critique his form from a telescope on the ground. "He's climbing way too fast. That isn't how youre supposed to do it."
He didn't do that routine to win, he did it to prove he is the GOAT
Yeah. I would think that if it weren't already obvious from the fact that someone this good wouldn't do this by accident, it should be obvious from that wink at the end of the routine.
@@BrooksMoses damn dude way to kill the vibe..... see context below smh
@@gokuswanson2037 : Sorry! I didn't mean it that way. I just meant I totally agreed with you and that all the people who disagree aren't paying attention.
@BrooksMoses it's a joke chill bro 😂 I didn't think I had to add context but I did which ruins it but that's ok. Sorry for the confusion I just thought fans would get it
@@gokuswanson2037like pretending you’re a serial killer to someone you just met in an elevator. Cheap/ pointless
A lot players in the yoyo community are confused why Hajime didn't win and this video perfectly explains why it really happened. Hajime is the perfect example of "People's Champion". He didn't win the fight but he won the night.
swag win for sure
The rules are bad. This is the exact reason most sports with similar judging don't have these rules. Look at gymnastics for a good example.
Tge fact that the routine was entertaining, different, and only ONE other 4A competitor could have even done...should make it obvious it's the best performance in history. Terrible rules.
@@johnmaynard3463 Skateboarding was a perfect analogy. Street League skateboarding is painfully boring to watch to me. I lived and breathed actual street skateboarding, I'm 48 now so can't skate like I used to. But I know sick street skating when I see it. And Street League or the Olympics just don't capture the magic. The same goes for what happened to Miura.
@@johnmaynard3463 Difficulty, Frequency, Variety? Those are seriously bland rules that care not for the beauty of Perfection and Mastery.
Were any Russian judges involved?
(Oops, did I say that out loud?)
I never thought I’d ever watch a 20 minute long video on competitive yo-yo’ing.. I have zero regrets.
Exact same thing.
Ditto
mood
same! Don't even know how I got here but I'm glad I did!
Same. But i must admit, it was some COOL SHIT
Some of us encountered a similar problem, 50 years ago, or so in skateboarding. They were trying to come up with rules and real skateboarders. We’re pushing the boundaries of what could be done, especially with the new grippy, polyurethane wheels, and the rules couldn’t begin to keep up so the judges would see some thing that was truly amazing, but required that one of the skateboarders hands touch the ground, which was an immediate disqualification in the beginning tournaments.
Same in water skiing. Early rules tended to favor trick density and would result in lots of simple but quick movements. A more generic overall score that is wildly open to interpretation has taken over in the higher level competition.
And the same thing happened in competitive whitewater rodeo, at one point some of the coolest new moves were either unrecognized as mind-numbingly difficult or reduced your trick density so that less creative boaters ended up on the podium.
@@jackofnone32 I have to thank you for introducing me to "whitewater rodeo" as I now have a new rabbit hole to go down lmfao
Jay Adams and the Z-boys at the 1975 Del Mar Nationals is a perfect example of this - Jay Adams riding around like a surfer and then launching off the edge of the course was something the judges didn't know what to do with. Or Neil Blender at the Tempe Streetstyle Competition is another kinda related example - he pulled out spray paint and graffiti'd the course because to him thats what streestyle was really about
shit, the same shit STILL happens in skateboarding. its one of the reasons many people (myself included) find contest skating incredibly boring. i'll watch a street part and see the most absolutely bonkers shit imaginable, shit you would never imagine is even possible, and then i watch a contest and everybody is doing the exact same shit simply because it scores well with judges. i can only watch yuto horigome nollie back 180 lip a handrail so many times before i have to go watch a fancy lad part as a palate cleanser.
Its kind of hilarious to me that Hajime's score wasn't that high cause the rules are designed like a DMC game: Do as many different moves as possible, with as much variety as possible, without messing up.
