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.
Daunye Synigal, a 21-year-old Kendama whiz from Modesto, CA, has been playing Kendama for seven years and is now on Kendama USA’s Tribe Team! Daunye was introduced to Kendama in Vacaville by a friend at their middle-school bus stop.
“I remember some of the kids at the stop being super hyped on trying it out. I thought it was a super cool toy that he stole from his older brother who was in high school. He soon showed me videos of professional/highly-skilled kendama players and told me that he was a part of a kendama team called Balanced Kendama Team (check them out on Youtube). It really interested and amazed me that my friend was on a team, especially considering everyone else on that team was in high school while we were middle schoolers. Their Youtube Edit had over 1000 views (in 2012!) and that made it seem super legit.”
The same friend gave Daunye his first Kendama which was a natty Sunrise Kendama which he played for 3 months before buying his first Kendama from Kendama USA; a Black TK-16 Kendama.
BONUS: My next three kendamas were a null, a blue on black triple stripe KUSA Tribute, and a Zack Yourd 2012 Pro Model.
Daunye is an all-around Kendama player who has an appreciation for all tricks and styles. He was sponsored by Dave Mateo onto the Tribe team. Daunye met Dave for the first time at a Learning Express jam hosted by Dave, and Logan Tosta in Roseville CA.
That event was an amazing experience for me. I won second place at a mini game and there wasn’t a prize for second place so Dave took it upon himself to give me his personal Grain Theory kendama. I was stoked!
Daunye helps host kendama jams at Japan Town San Francisco every Friday from 5-9pm called KG Fridays.
We jam inside the Peace Pagoda in the center of Japan Town Plaza and when the weather is bad we jam near the Kinokuniya Book Store inside Japan Town Mall. These jams are a homage to KG Tuesdays that KUSA’s Jake Wiens hosted for years.
Daunye’s current favorite setup is anything with a Shift shape and a long string.
Help us in welcoming Daunye to the team! We hope to see Daunye continue to spread the game, push his limits and those around him.
