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.
We’ve partnered with the Consulate General of Japan to present the first ever Kendama Championship – dubbed the “Sakura Classic” at this years Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival!
Taking place April 11th & 12th, we’ve got lots of activities like workshops, minigames, autograph signings & more b/w 11AM & 6PM.
If you are interested in just the Kendama competitions, they will also take place on April 11 and 12, and culminate with a finals match on the Peace Plaza stage from 3:45pm-4:45pm on Sunday the 12th.
What is the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival?
The 2015 Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival now celebrating its 48th year, is one of California’s most prominent celebrations of Asian traditions. Each year, over 200,000 people attend this dazzling display showcasing the color and grace of the Japanese culture and the diversity of the Japanese American Community. The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival is said to be the second largest festival outside of Washington, D.C.
The festival will be held on Post Street between Laguna and Fillmore Streets. There will be food booths, cultural performances, martial arts, live bands, the annual Queen Program, and more. The Grand Parade will be held on Sunday, April 19, beginning at City Hall and concluding in Japantown.
The event is free and open to the public. However, vendors will be charging for their food goods and retail products. Some specialized events will require a fee.
Summer just ended, but there’s still 1 more event to celebrate. We’re extremely thankful for all the support from our fans and customers, and we want to give back something extra special this year.
Here at Kendama USA, we’re fortunate to have access to lots of unique prototypes, limited edition products, and rare Kendamas that may never be made again. For this End of Summer Giveaway, we’re opening up our vault and hand selecting a treasure-trove of these rare gems in our biggest giveaway ever!
There will be a total of 13 winners, We will be giving away three main prize packages and 10 other amazing prizes all described below.
Snow Gold Musou
Limited Musou Holster
Premium Orange Ozora
Sunrise Purple Strata
GRIP Walnut Sunrise
Honor Tribute
Sparkling Green Musou
Musou Holster
80′s Red Sakura
Sunrise Blue Strata
Metallic Green Ozora
Honor Tribute
Breeze Orange Musou
Keyaki Shin Fuji
Yellow Ozora
Sky Blue Ozora
Honor Tribute
10 will win one of the following prizes:
Terra Lemongrass Jumbo Pill
Ozora Pink Galaxy
Tribute Merlot Silk
Kendama USA Padauk Proto
KROM Viking Zebra
Terra Purple Pill
KROM Rubberwood
Premium Gold Ozora
Tribute Black w/ Blue Triple Stripe
Grain Theory Mystery Kendama
Enter your email address on the left and you’ll be entered for your chance to win!
KendamaUSA and Cook’s Custom Painting have teamed up to bring the “2014 Cook’s Custom Contest”
Grab your favorite dama, get creative, and enter to win your own customized kendama line sold on kendamausa.com as well as many other prizes.
Follow @cookscustoms on Instagram to get contest updates, sneak peeks to upcoming custom lines and the contest winners.
Theme: Since “The Cook” is all about innovation, we want to challenge new ideas and creativity in the Kendama community. Creativity and technical tricks are the keys to bringing home a prize. Things like trying trick that no one has tried, using a customized kendama, incorporating props, string-less tricks, or even integrating other skills you have are great ideas to impress the judges.
How to enter/rules: Simply upload a YouTube edit titled “2014 Cooks Custom Kendama Contest” and send the link to cookscustomscontest@gmail.com . We will send back a confirmation e-mail to assure you that we received the entry. Entry deadline is June 1st 12:00pm EST. The maximum length is two minutes. Team or partner edits are allowed but be prepared to split the prizes upon winning.
Prizes:
1st
The first place winner will collaborate with Cook’s Custom Painting to create a completely new custom Kendama named after you. This will be the first limited edition “Cook’s Custom Contest Champion series – your name here” sold on KendamaUSA.com. You’ll also receive 2 of these Champion series kendamas (one to play and one to keep of course), and your edit displayed on the KendamaUSA website.
2nd
Second place prize will receive any two Cook’s customs they please, (subject to availability) plus a one-of-a-kind blue to purple color shifting Kendama.
3rd
Third place prize will receive any single Cook’s custom they please. (subject to availability)
Judging: The edit will be judged by Cook’s Custom painting and the Native. Creativity, props, inventiveness, technicality, edit presentation and skill will take your edit to the next level. Don’t be too serious with the edit; kendama is all about having fun and developing skill so be creative as you want and have fun along the way.
