So, Hiroyuki Suzuki. Yeah, that name. It all kinda started when I stumbled across some videos of this guy. Incredible stuff with a yo-yo, you know? Looked so smooth, so effortless. And a little part of my brain, the stupid part, whispered, “Hey, you could probably do some of that.”
Famous last words, right? So, off I went. First step, get a yo-yo. Not one of those cheap plastic things from when we were kids that barely came back up. I figured, if I’m gonna try, might as well get something decent. Nothing too fancy, but, you know, something that wouldn’t be an excuse if I was terrible. Which, spoiler alert, I was.
I got it, took it out of the box, all excited. Gave it a throw. It spun. Okay, good start. Tried to make it come back. Nope. Tried again. Whacked my knuckles. Tried a third time, and the string just turned into a bird’s nest. My cat seemed more entertained by the string than my attempts, I’ll tell you that much.
The Grind Really Began
Man, those first few days were something. I thought I’d be doing at least a basic “walk the dog” or “around the world” in an hour. Ha! Just getting a clean throw and a consistent return took me ages. My thumb was sore from winding the string. My patience? Wearing thin. I watched more videos, tutorials this time, not just Hiroyuki making it look like magic. These folks broke it down, step by step. Still looked easier on screen.
Here’s what I quickly figured out:
- Yo-yos don’t just “come back” when you’re using a good one. You gotta do this thing called a “bind.” Nobody told me that when I was a kid!
- That string? It gets tangled. A lot. More than my old headphone cables.
- Hitting yourself with a speeding piece of metal or plastic? It hurts. My shins, my knuckles, even my glasses weren’t safe.
I spent weeks, seriously, weeks, just trying to get the basic “throw down” smooth and the “bind” to work more than half the time. Forget those fancy “Eli Hops” or whatever wizardry Suzuki was pulling off. I was just trying not to look like a complete fool in my own living room. My wife would just chuckle. Supportive, in her own way, I guess.
I remember trying to learn the “Man on the Trapeze.” Sounds simple, right? Land the yo-yo on the string. For days, it was either miss, or land and immediately fall off, or somehow create a knot that defied physics. There were times I just wanted to chuck the thing out the window. Pure frustration.
But, you know, slowly, very slowly, things started to click. Just a tiny bit. I’d land a trapeze, and it would stay for like, a second. Then I’d manage two seconds. Then I could actually pop it off and bring it back. Small victories, but they felt huge after all that struggle.
Am I pulling off Hiroyuki Suzuki level stunts now? Not even in my wildest dreams. I can do a few basic tricks. I can get the yo-yo to sleep for a decent while, and I can bind it back pretty consistently. It’s more of a fidget thing for me now, something to do when I’m thinking. But that whole process, man, it was a ride. Definitely not as easy as it looks on the internet, that’s for sure. Taught me a bit about patience, I guess. And that some things are best left to the pros, or at least people with way more coordination than me.