Like, he's doing incredibly impressive stuff on a technical level, but is only earning a B on the style meter cause he didn't weapon swap.
ugh, the damned weapon swap >.< I didnt get good with the first weapon just so that I could switch to the second one I barely know >.
u cant win with 1 trick pony
@@TheMaulam12345 It isn't a one trick pony; the rules are limited, you fool. To think arbitrary rules can both be as fair as possible to competitors and also capture how the best truly is means you are foolish and ignorant
Rules are arbitrary and everyone knows he performed better; the competition doesn't determine who is the most skillful or the best; it determines who plays the best according to arbitrary rules
@@TheMaulam12345
meanwhile every weapon being a weapon and serving the same general purpose
Pretty sure i could make up for it with skill anyways
We didn't know it back in August 2019, but this would be the last in person World Yo-Yo Contest for years to come. I remember finding it strange that 4A was scheduled last rather than the much more popular 1A division. As the defending champion, Hajime was at the bottom of the 4A competitor order, so his freestyle marked the very end of the contest. Props to the organizers for recognizing that Hajime was the true main event, a fittingly bittersweet send-off for competitive yo-yo as we knew it for the foreseeable future.
The reason 4a is scheduled last is so that time was given for 1a scores to be tallied since it’s the largest division
It was amazing getting to witness Hajime Miura's set next to you man. I am sad that I haven't been able to spectate more cool shit with all y'all. I am definitely on the abstract spectrum of the yoyo enthusiasts' rubric. I'm more about spreading the love of throwing. I don't care about how good I could do in a competition. Though I do get satisfaction from pulling off a trick flawlessly, so I guess I'm my own judge?
Well it's currently planned for Japan next year
Wow, that’s great context that I never knew I wanted
Hmmm
This is the perfect combination pf Summoning Salt and chart party from Secret Base. The charts and the statistics, the live action and the understanding of the art, thank you for making this happen
Secret Base absolutely came to mind while watching this
BobbyBroccoli also came to mind while watching this, he's more science oriented but the same level of graphics and quality. He typically aims for a full 3 hour documentary though, which I would love to see for this style on a subject like this.
I was gonna say Pretty Good, but yeah this clearly has some Jon Bois influence one way or another. Really nicely done!
yeah he put all his influences in the credits, which he wears on his sleeve throughout the video
The thing about having someone so good at something that they win pretty much everytime since 10yo is that eventually he will get bored of the same perfect routines he perfected, so comes the need to innovate. This is a perfect example of how, when someone is too good at something, the RULES should follow THEM, not the other way around. This is why I think so many people didn't get it. "How can we follow the rules when they don't say this guy is number 1 when he clearly is, inside and outside the rules". This calls for rule changes IMO.
@@allancouceiro9255 The International Yoyo federation, the one literally shown in the video
@@allancouceiro9255 Under the authority off being the organisation who regulates this, not sure what your question is.
@@allancouceiro9255because they, presumably, organize the competitions?
@@Emphetic who watches the watchmen?
@@andresabantoenns9697 when the watchmen set everything up and provide the funding, nobody? If they made it they decide how it works.
This video feels very respectful to both the judges that gave Miura 7th as well as people that think he should have placed higher! I think it highlights the problem of needing objective guidelines for fair competition and the limitation that places on performances. It reminds me of how beatboxing competitions have performances that focus more on being technically impressive and showcasing your skills instead of just being awesome to listen to.
It showcases nicely that there is no "the best". That skill is a spectrum and measurment of that spectrum is not done easily.
Wow, man. I'm enamored by the quality of this video. I love the way you expressed the idea of "cool shit" haha. People who win contests don't necessarily have the best tricks. They are simply able to do the things that the rules reward them most for. This is why the term "the people's champion" is so important. Because that person was the one who brought the coolest shit.
For sure dude
like you vs gentry... you are cool shit
"People who win contests don't necessarily have the best tricks. They are simply able to do the things that the rules reward them most for."
I'm an ancient competitor (1999-2002), but I remember learning this CLEARLY with Joel Zink in 1999. He won Internationals, US Nationals and Worlds that year doing, what I remember to be, the same performance each time. It was clear to me (even as a 14 year old) that he did not do "cool shit", but he did what was needed to win.
