The 2022 Parks and Rec Tour is a collaboration tour between Kendama USA and Sol Kendamas. We’ll be visiting 5 National Parks together over the course of 2 weeks with a squad of 8 players, and we’re excited to meet you along the way!
On Jam days, we’ll be hosting mini-games, hanging out, filming tricks, and selling exclusive tour gear. Come hang out for a beautiful day of playing Kendama and meeting the Pros.
On Rec days, we’ll be hiking, filming, and exploring the National Parks as a squad. Come explore some of the most epic National Parks in the country with us.
Jam days will be open to the public at a location just outside of the National Park, so no entry fee is required to participate.
Rec days will be inside the parks, so an entry fee per vehicle or Park Pass would be required. Please check www.nps.gov for specific details.
Please remember to plan responsibly, especially if you are joining for the Rec days. Bring appropriate clothing for the weather, food, water, and any other supplies needed for your trip. Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Tour Summary
Tour Schedule & Info
Yosemite National Park
April 29th | Rec Day
Meetup @ Curry Village Parking Lot | 10AM
Address: Stop 14 Curry Village Parking, Half Dome Village, Yosemite Valley, CA 95389
What’s good everyone! null here from Honed Media bringing you another kendama review. This time I want to especially thank Sharif from Kendama USA for allowing me to guest write for the KUSA blog. Without further ado, let’s talk about Zach Magnuson’s Pro Model #MAGSMOD.
I’d like to frame my article around “what makes a pro model” – because the first impression I get when opening the box and feeling the kendama is that THIS IS A PRO MODEL. From a tama design that no one can come close to imitating to the custom stickers and even the orange string – everything about the experience screams unique.
People who have followed Zach Magnuson aka null on social know that he is a talented photographer from Detroit and I personally enjoyed how elements of his passion for photography are designed into his other passion. Passion-ception.
Even the box feels high quality. The material is hard with textured prints and would stand out on any shelf. But enough about the aesthetics, we’re here to talk about how the kendama plays.
Let’s start with the shape – we have a modified Shift introducing the Kaizen Base Cup Hole and let’s just say it’s what the doctor ordered. I’ve been a fan of Kaizen for many years and have played a range from 1.0, 2.0, Slim, and Shift. I will admit that lunars were a challenge with the Shift because the wider base cup results in an increased weight shifted there. It made the kendama a ken-flip machine, but the trade-off was lunars.
With the balance hole available on Mag’s mod, the lunar balance has improved significantly without much compromise to the ken-flip capability. It feels like one of the most complete kendamas that I’ve played out of the box. Complete in part as well because the spike comes glued – something that I do for all my kendamas. When it comes to the paint, I personally prefer jamming sticky tamas, but something about KUSA’s silk paint slaps different. It seems to be rougher out of the box and allows for a nice adjustment when playing your balance tricks.
To each his own, however, I’d say that both paints will not let you down and it’s really a matter of personal preference which paint to use. I had an easier time with landing lunars on the sticky paint, while catching and adjusting lighthouses felt better on the silk paint.
What about durability?
Part of this review involved a 2-week test doing cup tricks, ken tricks, and tama tricks. Let me be upfront – I miss the spike a lot. Despite that, there were only minor chips after 2 weeks, mostly around the bevel making it a relatively durable kendama. This could be in part that the weight of the tama was heavier (80+) and therefore the wood would have been harder and denser.
What might be more important to note was that I did not feel the tackiness of the respective paints change much – something you do not see often.
In the playability section, I test the smoothness and ease of landing tricks in the 4 criteria, Lunar, Stalls, Slings, and Ken Flips.
A difficulty rating out of 10 (1 being easier than usual, 5 being no difference and 10 is much harder than usual) will be given to each category at discretion.
Lunar
Stall
Sling
Kenflip
Pull-up Bird
3
Pull-up Sling
4
Kenflip Spike
2
Lunar
3
Bird Over The V
3
Pull-up Double-Sling Spike
4
Double Whirlwind
3
Double Lunar Flip
4
Handlestall – Ring
4
Pull-up Sling, Late Sling
4
Kenflip-
ken flip Spike
4
What does this compare to?
You know when you’re headed out of home for a short bit and want to grab a kendama off the shelf you can just walk and jam without worry? This is it. Despite being a pro mod with an extensive and complex aesthetic design, it still plays like a daily jammer – and that is one of my favorite things about it.
I play a lot of kendamas and found it easy to rotate in and out of the #MAGSMOD which makes it and really worthy investment.
At $40, this is one of the most value-for-money kendamas out there. The level of design on the tama, sticker pack, and packaging indicates that it must have been relatively expensive to produce – yet Kendama USA prices it comparable to other kendamas in the market with a less complex design.
As a plus point, each #MAGSMOD purchased goes to supporting Zach’s kendama journey – a win-win situation if I ever saw one.
Bonus: To show that this dama is for the everyday average player like me – I shot a three trick fix with different balance and stall tricks to show how player-friendly it was out-of-box. Enjoy!