To see all of the The Cook’s creations check out his page on the KendamaUSA website:
Turner Thorne is in Atlanta in our offices this weekend and feeling extremely generous. He’s searched through the warehouse for some exclusive items, and wants to give them to YOU! 4 lucky customers are going to get an amazing prize. The prize list includes:
- 1 Mugen Musou – Breeze Orange
- 1 Sunrise Walnut Grip from the one and only Luke Evans
- 1 Red 80′s Sakura
- 1 Unreleased Cook Custom Full Energy
For your chance to win, place any order between now and Sunday, May 11th at 11:59 pm EST. During checkout, use the code “SHARKS” to receive 10% off and be entered to win. Any order using this discount code is eligible to win. Turner will be hand selecting winners at random throughout the weekend. Start shopping now in our online shop HERE.
So Colin Sander is running a fun Instagram contest for you guys! If you don’t have an instagram we highly recommend it to keep up with KendamaUSA contests and all sorts of fun! This is what you need to do to compete!
1. go follow Colin Sander ”@secret_yinzer”
2. RePost this photo with the hashtags #colinsander #kendamausa
3. Comment on Colin’s facebook which kendama you would want to win, and who’s kendama the middle one used to be! Small hint on his post!
Good Luck Everyone!
For 2014 we wanted to continue growing the Tribute family. Instead of doing a video contest this year, we decided to keep our eyes open for the right person during our travels and events. The Tribute team is one of the most diverse Kendama crews in the world. Each member has their own unique style and personality. The Tribute team travels together, plays together, and evolves together constantly. When it comes to choosing another team member, we look at not only the Kendama play, and but also the type of person you are.
We are very excited and honored to introduce the newest member of the team and family, Haley Bishoff.
Haley has an extensive skill set that that rivals even the most seasoned ninjas. Not only does she slay Kendama, she also is skilled in gymnastics, slackline, yoyo, and epic ba$ketballer videos. She is one of the most chill people to hang with or jam dama and is always down to learn new tricks and teach others. After meeting her a few times on tour and at yoyo events, the whole Kendama USA crew knew it was a perfect match. Haley is Trib.
It was also an unwritten requirement that you be able to do back flips. Haley passed that test with an A+. Welcome to the family Haley!
Dama Fest 2013 was an amazing event. Much respect goes out to Matt Ballard for documenting the entire week and putting together this edit.
Huge thanks to everybody who made the trip to Atlanta for an unforgettable Kendama experience. We couldn’t have done it without the help of our entire team and all our sponsors. Special thanks to Kendama USA, Kendama Co, Sweets Kendama, Kendama DK x KROM, and Tribute Kendama. Big shout out to Keith Matsumura for taking the win.
Kendama USA is thrilled to host the 2013 Dama Fest on May 11, 2013 in Atlanta GA. Dama Fest is a unique Kendama event with high level players from across North America, Japan, and Europe all under 1 roof. It’s a great opportunity to meet your favorite Kendama pros face to face, see brand new unreleased Kendama products, and jam with some of the icons in the Kendama world.
This year we are offering a $1000 top prize, and have some unbelievable prizes and raffles. This is the Kendama event of 2013 you do NOT want to miss!!!
Dama Fest is made possible by a group of amazing teams and sponsors including:
Players attending:
Tamotsu Kubota, Hajime Ishibashi, Colin Sander, Zack Yourd, Turner Thorne, Alex Smith, Matt Jorgenson, Max Norcross, Christian Fraser, William Penniman, Alex Ruisch, TJ Kolesnik, Dave Mateo, Keith Matsumura, Jake Wiens, Sam Merkel, Hunter Bailey, Eric Martin, Matt Rice, Kristin Olinyk, Matthew Ballard, Nick Mayo, Zack Winters, Alex Loomer, and many, many more!!!
This event will be FREE to attend, and $10 to compete in the main event.
See you in May!
Vendor space and sponsorship is available. Email us HERE for more information.
Smore just sent us over this edit from a recent Kendama Funday event in Hong Kong. It’s awesome to see Kendama being enjoyed all over the world. Thanks guys!!!
Thanks to everybody who took the time to enter the Kendama USA Doubles Contest. The entries were awesome to watch, and (as always) tough to judge. Props to everybody for getting active and making an entry.
- 2 new Sakura style Kendamas, new from Ozora
- 2 Tribute Kendamas of choice (non custom)
- 2 T-shirts of choice
- 2 New Color String Packs
- 2 Sticker packs and poster packs
Congratulations Guys!
To all our winners, please let us know which Tribute Kendamas you choose, your shirt sizes, and your color preferences.
THATS NOT ALL!!!
Because we enjoyed the entries so much, we have decided to give away even more prizes. These judges selections will all be receiving 2 New Color String and Bead Packs and some of our brand new stickers!!!
