In January of 2014 the KROM team got to pull some sub-zero tricks in the blistering cold north of the Arctic Circle.
For two icy weeks we travelled parts of mind blowing Greenland with ONE thing in mind:
KENDAMA!
Cinematographer & editor / Emil Boda
This amazing video comes from Kousuke Kawachi in Japan! We have always wondered what would happen if we gave a robot a Kendama and now we know! Look out everyone we just might be getting replaced!
It is incredible to see technology meshing with Kendama in every way! We cant wait to see more!
Check out all of the Videos on MAXISSHINTO さんのチャンネル Youtube!
This past weekend was the First Dama jam at Liberty park in Salt Lake City. Turner Thorne teamed up with some of the locals to make the weekly sunday dama jam happen! Check out some of the pictures from the first meet up!
Photo Credit : Jake Matsukawa
Once, long ago, Alex made a kendama edit. Today we’re happy to share his second edit, showcasing a few of his latest tricks and adventures! Clips from southern Europe, Canada, Taiwan and Japan, with guest appearances from the Bitter Beans crew and James Mikes! Filmed and edited by Alex Smith, additional filming by Kristin Olinyk.
Enjoy!
Song: Architecture in Helsinki – Frenchy I’m Faking
Dama Jams Vol. 3 is short and sweet. Mellow, electronic, with some hard hitting and strange beats to accompany you during your next dama sesh.
Haley is currently jamming a Kaizen Ken with a silk tama! Get your own right null.
Or shop Tama Only Products
Where all my Bay Area Dama players at?
Dave Mateo and Kendama USA will be at World Of Dance this saturday in Vallejo Califonia! Swing by say whats up and jam some dama with the pros!
Where - 900 Fairgrounds Dr., Vallejo, California, 94589
When – August 16th
Time – 1:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Venue - Solano Fairgrounds
For more information Visit https://www.worldofdance.com/all-events
Tj Kolesnik spends an afternoon jamming the Merlot Tribute, Silk Edition in Lake Tahoe, NV. So sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Get your own null
Turner, Jake, and TJ got a chance to go kick it at the Facebook and Instagram headquarters in California and jam some dama! Turns out Instagram has one of the coolest photo spots ever. ENJOY!
The EKO is one of the biggest competitions of the year, with pros traveling from all over the world to compete! Check out the recap video from Emil Boda to see all the action go down!
Keith Matsumura has been keeping us updated while on the road, check out his blog post from the EKO as well!
http://kendamausa.com/2014/08/05/european-kendama-open-2014/
The European Kendama Open is the premiere kendama event on the continent of Europe. New players and well known players alike all come out for this event and make it a special time. This year the EKO was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. A pre-event tour with activities for foreign players making the trek to Denmark was arranged by Kendama.Dk x Krom Kendama, and what a great job they did. Tours around Copenhagen and a multi day kendama friends only beach house was reserved for us on the other side of Denmark. We even had the chance to drop in on Michael Williams and Denmark’s oldest indoor skatepark; needless to say, our group contained a whole lot of skating/blading/scooter talent. Denmarks own Rasmus Hetoft took some really sick photos from our skate session, one of which can be seen below.
We toured Copenhagen on foot for a couple of days before heading via bus to Middelfart, where the beach-house/chalet was. Middelfart is the town in Denmark where the founders of Kendama.dk and KROM Kendama grew up together. I immensely enjoyed getting to see this place and understand the roots of the KROM style more. We had a really nice relaxing time with everyone, despite putting off sleep to have more time to hang out with foreign friends. When it came time for us to take the bus back to Copenhagen everyone was hitting some really impressive Sleep Trick B times. I think that almost the whole bus was full of sleeping kendama talent and bobbing heads.
We arrived after the amazing Pre Tour back in Copenhagen for the main event, the EKO! Void from the British Kendama Association joined us to hang out, facilitate the knockout competition part of the EKO and do a lot of the workings of the events in conjuction with KROM. The event was amazing. There were even certified Japanese Kendama Association examiners there to do dan testings for those who wanted to. I was so stoked to have the opportunity to test for and receive my 5th Dan alongside the legendary Alex Ruisch while we were there. The beginner, intermediate, and advanced ladder competitions went off with some excitement, and then came the Dan Jam. This signature EKO event is for anyone with a dan ranking. Each player has a minute to go up and show their most creative and difficult kendama tricks. The contestants are judged and the winners are recognized shortly after. Iji from KROM/Zoomadanke went up and put on an electrifying show for everyone and deservingly walked away with first place in this division. Philip Eldridge from KROM grabbed second place, making him European Dan Jam champion since Iji is from Japan.
The Krom Deluxe girls were working the merchandise booth during the day, and thank goodness they had sandwiches and fruit for us to buy. There were all sorts of kendamas for sale, and the turnout for the event was spectacular. The word from Void was that this was the biggest EKO ever in attendance and participation.
The first rounds of the knockout competition got underway. With so many world class players there to compete, it was quite the show. There were many upsets early on like favorites to win Matt Jorgenson and Rodney Ansell going out in the first round. In the end it came down to a faceoff between Theo from Denmark and Joris Schweppe from Holland for the third place title, but also for the European Kendama Champion title because the first and second place faceoff was between Tajima Akira and Shimadera. After a grueling 5 point-to-win match between these two Japanese legends we finally ended up with an EKO champion: Shimadera!
There was still more competition though. The EKO saw the first ever Seven To Spike competition in Europe. This competition is a freestyle battle done king of the hill style, with challengers trying to defeat the current “king”. Each player throws down their own unique freestyle every time, and the judges decide who wins the battle. The winner gets a point, first to seven points wins, and there are no breaks within the competition rounds. Four preliminary rounds went down, and the top two from each round were chosen to go through to the final round. When it came down to it, Matthew Ballard of KROM and Wenatchee Kendama Team took top honors and claimed his spot as freestyle champion (along with being the North American champion in the knockout rounds too!). I actually ended up getting second place, and Iji rounded out the podium in third. I could not have been any more honored and excited to stand up on the podium with my two friends like that.
Besides all the competitions there were lots of mini games, nerve wracking dan tests, hanging out and good times with people from all over the world. The European Kendama Open is one of the most exciting kendama events of the year. I’m beyond stoked to have been here to experience it, and now I’m going to leave you all with that so I can grab some falafel here in Copenhagen where the event was held.
Peace!
words by Keith Matsumura
Enjoy some photos by Rasmus Hetoft Hansen! He accompanied us this past week for the EKO to take pictures, play kendama, and be an all around good guy! You can find a bunch more of his photos in an album on KROM Kendama’s facebook. (Pictures are thumbnails, click on them for full size viewing)
Kendama USA teams up with GLOKEN to bring you Musous on a plane 2. Check out the team’s in flight entertainment as they make their way to Japan for the Kendama World Cup.
Every summer the Loopkicks crew throws a huge Tricking camp in San Jose bringing some of the most skilled people together from around the world. Tricking is a blend of martial arts and freestyle acrobatics. Imagine a kendama trick but you ARE the kendama! Within the past few years the tricking community has fallen in love with the Kendama. Its amazing to see the crossover of style with the sports. In this years camp Isiah Flores decided to throw a kendama jam and battle. I got a chance to go kick it and jam some dama and take some shots.
Make sure to check out Loop Kicks online!
