speaking of Ben Herold at KWC, when is he gonna win a world championship? Maybe he'll grab a catch and flow dub this year.
I think the main reason it cut it that close, was because the sarado is SUPER wide and thick in the BH mod. Some people said he bent the KWC box. haha
Can you imagine how the game would look like if the only damas to compete with HAD to be JKA standards only? Sure wouldn’t be able to do the tricks with those as we see today. (Yes, I know there’s another post about this)
The newer shapes definitely make it easier. I wouldn't say that it'd be impossible to do all these new gen tricks on 'standard' shaped damas. The bigger cups/bigger size/sticky paint make it easier for sure to land tricks like lunars and birds and the size helps with slingers and flips, but doesn't mean that Ozoras and other kendamas that aren't the plus size or bigger cup setups are incapable of the same tricks. Most, if not all of these tricks were already in circulation before Sweets Prime and Krom Slaydawgs.
...and EVERY competition from 1975-2013. It was the release of the Musou which led to GLOKEN introducing the box at the World Cup in ‘14 which subsequently led to the introduction of that rule at other competitions and the creation of more “plus sizes” leading to imbalance between sizes of kendama being used in competition (hey you can all competed but spend 50 euros on a slaydawg first so you can have an equal chance of fair success) American competition was never as scarcity as the JKA, but before the release of the Musou competition sizes damas were all the same size anyway. Your statement may may be true in most cases but we are currently disregarding almost 40 years of building by the JKA. Would you be playing kendama if the JKA didn’t exist? I think everyone should respect them more and I think we should start with tightening up size rules in all competitions
I 100% agree with everything you pointed out, except changing the size rules. Then people like me who have grown to love Plus sized damas would have wasted a lot of money making the perfect setup (GTKA maple ken x slaydawg tama. don't argue. Its a fact) Also now that these size rules apply, it is hard to push people back, but a lot easier to push forward.
It’s not that difficult to change a rule in competition. You just need to tell people in advance rather than on the day. People will follow if it is compulsory. I’m not telling people to stop using them, I just think we should tighten up on competition I’ve been playing for over 5 years and remember when I saw people doing lunar flips back in 2012 and everyone had to do it on a standard JKA size (and mostly without tacky paint). When you watched a video or a competition you knew exactly how difficult something wasn’t because you were playing with the same conditions. Yes, changing how people with biggies will not ever go away (heck I own two Musous and a slaydawg and have filmed with all of them) it at the very least allows us to see what is possible with the toy and lets us see some pretty cool stuff in edits. It’s just when we have to regulate who is better (ie a competition setting), I don’t think the prop you use should be a factor. ....and don’t get me started on string length. 3 fingers MAX please!
I was only giving examples of current competitions and events, not previous. I'm not saying that I'm an expert at kendama history, nowhere near it. I understand where you're coming from, I love my Ozoras and more 'standard' sized damas and we definitely wouldn't be where we are with kendama without them, but the companies that are putting out all these new gen damas and the pro players and those that support them are pushing the game far beyond what players 40, even just 4 years ago could have ever conceived. Besides, paying more for a Slaydawg isn't going to give you an edge if you still can't land a trick especially on stage. And like you said, American/Western competition isn't as scarce as JKA, but the JKA and American competitions are too widely different to regulate to the same standards. Even the American competitions are different between each one. Personally, I don't think that all these new innovations that are becoming the new norm to kendama aren't taking away from what the 'old standard' set for players. In fact, I see just as many Japanese players who enjoy playing with Primes, Pops, and Slaydawgs as Western players. In the link below it even states that because the JKA was regulated by one school of thought it basically prevented players at the time from branching out and using more imaginative ways to approach kendama, and that now includes the new shapes and sizes of kendamas we're seeing today. https://www.gloken.net/en/history/201505010101/ We can't push the limits of kendama if we restrict ourselves to limits set 40 years ago. Don't get upset because people are buying and competing with Slaydawgs and Craft Pluses, be happy that they're spending their time and effort to support the game and that there are that many less people to compete with buying the standard sized damas.
