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.
Bookmark this page! This’ll be your one stop shop for all of this year’s tricks for the upcoming Kendama World Cup in July.
We’ve got the entire trick list in one easy to use playlist as well as a link to the entry form and rules.
It’s easy, you simply purchase your entry ticket or package from Gloken at the link below.
Keep in mind that you will have to get yourself to Japan; entry and / or packages do not include airfare.
You can use any regular-sized Kendama (The Ken can not be any taller than 17 cm / 6.7 inches).
You’ll be required to place a KWC2016 sticker on after this “Dama-Check”.
The tama can only have ONE hole in addition to the string hole.
The Kendama is not allowed to have more than one spike and three cups.
You can get up to THREE Kendamas passed per player via the Dama-Check” for the Kendama World Cup 2016.
Ken or tama must not touch your hand/clothes while doing balance tricks.
Don’t change or move the Kendama’s string position with your free hand during the play.
No points are awarded on whether you keep ken and tama stable completely. Once laced go proceed to the next trick.
There are no limits on how many or which direction of turns or flips you do, unless otherwise specified.
How It’s Gonna Go Down:
Qualifying Rounds 1 & 2 – Day 1
Choose 10 different tricks in total from the trick list, the first 5 for Round 1, the other 5 for Round 2. You will get the points corresponding to each trick’s level. The maximum score for each attempt is 50, the total is 100.
Round 1: Try 5 tricks in 180 seconds. Use ONE Kendama.
Round 2: Try other 5 tricks in 180 seconds. Use ONE Kendama. You can use different Kendama from Round 1.
Top 24 players go to the Final Round, and additional 8 players will be granted wild cards for the Final.
IN CASE OF A TIE / DRAW
If two or more players have an equal score, their rankings will be determined by the SQUARE basis of the Final Round.
How to be granted “wild cards”
Countries/regions which fail to produce players who qualified may be granted wild cards.
Wild card players must get at least 30 points from the Qualifying Round.
ONE player from each country/region is picked, then up to 8 players w/ the highest score can proceed the Final Round.
If less than 8 countries/regions are granted, the quota(s) will be transferred to the eliminated players.
A total of 32 players go to the final round.
Final Round – Day 2
Go up to the stage, try different tricks (level 3 or upper) from the list as many as possible in 180 seconds.
Points are the SQUARE of the trick’s level.
You will get 100pts from level-10 tricks, 81pts from level-9s, 64pt from level-8s, 49pts from level-7s, and so on.
You can get points only once from each trick.
Final Round is not a tournament, competing by the total point you get.
The points of Qualifying Round will be added to the final score.
If you get 77 points in Qualifying Round and 700 points in Final Round, your final score will be 777 points.
Use ONE kendama throughout the performance.
Bring a CD with your favorite song longer than 3 minutes for your stage, if you want.
“This project highlights each of Kendama USA’s players and the specific kendama set ups they chose to use for the KWC while also adding my own style into the mix. Every photo was taken with instant-print cameras (Polaroid OneStep SX-70 and Fujifilm Instax 210) and every word written by hand. I like taking the foreign route in todays technology era and crafting things by hand. Having a limited amount of film for the cameras also added a surprise/suspense element to it all because each shot was a make-or-break on whether or not it would come out in focus or not. I really want to thank Jero, Cecilia Chow, Luke Evans, and the K-USA team for their contributions on making this come together ”
For our last players page we are featuring Alex Smith! Look for our KWC Setup Recap here soon!
“This project highlights each of Kendama USA’s players and the specific kendama set ups they chose to use for the KWC while also adding my own style into the mix. Every photo was taken with instant-print cameras (Polaroid OneStep SX-70 and Fujifilm Instax 210) and every word written by hand. I like taking the foreign route in todays technology era and crafting things by hand. Having a limited amount of film for the cameras also added a surprise/suspense element to it all because each shot was a make-or-break on whether or not it would come out in focus or not. I really want to thank Jero, Cecilia Chow, Luke Evans, and the K-USA team for their contributions on making this come together ”
For the next couple of days we will release one of the players pages so be on the look out so you can see what set ups some of your favorite pro players are choosing to jam these days.
