We’ve teamed up with our friends in the Georgia Kendama Community (null) to bring you this special Peach-themed Kendama. The GA Kendama Club has been actively growing and supporting the Kendama scene in our home state, and we couldn’t be more proud to collaborate with them!
Kendama in Georgia has a long history, and the GA Kendama Players have roots going back as early as Dama Fest in 2011. Community leaders like Nick Dodenhoff have made large efforts to get the word out and host local jams and events. As the scene has grown, they have created their own logo, T-shirts, stickers, and even their own podcast “Georgia Kendama Radio. The podcast itself has hosted everyone from Jeremy Stephenson (Kendama USA) to Chad Covington (of Sol Kendamas) and Matt Jorgenson (of Sweets Kendamas). In 2018 the Georgia Kendama Players Club hosted the Georgia Kendama Open (GKO), followed by the Atlanta Kendama Open (ATLKO) in 2019.
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Making this collab Kendama seemed like a great idea after so many years of mutual support. It features a unique GA Peach themed tama with KUSA Silk paint, a Maple SHIFT Shape Ken with a new base cup hole, custom engravings, and much more. This club hopes to spread the excitement and community of Kendama to even more people in the south. If you are ever in Georgia, make sure to attend one of the jams and meet all of the incredible people that make up the Georgia Kendama Players.
Georgia Kendama Players hopes to spread the excitement and community of Kendama to even more people in the south, and the support of companies like Kendama USA has been huge. If you are ever in Georgia, make sure to reach out to them to get a Jam going and meet all of the incredible people that make up the Georgia Kendama Players.
Meet Jarvis a.k.a Jay, the newest member of the Tribe team! His quick wits and even faster hands will have yous guys blinking in disbelief. The ‘Scansin native, has been playing kendama for 3 1/2 years and first encountered kendama at school when a kid in his class pulled a kendama out and started playing it; after that Jay picked up his first Kendama a green & black Tribute Kendama and the rest is history.
Jay is constantly challenging himself and those around him to improve. His flow, consistency, and dedication to both the sport and the Kendama community are inspiring and we can’t wait to see more from him.
Watch his Tribe announcement edit below and help us welcome him to the family!
A few years back Bryan Scagline first met Jarvis and saw the potential of being a great role model and leader in the community. Not only has Jay’s skills evolved since then but he hosts jams in his home state of Wisconsin with his crew 608KEN.
Battle at the Border 2020 was the best yet. The turnout, venue, and obviously Kendama made this weekend an absolute dream. My BATB weekend started off with a rainy car ride up to Nashville from Atlanta. Despite the weather, I was excited to see all my friends that I haven’t hung out with since NAKO! Riding with me were Bryan Scagline and Logan Tosta. Jamming out to Scags’ playlist and talking dama made the 3.5hr trip a breeze and I was in great company. Once we arrived safely in Nashville, we met up with Daunyé and Wes and checked in to our rooms for the weekend. Later that night, Dwesty, Mags, and Wyatt made their way to Nashville as well. After hanging out with everyone that night, I went to sleep a little early to get a good start to the competition the next day!
I woke up a little earlier than most, and made my way to Rocketown; the event venue, with Scags to set up the Kendama USA booth.
We debuted our new Kaizen Super Stick Half Splits coming out later this quarter, and also the birchwood #DWESTYMOD available now. The start of the competition was great and I was surprised at the number of entries. I was also excited to see the video releases and product launches at the event. The first video to pop off was Tribe member Zach Magnuson’s POV Edit 3 which will be released soon. So many unimaginable tricks were laced in this edit, and the setting was perfect.
Shout out to the new Quill Flow Team, new Sweets members Bjorn Sorenson and Jacob Eames, and the newest Sol Kendamas Pro Alex Mitchell. All of the videos at the event were amazing, congratulations to all these players this weekend.
The first day of freestyle competition began after all the videos were premiered. The freestyle competition was intense! It was amazing to watch my teammates and friends compete at the event. After the first couple of rounds of competing, the day ended came to an end and before I knew it, day 2 was underway.
The KUSA team made it to the venue in time for the competition. The competition flew by, and soon, the final four freestyle competitors stood on the stage. I was so excited to be battling for one of the top spots, along with me Kendama USA Pro Dylan Westmoreland, Tribe Team Member Logan Tosta, and Sol Pro Liam Rauter. The battle for first was amazing, and seeing Logan win first place was momentous. Congratulations to Liam Rauter for placing second, and Dylan Westmoreland for placing third! Having three Kendama USA players place in the top four for freestyle was incredible! Great job to everyone who competed in freestyle, and congratulations again to Logan Tosta for placing first.
The rest of the day switched to the Pro Open division. Three matches were held on stage at the same time, and the bracket began to begin to narrow down to the top four competitors Dylan Westmoreland, Alex Mitchell, Kevin DeSoto, and Jacob Trebil. The battle for first was intense, with Kendama USA Pro Dylan Westmoreland and Sol Pro Alex Mitchell moving on to the finals! The match was intense and Alex Mitchell was able to clutch out the win! Congrats to Jacob for taking third, Dylan for taking second, and Alex for 1st place! I was so proud to see Kendama USA podium in both Open and Freestyle and can’t wait to see the things Kendama USA will do in this new year.
