Diabolo is a plastic toy used, with a pair of sticks and a string, to do tricks.
Here is an example of what is possible to do :
Diabolo is an ancient game from China with a long history.
It’s a juggling prop composed of two cups, two hubs and an axle.
It is spelled diabolo (and not diablo), which comes from the Greek and means « throw across ». It can be pronounced die-abolo or dee-abolo.
To juggle with a diabolo, you also need a pair of sticks and a string. There are also variations like loop diabolo where you only use a loop of string (no sticks) and a diabolo or ringabolo where you replace the sticks with juggling rings.
The basic principle is to give spin to the diabolo rubbing the string on the axle, then physics happens and the diabolo spins. The diabolo will stay balanced as long as there is speed and then you can do tricks.
Diabolo Not Yoyo
The diabolo can also be called chinese yoyo, and is often mistaken for the yoyo, but they are very different juggling props. The diabolo is much bigger (almost 3 times bigger), and the string is attached to sticks instead of to the hand in yoyo juggling.
Here is what a yoyo looks like in action:
If you want to learn more about yoyo check out : https://yoyoexpert.com/
More Than A Toy
You would need several life times to learn all the existing tricks (and more are created every day) !
But the good thing is, after you’ve learned the basic building blocks of diabolo, you can create your own tricks and develop your style. And if you’re not inspired, just learn an existing trick. The more tricks you learn the more tools you have to create your own tricks.