Join us in celebrating the newest Kendama USA Pro; Zachary Magnuson! Zach’s dedication to the sport and community can be seen in his progression as both a player, a member of the community, and a videographer. Zach began his Kendama journey in 2014, while in high school and started competing shortly after. We first met Zach at Dama in the D2 and was asked to join Kendama USA’s Tribe team in 2018. Zach’s tenacity to pursue his passions and perfect his skills lead him to exactly where he wants to be.
Zach is currently a senior in college studying photography and film. When he isn’t studying he’s either playing kendama or working on a project he continues to be an inspiration to people and players around him and shares Kendama wherever he goes. Lets all welcome Zach to the team!
On the last day of February 2020, Dama to the Death 3 went down in Orlando, Florida at Dead Lizard Brewing Company. Pros as well as many local Kendama players travelled out for this event, including Christian Fraser and Bjorn Reece from Sweets Kendamas, Alex Mitchell, Chad Covington, Lyndon Whalen, and Kevin DeSoto from Sol Kendamas, Isaac Turner from Lotus Kendamas, and Zach Magnuson and Josh Kim from Kendama USA!
The weather was perfect for jamming Kendama outside all day. After some announcements and vending, the event was kicked off with the Amateur Ken Tournament. If you are unfamiliar with Dama to the Death, the event consists of an Amateur KEN Tournament, and a Pro Freestyle Tournament, both double elimination style. The twist though, is that once you are knocked out of either tournament, you have to cut your Ken from your tama and burn it at the end of the event! Controversial? Maybe. A lot of fun and a new way to play? Absolutely.
As the Amateur KEN Tournament came down to the finals, the event moved from outside to inside the venue, with a stage and seating for everyone to watch. In the Amateur finals were Troy Monteagudo and Jacob Ogden AKA Squid. Troy had won all of his matches so far, and Squid had been working his way up the losers bracket for another chance in the finals! The first match went hard. Squid was able to beat Troy the first game, extending the match to a second game to crown the final champion. As the final match played out, Troy was able to take the final game, winning the Amateur KEN Tournament! Congrats to Troy for placing first, Jacob for second, and Ean for third! So awesome to see Florida take the entire podium for this tournament!
The next part of the competition was the Pro Freestyle Tournament. The nine freestyle players went head to head, each with two rounds of forty seconds to show off their hardest and most tech moves to the judges. As the bracket began thinning out, Kendama USA Tribe team members Zach Magnuson and Josh Kim were the ones to make it to the finals. Finally the time came for the judges to pick a winner. The crowd went silent waiting to see who would take first. As the flags went up, the crowd roared as the returning Dama to the Death Champ Zach Magnuson was able to defend his title! Congratulations to Mags for placing first, Josh Kim for second, and Kevin DeSoto for third! Zach used a Nobu Pro Model to win Dama to the Death 3! Click here to purchase your own Nobu Mod!
Dama to the Death 3 Tournament Podiums
Finally the Tournaments were over, and the moment everyone was waiting for was about to happen. The event moved outside with the fire pit and all the Kens ready to burn. Troy and Zach went up to the mountain of Kens and together started the blaze marking the official end of the event. Dama to the Death 3 was one of my favorite events to go to, with a much more laid back vibe and unique take on competition. Special thank you to Honed Media for throwing this event, especially Ryan Reese, Marley Griggs, and Monika Knotts for all the hard work they put into making Honed Media what it is today! Make sure to check out the Honed Media Documentary here! If you ever have the chance to make it out to the next Dama to the Death, make sure to pull through for an awesome day filled with fun and Kendama!
Battle at the Border 2020 was the best yet. The turnout, venue, and obviously Kendama made this weekend an absolute dream. My BATB weekend started off with a rainy car ride up to Nashville from Atlanta. Despite the weather, I was excited to see all my friends that I haven’t hung out with since NAKO! Riding with me were Bryan Scagline and Logan Tosta. Jamming out to Scags’ playlist and talking dama made the 3.5hr trip a breeze and I was in great company. Once we arrived safely in Nashville, we met up with Daunyé and Wes and checked in to our rooms for the weekend. Later that night, Dwesty, Mags, and Wyatt made their way to Nashville as well. After hanging out with everyone that night, I went to sleep a little early to get a good start to the competition the next day!
I woke up a little earlier than most, and made my way to Rocketown; the event venue, with Scags to set up the Kendama USA booth.
We debuted our new Kaizen Super Stick Half Splits coming out later this quarter, and also the birchwood #DWESTYMOD available now. The start of the competition was great and I was surprised at the number of entries. I was also excited to see the video releases and product launches at the event. The first video to pop off was Tribe member Zach Magnuson’s POV Edit 3 which will be released soon. So many unimaginable tricks were laced in this edit, and the setting was perfect.
Shout out to the new Quill Flow Team, new Sweets members Bjorn Sorenson and Jacob Eames, and the newest Sol Kendamas Pro Alex Mitchell. All of the videos at the event were amazing, congratulations to all these players this weekend.