I honestly felt a similar way after watching Masahiro Tanikawa win the 2001 US Nationals 2A. Nothing really "new" in that routine, not any "cool shit", but he did good tricks and he did it nearly flawless. Sometimes that's all you need to win.
The Tony Hawk 900 is a perfect example where it goes beyond competition and simply into artistry recognized by the community...the YoYo community missed its opportunity to celebrate what Miura accomplished despite whether he won by score or not. Its the reason why people outside of these communities recognize these incredible feats and remember things like the 900 and Evo moment 37 so well and no one cares about the Yo Yo community at all despite this guying doing something 'otherworldly'.
We see this in most performance-based sports. I'm most familiar with modern wushu, Chinese martial arts, where significant rules changes over the years (with the most recent one being just this past year) have massively shifted how forms are constructed and performed at a fundamental level. Focus on dynamism, difficulty of tricks, density of tricks, speed, precision, cohesion, etc. have all shifted over the decades.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist” - Picasso
This reminds me of a situation in the Grand Beatbox Battle Loopstation category of 2019, although it's kinda flipped. In Loopstation you record sounds from your body (vocals, beatboxing and body percussions). Then you add effects to them and arrange them to create a song live on stage. In order to do this you use an approved loopstation and any approved add ons to it. These determine what you can do to the sounds you create. Notably these machines are not allowed to create any sound by themselves, so no drum kits and no synthesizers are allowed. In 2019 Inkie a looper from Russia showed up with an add on that was not very standard in the scene, but which the organizers approved. When he faced off against NME in the semi finals he lost the vote unanimously 5-0. This decision was controversial to say the least and a lot of people saw Inkie as the winner. Even some of the judges who voted against him acknowledged, that his performance was of superior quality. The problem was that when he started his performance he very quickly built up a soundscape. The judges unfamiliar with the device ultimately decided that these sounds could not be built regularly and must be synthesized, both because of their unfamiliar sound and the speed in which they were built. It seemed like either the judges were not convinced by the organizers approval process or were straight up unfamiliar with it. Ultimately it ended what could have been a tournament winning run for Inkie. So in this case the rules strictly allowed for what was done, but the pre conceived notions of how loopstation performances are supposed to sound prevented him from using the space the rules provide.
And as far as I am aware at least, was it not later proven that Inkie *did* end up doing all the sounds manually?
@@maythefool9904 As far as I can tell that was never in doubt by the organizers, the judges were just confused in the moment.
Imagine being so good at something that even the “professional judges” can’t grasp their heads around the fact that you actually made the noises and didn’t cheat using something not allowed….
While upsetting that you lose because of that, it’s also one of the greatest compliments to get unintentionally.
@@danielandree3947 To be fair to the judges, a lot of the confusion stemmed from them being unfamiliar with the add on device and the sounds it can produce.
I went and watched the event you described.
I’ve still no real idea what this stuff is, but man am I jealous of what ever the audience was taking
god, the "When it comes to doing cool shit, the Rules Don't Matter" line with the pull out on the whole diagram was SO GOOD
bruh, I still can't get over how well made this video is.
Yeah it’s kinda nuts
Jon Bois style go places
steal from the best invent the rest
It is the best John Bois knockoff I have ever seen.
The style resembles that of bobbybroccoli
What I love about Hajime's decision to throw out "variety" is the fact that it is still VERY much a demonstration of skill and artistry. Dude showed up just to flex and show everyone how creative he was while having fun within boundaries he set for himself, that's performance art at its finest baybey! Maybe knowing he wouldn't score high took the pressure off himself to win, and it kept the sport more fun for him instead of dominating everything ever just for the sake of it
king AND cool shit
I think he came there to inspire his fellow Yo-Yoers, and not to keep dominating. Put the fun back in.
@davidelvion1331 Exactly yeah that too!
