The Yo-Yo: An Asian American Toy
September 5, 2008
In the fading glow of the Beijing Olympics, with China having hauled home more gold medals than any other nation this year, we now turn our attention to Asians succeeding in other competitions of skill and precision.
As Grace Tzeng reports in this issue, Asian American players are now trying to bring some glamour and prestige to a long overlooked and underappreciated hobby.
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Yo-yos were actually brought to the United States in the 1920s by a Filipino immigrant, Pedro Flores (“yo-yo” means “come come” or “come back” in Tagalog.) Flores became the first to mass produce yo-yos in his California factory; the man who bought the company from him in 1932 turned it into the Duncan yo-yo empire.
Today Asians and Asian Americans comprise a large portion of yo-yo competitors—one quarter of competitors at the national level are Asian American; at world tournaments, half of the participants are of Asian descent. The man who is widely considered the best in the world is Japanese.
The rise of Asian Americans in professional yo-yo contests is similar to Asians excelling in games like badminton and ping pong, which director Jessica Yu focuses on in her new film Ping Pong Playa (Philip Chung considers the film in this issue). These are games long relegated to backyards, rec rooms, garages and bedrooms, far from the glory more consistently found on fields, courts and—most recently—swimming pools.
These activities may seem nerdy to some, but to us it sounds pretty darn cool. And what’s more, we are excelling in these arenas.
This often overlooked toy is also great for reinforcing a core Asian American value—a sense of family and community, whether it is a seasoned pro teaching a beginner how to “walk the dog” or showing off tricks to elicit oohs and ahhs from the audience, the yo-yo is sure to bring people together and a smile to their face.
We commend Asian Americans everywhere for their dedication to their interests—however obscure they may be—and await the day an Asian American will stand atop the Olympic podium for winning gold in yo-yoing.
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Yo yos asian? Who knew. wow.