•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

During a recent afternoon in Jakarta, a group of mostly men in their 20s, gathered together in front of a swimming pool from the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan. The area has long been used as a meeting place by different groups in Jakarta.

As the weather became cooler, members of the group, Komunitas Yo-Yo Indonesia (Indonesia’s Yo-Yo Community), talked and laughed excitedly while playing with a toy that most adults consider as something for kids only.

Victor Osman, 23, a financial analyst and one of the founders of Komunitas Yo-Yo, explained how the community was formed. He said the group stemmed from an idea by Oke Rosgana, a man the community members describe as “Indonesia’s father of yo-yo.”

Oke had a meeting with a group of other yo-yo enthusiasts at a mall in West Jakarta on Sept. 20, 2005, and they agreed to create the yo-yo community as a place to socialize and share information among members.

Oke said he developed an interest in yo-yos in 2000 after watching a yo-yo expert from the United States perform at a show in Bandung, West Java.

He said his interest grew because he found that using a yo-yo could be very challenging. “There are so many tricks that you can learn and perform with a yo-yo,” Oke said.

Victor said he favored playing with a yo-yo over other hobbies because the small size and simple design make the toy easy to use at any time.

“You don’t need anything like electricity to play with a yo-yo. It’s environmentally friendly and you can carry it everywhere,” he said.

Arya Andika Utama, 24, a member of the yo-yo community, has his own reasons for loving the small toy.

“I always thought yo-yos were only for children. But then I found out that yo-yos are something that people of all ages can have fun with. It lets your mind be creative too,” he said.

Enthusiasts keen on mastering something new can choose from a wide range of tricks — many with peculiar sounding names — including sleeper, walk the dog, the creeper, rock the baby, rocket, loop the loop, UFO, Eiffel tower, boing-boing and matrix.

To “walk the dog,” for example, a player spins a yo-yo as hard as possible, sets the yo-yo lightly on the ground, and then, while the yo-yo is still spinning, the player pulls it gently along the ground, as though he is walking it like a dog.

Oke said that learning new tricks can be very intimidating at times, but the key is to never give up.

As using a yo-yo is not yet a common pastime in Indonesia, members of Komunitas Yo-Yo learn tricks and get tips from the Internet.

“Members who have mastered new tricks share them with others so everyone can learn,” Arya said, adding that community members are encouraged not to be selfish about sharing skills.

“Beyond that, during gatherings, our members also share information about new products that are available on the Internet or at local stores. Sometimes members sell things too,” he said.

Arya said it is not easy to find good quality yo-yos in Indonesia, so many members buy their yo-yos on the Internet.

However, Victor said many Chinese-made yo-yos are available for a relatively cheap price in Indonesia.

“The quality is not the same, but if you’re lucky you can get a cheap Chinese-made yo-yo of good quality,” he said.

So far, Komunitas Yo-Yo has 30 active members. The group is predominantly made up of young men coming from a range of backgrounds and ages, with some members of the group still in elementary school.

The members of the community use a Web site, forum and mailing list to disseminate information, as they are keen to encourage more people to get involved.

Victor said that even if playing with yo-yos is one of the lesser-known pastimes in the country, interest in the toy is on the rise due to popular TV cartoons featuring yo-yos, such as “Super Yo-yo” or “Blazing Teens.”

Members of the community have big plans ahead and are planning to conduct their fourth yo-yo contest in Jakarta next year. Through this event, the grouop is hoping that it can introduce more people to playing with yo-yos.

“Yo-yos might not be so popular among young Indonesians, especially when you have all those high-tech video games,” Oke said. “But I guarantee that once you know how fun it is to play with a yo-yo, you won’t be able to stop.”

Komunitas Yo-Yo Indonesia
www.yoyoindo.com
www.yoyoshaman.com
E-mail: victor@yoyoshaman.com
Tel: 0856 858 1986