@@davidelvion1331 I thought that was the point the commenter was going for
I had no clue there were these kinds of competitions, but I stayed for the whole video. This was super super well made and your script was super good -- I didn't need to use subtitles like usual. Really appreciate you sharing this, thank you
It's an underrated sport. It deserves more attention from major sponsors and state acknowledgement, which it seriously lacks. Since Japan is the leader in yo-yoing, the government should acknowledge it and perhaps even give grants to the federation as a way to boost soft power and tourism.
THIS is how you should make presentations of anything. 20 minute presentation of a single yo-yo competition result is not an easy task and to make it this interesting is a great skill!
I wonder if a judging system more akin to Olympic skating might help - knowing what tricks award what points; difficulty tiers; planned routines with theoretical scores. Maybe that’s too tricky for such a trick-dense; creative endeavor, but my main take away as an outsider was that this person did tricks that were way harder and cooler than others but that they weren’t awarded in accordance with the difficulty, and then was dinged because they took longer. Imagine some of the first people to land triple axles (or whatever) only getting credit for two spins because no one had ever done a third, and then dinged because they cut some easier filler tricks. Anyway. I don’t know anything about skating or yo-yo-ing. This video was a delight. Bravo sir.
if i was a judge i would have added tons of positive clicks at the end of the performance seeing that it was all soloham, and to indicate the ''that was some cool shit" vibes. but idk, thats probably against the rules haha
@@sadmochineko Hell yeah! Or add clicks because of the rousing ovation and how clearly everyone loved what he did. It’s just hard to view it not as a failure of judging if they can’t appreciate the best performance. Yes he got the place he deserves because I’m sure he understood the judging system. And the judging system needs to be overhauled if it is not encouraging this kind of creativity and skillfulness.
This man didn’t come to win. He came to conquer!
well hes not smart enough to know the rule
@@TheMaulam12345 you must know the rules like a pro to break them like an artist
@@darkstudios001 what
And conquer he did
This reminds me of a similar problem in figure skating. In the nineties and early 2000's Lucinda Ruh was a swiss skater who was sort of perfect in every way except for her jumping. A little different from this situation, because she had an obvious flaw, but juxtaposed to her lack of jumping skills, in particular she is still considered to be the best spinner in the history of the sport. Problem was, the scoring system never allowed her to be credited for that fact, because it always has favoured jumps over spins.
So she never even placed high in major events. Even though she never won a world medal, or got even close to it, she is still well known for being an genius within the sport that was never properly recognized. She still holds a guiness world record as well for spinning. Kind of extraordinary that the competitive scene was never able to acknowledge her (and similar skaters) brilliance.
well seem like still not genius enough to know how to win lol, like football if u dribble through like whole team but dont know how to score than its pretty much useless, in almost every competition u dont have to do best at everything, just almost best at anything, u will win.
@@TheMaulam12345
Skating doesn't have a clear goal like that. If your show sport is failing to score genius highly, your score system sucks.
Football is just about putting a ball in a cage.
Simple.
Skating, yoyo, gymnastics, dancing, include both technical and artistic grading.
The artistic part is the issue, as the définition varies.
Imagine if football goals were pondered by the "style" of the shoot... that would actually become interesting.
@@TheMaulam12345 You are missing the point
Dude, i just got this recommendation on YT and I am like wtf is this about? It didnt take 60 seconds for me to go get a cup of coffee and watch this video like my soul needed it. Damn you are a fantastic story teller! Well done! That aside, if i tried to yo yo like these dudes, i'd be in the ER with a busted face. Earned my sub
Performances like Hajime's are exactly why I wish they did a smaller division for these "banger" tricks. In fact in the Texas DFW contest I went to years back had one called "Gunslinger"
Gunslinger's rules were easy and were thus: 1 Throw, No Regens.
It was a test of your efficiency as a Thrower to be able to pack as many technically impressive tricks/trick elements into a single attempt and am so proud I was able to earn first.
So many performances echo that sentiment, Patrick Borgerding's incredible and stylized 3a tricks still wow me today, Ben Conde's most viral performance too. But ultimately I think it's a reminder that you can never truly quantify the *art* of yo-yoing, and that while you can make a metric for what is the best of that year the player and the viewer's perception of it is just as valid as the rules' judgement.
