This year's yo-yo world championships were held live in Osaka, Japan, for the first time since being made virtual in 2020 for the Covid-19 pandemic, and these contestants brought their A-game for the live crowds.
Honestly, I can't even get the stupid yo-yo to go back up to my hand half the time. I don't understand half of what I witnessed in the routines.
I'm pretty sure if they were doing these moves 200 years ago, they would have all been burned as witches.
Here are this year's champions, so you can decide for yourself.
Is it skill or magic?
Division 1A features your everyday yo-yo on a long string.
1A champion Mir Kim (this whole performance is mind blowing, but the ending maneuver looks like science fiction).
Division 2A uses two yo-yos simultaneously doing looping maneuvers.
2A champion Hajime Sakauchi (how many times did this guy smash himself in the face before perfecting these moves)?
Division 3A also uses two yo-yos simultaneously doing technical tricks.
3A champion Hajime Miura (this guy looks like he just got out of bed, wearing sweats, barefoot, and barely awake, but when the music starts all of a sudden he's Doctor Strange).
Division 4A uses an off string yo-yo.
4A champion Gun Ju EOM (Forget Harrison Ford, this guy is the real Indiana Jones. You'll have to see it to understand that one).
Division 5A uses a counterweight on the other end of the string from the yo-yo.
5A champion Sora Ishikawa (This yo-yo looks like nunchucks, and this guy would make Bruce Lee cry).
The Artistic Performance uses other props and focuses on choreography and stage performance.
AP champion Daniel Tamariz (Okay, this one I know is magic, but not the hocus pocus kind. He adds a little sleight of hand and misdirection into his yo-yo routine).
On a personal note, I forced my family to watch all of these with me, and when we got through them, my son said, "Hey there should be a martial art based on the yo-yo!"
Funny he should mention that.
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