What originally drew me to kendama was the positive culture that surrounded it. Lets talk about the most positive experiences that we have had with kendama! Also, what can we do as members of the community to keep kendama positive?
Nice thread. One of my first positive experiences with Kendama was when I moved to Germany. I met a few guys over instagram and youtube that wanted to get together to jam. At that point my German was Scheisse and their English was understandable but still tough for them. We spent hours just jamming and having a good time. That was the first time that I ever jammed Kendama with another person outside the two original people who had kendamas at my university. It still makes me smile that we were able to bond over something so simple. Shoutout to my Cologne homies. Prost!
That is so awesome man! Even though you guys didn't speak the same verbal language, you both spoke the language of kendama. I would love to go to Germany or anywhere outside of the US myself! Traveling is one of my major goals. Hopefully with a minimalistic lifestyle I can fulfill those dreams. Just the thought of being in a new place where nobody speaks your languages gets me excited haha.
The first real "experience" I ever had with kendama was my first meeting to plan my high school graduation - I was homeschooled, so everything had to be planned from scratch and I didn't actually really know any of the people tat I was graduating with. I saw someone walk in with (what I now know was) a purple stripe zen around his neck - I already knew what a kendama was from being in the yoyo scene, but had never known anyone who was good at them. When I saw him with one, I knew I was gonna have to talk to him, and from there things just took off! Even though I'm not a "serious" player by any means, I still love it and the entire community around it. That first interaction was definitely a pretty cool moment in my life.
Bruhh ive had so many positive experiences its unreal. The networking, smiles, lessons learned, through kendama have all been positive and powerful for me. I think some of the most important things to do are remember the essence of kendama. That its not competitive in nature and its all about fun! To be honest, the community is great thus far at keeping things positive. Just keep it up, be conscious of the energy you put out into the community, and spread kendama love! Try to explain a little bit more about kendama than "its a japanese skill toy" when appropriate. Great thread Cob PEACE
Thanks so much for sharing!!! That is an awesome experience for sure. I love how kendama connects people, not only within its own community, but within all the skill games communities. I tried yoyo for a while after I was introduced to kendama and had a lot of fun. Now I mostly play kendama though. Have you ever seen begleri??? That is a string game that I can see being really big soon.
Preach it brother. The kendama community is so lucky to have you. Thanks for putting those ideas to words for us. All of those things are definitely important to keeping the essence of kendama alive.
Kendama is crazy. There have been SO many times I've met someone for the first time, and we just get straight to kickin' it easy without too much initial awkwardness, just because we're both down to jam dama. First time that happened was meeting the WKT guys, in the taco bell parking lot in wenatchee. By the end of the day we were invited to stay with the Winter's family, and now I get to see Zack pretty regularly, and have even visited him while he was in school in Europe. Then we left Wenatchee and crashed a Kengarden battle prep in SF. Then lots of jams in Calgary and Edmonton. Being provided incredible hospitality in Japan, countless times. Meeting up with players in Spain, Poland, and the UK. Being invited to Ruisch's place for dinner with him and Jeff. Spending a 10 hr layover with the Bitter Beans crew, checking out their favourite spots in Taipei city. Hell, Thorny even flew to Canada a few years ago to kick it for a few weeks. If you've never seen him play, then you've missed on of the most low-key OG shredders out there. Kendama was the thing that made that possible. Even at the MKO last weekend, SO many new faces that were stoked to chat and jam. Its pretty amazing how connected kendama culture is. Go internet!
Love how you remember that it was at the taco bell parking lot haha. This thread could be gold. But it would take me a full day to write even half of the experiencesssss. <3
Its a good memory, hopefully doesn't leave me anytime soon. I remember we just jumped straight into some dama nerd stuff, comparing fav kens and brands, all while chowing down on some Tbell. Not much initial awkwardness, it was great. " Then, the SWEAT session in that garden park. Oh man, it was some serious heat-stroke vibes out there that day. HOT
Thanks so much for sharing man! That immediate connection between people who share the love for dama is amazing. I played kendama for a while before I met anyone face to face who played. The first time was actually at the Sol Summer Tour in Pittsburgh. I was so stoked an event that was happening "only" 5 hours away haha. Everyone welcomed me as soon as they saw me and immediately wanted to see my wood burns. I proceeded to jam around everyone and struck up a conversation with this guy who seemed to be around my age. His name is Chris and we are best friends now. Ever since I moved to Pittsburgh for college we have been jamming like every other weekend together. I got to meet the owners of Sol too, which was sick! Chad gifted me an Ash Cups Flow and told me to burn it. I will never forget that act of generosity and kindness. Those guys continue to inspire me and I plan on going to BATB to hang with them again!
Kendama companies didnt seem like they were business rivals or enemies they sold each others' products and makes me feel we are all really bonded as a community. Companies also collaborate to organise events and create ken mods. I feel this is really unique to the kendama community.
I've never yet felt ostracized for being queer or trans in this community (or for possessing a vagina) the way I sometimes have in the yoyo community. I really value that.
Sorry to hear you felt that in the yoyo community, I've seen some of their online discussion get a little vicious before. I've never understood why anyone cares about who or what other people are attracted to. I guess its an artifact of much of western culture being built around the notion of sin. To be straight, I'm sure there are some people out there who play kendama who would give you a hard time, but if they do it publicly I'm confident the greater dama community would have your back. In general, I think its interesting that there is such a difference in 'perceived friendliness' between the communities, I've heard a lot of people mention that yoyo is kinda mean, while dama is very friendly. In my experience, the two games attract different slightly different crowds... in some probably overly blanket-termed sense, yoyoers seem to be more 'nerdy, but I don't know why nerdy = mean. I guess maybe more introversion = more self-righteousness? Of course, I know some wonderful people who yoyo as well. I've had great experiences hanging with guys like Chris Mikulin, Ernest Khan, Patrick Mitchell, Takeshi Kamisoto, Drew Tetz... I really probably could go on for a while. Its unfortunate that with so many awesome people in it, the community has a bit of a bad rep. Fun fact that I (maybe?) shouldn't mention: yoyo online is bad enough that a good portion of their core community exists in a secret hidden forum, built to be a place that people core to the community could hang out and chat. I presume that it was built at least in part due to the 'mean-ness' of some of the other online forums that exist publicly.
A good plan, avoid the trolls! If you ever have the chance to attend a contest, check it out! People are friendlier in person, when they aren't hiding behind a computer screen.
Great topic to have up and running, ill add to it. Last years KWC was the first year i got to attend and travel to japan, it was an incredible experience, seeing people I've met at many other events all in one place was amazing. Not to mention meeting people that I've only known through the community groups and instagram. Adding to that people I've never heard of or met personally. Great experience and great people really make kendama what it is and i hope to continually be apart of it to watch its progression and to help it grow.
I've only had one negative response to kendama since i started playing almost four years ago. A couple of jockey dudes came up to me while I was jamming on the beach and made some comments that don't need to be repeated. Other than that, literally everyone has been open to it. I'm sure most of us have heard "what is that thing around your neck" or "what kind of necklace is that". Whenever anyone asks something like that, they are always interested in what kendama is and why it means so much to us that we would don one on our bodies literally always. I've turned a lot of people on to kendama in the last few years, and that's really what it's all about, IMHO. Spreading the love.