Awesome video, fantastic breakdown and editing! Keep it up.👍
I felt this was extremely well written and narrated. Thank you for making it.
EXCELLENT video. Thank you for breaking down the competitive yoyo scene into such a concise and understandable video. Definitely worth watching all the way through.
YOOO whats up ryan lol its jack
I used to compete in freestyle DDR about 15-20 years ago. And the idea of sometimes doing Cool Shit for the sake of entertaining and showing off your ability still echoes from back then. I've seen a number of great routines over the years, and some of them were amazing, but a few of them I recall and rave about to this day not because of how they won or how well they did, but IN SPITE of how well they did, because they showed inventiveness and entertainment above and beyond the scoring mechanisms. One of the most entertaining routines I ever saw took hours and hours to prepare and rehearse and finished LAST because it went with entertainment over rules.
So I really kinda feel this. Miura showed off his amazing abilities, but I think he knew that he wouldn't win. He went into this wanting to place the best he could and show his skill, but the rules didn't fit the style he wanted to show. It is what it is, but it's still pretty freaking amazing.
I saw his performance live and it's hands down the best yoyo performance I've ever seen. Love this community and love this vid of yours showing off this amazing sport! I've been yoyoing for 5 years and every year I'm more amazed how far people can push this little toy.
It's all art man. Art comes from the soul. And the best art is the piece that burns with the most passion and love.
"Art comes from the soul" hasn't AI disproved that?
I was looking for the "this is what art is" comment, thanks for that. AI doesn't make art, it makes images. You can find art in images, but then the art you find is coming from your soul.@@castonyoung7514
@@castonyoung7514 it hasnt
@@castonyoung7514 Where does AI get it's criteria for art from?
As a yoyoer and Secret Base lover, I couldn’t have asked for anything better to watch. The quality and editing in this video are amazing, as the historical accuracy is on point. Thanks so much for this!!
This really feels like something Jon Bois and Co would put together.
@@BenTurman Except if Jon Bois did this, we would know about a conversation between the president of Japan and Hajime Miura discussing the importance of brushing your teeth and then be given a statistical breakdown of why the scores at the end compare to every set of scores ever recorded. Blatantly stealing a successful style doesn't make it as good of quality.
Thanks for this high quality video I didn’t know I needed!
One of the highest quality UA-cam videos that talks about modern yoyoing, well done
The perfection of the formatting of this video is astonishing holy shit
Amazing breakdown and presentation. When I saw Hajime Miura's performance I was pretty new to how yoyo contests and scoring worked, let alone 4A in general. I remember saying to the folks I was sitting next to "...can he do that??" when he pulled out the second yoyo and string. I loved the innovation and it's still one of my favorite performances of all time, but I also understand better now what happened when he didn't win. One thing you didn't say in the video is that he had to have known that he would not win with this performance. I really think this was a statement, something that may lead to a new category in the future.
This was not only enlightening on an informative level (to me, knowing next to nothing about yo-yoing, it was fascinating to learn a bit about it), what blew me away here was the video's extremely clear structure that nevertheless allowed for a completely natural flow of narrative. A teachable moment in any "how to do a presentation WELL" class.
Well done, I am most certainly going to look into your videos in the future!
Bruh this is Jon Bois style, it's been around for years pre pandemic
@@subjekt5577And I only just saw it for the first time, crazy thing eh? Unbelievable somebody found out about something that's been around a while, I'm sure it never happened to you though bruh. ;-)
I'm not sure how i got recommended this video, but i'm glad i did. Really cool and informative dive into yo-yo competitions. great editing and storytelling too
The quality on this video is insane. While it's a year old, and I just got recommended this, I am absolutely floored. You truly deserve way way way more subscribers and viewers, dude. Absolutely incredible how good your video quality, script writing and voice over is in this video. Truly grateful for this high quality and quite in-depth exploration into Hajime Miura's 4A 2019 run. Thank you so much.
being at the 2019 wyyc and seeing this guy start the routine with soloham was whenever the crowd instantly knew that this was going to be the GOAT 4A performance. great video honestly
The editing in this video is phenomenal. Very simple, yet super interesting.
