One of my favorite frontstyle repeaters from Alex Lozyniak done here at 2006 MA States yo-Yo contest. It takes a ‘lot’ of practice to play as smooth as Alex did, and even more hours to be as consistent as he was with his execution techniques. Big-big props to the OG homie @imperial.lex 🙏🏿 #alexlozyniak#imperiallex#markmont#yoyo#yoyotricks#trickcircle#massachusetts
Was digging around for some new music and stumbled onto this groovy jam by @wearemakez called ‘Different Planets’. Has a great bop to it that you can’t help but to bounce with. Techno and/or house based tracks are always some of the most fun for me to jam to. The repetitive cadence naturally makes you wanna stay in motion and flowing. When you get a good handle and feel for how your throw naturally moves and your strings tension style, that awareness and control spells ‘fun’ in large amounts. But don’t fall ‘too’ deep into the pocket because it can and is DEF addictive - can be a challenge to ‘not’ bounce at times 😂👌🏿 #markmont#markmontclassic#markmontformulas#markmontshop#mfcumulusfoam#onedropyoyos#yoyo#yoyotricks#freestyle#atlanta#georgia#eugene#oregon#5WATT#trickcircle#keepgoing#wearemakez#fullyfreestyle
Man that arm wrap sequence in the beginning is a whole jam in and of itself. @isaac_sams is one few throwers who’s been able to really stand the test of time. Quality progressive modern style that ages gracefully and intentionally. Full clip video in bio.
Source One rolled through the studio to bless the stage with this #fullyfreestyle beat set a couple months ago. Too many quality beats to count - throw this on as your background music for chillin or commuting to work and enjoy.
This short run from that session had a real fun tempo pulse to mess around with. Playing with being right ‘on’ beat at times and kinda ‘waving around’ the tempo in others creates all kinds of ‘fun’ that you can feel. Starts to make you feel like a conductor. That slack to wrist mount bit was my favorite nugget in this. When you really allow yourself to let your recoveries and missed strings/segments be intentional, it really opens you up to a whole other sea of options and enjoyment. When your jaming, DONT just stop when you make a mistake. Try to remix it into something you haven’t thought of before - it’ll help you out in the long run and you’ll start to enjoy throwing in a diff way 👍🏿
Pictured is one of my favorite runs from the session. @ohbliv is ‘nasty’ on the beats and generally has a good amount of track elements to juggle between while still keeping an open/spacious arrangement. That space plus the more laid back tempo really let me get ‘into’ the pocket (that drum pattern is just vicious). When you lean hard into what feels good while your jamming, combined with prioritizing the music as your ‘guide’, the results can def surprise you - even when it’s just using simple elements. What music you use can have a drastic impact on your style and element choices, so def make sure to try a variety of dif jams to see the full range of your own style 👍🏿 #markmont#markmontrep#5WATT#trickcircle#fullyfreestyle
A few weeks ago I lengthened my string length and took a stroll back to using instrumental beats for a #fullyfreestyle session. The extra length gave me a lot more room to get more exploratory with my movements and my element choices; larger ranges of speed variation and comfier density use. The beats put me in a generally more laid back pocket that I haven't dabbled in in a while which felt aaallll too refreshing. All and all, this combination was just straight up 'fun' and I hope y'all enjoy watching this as much as I enjoyed making it.
The following clip video is paired down to my favorite 10 minutes of nuggets from that session.
Had a chance to catch up with legend Isaac Sams at the 2019 World Yo-Yo contest this past summer and man...he def did 'not' leave me hangin'. Isaac never ceases to amaze me - aaalllwwwaaayyysss has some tricks and combos up his sleeve blurring the line between classic and modern yo-yo play. Even if in a meet up he doesn't have any new tricks ready yet, he's got #fullyfreestyle chops on lock and ready to go. Proud to represent this sir on Markmont. Rep.
