Bravo Juggling presents: Stick Heroes / 2013. 04.

Yotty not only deals great with the devilsticks but also compiles awesome sequences.

Name: Naoya Yoda

Age: 20

Nationality: Japanese

Place of living: Yokohama

Your school: Waseda University

How many years have you been juggling with devilsticks?
5 years.

How many devilsticks do you have?
6

Other juggling equipments you play with:
Balls. I can juggle f1b17131 but I don't continue 5 ball cascade over 2 minutes.

Are you member of any team/group/club/association?
I belong to "Infinity", juggling club of Waseda University.

Why did you choose this juggling tool and where did you first meet with it?
When I went to see the cultural festival of Waseda University senior high school in 2007, I saw flowerstick performance for the first time. The performance looked so cool and I was very excited. The next year, I entered the high school. I belonged to the juggling club and touched flowersticks for the first time.

Which trick did you find the most difficult to learn?
The trick named "Southern Cross" originated from Naoto Miyata ?? Do propeller along the crossed hand stick. I spent about 4 months for only this trick.

What are you practicing at the moments?
I practice idling with various flourishes and tosses.

Do you have tricks that you invented?
I have a few original tricks but all tricks look bad. I often invent sequences rather than tricks.

What is your favorite trick?
This pirouette.

What are the most difficult tricks you can do?
Dual reverse fishtail 2 up pirouette. I could do only once.

Do you play with firesticks as well? No. I don't want to play.

What do you do on a normal day, how many hours do you practice? I practice about 8-9 hours per week.

How and where do you practice?
I practice in the park near the university and in the place near my home. I usually practice alone because there are only a few flowerstick jugglers around me.

Do you perform with devilsticks?
Yes. I perform in the festival of the university, stage in the auditorium, and so on.

Why do you like devilsticks?
Because of the flexibility from only 3 or 4 sticks (1 or 2 sticks + handsticks).

What are your strong/weak points?
I don't juggle "reverse rotation" well. For example, curls, propeller, and so on. In addition, I can't continue fishtail so long.

How is juggling life in Japan? Are devilsticks popular?
In Japan, devilsticks (especially flowersticks) are minority. So I wish I wanted more flowerstick players. But there are many very-very-good devilsticks/flowersticks jugglers in Japan.

Tell a funny story related with devilsticks.
My flowerstick was broken during the performance. ›http://youtu.be/Cb-CMNONuHY?t=1m40s

What is your goal related with devilsticks? What is a challenge for you?
I don't think about my goal. Because I want to grow flowerstick skills as well as possible. I'm afraid of stopping the growth of the skills when setting goal.

What do you advice to beginner/advanced devilstick players?
Please teach me new tricks, sequences and ideas.