Chinese yo-yo

The Chinese yo-yo is a toy from China consisting of two equally-sized discs connected with a long axle. The Chinese yo-yo is kept spinning on a string tied to two sticks at its ends. Each stick is held in one hand. In modern times, it is used as a children's toy and as a performance tool in juggling and sometimes in Chinese ethnic dance. It is possible to perform a large variety of tricks with the Chinese yo-yo which can be as easy as throwing the yo-yo up into the air or tossing it around your back.

Like the Western yo-yo, it maintains its spinning motion through a gyroscopic effect based on conservation of angular momentum.

Design

Chinese yo-yos were traditionally made of wood. Modern models, however, are usually made of plastic, though the sticks continue to be made of wood.

Some Chinese yo-yos have grooves inset in the rim of the discs; these grooves causes them to make a whistling sound when spinning at high speeds. The sound allows the preformer to gauge his speed and adjust the yo-yo accordingly.

A common variation is a Chinese yo-yo with only a single disc.

Chinese name

There are many names in the Chinese language for the Chinese yo-yo, for which the Chinese characters and the pinyin are given here:

扯鈴 chě líng ("pull bell sound")
響簧 xiǎng huáng (a name given as if it's a sound instrument)
(斗)空竹 dǒu kōng zhú ((shaking) Empty Bamboo)

Diabolo

The Chinese yo-yo is thousands of years old. It has been adapted in the West as the diabolo. The Chinese yo-yo differs from the diabolo in two primary ways. First, the axle of the Chinese yo-yo is much longer than the axle of the diabolo. Also, the Chinese yo-yo has disc-shaped wheels whereas the diabolo consists of two bell-shapes. For a comparison, see a picture of a Chinese yo-yo here and a picture of a diabolo here.

Chinese Yoyo Tricks Ranging from Easy to Hard

There are many different ways to accelerate the yo-yo. The simplist way to accelerate your yo-yo is to move both sticks up and down; this is known as open string drive. To speed the yo-yo up faster you will go into what is called closed string drive; in order to do this, you need to wrap the string the yo-yo around the yo-yo once. For beginners, to get into closed string drive put the yo-yo on the floor and have the string spread out under it. Now take the right stick and move it counter clockwise, lift up the yo-yo and move the string under it. Also note that when the yo-yo is running in the middle of the string, it will be called standard position.

Different tricks require the preformer to be in different modes, closed string drive or open string drive. An (O) will represent open string drive to do the trick and a (C) will represent that you will need to be in closed string drive.

Accelerate (O/C) - the first thing you need to learn to accelerate.
Lift Up (O) - lift the yo-yo up while running on the string
Swing (O) - swing the yo-yo from the sticksclockwise and then counter clockwise (like a swing that goes over the top)
Elevator (C) - have one stick at the top and one at the bottom and pull the sticks apart, the yo-yo will ascend
Golden Chicken Stand (O) - get the yo-yo to run on the yo-yo stick and make your body look like a chicken... (this is actually a trick)
Jumping (O) - have the yo-yo running on one of the sticks and then throw it into the air and catch it with the other stick
Waterfall (O) - from standard position, take the right stick and wrap it over the left stick and then under the yoyo; from here take the left stick and flip it to the right
Wrap and Escape (O) - from standard position, take the right stick and wrap it over the left stick and then under the yoyo; from here move the right stick all the way over so that it crosses over the

(Please feel free to add any more tricks)

Alternate usage

Another toy named the Chinese Yo-Yo consists of a short stick with a long coil of paper wrapped tightly around one end. Typically the whole device is about 12" long with 4-6" of paper. With a light flick of the wrist, the coil of paper extends out for several feet in the direction of the flick. As the device is moved upright, the coil retracts back to the stick.

External links

Chinese culture | Juggling | Physical activity and dexterity toys | Yo-yos