@cfisher.idk gettin playful on Cumulus Foam. Watching Caleb jam always serves as a solid reminder to ‘play’ and have fun. He keeps his ideas open and has fun all along the way. Def the type of player I’ll never get tired of watchin jam. Also high key shoutout to @a.returntops on droppin one heck of a fun jammy throw 👍🏿
This run is mainly about movement. There’s definitely some dense string structuring that’s going on (that me digs), but it’s the continual movement of the throw that keeps the pulse and energy of the run moving along. Even if it’s in a subtle sway, keeping the throw from being fully ‘still’ can help clean up the look of your throwin quite a bit - highly recommend always trying to bring in ‘appropriate’ motion and movement to your play. Try to be intensional with the timing of your motion, the ease ins and outs, as well. This can really help out when trying to flow and when trying to illustrate a song with your play 👍🏿
“Making this video was one of the most rewarding things that I have ever created. Editing this made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me reminisce over the people, the moments, and the experience of One Drop YoYos.”—Nehemiah Peterson
Filmed and Edited by: Nehemiah Peterson Produced by: Nehemiah Peterson, Will Prater, Drew Mrowiec-Barnhart
Special Thanks to: David, Shawn, & Paul One Drop YoYos
There’s very few players at ‘this’ level that have been throwing as long as @evantheodds. He’s one of very few players on a shortlist that can jam within an era range of old school all the up through modern day without losing a beat. This is OBNOXIOUS doh because WHOS MANS IS THIS?! 😂😤 Next time you run into Evan, ask him to do some frontstyle play and you’ll see even more of his old school classic chops show through - it’s this range of diverse ability that makes Evan such a good player. Much respect good sir 🙌🏿
Yea that might have been the most linear/vertical jump weave transition I’ve ever done on cam. This run has that kinda ‘glue suede’ look that happens when you smooth out your technique a certain way. @charleshaycock and Tyler Vinneau have that look down pretty ‘noicely’ if I might add (shoutout). It’s always super gratifying when simple elements can be tweaked in timing to give you that feel and look. Really it’s much more a matter of control and timing then the actual elements being used themselves. No diff then certain instances when a fixed axle player with good technique outshines a dense tech player strictly off look of technique alone. You’ll never really need to concern yourself with the complexity of your trick play if you sharpen your technique 👌🏿
This run man...this was ‘definitely’ the most technical trick I’ve ever done. More technical then anything I’ve actually created. It’s actually semi agitating when I re-watch this because I don’t think I’m gonna ever be able to re-learn that 😂
There’s a ‘ton’ of nuanced threading that’s going on subsequent to the simple consistent left/right rocking motion. The little ghosted notes in the track are really what made this run result the way it did. The repetitive style of the vocals mixed with the minimalistic drum accents is what I was focusing on. In the moment, I try my best to just focus on the movement of the throw instead of the elements. Your hands naturally have far more ideas then you can consciously choose - put trust in your hands. When you put the element choice ‘fully’ on your hands plate to decide, it clears your head to be able to focus on other stuff - like movement 👍🏿
Some times you just gotta ssslloooowwww down for a second and let your flow just naturally adjust to the timing more openly. There’s a pretty specific balance to be maintained between density and openness when using tracks that are either slower or more calm. Matching the timing and calmness of a track is just as valuable as getting technical with more high energy tracks.
In this run - I particularly like the pacing of how the throw kinda mimics the vocals. That sidestyle non-dominant hand boing towards the middle is my jjjjaaammmm. Throwing in the right boing variation at the right time of a combo or trick can be a ‘lot’ of fun and give off a nice accent. I def strongly encourage all throwers to mess around with ‘more’ boing variations vs less. There’s a ‘lot’ to play with there even though that trick/element is so definitive. Mix it UP some 😂👌🏿 Throw used is the recent Metallic Pink colorway Markmont. Classic (available on www.markmont.shop) with coming soon string formula ‘Night Moves’. A rather ‘vibrant’ color combo to say the least. Def makes visibility and punctuality of execution way more clear as a result 👍🏿
This was a really fun track to ride the pocket to. Has a fun little bounce to it that just punches in tightly but ‘pleasantly’. Keeping an even pacing of timing to match on the 2 and 4 keeps that visual energy up - that paired with varying speeds coming ‘into’ those claps adds the variation. Things get interesting when you start to really chop up what your looking at in what you do.
A short run but man, I’m feelin the overall spaciousness of the format. Lately I’ve been really locking more so into how things move and read. A lot of times it’s easy to get wrapped up into string play and layers on layers on layers on...pause that from time to time and just ‘move’ simpler elements in broader motions. Do what feels good in the moment and be open to simple layers and elements because there’s def a lot of untapped juice in em’ 👍🏿
There’s this kinda ‘yank’ like pull that happens close to the end after I’ve landed the over the wrist trapeze bro. I’ve been doing that element a good amount as of late and it’s very interesting to see how much it visually changes and physically feels when you vary the timing, the amount of pull and direction you pull. In this clips instance it looks like the throw sling shots in air but inside the contained shape of the mount. In other times I’ve done it, when I pull more smoothly, the throw appears to be sliding ‘across’ the string. Word to the wise, mess with the technique of your elements - it’ll surprise you 👍🏿 Also dig that little trapeze slide that moves diagonally downward towards the end of the first 3rd.
Leave it to @anthony_rojas to blur the lines between YoYo and Kendama 😂 This is just plane ridiculous LOL. Rojas is one of those players you ‘never’ wanna play yoyo horse against because he’s always sitting on a gang of original and out of control difficult tricks and bangers like this one - this man really needs to sit DOWN somewhere doh wit all this sorcery 😂 Keep up the quality good sir 😁✊🏿