No matter what language you speak we all say KENDAMA. Kendama has the power to bring people together from around the world. In September of 2014 Kendama players from around the world traveled to Tokyo for the Catch & Flow freestyle tournament. We shared tricks, stories, and words. Each time we go to Japan we learn new words in Japanese and share new English words with the Japanese players. The one word that brings us together is KENDAMA.
Tj Kolesnik traveled to Japan for the Tokyo Gift show with KIT Corporation in February. Flying solo this time, he had the opportunity of meeting up with Thorkild May for the entire week. They spent 3 days at the Tokyo Gift show playing and demonstrating Kendama, and a day appearance at Sports Authority to demonstrate Kendama for the local Japanese players. Check out this video of what it is like to travel as a professional Kendama player.
Thank you to Mitsuo Kanzaki, Emi Dixon, Thorkild May and Kendama USA for making this possible. Enjoy!
Danish kendama player Thorkild May recently took home the Red Bull Catch & Flow Championship in Tokyo Japan. Check out all the madness in the video recap down below!
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!
The Krom Kendama Pro Team took their skills and camera to the city of Los Angeles, California. Watch Thorkild, Matt, Mathias, and Philip as they shred from the streets of downtown to the cliffs of Malibu.
It’s amazing how much one place can influence a person. All of us here at Kendama USA are influenced by the birthplace of kendama… Japan. A portion of our team was honored to be invited to visit the birthplace of kendama for sessions, meetings, product-releases, and plotting the future course of our sport.
It was destined to be an amazing time, and who better than Colin Sander to showcase it to you. Let’s be real… we were there because Kazuma Iwata, the maker of MUGEN, was coming back.
Enjoy next-level tricks, a star-studded juggler list, and all of the unpredictable beauty that the far east bestows upon us with each visit. This is Kendama USA’s Gloken Musou Tour edit. Japan 2013.
This trip and all the events around it would not have been possible without an endless list of helpers, performers, shops, hosts, and so on. Watch the video, and you’ll catch them all in there.
Special thanks to:
Yuki Nakamura
Tamotsu Kubota
Colin Sander
Turner Thorne
Dave Mateo
Jake Wiens
Matt Sweets Jorgenson
Thorkild May
Yuka Hyuga
Satoru Akimoto
With Support From
Kazuma Iwata
Gloken
Kendama USA
KROM
Sweets
SpinGear
Decade
Hajime Ishibashi
Nobuaki Komoto
Jeremy Stephenson
Shot by:
Jake Wiens
Colin Sander
We are really pumped to be working with Kendama DK and KROM Kendama on this exciting new project. We’re proud to be a part of the worldwide release of the KROM Deulxe series today along with Gloken, The KenGarden, Terra, and of course Kendama DK.
The KROM Deluxe is a series of high end Kendamas made with first-class precision from exotic hardwoods. Far from a generic Kendama, these beauty’s have been crafted and tested carefully, to find an optimum balance for high performance play. The unique choice of wood species and design combine for great feel, performance, and balance. This release includes various combinations of walnut, rubber wood, maple, and red oak.
We finally had a chance to meet the Kendama DK guys during this year’s Dama Fest, and share their positive attitude towards Kendama play, and community. It’s refreshing to see Kendama brands go the extra mile and put in serious effort into their craftsmanship, team, creativity, and presentation. We are truly excited today. Not only for this amazing Deluxe release, but also to take this first step in a new partnership with Kendama DK and KROM.
Enough talk, check out the KROM Deluxe line for yourself in our store HERE.