Man, this was beautiful. Incredibly well done on so many levels, but maybe most of all, the fantastic research.
I've been a professional yoyo player for many years and went to most of these contests. Without that kind first-hand experience, it's mind-blowing you were able to put this together with such great accuracy... Not to mention the great storytelling, pacing, visual, and philosophy of how subjective competition is judged and valued.
Loved the Gou Miyagi shoutout too. His videos made the rounds in the yoyo world some years back...
Anyway, so great!
It makes me very happy to hear comments about the accuracy of this story! I spent a lot of time reviewing post, comments, interviews, vlogs, etc. in order to try and tell the story as authentically as possible, so it's great to hear that that work paid off :)
Also - so cool that Gou Miyagi has some overlap with yo-yoers, I had no idea!
One thing that isn’t brought up specifically in the video, but hopefully most people will notice, is his t-shirt of “one… is not enough”. As was mentioned, he knows the rules. This freestyle was making a statement for sure.
I never expected White Bat Audio in the wild. I recognized it immediately. His stuff is very chill.
I was really into 1A as a kid and when I saw your tom scott followup video, I decided to check out your channel. I've gotta say, this (quite well-made) video gave me a spark to work with. I was good, but I was never good enough to make up my own tricks. I may be 25, now, but I'm not above the fact that people consider it a children's toy. I think I'll pick it back up. Thanks.
And here I am, 2.33 am, watching a video about a competition I didn't even know existed. And enjoying every second of it, I even discovered new music and artists.
Brilliantly laid out, edited and written. Highly entertaining and informative thanks for your time and efforts. Cheers.
I love the "Secret Base" style breakdown. Great job!
Dude I’m blown away. I wasn’t even aware of the yoyo scene, but the script is so engaging that I was fully there with you. But more than that, the script does that thing that good writing does, where you realize something (true) about the world after it, that you wouldnt’ve gotten to by yourself. That the rules are an approximation for something much more intuitive and nebulous, and we shouldn’t confuse _being able to follow the rules_ for _being able to do cool shit_ . And the presentation! The presentation! I’m in love with this style, Jon Bois/SummoningSalt created something totally unique, and it’s reminding me that there are infinite ways to present information and edit a video, and we’ve naturally funnelled into an aesthetic and pipeline influenced by arbitrarily limited factors. But seeing these types of videos make me feel like you’re blowing the lid off these constraints! I don’t know why yt recommended me this video, but I’m glad it did
Know near nothing about yoyoing and it's competitive culture. But this video managed to be both educational and entertaining to bring me along for the ride and keep me plugged in.
Your explanation of the “cool shit” factor is perfectly laid out. I’ve had the exact same thought about several things in my life. You diagramed it so well.
This video was soooooo well done and definitely did a weirdly good job of explaining your point
Good to see more people recognizing one of the most legendary players in the Yoyoing community. and Glad to see more High quality and well planned content related to yoyos. Cheers
Wow man!
This is the classiest presentation on any topic I have ever seen.
Kudos
I love how you visually broke down the video through spatial visual editing, great job! Legend!
This video quality is amazing. Keep it up and never stop!
This randomly popped up in my feed and I am just blown away by the production of it. I mean, like Netflix limited series good. Kudos to you!
You had me watch something that I knew nothing about and kept me engaged for the whole 20 minutes . Kudos .
I was in middle school when the late 90s yoyo craze hit. It was nuts. They wrre eventually banned in my school because of fights breaking out over them where they'd inevitably be used as weapons.
I believe I still have my Turbo Bumblebee in a box somewhere.
But... using them as weapons might be the coolest trick of all. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? I WANNA SEE IT.
