Daunye Synigal, a 21-year-old Kendama whiz from Modesto, CA, has been playing Kendama for seven years and is now on Kendama USA’s Tribe Team! Daunye was introduced to Kendama in Vacaville by a friend at their middle-school bus stop.
“I remember some of the kids at the stop being super hyped on trying it out. I thought it was a super cool toy that he stole from his older brother who was in high school. He soon showed me videos of professional/highly-skilled kendama players and told me that he was a part of a kendama team called Balanced Kendama Team (check them out on Youtube). It really interested and amazed me that my friend was on a team, especially considering everyone else on that team was in high school while we were middle schoolers. Their Youtube Edit had over 1000 views (in 2012!) and that made it seem super legit.”
The same friend gave Daunye his first Kendama which was a natty Sunrise Kendama which he played for 3 months before buying his first Kendama from Kendama USA; a Black TK-16 Kendama.
BONUS: My next three kendamas were a null, a blue on black triple stripe KUSA Tribute, and a Zack Yourd 2012 Pro Model.
Daunye is an all-around Kendama player who has an appreciation for all tricks and styles. He was sponsored by Dave Mateo onto the Tribe team. Daunye met Dave for the first time at a Learning Express jam hosted by Dave, and Logan Tosta in Roseville CA.
That event was an amazing experience for me. I won second place at a mini game and there wasn’t a prize for second place so Dave took it upon himself to give me his personal Grain Theory kendama. I was stoked!
Daunye helps host kendama jams at Japan Town San Francisco every Friday from 5-9pm called KG Fridays.
We jam inside the Peace Pagoda in the center of Japan Town Plaza and when the weather is bad we jam near the Kinokuniya Book Store inside Japan Town Mall. These jams are a homage to KG Tuesdays that KUSA’s Jake Wiens hosted for years.
Daunye’s current favorite setup is anything with a Shift shape and a long string.
Help us in welcoming Daunye to the team! We hope to see Daunye continue to spread the game, push his limits and those around him.
SpikeDama 9 / NKO was one of the most memorable. With players coming from all over Europe to celebrate, share & compete in this sport that we all love. It was one of the biggest & most international turnouts of SpikeDama so far. Check out this new edit from Joris’ point of view on how it all went down.
Enjoy & see you at SpikeDama 10!
To read more about Spike Dama 9, see the winners , pics etc… click here.
That’s right! We’ve extended our Cyber Monday Sale for all you Cyber Monday procrastinators! So rejoice, pick up a dama and celebrate! Use code: KUSACYBER16 during checkout to save 25% on your order. Hurry though, sale ends tonight!
Developing the highest quality Kendama on the market has not been an easy or quick task, and we sincerely appreciate everybody’s patience while we’ve finished production. The wait is over!!!
The Tribute represents a premium quality Kendama, combining an unmatched combination of design and playing performance.
These high quality Kendamas use only the best beech wood which is FSC certified, to ensure sustainable forestry practices. We have improved the handle assembly to create the strongest Ken ever made. Unlike older traditional style Kendama handles, this contemporary style does not separate during play, and simplifies the re-stringing process. The Tribute can be re-strung between right and left handed play simply and easily without taking the handle apart. The cup piece will never fall off like other brands tend to.
The Tribute Kendama uses a superior quality string, which is custom woven with high quality fibers and offers more strength and flex during play. The handle has also been beveled to reduce friction, and eliminate the need for string guards.
The Ken is now thicker toward the middle of the handle, improving the balance and weight distribution for many technical balance tricks like lighthouse and lunars.
Every Tribute Kendama comes in professional packaging, and includes an instruction manual in English, free stickers, plus a replacement string and bead pack in the box.
Years of experience and feedback from our Pro Team has gone into developing this unique model, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Available now in your local stores, or online null
If your favorite store is not carrying the Tribute Kendama, please ask them to contact us at [email protected]
For a very long time we dreamed about producing our own Kendama, and after years of hard work that dream has become a reality.
Years of playing Kendama, plus mountains of feedback from our Pro Team and customers has taught us what works and what doesn’t. Our vision was to make this amazing skill toy even better. The premiere line is crafted from beechwood, and is the first Kendama to use metal reinforcement in the handle, allowing the cups to be permanently secure. No more hassle pushing these pieces back together constantly or worrying about glue. This new design has also simplified the entire re-stringing process.
We made our paint quality a top priority, and finally found a custom painting technique that could pass our rigorous testing standards. Our Kendamas have multiple layers of high quality paint that are more resistant to chipping, improving the cosmetic life span of your Kendama. The sticky paint surface gives great grip on technical balance tricks like lunars and lighthouses. All our paints have been inspected by certified laboratories to meet or exceed all US toy regulations.
The Premiere Line consists of single colors, stripes, triple stripes, and the very first Pro Model series, complete with engraved signatures.
We have worked closely with an incredible team of designers to create a package that compliments the elegance of the Kendama. In addition to the new Kendama, each package includes an instruction guide written in English, a replacement string and bead, and stickers.
The Japanese concept of Kaizen simply means “continuous improvement”. We believe that even something as amazing as Kendama can be even better. We hope you like the Premiere Line as much as we do.
much respect,
-KendamaUSA
we want to give credit where credit is due. this project would not have been possible without the help of countless people. we would especially like to thank the following:
the Kendama USA Pro Team for their dedication, patience, and input
the Kendama USA staff for the immense daily support and hard work
the industrial and graphic design team, specifically Kyle Sola, Jeromy Morris, Apollo Baldoz, and Christine Santanastasso
and finally you. the kendama players who keep innovating this amazing skill toy
