This past week TJ Kolesnik and Turner Thorne went on a 5 day Kendama tour all around North Carolina with Kitty Hawk Kites to teach and spread Kendama in a whole new area.
The tour Kicked off in Corolla with a quick in shop demo, from there we moved on to Nags Head for Kids day which was a huge success! The next morning we made our way further south to the Avon store where we met a ton of first time players and witnessed a lot of first spikes. The final stop of the tour was the Waves shop in Rodanthe for the Summeritaville festival!
In between the events we had a chance to film some tricks on the beach and even learned how to Hang Glide!
We want to give a HUGE thank you to Kitty Hawk Kits for this amazing opportunity, we had an amazing time teaching kendama all week and cant wait to make it back out to NC.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Freestyle 15 Video Contest!
We had a lot of submissions and it took the judges quite a while to go through them all and pick winners.
Be sure to check out the winning submissions as well as honorable mentions below.
The first ever all girls kendama contest was held in Osaka city, Japan this past May. Over 30 female contestants came out to compete at Club Juice for the All Girls Dama Jam Festa. Having an event run by all girls was very moving for the female Kendama scene. Girls of all ages traveled out to spectate and participate at the event, helping make it such a success. Kendama has grown immensely in the past few years and the girls scene is on the rise, which is really exciting.
Huge thanks to everyone who made this event possible especially Misuzu-san for MCing the event, DJ Maako, Yuka Huyga for organizing and judging and Haley Bishoff for traveling over as a guest judge. Also, we couldn’t have done this without continual support from Gloken and KendamaUSA!
So you want to learn how to string or restring a Kendama huh? Well you’ve come to the right place!
We’ve put together a step by step guide that will teach you how to do it properly as well as a few tips.
Got a Classic, Kaizen or Traditional Kendama? This video is for you.
We’ve touched down and are going to be visiting a few Kitty Hawk stores in the North Carolina area!
We’re going to be here all week and here are the dates and locations of where we are going to be.
We are excited to bring you the Kendama USA Tutorial Series. We’ve released over 40 Kendama Tutorial Videos to help you and your friends learn all sorts of tricks. From core basics to high level advanced we’ve got them all.
If there are any tricks that you want to see as a part of our tutorials submit them to [email protected].
We’ve put together a playlist that you can play through with all of our tricks organized by difficulty as well as skill level playlists. Check them out below or visit our tricks & tutorials page here.
Here are your 60K Winners! Thanks to everyone who entered and everyone who has helped us grow.
We will continue to do our best and spread the dama love everywhere we go!
1st Place – Will Scheibe (@thescheibe)
“Houston, TX is an amazing place with an eclectic, yet tight knit kendama scene. I am lucky to have moved to a city where I can enjoy this toy with other people.
However, in my mind, kendama is not associated to one place. In fact, I would say that the thought of this toy is attached to the idea of NOT having a home base. The idea that, to truly experience the culture it has to offer, you need to see it manifested everywhere else. While I have been fortunate enough to be able to travel and see these places in person, I would say that we can see these cultures through the portal of social media. And that, in my opinion, is a gift we are all lucky to share.”
2nd place – David Clicks (@davidclicks)
“Being a foreigner in another country isn’t easy but thanks to Kendama, it made life a whole lot easier.
I came to live in Jakarta, Indonesia a couple of years back and being new, well there wasn’t much people that I knew in this foreign land. Starting Kendama early last year has brought me new friends who helped me discover the wonders of Jakarta and the beauty of it and I’m really thankful for this simple yet intoxicating skill toy. Not only that, advancing together in skills and introducing it to new people has helped garner a whole lot more friends for me Also this culture has been spreading like wildfire in South East Asia that we are coming to know other players in the region, namely from the nations of Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, meeting up and jamming with the whole lot A big thank you to the guys at @arero_ for the extending that hand and I love you guys.
A lil trivia. This photograph, taken in Jakarta is photographed at a landmark in Jakarta known as Monas, is known as the national monument of the city. Symbolizing the freedom and fight for the independence of Indonesia, it was constructed to commemorate the struggle for Indonesia independence.
