Do you get self conscious when jamming in public?

Well, it really depends on the situation. If I'm around with people that I know or I'm familiar with the place, I don't mind playing alone.
I only get anxious when I'm not that much familiar with the place & im surrounded by couple total strangers(cause there might be stranger danger XD hahaha). But dama wise, if people are engaging & want to try/ask kendama I respond.

 

I do, Kendama has died off about a year ago where I used to live, and now when everybody sees it they're always like, " You still play with that thing? What a loser." That's why I'm self conscious about playing in my city, so I go to SanJoSlays held by the boi @Ben Herald

 

Hell no! I love it! If someone is staring I'll kinda stare back at em for a sec, and if they ask, hang out for a minute, and seem really interested I'll usually gift them one proving i have a beater on me! (I usually carry a couple for this reason) I don't have many people to jam with out here in South Florida, so me spreading the dama love is the only way to try to grow the scene, and word of mouth/people stopping and asking, "What is that?" is one of the most effective ways to get people involved!

 

I do sometimes. However, recently I found that if you start doing it more often, over time you'll become less self conscious about it. Its actually a really cool feeling to meet new people and show them Kendama. I just always wish that I had a bag of damas, and when someone inquires about Kendama and I show them it, I could just give them one to keep.

 

SoFlo represent! There's some jammers in palm beach and martin county for sure. I'll be back home in Jupiter by the end of the year.

 

I have a performer's background, so I usually don't get too nervous, but I also do my best to play in areas where there aren't many people around or I just try to stay away from the main flow of people (I don't wanna get in other people's way). I still get onlookers and people who will stare/watch, but usually it's never because they want to say something rude, it's more often that they've never been exposed to kendama.

Speaking of rude, it's crazy to me that so many of you have people come up to you being negative about it. The only negative comments I ever get are from family members (go figure). At least with them I can say something snarky to shut them up without conflict.

 

I always play on the way home, on the train as its mostly not crowded and i have nothing to do at that time. People keep staring at me and sometimes they judge me saying kendama is so last year. Once someone even took a vid of me lol( idk if tats gd or bad). Sometimes a nice dude comes over and says stuff like practice makes perfect. I have adapted to being stared at tho and jus smile back.

 

I got that way before now I just don't care what ppl think. I do get the occasional glances or sometimes people come up to me interested, saying good job, or hey I have that I can't do that. It can be a conversation starter as of lately I noticed that I've been playing in public.

 

People always give me mad props for my kendama skills. I love playing in public for this reason! I love seeing people get stoked.

 

I feel like I use my knees less in public places. Like I want to make it look casual and not like I'm drenched in sweat trying to lace something no one understands haha

 

In public spaces (bar, tavern, pub, brewery), I keep my tricks pretty simple. At a park I tend to grind a little more so. I'm doing this thing lately of pushing my daughter in her stroller around the neighborhood in one hand and dama in the other.

 

Agree with a lot of your thoughts on this. I have had people say things like "did you watch the game last night," and when I respond "no I was filming kendama," or something to that effect, it is always met with weird looks and head nods as they say "oh, okay...cool."

Anyway, in public I don't really care. I have had people be stoked more times than they have been negative. I have definitely felt the judging eyes or received the comments of someone who just doesn't understand but overall its never been a major problem. When I am grinding a trick on film I never usually notice if anyone is watching, the hone zone becomes real.

 

I think that most of the time i get the dirty stares is just "wtf is that". Many people have no idea what kendama even is and when you're jamming and someone just looks at you (especially in airports) it kinda throws me off.

 

I jam in public a lot. I don't really mind being watched by other people, but I make it a point to not hit anyone watching or passing by.

 

i always play when i have to walk somewhere (which is all the time), so i dont really think about it anymore, especially not now when i dont suck anymore haha. Sometimes if im waiting for a train or bus etc. and theres a lot of people i still get a bit shy tho haha, so i tend to just do some juggle and balance stuff

 

I am a little self conscious when I'm playing kendama but my love of kendama far outweights the negative thoughts. I will however say that the business I am in kinda frowns on things like that. I work on the pipeline so I pretty much cant play around my coworkers because I would be heavily ridiculed. When we have downtime though I will often pick up some rocks and put on a little juggling show for the guys, they seem to be alright with that. I wouldnt bring a kendama on the right of way though, not only would it get really dirty but I would likely be run off if my forman saw me playing with a wooden toy.

There were a couple of journeymen training under me who got into it though, showed them kendama as a drinking game and they thought it was way better than beerpong or kings cup, which it TOTALLY is.

 

Watch out for Tiger Woods!!!