Have You Seen This? Yo-Yo Baby

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

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PRODIGY PLACE — Playing with a yo-yo is (or maybe was) a rite of passage for many kids.

It’s a bit difficult to pinpoint the appeal of the yo-yo. Maybe it's the combination of the potential tricks, the weight of the yo-yo in your hand and the soft whir it makes as it spins on its string. Or perhaps it’s simply that you can get a yo-yo in many sizes, shapes and colors, with or without a light-up or glow-in-the-dark feature.

Whatever the reason we picked up a yo-yo, how many of us ever got past learning the basic yo-yo action? I could never get the yo-yo to spin at the bottom of the string, let alone perform a classic trick like “rock the baby.” And I guarantee you if I picked up a yo-yo today, I would somehow manage to whack myself in the face.

However, the bright side of having a complete ineptitude for something is that the skills and talents of prodigies become that much more awe-inspiring. And it’s a pleasant experience to be astonished by the people and things in this world.

Enter yo-yo prodigy 6-year-old Kazuya Murata from Japan.

Kazuya, or Yo-Yo Baby, performed as a guest at the Asia Pacific Yo-Yo Championships in 2013. He looks like any typical 6-year-old, especially when he starts to look a bit bored when the announcer takes over 30 seconds to introduce him.

But once the music starts, Kazuya begins flicking and flinging his yo-yo around with unbelievable speed and agility. And each trick pops in time with the music. Throughout the performance he stays cool as a cucumber and makes nary a misstep.

While the whole performance is incredible, it’s the 2:28 mark where Yo-Yo Baby really picks up speed, making the crowd lose their minds.