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Roh Tae Uk joins ALT!
When I first announced Episode 7 – it was with the intention of giving the SEA boys one final practice stage before Thailand/Indonesia/Singapore Nationals and Worlds, and before the season kicked off. I was a little hesitant at first as I didn’t know whether people were still interested in traveling down that close to their Nationals. The DOUBLECLICK team and Chen Yang gave me the final push of confidence to go through with the event.
Turns out, the community was glad we were still doing EP7 – either for practice or fun – as it was much more affordable than attending Worlds. For context, our currencies in SEA (other than Singapore) are relatively weaker than most places, where USD200 is more than enough for food for a month. Malaysia, where we hold Stronger – also having a weak currency – is quite affordable for SEA players to travel to.
Two players I was surprised to see register were Kim Dong Young (Korea 3A Champion) and Roh Tae Uk (Korea 2A Champion) from Korea. I don’t really have many Korean yo-yo friends, so I was looking forward to meeting them. Traveling from Seoul to Kuala Lumpur is also almost a 7-hour trip, so I am very thankful they made the journey down.
The Korean boys arrived close to midnight the night before Stronger, where we first met outside the Airbnb. A lot of “shibal” was exchanged, and everybody got acquainted.
Kim Dong Young is one of the loudest and most cheerful humans you will ever meet. Just imagine Dong Young as the Korean Karthik, or Karthik as the Singaporean Dong Young. Turns out Dong Young is also an excellent chef!
Roh Tae Uk, on the other hand, was a mega chill individual who only wanted his smoke breaks to be happy. As long as Tae Uk had his nicotine hit, all was right with the world.
Later that evening, we just hung out in the Airbnb and watched Español Brandon Vu on the TV. Brainrot content was peak during this time, so apparently Señor Brandon Vu was very entertaining to the boys. Karthik then mentioned to me that Tae Uk really wanted an “alternatives” tee. It so happened we had one on hand, so I gave it to him haha. I also gave both Dong Young and Tae Uk an INERTIA and was happy they enjoyed it.
On the day of Stronger, I somehow managed to spend some time with Tae Uk, mostly at the smoking area since we were both smokers. It was nice to learn more about the Korean yo-yo scene, and how Koreans thought our content was funny. It was also great to hear about the impact of Sitta and Karthik traveling down to compete in the Seoul Yo-yo Championship. Tae Uk is also a yo-yo coach/teacher in Korea, and its nice to know his contributions to the community. I really enjoyed talking with Tae Uk and found him to be a very kind and humble individual. I was also very impressed by his 2A skills, which ultimately won him 2nd place at the X-Division.
Post-Stronger, I mentioned to Karthik how cool it would be if Tae Uk was on the team. I asked Karthik to gauge if he would be open to the possibility in the future – knowing that we don’t make 2A yo-yos.
On that note, people have asked why I would want to sponsor a 2A player if we don’t make looping yo-yos. The way I saw it was something like Red Bull – where Red Bull didn’t build Formula 1 cars, skateboards, footballs, etc., but had ambassadors who represented the brand. Tae Uk, being one of the coolest guys, would uplift the team’s atmosphere and any yo-yo event he attends. It’s always a fun time with Tae Uk around – and I felt I needed him on the team. I also loved the idea that if any “alternatives” member pulled up to an event – you’d know you’d have fun hanging out with them.
A couple of months down the road, I formally extended the sponsorship opportunity to Tae Uk. He accepted – and we set the announcement to happen during Worlds. The team and I are so happy to have Tae Uk, the individual and the 2x 2A Korean National Champion yo-yoer Tae Uk, on the team.
It was also such a good feeling to watch Tae Uk representing ALT on the Worlds stage! Although we didn’t make finals this year, we still had a good time in Prague.
We look forward to supporting Tae Uk on his journey and being more involved with the Korean scene! Shibal!
