0a

ups & downs, throws & catches, stops & go’s, sleepers & stalls...
a responsive yo-yo player lives in the state between stillness & motion. in the space between wood & cotton. in a paradox; a contradiction. 

our tricks transcend clicks - adding up to zero, and yet invaluable. occupying ephemeral moments, which we give our complete attention... then immediately forget. 

we become the tricks, the infinite instants - perpetually born, dying, regenerating... we sit within the turning wheel; at the serene center of a spinning universe.

in learning how to make the perfect yo-yo, we forget why. in learning to win, we forget to play. our throws become prayers for return… to low fi & no jive. 

butterfly & imperial, retro & modern, simple & technical, a tribe & individuals... 

our lives are shoved around, buffeted by dualities. we throw, losing track of where down ends 

& up begins.

*i wrote the original version of the somewhat self-serious, overly-poetic, manifesto-esque text above for doc pop's "stringburn" zine. i still like it.

0a was once casually used to describe "1-handed looping tricks" - the province of yo-yo novices before being initiated into the arts of 1a (string tricks), 2a (2-handed looping), or the a's beyond. over the last few years, the fixed axle and light responsive yo-yo's which once lent themselves to basic, foundational tricks have become the vehicles for a modern responsive renaissance. stalls, regens, stop n' go's, kickflips, and shoot-the-moons are being synthesized into an updated trick lexicon - a new take on old hardware. individual craftspeople and established companies are contributing new yo-yo designs optimized for tricks which have no hope of winning formal contests. in light of these developments, the combined modern responsive and fixed-axle style is taking back 0a - not as a contest designation, but as a counterpoint or counterbalance. throwing yo-yo with the only goal being goallessness. discovering weird trick ideas just because they're there, with zero to gain from them but enjoyment.

don't get me wrong, i love watching my friends crush routines on stage and get rewarded with trophies and medals. i love 1a. i love all the a's. i've just got no a's to give. 

i'm lucky to have been made to feel successful in yo-yoing without ever being any good at what's... uh… good. the best content i've come up with has either been done on antiquated, vibey, concrete-chewed wooden throws or else on modern 1a ones i've obstinately treated as the same. players like me need a style built upon a joke - one which can handle being simultaneously cosmic and comical. one built on the tradition of kids messing around with silly tricks on schoolyards, which resists being judged (unless by friends, and with shoes). a style which works as a way of play AND a way of life - seeking the State of Yo in the same way old skaters searched for Chin. i don't know whether 0a can feel this way forever, but i'm grateful for what's it's been and what it’s become; for the players whose shoulders it stands on, and the ones who keep it alive.

plus, bryan figueroa made a sweet spaceshippy 0a icon, so now we have to have a style...