First off, I’m British and have been competing at the BKO since 2014. This competition happens to the longest running outside of Japan. The first was in 2008 and all the way until 2016 we were only allowed to use standard sizes (it only changed because we got a new organiser who hadn’t been playing for as long as Void). The UK is a Western country, so to say that ALL western countries are not supportive of the JKA is false. Now for an analogy. I am an Ice Hockey fan. Now wouldn’t it be strange if in one match, the goalie from my home team (Swindon Wildcats - plug plug!) used a stick just a centimetre bigger than it should be. The big stick becomes a bit of a trademark for us so the League introduces a slightly bigger maximum size abs it doesn’t make a huge difference for anyone. This would lead to every other team being forced to invest in bigger sticks just to keep it all fair. Swindon becomes sad that their trademark is now the norm, so our goalie goes even bigger again. Now when does this stop? Imagine if the goalies ended up with doors to defend themselves with. Just covering the entire goal. Matches would no longer be about who is the better team. Would these door-stick matches be fun? Yes, teams would have to invest in new members who can try and beat the goalies bloody to send them and their substitute off and it would be very entertaining. But not proof on who is better, but who is the toughest and can source the right people. Not truely demonstrating who is the better team. So with the Muso being bigger and then those Crafts being bigger than that, where do we stop with kendama? Tiny electro magnets we can control at will? Would they be our goalie’s door-stick? That being allowed in one competition would lead it to being used in others. But like those hypothetical hockey matches, they would be fun to use and still require some skill (like trying to source the right team and instate better tactics). My point of all this is that, we have already begun this process of changing up what is considered standard and we are not being truely equal when testing who is better. You say we have improved more in the last 4 years than in 40. I think the internet helped here. It really wasn’t popular until Colin started putting out edits (don’t forget Matt Nix, or Van Rasta, or Void!). People have more inspiration now than they did in 2007. People also improve, I can do double lunar flips on an Ozora just like I can on a Musou - edit worthy material back in 2012. I am better than I was and that can be proved by using a kendama I was using back then. You mention that the JKA restrict people, well look at the all-Japan trick list from earlier this year or the Tokyo Grand Prix tricklist, I’m most definitely noticing more World-Cup style tricks in there than I was. In JKA sanctioned competitions! Tricks and styles change, just because one person has a huge-ass hole in there base cup doesn’t suddenly give them a different playing style reserved for a more GLOKEN and ‘western style’ of play Is it fun using bigger kendama? Yes, but I can’t forget that I am just making it easier for myself. Bigger kendamas are easier. Don’t kid yourself
Just wondering, are natties allowed in the JKA? If so, I don't need anything more than a good ol' nattie oozora to slay tricks...
Natties are good to go in JKA. Just make sure to get the approved ones. ________________________________________________________ Now, coming to the ever changing size of damas, it is my opinion that these newer sizes popped up, to better fit the larger hands of the Western players. I believe this is a welcome change (i have bigger hands than the Asian norm), but as @Rob puts it, there must be a line where it stops getting bigger. I would say the threshold ends at the Slaydawg size, no more. As for tama coats and string lengths, each has its fair share of advantages and disadvantages (as with the sizes), and i think it’s hardly an issue for events. As for the max of three fingers string length, it really depends on the player him/herself. I'm close to 190 cm tall, and i myself prefer four fingers, in favour of a slower tempo of play, and to match my height better. 4.5 - 5 finger lengths should be the max for competitions. Some wiggle room should be given, but again, there has to be a limit. Now, for yet another car analogy. Let's look into Formula 1, where FIA does a really good job at standardizing what a car should look like, but race teams always look towards better ways to incorporate designs in ways that do not breach the regulations. This article is a very good example of such differences in changes. Every change has a good advantage and similarly, a disadvantage. In parallel to the kendama world, coats and natties have their own strengths/weaknesses, string lengths can dictate the play tempo of a person, etc. But what matters is the regulations that come into effect. And this is what i hope the WKA can execute. Despite seeming a hinderance to the progression of kendama, the JKA actually has it right, to keep to a certain standard in competitions. After all, this is done to purely test the players abilities, and that could only be achieved through regulations. However, i think that the JKA should also account for the changes in the scene; more Western players are now embracing kendama, and as i mentioned earlier, the JKA size might not be great for the Western anatomy (larger hands), so there needs to be an update on the kendama size as well. This is not to say the JKA hasn’t done anything to accommodate new styles and trick elements - they’ve done a great job at expanding their trick set in recent JKA events (they've incorporated many Western trick elements), and it is my hope that i’d be able to use a Slaydawg sized JKA dama in an event some day.
Good job haha. This is something that I was concerned about when I first joined DS. I started a forum “Kendama Handicap” about wether people thought mods we making tricks easier and stuff like that. I always had people supporting the mods and not standing up for limitations.
The creation of the Krom Viking was exactly that, to fit the hands of bigger players (since the standard was made for the average Japanese player). We definitely cant continue playing by the same rules however long ago with so many adaptations and innovations that have happened in kendama, especially the last few years. And like you said, if the JKA is making the effort to accomodate these same changes it’s just a matter of time until we see a newer, more solidified standard of kendama size (at least for JKA use).
Actually the secondary reason (i believe the first reason to not be entirely true) is that it’s easier to do tricks on stage, and offers better visibility.
Does anyone have a size comparison of tall boy, lbb, and viking? I believe (small to large) it is lbb, tall boy, viking, but I am not so sure by how much. I recently copped an LBB from Terra on cyber monday. Pretty hyped.
Don't have pictures, but the tall boy is 8% bigger, lbb is 10% bigger, and I believe that vikings are about 16% bigger (I did math for that one, I haven't seen that anywhere btw)