Was browsing a particular facebook group page of a wooden skill toy and i saw this question, and i thought i'd shamelessly plagiarize and ask here too! Who was the individual(s) responsible into dragging you into this craziness called kendama? (Credits to @Michael Joseph Reeves for the post!)
It was about 3 years ago and there was this person who was new to the school. He kept bringing the Kendama to school everyday and at first I didn't really think anything of it. After a week or two tons of people at school started buying them so I decided to get my hands on one. Kendamas are one of the most addicting things I've ever done and I'm very glad I got into them. Stoked about getting TJ's pro mod as well!
My brother introduced me to kendama 2 years ago while he was on duty at a summer school. He showed to me, and we went to Target with our mom to buy two Yomega pro kendamas(I wasn't familiar with Japansese brands and/or the top selling ones at that time) that we both still have, although my brother's is now broken.
My boy Justin Kim. He and a small group of dudes would have kendamas around their necks or be doing some moshikames while transitioning between classes. People had always been talking about how annoyed they were at the fact that these guys were playing with em, so that's how I knew what it was. Whether it was loud or stupid, I was one of the people who didn't really care for it either way. Dudes are doing them, sweet. I ended up getting into ASB with one of the dudes, Justin, right around the time he had been playing for maybe half a year. It was in the summer before senior year (around June) and Justin and I had just finished a morning ASB meeting. He started seshing and I walked over and said "alright Justin, coolest trick, go". He thinks it over and goes "ok ok." Misses an airplane, chuckles, and then does airplane, UFO. Sickest fucking shit ever, and he did it second try. My mind was so blown. This dude made the stick part float in the air, spin, and then caught the stick holding the ball. I wasn't the only one watching (his friend group that played and some other ASB students) and you could just hear a sea of "ohhh!"s while I started freaking tf out. I ran around the room with my jaw dropped and joining in in the sea of "ohhh!s". I tweeted about it, got retweeted by KenCo, and then bought a red tribute at my local toy store maybe two weeks later. After the summer, senior year was ruled by kendama. Dude Justin even ended up getting sponsored for a little bit towards the end. Good times
Some of my friends played in high school. I honestly thought it was the dumbest thing ever and a complete waste of time. I had tried it for a bit, landed some cups and stuff, but I was not at all interested. The year after high school, I was taking a year off from school to work and play music. After band practice one weekend, I was hanging out at my buddy Eldars place along with a couple of other guys. One of them was my good friend @Alexander Hansen and for some reason he got me hooked. We watched a couple of edits, I first tried all of the cups, and while still sceptical I went to the KROM website that same evening and bought a light blue sunrise kendama. And now I'm here, and it's one of the greatest things I have in my life right now. Now I wish I had played in high school, just because you have A TON of time during that period!
My buddy Connor had one when we were out eating hotwings one night. I tried it out, and won $5 off Connor for catching bottom cup first try. Woo! After that, another buddy named Nick bought a novelty dama online, and we played it a bit. Then another friend and I found TK16s for sale at a Japanese booth during a cultural festival, so we each bought one. Ben was the dude that really pushed me though, him and I would always be in competition for who had the best new tricks!
I stumbled upon kendama completely by accident through Instagram and seen a bmx rider using one. Did some research found where I could get one in Australia and was instantly hooked watching edit after edit until I could afford to buy one a month later. I started in October last year and havent looked back
My brother Alexander. I broke my ankle and he said, "here, you won't be doing much for a while. So do this!"
Cool thread. One of my friends knew a bit about them and told me that I seemed like the kind of weirdo who would be good at it. I bought one on a whim a few weeks later and kept it with me forever.
First I'd ever heard of kendama was through my boyfriend, who dabbles on occasion, but I really got inspired by @Carter Justice. I belive it was around Halloween when I first saw him play and I was absolutely fascinated by it. A week or so later I was attempting to play on my boyfriend's kendama, landed big cup for the first time and was immediately hooked. He let me have that kendama and I've been at it ever since
A few kids at my high school in freshman year were playing with it and i immediately thought of some homies that would dig it, so i got one, showed them, and then.... a lot of things since then.
A kid named Ben always brought his to our school and his best trick was USA, he would brag that he was the best and always would be so everyone would try and beat him. then everyone in the end had one. So later in May my little brother #ethanslays bought a lionhead. From a kendama kiosk about 10 minutes away. It was owned by our good friend (mikey schelling). so on when my brother got his i would always play with it and he would get mad because i would hog it. So I later got on Amazon and bought a Zack Yourd pro model/Yomega plastic (idk which was first) but anyway here I am today!!
Arnd 2 years ago my friend bought a ken for me, and tought me how to play. Started out just playing for fun but got more and more interested after dropping my previous passion and startin to learn more trix as i brought my ken to sch more often
It's ironic how you're receiving all of the hype now as opposed you being the person hyping someone else up.
I was inspired by a college friend, Timmy Jacob, but the moment i became set on pursuing Kendama was when I watched Zoomadanke's Kuma Films edit. At the time, that edit was absolute insanity for me, and I made it a goal to reach their level.
A guy who doesn't even play showed me this thing he got for his birthday. I thought it was cool and he didn't!