The first day of freestyle competition began after all the videos were premiered. The freestyle competition was intense! It was amazing to watch my teammates and friends compete at the event. After the first couple of rounds of competing, the day ended came to an end and before I knew it, day 2 was underway.
The KUSA team made it to the venue in time for the competition. The competition flew by, and soon, the final four freestyle competitors stood on the stage. I was so excited to be battling for one of the top spots, along with me Kendama USA Pro Dylan Westmoreland, Tribe Team Member Logan Tosta, and Sol Pro Liam Rauter. The battle for first was amazing, and seeing Logan win first place was momentous. Congratulations to Liam Rauter for placing second, and Dylan Westmoreland for placing third! Having three Kendama USA players place in the top four for freestyle was incredible! Great job to everyone who competed in freestyle, and congratulations again to Logan Tosta for placing first.
The rest of the day switched to the Pro Open division. Three matches were held on stage at the same time, and the bracket began to begin to narrow down to the top four competitors Dylan Westmoreland, Alex Mitchell, Kevin DeSoto, and Jacob Trebil. The battle for first was intense, with Kendama USA Pro Dylan Westmoreland and Sol Pro Alex Mitchell moving on to the finals! The match was intense and Alex Mitchell was able to clutch out the win! Congrats to Jacob for taking third, Dylan for taking second, and Alex for 1st place! I was so proud to see Kendama USA podium in both Open and Freestyle and can’t wait to see the things Kendama USA will do in this new year.
After the competition, during the awards ceremony, Kendama Cares took the stage with an amazing gift for the Kendama USA family. A shadow box for Dave was gifted to us, along with a purple candle in the shape of a hand making a peace symbol, and a quartz crystal dedicated to Dave. Thank you so much to Kendama Cares, and especially Arque for putting together this amazing memorial for Dave. Dave will forever be remembered in our lives. We miss you, Dave.
The final day of Battle at the Border 2020 was a nice day to unwind and chill. Everyone met at the Parthenon and jammed dama while people began slowly making their own ways. Tricks were filmed, people hung out, it was a great time. But like everything, this weekend had to come to an end. As we drove back to Atlanta that evening, I couldn’t be more happy with how this weekend went. Thank you again to Sol Kendamas for hosting this event! Kendama USA can’t wait to come back next year for Battle 2021. Make sure to check out last year’s recap of Battle at the Border HERE!
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!
Was there an earthquake in Tennessee this weekend? No. That was 150 + Kendama players popping off in Nashville for the 7th annual 2019 Battle at the Border! #BATB went down Jan 4th and 5th in Nashville Tennessee at Rocketown!
This year was the FIRST EVER doubles tag team freestyle competition where we witnessed some of the most high energy performances to date. Judges Bryan Scagline, Kota Kagoshima, and Damon Kirchmeier scored the competitors on tricks, tag style, team flow, and creativity. Each person competing in freestyle had to pair up and throw down with another player of their choice!
1st place was awarded to Liam Router and Alex Mitchell from Sol Kendamas,
2nd place Lyndon Whalen from Sol Kendamas and Adrian Estaban from Grain Theory, and
3rd place was held down by our boy Zach Magnuson and Kevin DeSoto from Sol Kendamas.
Sol Kendamas also premiered the Lyndon Whalen SOL PRO video and dropped the Lyndon Whalen Pro Model! The design screams Whalen’s style and is the first kendama off its kind. Big ups to the WHALE-DOG! Do yourself a favor and pick one up on SolKendamas.com!
Lastly, we had Open division. Liam Router (Sol Kendamas) and George Marshall (Sweets Kendamas) went head to head in an intense final battle for first! Liam wasn’t missing a trick, and neither was George. The energy in the room was at an all-time high. The epic match concluded with: Liam taking the W George took 2nd place & Zach Magnuson bagged 3rd for KUSA!
Much love to all of the sponsors, players, parents, supports, and everybody that helped make Battle at the Border an EPIC start to 2019! Special thank you to Chad Covington and Sol Kendamas. Much respect and see ya next year!
Zach Magnuson, a 19-year-old Kendama phenom from Motor City; Detroit, MI, has been playing Kendama for four and a half years and is now on Kendama USA’s Tribe Team! When he isn’t playing Kendama he’s either out shooting pics or making videos about Kendama! In his 2nd year of college at MCC, Zach claims to love school more than DWesty and plans on graduating with a degree in photography and video work. Zach’s progression, passion, and community involvement have propelled him into the limelight and he’ll continue to leave a positive impact on those around him on KUSA’s Tribe team.
“I was introduced to Kendama by a high school classmate who had recently returned from a trip to Japan. My 1st Kendama was a red Duncan Kendama from Toys R Us. I describe my playstyle as very fast paced & new school but I’m still being creative with it. Wyatt asked me to be on Tribe at this year’s Dama in the D comp. Wyatt and I actually met at Dama in the D2 but it wasn’t until D4 that we got to know each other. By the time D5 rolled around, I had honed my skills like never before and I placed in the top 10, even besting Wyatt in open 3-0.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2gWa30BEBM
