Another interest of mine for years has been yo-yoing. Just got what I think to be my first good buterfly yo-yo. The Duncan Metal Drifter, the only problem is if it isn't spinning moderatly fast it won't come back up. I could buy pads for it but there are so many out there. I don't know which ones to buy. Never bought any before, can anyone help me?

When I got my 4 Jewelled Duncan Yo-yo back in the mid '50's, I was in hog heaven.

Tommy Smothers, "The Man From Yo"

Starts at 1:26

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR39tRbDcBk

You could always just go for the most expensive ones, on the theory that "more money, more music." A lot of things are sold - and bought - that way.

Seriously, I would not presume to answer. I haven't handled a Yo Yo in a long time.

Some people thing that the YoYo originated as a weapon - a projectile that could "come back," sort of like a boomerang, and they say that serious YoYo work was once considered a martial art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB33TDGFunQ

I can't answer. I will say my best spinner yo-yo spins for well over a minute, and I can do many tricks. But it is almost impossible to get it to come up again. I have a spinner that only spins effectively for thirty seconds, but it comes up easily. I use one or the other, depending on which trick I am attempting.

Which reminds me, I have not used it in a while. Time to dig it out again...

Oh, man, was I good with that thing! I remember the pro from Duncan coming to the school, dag he would make that yoyo do math tricks! Gotta go find mine now, add it to the act and all...

Yo-yos! I love 'em; all of them. If it isn't a Duncan, it isn't a yo-yo. When was the last time you saw that one on TV?

Well I was saving for a $60 yo-yo but turns out the one I have is professional quality at a decent price. It does loop funny though but is great for all other tricks. Been looking through my book and it's amazing how many tricks I forgot I could do. Really only a day’s worth of work to learn the rest of the book. Anyway martial art just means true self-expression.

In The Book OF Five Rings 1645 by:Miyamoto Musashi he mentions Tea and many other things to be martial arts. Martial art isn't necessarily self-defense. The whole thing of them being weapons from my understanding is a misconception. I once read something about how there was a weapon similar to a yo-yo. A rock or stick with string wrapped around it. You could throw it and then pull it back but not with the string wrapping back by itself.

In fact it wasn't until Duncan came around during the mid-1900's that you had looped string. Before this they were brittle clay toys popular in I believe China and Greece with the string just tied. This is all off the top of my head so I wouldn't take my word completly but ya. You could only do loop tricks nothing more. Even with the ability to whack a person with a yo-yo the thing loses its spin if hit hard on a surface anyway. So its ability as a weapon is pretty impractical. However one of the yo-yo balls would work. It's all inside and winds up with the aid of a spring. The only problem is they are brittle plastic.

Well according to http://www.yoyoexpert.com most modern butterflys just aren't meant to have great response. Mine isn't a great looper because it isn't meant for looping. I didn't realize how much yo-yo's have changed. I am really enjoying watching educational yo-yo videos. Some things that I couldn't understand in the book I can do now. More distraction from my homework. Ya!

Are girls more impressed by yo-yo skills or nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, and computer hacking skills?

Redneck girls love bowhunters.

Yo-yo's are not engineered for the same thing now that they used to be used for. Before, a yo-yo had a very slight threshold where the yo-yo could be spun for longer vs. sensitive enough to pull up with a tug.

Nowadays, the yo-yo hotshots get a yo-yo that can spin for a couple of minutes, with no regard to sensitivity for return. They use 'tangle' moves that are not designed for seamlessly coming out of a trick (like a loop the loop at the end of a trick with a sensitive yo-yo). Not very good seque, but they're more in love with doing their whole routine without stopping.

The best yo-yo's for old school yo-yoing are the Team Losi Cherry Bombs, in my opinion. I collect them and repair them just so I always have one.

I have a Team Losi A-line Cherry Bomb that I cherish, and I keep a close eye on that one...

Jimmy Fingers
http://www.jimmyfingers.com/smobros.jpg