After the competition, during the awards ceremony, Kendama Cares took the stage with an amazing gift for the Kendama USA family. A shadow box for Dave was gifted to us, along with a purple candle in the shape of a hand making a peace symbol, and a quartz crystal dedicated to Dave. Thank you so much to Kendama Cares, and especially Arque for putting together this amazing memorial for Dave. Dave will forever be remembered in our lives. We miss you, Dave.
The final day of Battle at the Border 2020 was a nice day to unwind and chill. Everyone met at the Parthenon and jammed dama while people began slowly making their own ways. Tricks were filmed, people hung out, it was a great time. But like everything, this weekend had to come to an end. As we drove back to Atlanta that evening, I couldn’t be more happy with how this weekend went. Thank you again to Sol Kendamas for hosting this event! Kendama USA can’t wait to come back next year for Battle 2021. Make sure to check out last year’s recap of Battle at the Border HERE!
This month’s player is Danny R in Florida! We took a minute to chop it up with the @kendamagoat and this is what he had to say:
Waddup it’s Danny / Kendama Goat! I was born n raised in San Jose, CA. I lived in Portland for 6 years, then in my van for a few years with scattered months in Philly, New York, Thailand, and Mexico. Now I reside in Florida but I’m always driving back and forth to Nashville, TN.
I found Kendama from my buddy Zach. (@kendama_odyssey ) He posted a video on Instagram that I thought looked really weird so I asked him about it. He sent me a dama and now I trip border balance first T every time switch. Outside of kendama I like to make weird rap videos, play piano, beat everyone at chess, sometimes skate, but kendama is better, shmob my scooter to the beach, thrift, go down weird conspiracy holes, read the taco bell subreddit, eat taco bell, ride by bike, Rubik’s cubes, stuff like dat. A few people I wanna shout out / thank – My buddy Cameron (@kendamalicious ) shreds super hard, is always posting clips, loves the game and just has a lit AF genuinely great personality so he’s one I look up to. Scags (@bryan_scagline) I’ve always looked up to that dude. He has a super fresh style and really comfortable flow, like not just clacking around, but actually hitting the cups and doing a lot of grip changes. Anyone that flows really..
Kendama USA is proud to launch the first series of Kaizen Shifts and Kaizen Slims. The Shift and Slim shape have been extremely popular on our Craft Kendamas, and the Kaizen options now offer you these amazing shapes at a great price. Here is a picture of all the Kaizen’s we recently released. These color options are limited, so grab your favorite style while you can. Also, check out our null feature to share with friends and family.
So unless you’re WiFi is out, you had to have heard about the legendary Kendama USA pro Zack Yourd releasing his NEWEST and arguably most creative video yet – Kendama Edit #7! The Video dropped yesterday, August 1st, at noon and the kendama community snapped! The video reached over 3 thousand views within the first 24 hours. Not viral, but notable views for an older kendama player dropping a new video in 2018. Players from all over the globe (really) spoke out about how the video made them feel!
So much so that we had to share some of the comments on this video!
“Inspired me to start playing kendama and inspires me to keep playing kendama!”
“We need more people that play like Zach. For the fun of it. The curiosity of what can be done with a Kendama. You’re truly and forever a legend Zach, I hope in 20 years people still try to play like you do.”
“This edit gives a different perspective on kendama
“What a legend”
“What I love about this is the absence of popular styles of tricks. Every trick here blew my mind in some way since it was so different than what I’m used to seeing!! Great job Yourd, keep it up!!!”
“This video just puts me in the same awe as when I very first started Kendama! Just the way the tricks are designed pushes a crazy level of technicality and suspense that, to me, is unbelievable once completed! Thanks for reminding me of that feeling!”
“So i’m in the beginning stages of kendama. I’m at month seven. But I’ve never been able to find inspiration for tricks that i actually like and enjoy. The variety that you did was so much different than anyone I’ve ever seen. So i guess i should be thanking you for the inspiration. That was so sick”
“Hands down one of the best edits of all time.”
“That was amazing. Truly worth the wait.”
“So stoked to see a kendama film from the legend himself. New tricks, same steez. We need to make an active push as a community to create more content like this in the future.”
“Best. Edit. Of. The. Year.”
— and the comments continue on with love and stoke for Edit #7! Thank you Yourd for only putting out A1 work and thank you to everyone that enjoyed the edit and took something away from it!
If you have been playing Kendama long enough, you know that after a while, you have to retire your setup. At some point, your Kendama is just going to get worn out. Newer players may not know how to tell the signs of a defeated Kendama. so here are five major signs that will let you know it’s time to replace your Kendama and get a new setup.
1. The easiest sign that your Ken is beaten is when your spike is totally flat.
Yeah, maybe you can do a border balance now, but anytime you go to spike, in the back of your head you know that if you miss it’s because your spike is as flat as the screen you’re reading this on. If you didn’t add any kendama glue to the spike, it is inevitable that it will flatten out completely with normal play. Don’t even get us started if you yank spike often. If the spike doesn’t inspire confidence with every down spike attempt or gunslinger to spike, then it’s time to replace your Kendama.