@@castonyoung7514I dont think it was a trick, Caston
"Tonight I'm not here to win. Been there, done that. Tonight I'm here to blow your minds."
I did not expect to watch a yo-yo video tonight, but I did and this was a great piece of storytelling.
Ah, this is such a perfect 3 am can’t sleep video, to watch. Thank you.
It was an absolutely easy to digest video for somebody like me who doesn’t know much about yoyo let alone the competitive scene. Excellent job!!! And lucky to have this video randomly suggested to me.
As someone who grew up near and went to the National Yo-Yo Museum every Saturday for yo-yo lessons, this video was awesome to watch.
I was there! I'm not sure if I watched his performance, and if I did, I definitely didn't grasp how crazy it was what he had just done (I was very new to yoyo, the competition happened to be near me and I thought it would be cool to go. Side note, I bought my first nice yoyo there, a b-grade Sasquatch from CLYW! It's still my absolute favorite throw, and lives on my desk. I also met Tessa Fowler, one of my main inspirations and favorite yoyoers! Her tricks are so cool. --
Turns out, after trying to find one of my favorite performers from that year (Paul Kerbel, he did a backflip on stage and people lost their goddamn minds. The energy at that place was incredible), that I realized I had actually gone in 2016! Who knew it was in Cleveland twice?! I thought that the year felt off! I didn't even consider that it was held there again because I knew that in 2015 it had been in Japan, and then in 2017 it was going to be in Iceland! Anyway so this got derailed, no I didn't see that performance live, but if I can recommend anything to anyone it's that if you find out the World YoYo Competition is getting held within reasonable driving distance, definitely go! Even to someone pretty new to throwing at the time, it was amazing! I hope to go back sometime.
As a thrower for over 25 years, following all of these Throwers, and especially following Hajime, man, this is an absolutely fantastic short documentary!!!
Please, oh please, make a TON more of these about different players, heck even groups like shaqler! oh man, do one on Jensen!! :D
Thank you so much for this amazing video!
Hajime's performance is still in the rotation for me!
Jensen would be hype! Hell I'd love to see stuff on any of the a rt boys honestly
This video is extremely well researched and animated. Kudos.
That was a jaw dropping routine. I agree. It's pretty wild that it landed him only 7th.
he is on another dimension that the rules doesnt apply.
hajime = 3d
judges=2d
I absolutely adore the way you animated and edited this video! It's both beautiful visually and highly entertaining to watch. Keep up the good work 👍
If you like the editing in this vid then you'd love Secret Base because he literally just copied their style to a T
Extremely cool video ! Loved the presentation, the structure and the narration, im a sucker for this kind of content !
Damn, I forgot how good your videos are. Seriously you deserve some big numbers bro, your stuff has always stood out to me lol.
Captivating! I watched it all at 1x in one sitting. Thanks for making this!
As a fan of Hajime Miura myself since 2014, I can pretty much say that this video is definitely cool shit
Holy shit the editing in this is superb, the story telling, the way each component flows to the next is all just so impressive. Absolutely phenomenal!
The ending is exactly why random videos like this about a relatively niche topic can bridge the gap between people in the know and randoms who had no idea there even were yoyo divisions. "Cool shit" DOES come from the soul, and I love the emphasis that scores and points will only ever be a subjective representation of that. For us mortals who will not be winning events, yoyo or otherwise, it's an important reminder to do cool shit, regardless of what other people think. If you do things because you want other people to tell you you're cool, then you are conforming to the rules of the game, and chances are you're missing the opportunity to create your own cool shit.
what a masterpiece amazing on youtube, thanks for all your work, worth it
Amazing video, from story to editing!
One remark: Shinji Saito was the first to win two divisions - Combined Division (which was a seperate division mastering three styles in 3 days) and 2A in I believe 2007, 2008 and 2009. I was lucky enough to wittness it live and stand on the podium with Shinji in Combined in 2008 :)
The combination of Jon Bois and Summoning Salt is genius
You have an EMPLemon-esque talent for taking something I had 0 interest in, and making me want to dedicate my life to it. Thank you for this video, subscribed for more!
