Sweets Kendamas – Kendama USA ®

[2019] North American Kendama Open (NAKO) Recap!

Sharif Boru — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 19:18:21 +0000

We had a blast hanging with the Kendama community at this year\’s NAKO event; renamed from Minnesota Kendama Open (MKO). Repping KUSA were Bryan Scagline, Zach Magnuson, Nobu Nori, Rui Sora, Josh Kim, Daunyé Synigal, Dylan Westmoreland, Oliver Malby, Haley Bishoff, Wyatt Bray, Logan Tosta and Alex Smith. Great job to all those that competed, especially Zach Magnuson who took third in open, Oliver Malby who took third in freestyle, Nobu Nori who took second in freestyle, and Josh Kim who won the Yank Spike Contest!

The competition this year was great! So many players coming from all over the country to play Kendama is always such an amazing and unique experience. And the new venue this year was amazing. The first two days in the hotel were perfect for jamming Kendama and watching the competition go down! And the last day in the Varsity Theater was incredible to see the finals take place! Good Kendama, awesome friends, and amazing weather on Sunday made this weekend unforgettable! Congratulations to Motty for taking first in Open, and Nick Gallagher for taking first in Freestyle! Kendama USA was proud to be able place on every podium this year! We can’t wait to see our players compete at other competitions and the next NAKO!

Post competition on Saturday, the Downspike awards were a huge success! Getting to award the community for all their hard work and creative genius is the best. Thank you to Alex Smith and the Sander Brothers for hosting! Make sure to get on Downspike at downspike.com, or download the mobile app on your phone to always be in the loop with Kendama! And that’s right, Colin Sander was at NAKO this year helping judge freestyle and host the Downspike Awards! Hopefully we will be seeing more of Colin in upcoming events. And of course, a special thank you to Sweets Kendamas and all of the gracious volunteers for hosting another great event!

Thank you again, until next year MN!

Battle at the Border (BATB) 2017 Recap

Sharif Boru — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 16:05:19 +0000

Battle at the Border 2017 was an awesome event hosted by Chad Covington of Sol Kendamas. This year\’s turnout exceeded expectations, with almost 100 Kendama players in attendance. BATB17 was held in the historic Foundry building near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The weather was pretty crazy in the southeastern U.S with snow and freezing rain but that didn’t stop groups like DKT, Grande Squad, Pineapple Kendama and others from making the drive. There were twenty two sponsors for the event including Kendama USA, Sol Kendamas, Sweets Kendamas, KROM, Terra Kendama, Grain Theory, RWB and more. As a result, there were tons of mini games and prizes given out throughout the event.

The freestyle competition had some of the most creative tricks around and some of the craziest bangers thrown on stage. The finals came down to a match between Jake Fisher & Max Norcross. Max Norcross nearly won however Jake Fisher came away with the win. Pictured below are the winners of the freestyle event:

From left to right: 4th – Christian Fraser, 3rd – Cam Herrero, 2nd – Max Norcross, 1st – Jake Fischer

The Open division was intense from the first match up to the final round with Liam Router and Ben Herald going head to head for the title of Battle at the Border and Liam taking the victory.

4th – Johnny Kress, 3rd – Blair Sylvester Wesley, 2nd – Ben Herald, 1st – Liam Rauter

There were also beginner, intermediate, and advanced ladders that were done during the event as well. Here are the winners for those divisions:

Beginner: 3rd – Lilly Kosicki, 2nd – Alex Jorgenson, 1st – Fame Cristobal

Intermediate: 4th – Tristen Wareham, 3rd – Dalton Hodge, 2nd – Carlos Castro, 1st – Walker Lifsey

Advanced: 4th – John Coffman, 3rd – Antonio Cecchetti, 2nd – Nick Dodenhoff, 1st – Caleb Rush

Again congratulations to all who placed in any of the divisions this year and thanks to Chad Covington and Sol Kendamas for throwing a fantastic event!

Zach Porter – Tribe – 4th of July Edit

Sharif Boru — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 20:56:35 +0000

Tribe member Zach Porter & Focus member Austin Ring spent the 4th of July relaxing at Jones Gap State Park in South Carolina. They shot this mini edit during their travels and shared it with us. Check it out!

Who is Zach Porter? Zach porter is one of the first KUSA Tribe members, chosen by Pro player Alex Smith. He has a unique style and has been a positive force in the Kendama community for several years. His crew, GVK hails from the southeastern US and is known for creating mind blowing edits and have won several contests over the years.

Follow Zach Porter on IG here.

More about Jones Gap State Park here.

MKO 2015 Recap by Haley Bishoff

Sharif Boru — Sat, 28 Nov 2015 18:10:42 +0000

MKO 2015 was definitely one to remember. It’s always such a joy to see players from all over the world gather in one place and grow as a community. Congratulations to all the competitors, especially Nic Stodd and Jake Fischer for throwing down one of the most impressive freestyle battles of all time and Zack Gallagher for taking the title of MKO Champion!

Huge thanks to everyone at Sweets Kendamas who worked so hard to make this unforgettable event and KendamaUSA for the continual support. See you next year!