For the most part those in the kendama community have benefitted greatly from the sport. Some people became company owners, some made many friends and even met their spouse. However, as is life, there is a two edged sword at work. So my question is this. "What has kendama taken away from you?" In my case, in certain situations I haven't been taken seriously enough. I've even had some romantic situations fail before they start because they saw the dama first and judge. I don't blame everybody that does this, they haven't seen what kendama is or what can come out of it. I rep kendama hard, so I have taken on the label of an "eccentric hobbyist" (the nicest way to put it) and continue to reap its benefits, but also accept its limitations. Overall I would say I gained more than I lost, since I now have friends all over the world and am even in Japan right now arguably because of kendama. I am curious about what people in this community have dealt with because of kendama. My goal is to show everyone that they aren't alone in the negative aspects as well as the positive ones, and how to cope with them. Kendama isn't always a net positive experience for everyone. Some people quit because of that.So comment on this thread about your experience. I urge this conversation to be serious and reflective, so please respond properly and judge no one for thier responses. I especially want to see pros responses on this, since they have seemed to gained the most out of kendama. So when you comment, please tag another friend or pro who hasn't responded to add thier story.
Sometimes my knees hurt a bit. And I've spent a little too much on kendamas. But both are worth it I think.
Sometimes my friends who don't play get tired of the sound and me always talking about it and tend to ask me to leave it behind
Yeah sometimes my knees hurt and I talk about Kendama a little too much but they aren't deal breakers for me. I mean, the whole reason I got into kendama was because I had to stop skateboarding which was ultimately taking more than it was giving. I kept getting muscle tears and broken bones and concussions and internal organ damage so it was pretty obvious that the costs outweighed the benefits. Kendama seemed like a pretty low risk high reward activity, and I think I was right because it turned out pretty well.
I've got a bit of hardware installed due to skateboarding. Titanium in my ankle, jaw and forearm. I think the only hardware I'd get from kendama is if I swallow a microbead while restringing a setup
I was suppose to use physical therapy to heal from an injury but the whole time I was going through physical therapy I was also playing a lot of kendama and that kept me from healing properly. I would say thats probably the biggest drawback, I have chronic pain because of this. I was also kicked out of a band I helped found because the members thought I was too focused on kendama, which was total BS because even with kendama I played more music than all of them and wrote a large portion of our songs. Shortly after they kicked me out of my own band they split up and now none of them even play music anymore. <Insert slow clap and sarcastic bravo here>
Time. Think a lot of us can agree with that, especially fellow adults/out of school slayers. For those of us who work for a living, it's hard to find a good balance at first between work, kendama, sleep, and (possibly) other social activities that aren't dama related.
Yeah I would say it takes up a lot of my time. I work full time and have many hobbies like making music and skateboarding. I also try to go to the gym 4 times a week and spend time with my gf. It's hard to balance all these things.
I was doing the recumbent bicycle as a warm up since I drive to the gym these days. That frees up my hands to do some cup flow at the gym: moshikame and around the"x" type stuff. What do play? I'm a percussionist with an emphasis on Afro Cuban drums
Kendama has taken Money (obviously), time, other hobbies I really liked, interests, people, and other small things away from me, but I'm working on time management so I think I'll regain most of these back.
I agree! Of course it has taken money out of the "skateboard fund" that existed a year ago before my last accident. In addition, it's taken long term frustration away. The short term still exist (especially now trying my hardest to push this turd out), but now more than ever, I have been a ale to take a step back, breathe, and proceed with further attempts at overcoming frustration. In episode 6 of CLICK CLACK RADIO, there was mention of the grains in the wood being a direct correlation to the age in the wood that we hold in our hands. It's fascinating, exhilarating, and powerful to know that we are bringing life and movement back into the wood that once stood tall and rooted into the ground. Now it flies as high as we let it! From what I can physically see kendama has taken far less than it has given back in return for new life. #PWP