Such is the nature of games and life. Nothing is set in stone and innovation is always possible through creativity. Great video, loved the graphical outline format.
Love the editing and graphics you used!!! And the music isn’t bad either ;)
This style of editing that you and bobbybroccoli do is simply amazing, it shouldn't be impossible to make something so engaging!
The reality of things is usually far too complicated to understand, so we make these simple models. We make maps and rules and systems for describing things
And as you say, we should use the models when they're helpful, and only when they're helpful. When they're not, we put them down and use something else
A map is obliged to be a useful description of a territory, but it doesn't work the other way around. The territory is never under any obligation to conform to the map
Wow what an ending. Bravo. Such a compelling and well done video about an awesome sport I never knew about.
Holy wow this was awesome!! I wasn't even aware that there was a yo-yo scene until now, and my mind has actually been blown. Your editing and storytelling abilities are profoundly swag, and I'm so glad this was recommended to me
Man, I'm not into yoyoing at all, but I watched this video all the way to the end. Extremely well made, well produced, and well explained. Thanks UA-cam for the recommendation.
When winning is not enough...Hajime feels a need to redefine what it means to be the GOAT of YOYO.
I'm actually watching a UA-cam documentary about competitive yo-yoing and finding it absolutely captivating. The internet is weird.
I've never known much about the yoyo world, but this video grabbed my attention really well, it was a great watch
Took me about halfway through the video before I realized it was "soloham tricks" and not "solo hand tricks" though 😃
If you're aiming for a general audience, then the one thing I wound have liked is just a little more detail on what some of the terms meant. (But I suspect you were aiming for a yo-yo audience, so… never mind, I guess 💜)
Same. I was looking for a comment like this. Still not really sure what ‘soloham tricks’ are.
@@Arctagon from a bit of googling, I think it's a style where you have multiple yoyos in play, the yoyos aren't attached to the string, and there's only one string (or at least, the yoyos are both on the same string)
The site I found described it as having the yoyos "in the same hand", but I find that pretty confusing, given that the yoyos themselves seem to spend very little time in either hand, and they're not attached to the strings either. I expect it makes more sense if you're used to yoyos
@@douglaswolfen7820 I ended up asking ChatGPT myself, who said the fundamental difference is that the string is tied to the thumb, and not either of the fingers. Perhaps it's a bit of both?
@@Arctagonnever forget that ChatGPT's job is to give you an answer that sounds plausible and coherent and consistent. "Accuracy" isn't part of ChatGPT's job. It will never say "I don't know", not even when it really doesn't know. It will make something up instead
I don't think the thumb/finger thing is accurate at all, I think it's just something that ChatGPT made up. (I'm happy to be corrected of course)
What a fantastic approach to documentary style narration and timeline display. nicely done.
Cool shit :)
This video is amazing, the presentation quality is godlike.
Hats off!
Brilliant video. No idea why this showed in my feed but the storytelling and editing is second to none. Youve got huge talent
thanks this info will really help my terraria melee playthrough🙏
This is fascinating. I know nothing about yo-yo but this really gets to the heart of judging for competitive artistic hobbies. Thanks so much!
knew nothing about yoyoing coming here, no idea what possessed me to click this video, but I'm glad i did. great editing and storytelling.
He himself knows the rules and their implications. He decided to go against the rules and show the world what is possible on his stage time rather than aim for a goal he had already achieved.
I was thinking the same thing!
love the part where you assume that maybe i dont know how comp yo-yoing works but there'd be no way i wouldn't know how basketball works
On the one hand, screw you for throwing me into this rabbit hole.
On the other hand, the execution on this video is sublime. Amazing.
This is a fantastic analysis and breakdown. Not super flashy wow-wow, not dumbed down super hard, just some good ol fashioned knowledge.
10/10, would show my family.
Chart Party from secret base, Summoning Salt, Bobby Broccoli, and now you. It’s fantastic! Subscribed
One of the best edited video on UA-cam. Amazing editing skill.