Thanks. I see where you're coming from and that's not what I studied, so fair enough. Getting kendama to schools may have a lot of challenges to overcome, but hasn't Japan already proven it's capable of being inserted into an academic curriculum? Although, I'm not sure that may be what's best for kendama overall.. Yes, you're correct. Although, labrum injuries are common as well.
Challenges that are perfectly capable of being overcome! I do not envy pitchers, all sorts of things can go wrong over time. Crazy stuff.
That probably also has to do with how they were used as well as the respect the students are taught about the sport; they refer to it as "kendama-do" (loosely translated as the way of kendama) kind of like "ken-do" (the way of the sword). It's unlikely they'll be 20 Japanese kids standing around doing Spacewalk variations and you can pretty much bet they won't slam it on the ground after making (or missing) a trick. Most of the tricks they will likely be doing don't have a lot of high velocity floor impact potential. In the Philippines after nearly five years on our shop's floor as demo units most of the original kendama are still playable and only one has been retired after its base cup edge was beat to death. We take them to events and people use them at our workshops/classes as well but full time use in a US school P.E. program would be even tougher on them I think.
I think you're right. Current tricks are much higher impact than the traditional JKA style. Some of the kendamas I've seen in those classroms have some crazy worn down big cups (and bottom cups), I'm guessing its the result of 20 years of moshikame haha.
see so Im in High school right now (currently a sophmore) and I think this would be amazing! it would bring in more people and also make it so id actually have people to play dama with (only person now who plays) this would be the shit and I think you have a great idea...
I work at a school as a physical education/supervisor/instructor and a core curriculum teacher. During breaks the kids challenge me to games of ken and dama. We are playing kendama for this quarter in physical education. In the afternoon I also host a kendama club. Just saying...
We have been going to SHAPE conventions around the country for 2 years now. We have created a curriculum that has worked in a lot of schools across the country. It all depends on the teacher. These two videos show 2 teachers who have gone all in with kendama and it has changed their schools. In the right space with the right people kendama can be an awesome addition to any physical education curriculum
It looks like Sweets is getting their school program out into schools. Looking forward to hearing more about it.
I would love to see this at a more international scale! Visiting all different schools and ages, to really spread the kendama love.