“This project highlights each of Kendama USA’s players and the specific kendama set ups they chose to use for the KWC while also adding my own style into the mix. Every photo was taken with instant-print cameras (Polaroid OneStep SX-70 and Fujifilm Instax 210) and every word written by hand. I like taking the foreign route in todays technology era and crafting things by hand. Having a limited amount of film for the cameras also added a surprise/suspense element to it all because each shot was a make-or-break on whether or not it would come out in focus or not. I really want to thank Jero, Cecilia Chow, Luke Evans, and the K-USA team for their contributions on making this come together ”
For the next 10 days straight we will release one of the players pages so be on the look out so you can see what set ups some of your favorite pro players are choosing to jam these days.
“This year’s trip to Japan was one for the books. Every time we trek on a new adventure, more and more memories are made. We made our way abroad with two new additions, Tribe Team members Wyatt Bray and Bryan Scagline. It was both their first time out of the country and a great time to experience Japan. I was in the same position exactly 1 year ago and for all the trips I’ve been on, this has been one of the most memorable and fun for me.
The 2015 Kendama World Cup started off with a bang. Zack Yourd, Bryan Scagline, Dave Mateo, Turner Thorne, Jason Morrison, and I all met up at the San Francisco International Airport to hop on a plane to Japan. It was 13 hours of pure fun, rowdiness on the plane, and teaching passengers and flight attendants how to play Kendama. We managed to film an entire edit that features the new Mugen Musou… #TEAMFUEGZ! Coming shortly.
Yes, finally touched down in Japan. Let the adventures begin.
10 long, sleepless, adventure filled days were about to go down. The best and most talented Kendama players all under one roof, competing against each other for the top prize. Luckily, the entire World Cup (2 days) was on a live stream so those who weren’t there were able to catch the live footage and see the craziness go down. For me, the last 10 days blurred together because there was so much going on all at once. So many exciting things happened every day and the level of skill in Kendama has risen to new heights. I’m happy and proud to congratulate my own teammate Wyatt Bray for taking it home for Kendama USA! GO WYATT! WE LOVE YOU!
Let’s just give a quick recap of events. Plane rides, no sleep, Japanese beer tasting, long nights, down pours, early mornings, scaling roof tops, amazing sushi, walking, LOTS OF WALKING, onsens, vending machines, 7/11, alpaca, Japanese style housing, hostels, dama village, polaroid sessions Osaka, Hiroshima, Kendama Street, okonomiyaki, subways, laughing, friends, family, team, Kendama. I hope everyone reading this gets to experience Japan and the Kendama World Cup at least once. For those who did go this year, I hope you read this and smile and think back to all the great memories.
A big thank you to Tamotsu Kubota, Yuka Hyuga, Hajime Ishibashi, Kota Kagoshima, the rest of the Gloken Crew, Kendama USA, and of course, Jeremy Stephenson. Cheers to the future of Kendama! See you all next year.” -Tj Kolesnik
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.
Believe it or not, this summer was the first time the entire Kendama USA team was together as one, in the same place. It’s alot to get nine people’s schedules to line up but the magic happened for the sake of our summer Japan trip for the Kendama World Cup.
After days and days of grinding, competition, performances, travel, and little sleep… we finally had a free day in Tamotsu’s parents home prefecture of Nara. This river spot is supposedly a go-to from his childhood. Within minutes of arriving some of the players scoped a potential jump spot across the way. Sessions ensued. Enjoy this laid-back edit.
The Kendama USA team attends the Gloken-hosted Kendama World Cup in Hatsukaichi, Japan. Practice and sessions ensue, Jake MC’s along with Nobuaki, and Keith and Zack make the finals.
Big ups to everyone that helped make the KWC possible, especially the entire gloken team and the Hatsukaitchi city officials. Special Thanks to Kazuma Iwata for the excellent trophy, and to Jeremy Stephenson for being the reason that we were all there.
Enjoy Kendama USA’s presence at the KWC 2014!