2: If your base cup looks like it has been put through a woodchipper, it’s time to replace your kendama.
Look, taps are cool. In the past few years, the community has made taps a huge achievement in one’s Kendama journey. Two taps, four taps, nine ??? It’s crazy. All those taps are basically nibbling away at your base cup over time and just like water over a rock, your base cup will start to wear away. Chips in your base cup not only prevent you from landing a handle stall, but also makes tracking hard and lighthouses painful. That’s why experienced players shed a tear when their ken chips at the base. If your base cup is chipped and worn out, then it’s time to replace your ken.
3: If every time you play your Kendama you spend half of the time pushing the cups back down, get a new kendama.
Yeah, there are fixes for this, but not without consequence. Glue your cups together? Good luck if your string breaks. Sticky notes? Get ready for residue all over your ken if you do it wrong. Especially if you have a hardwood, the amount of time lost pushing the cups down while grinding a trick is annoying at best. If you’ve been playing a setup for a while and can’t get the cups to stay down, then it’s time to replace your Kendama.
4: If the tama paint is making your balance tricks suffer, replace the tama.
Experienced players know that every Kendama paint has a certain amount of time that it’s best for lighthouses, lunars, and technically even birds or stilts. The condition of the paint plays a big part in all of these tricks. While some paints may need a few hours of play to break in well, others might take just one or two sessions to get them to the right condition. That sweet spot is heaven for every Kendama player. The feeling of making your Kendama better just by playing it is like nothing else. All good things come to an end though. At some point, you can tell when lighthouses and lunars just won’t stick anymore. Considering people are lacing four-turn lunar flips like pull-up spikes today, you want to make sure your setup is honed for every game of KEN or lighthouse race. If the paint is well past its prime, then it’s time to replace your Kendama or get a new tama.
5: If the bevel is beaten to pieces, it’s time for a new kendama.
A well-beaten bevel is a beautiful thing. If the wood around the tama hole is slightly curved from play, then birds and stilts are twice as easy. Just like the paint though, the bevel will go beyond its playability. The edges will start to go beyond the curves of the cup, and the chipped wood will make spikes much more difficult from friction. An overplayed bevel can even make lighthouse flips challenging. So if your bevel is chipped beyond comfort, then it’s time to replace your Kendama.
Our 1st Player Spotlight of 2018 is on Caleb Rush (slayleb_) in Greenville SC.
“I’m 13 years old, I live in Greenville SC, and I’ve been playing Kendama for about three years. The main reason that I love playing Kendama is mainly all of the amazing people I get to meet and talk to. There’s really no scene here in SC so getting to go to jams in GA is always an amazing experience. I probably wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for all the amazing people I’ve met through Kendama. (Shoutout Ryan Plourd, Charles Rager, Nick Drummer, Zach Porter, Corey Snipes, C Fraser, & Palmer) These people have always inspired me to keep doing what I love.”
Clan Kendama is one of the newest clubs in the southeast and has been making a splash in the community with their edits and Instagram posts. In the short time they have been a Kendama USA Club, Clan Kendamas has made 16 Youtube videos including five full-length Kendama edits, and have become very active on Instagram.
Gibson, Cameron, and Owen are the founders of Clan Kendama. This trio made Clan Kendamas official just three months ago (September 2017) and have already grown the club to 15+ members. The three founders expanded their club to three different states including Tennessee, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
The club is spreading the Kendama love every day. They have helped dozens of players get their first Kendama and continue to introduce the game to anyone that will listen. According to Owen, Clan Kendamas helps to bring together the community outside of just Kendama players by giving kids a safe place to be themselves and to enjoy another’s company. “We inspire people to enjoy the journey, persevere, and believe that any goal is achievable,” said Owen.
Clan Kendamas meetup bi-weekly to jam and hope to open their regular jams to the public soon. The club is always ready to jam with anyone if you message them on Instagram @clan.kendama
The 4th Annual Kendama World Cup took place in none other than Hatsukaichi; the birthplace of Kendama. This year was even greater than the last and seeing more and more players from across the globe shows how Kendama is spreading. There are so many connections that are made through Kendama and friends seeing each other for the first time or linking back up at the airport and venue is always a warm welcome. The first day is always arduous as the full list of registered players which is always over 100, is whittled down to 35 top finalists which will compete in the next day’s championship round where one winner will be crowned the 2017 Champion. Let’s take a look at what all went down…
DAY 1:
The competition was fierce and by the end of Day 1 KUSA had 4 people moving onto the final round with Nobu of Tribe in the #1 spot.
Ben Herald is one of the newest Grain Theory pro kendama players and the pro division champion of the Sakura Classic Championships this year.
In this interview we learn about the annual Sakura Classic contest held in Japantown, SF, his pro model design and more!
Head to shop.kendamausa.com/ and use the code: CLICKCLACK to get 10% off your next order.
Special thanks to:
Ben Herald
Jack Baker
Molly Harney
Haley Bishoff
KendamaUSA
Grain Theory
Josh Flow Grove – Rhythm kendama sounds
