My journey to yo-yo mastery
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0:09 - 0:12When I was 14 years old,
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0:12 - 0:15I had low self-esteem.
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0:15 - 0:19I felt I was not talented at anything.
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0:19 - 0:23One day, I bought a yo-yo.
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0:23 - 0:27When I tried my first trick, it looked like this.
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0:33 - 0:36I couldn't even do the simplest trick,
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0:36 - 0:39but it was very natural for me,
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0:39 - 0:43because I was not dextrous, and hated all sports.
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0:43 - 0:46But after one week of practicing,
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0:46 - 0:50my throws became more like this.
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0:54 - 0:57A bit better.
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0:57 - 1:01I thought, the yo-yo is something for me to be good at,
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1:01 - 1:03for the first time in my life.
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1:03 - 1:06I found my passion.
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1:06 - 1:10I was spending all my time practicing.
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1:10 - 1:12It took me hours and hours a day
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1:12 - 1:15to build my skills up to the next level.
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1:15 - 1:20And then, four years later, when I was 18 years old,
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1:20 - 1:23I was standing onstage at the World Yo-Yo Contest.
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1:23 - 1:25And I won.
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1:25 - 1:28I was so excited. "Yes, I did it! I became a hero.
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1:28 - 1:31I may get many sponsors, a lot of money,
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1:31 - 1:36tons of interviews, and be on TV!" I thought. (Laughter)
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1:36 - 1:39But after coming back to Japan,
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1:39 - 1:43totally nothing changed in my life.
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1:43 - 1:48I realized society didn't value my passion.
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1:48 - 1:51So I went back to my college
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1:51 - 1:53and became a typical Japanese worker
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1:53 - 1:55as a systems engineer.
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1:55 - 2:01I felt my passion, heart and soul, had left my body.
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2:01 - 2:04I felt I was not alive anymore.
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2:04 - 2:08So I started to consider what I should do,
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2:08 - 2:12and I thought, I wanted to make my performance better,
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2:12 - 2:17and to show onstage how spectacular the yo-yo could be
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2:17 - 2:21to change the public's image of the yo-yo.
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2:21 - 2:24So I quit my company
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2:24 - 2:28and started a career as a professional performer.
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2:28 - 2:31I started to learn classic ballet, jazz dance,
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2:31 - 2:33acrobatics and other things
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2:33 - 2:36to make my performance better.
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2:36 - 2:39As a result of these efforts, and the help of many others,
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2:39 - 2:41it happened.
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2:41 - 2:43I won the World Yo-Yo Contest again
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2:43 - 2:45in the artistic performance division.
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2:45 - 2:49I passed an audition for Cirque du Soleil.
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2:49 - 2:52Today, I am standing on the TED stage
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2:52 - 2:56with the yo-yo in front of you.
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2:56 - 3:00(Applause)
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3:00 - 3:02What I learned from the yo-yo is,
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3:02 - 3:07if I make enough effort with huge passion,
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3:07 - 3:10there is no impossible.
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3:10 - 3:13Could you let me share my passion with you
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3:13 - 3:15through my performance?
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3:15 - 3:19(Applause)
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3:46 - 3:54(Water Sounds)
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3:54 - 4:01(Music)
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7:37 - 7:45(Applause)
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7:45 - 7:51(Music)
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9:01 - 9:09(Music) (Applause)
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9:09 - 9:15(Applause)
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9:17 - 9:25(Music) (Applause)
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9:25 - 9:34(Applause)
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9:34 - 9:37(Music)
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10:05 - 10:09(Applause)
- Title:
- My journey to yo-yo mastery
- Speaker:
- BLACK
- Description:
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Remember the days you struggled just to make a yo-yo spin, and if you were really fancy, to “walk the dog”? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Japanese yo-yo world champion BLACK tells the inspiring story of finding his life's passion, and gives an awesome performance that will make you want to pull your yo-yo back out of the closet.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 10:28
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for My journey to yo-yo mastery | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for My journey to yo-yo mastery | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for My journey to yo-yo mastery | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for My journey to yo-yo mastery | ||
Thu-Huong Ha approved English subtitles for My journey to yo-yo mastery | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for My journey to yo-yo mastery | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for My journey to yo-yo mastery | ||
Morton Bast accepted English subtitles for My journey to yo-yo mastery |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 12/16/2016.