Also, this half split tribute by@KendamaUSA is painted in the exact same color-way and design as the Indonesian flag. It’s also my favorite among the entire collection Thank you@KendamaUSA for the contest and congratulations on the #kusa60k Location: Jakarta, Indonesia”
3rd Place – Ryan Cabal (@rysofunny)
“I live in Seoul, South Korea. It’s a busy place full of busy people. As you can imagine, the people of this land are working hard for that C.R.E.A.M. Over the years, they’ve built this 빨리빨리 (ppalli-ppalli) work culture: basically means, get your shit done…and fast.
Time is precious and spent to the max. Students study for hours for tests and take breaks with their smartphones. Friends of mine are either working or trying to find jobs. Parents go to work early and finish late. Who would have time for a simple toy? I do.
In Seoul, sometimes I feel like the only player. Sure there are others, but our schedules hardly match up. Which brings me to this picture.
Osaka, Japan is where I play kendama. It’s where I can play to my heart’s content. Japan is beautiful, you can really feel the nature all around you. I can slow life down a bit and just play. The locals get super stoked here, whether you’re landing a banger in front of homies or a simple spike for strangers. You can’t help but feel connected to these people.
I love Seoul, it’s my home. The people here are proud and full of dreams to succeed. I’d say, thanks to them, I am too. “Build and they will come.” Until then, I’ll continue jamming and sharing the love, one spike at a time. “
4th Place – Takeshi Kodama – (@zoomadanke)
“I want to pass dawn from generation to generation through playing kendama together.”
HONORABLE MENTIONS
David Angelo Felipe (@djdfelo)
“I live in America’s Finest City, San Diego.
This is my beautiful girlfriend and with the ever famous skyline behind us. Kendama became very popular here about a year ago, and is still continuously growing. A lot of this has been because of our work. My girlfriend and I have sacrificed a lot of energy, money, and time, and we’ve devoted ourselves to help grow the Kendama community, through@Gunnzostore. We’ve hosted various events, and have really connected not only with the kids who play, but their parents as well.
The San Diego Kendama Community has been built, and is still growing through not only us, but also with the hard work and dedication of our friends @_kendiego_ ,@officialkendamasd, @TeamGUNNZO,@teejkolesnik.
Kendama has been an amazing journey for Aurora and I. It has brought us to other cities, and opened the door to many new friendships. Most importantly, kendama has strengthened our relationship. We would not be the same couple we are today if it weren’t for this magnificent toy. As many of you know, we have a little baby coming, and we will continue to show her our love of Kendama and teach her the same we did to our city.”
Abu Ammar (@mdnurrahim)
“In this picture are the things that i love. My wife, my son, the beach, the sunset and kendama. Just like this picture, kendama is a small part of my life but one that is dear to me. Having founded@woodworkkendamas and having to be one of those that is able to share this passion with others is one of the important milstone in my life. To fully understand this simple toy, you need to pick one up and have a go at it, and if you dont like it then id have to say that you are really missing out. I mean how do you think a hundred maybe thousand year old toy still exist anyway at this time and is still growing. So grab a ken a experience what you’ve been missing out.”
Junior Hakkei (@bboyuneek)
“Welcome to the City of Hilo Hawaii! Where one of the main places where we hold #Kendama meet ups, clubs and events and my home of dance! This is my Dance Studio and thanks to this wonderful Studio in this wonderful city I was able to bring together many numbers of our Kendama community, dance community and much more! This is where I’m from a home of #kendama mixed with my #dance life!”
Alan Young @raiden985)
“My entry for the @kendamausa 60k contest. The subway system here in NYC connects every borough together through its intricate underground tunnels. Kendama is a complex underground tunnel itself contained into a small toy. This little thing connects players all around the world, from Japan to California, and now New York City. Thank you @soulill this awesome photo.”
Jake Wiens and TJ Kolesnik (AKA Fuegz) hit the road again for more kendama madness. This time they take off on an adventure around the Northern California Bay Area hosting kendama jams in Los Altos, San Jose, and San Francisco. Check out what all goes down behind the scenes and between the tricks. From Kendama in the club to repairing hotel blinds, Wiens ’n’ Fuegz always bring the action. Huge thank you to all the players that came out to the jams and to the organizers and shop owners for hosting the sessions!
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Also this culture has been spreading like wildfire in South East Asia that we are coming to know other players in the region, namely from the nations of Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, meeting up and jamming with the whole lot 
