Which kendamas do you think are best at certain tricks and why? For example, I think that the Krom B-day is the best at lunars because it has a large sarado with sticky LOL paint and a drilled base cup. I think it is even better than the give a dama at lunars. I think that REZ kens are the best at one turn tricks because they pull up so straight and perfect, when they swing up they are almost as straight and level as a kenflip. It also has the perfect spike to stick one turn stilts. Which kens do you think are excellent for particular tricks?
Man whenever I want to do stalls my terra LBB white ash is the one for me. It's great for handle stalls, birds, and stilts
My give a dama has insane loon balance. I may need to try a drilled base cup dawg and see if it can hang.
My favorite paint all around is super broken in pro-clear, I have an old Van-Reeven tama that has the perfect ratio of stick/slip. for kens, I'd say best all around is a maple F3 for me, I spent the most time on F3's I guess if you were to add up all my play time. Playing on an F3 again just brings back some old muscle memory perhaps.
Not just different tools for different tricks but for different jobs. Kind of like tools in a toolbox, no one just carries screwdrivers. I'm partial to JKA, F3, or most of the standard size/shape kens for stalls particularly ring stall, handle stall, etc. For me bigger cups mess with the relationship to the center line of the ken. e.g. the bigger base cup changes the tilt I have to hold and they don't always settle in on landing as easily. I also tend to hold the sarado rather than the ken for those stalls so there's that too. For tamas, general purpose aTack paint is my favorite and for natties Keyaki, Red Elm, and bamboo. In humid climates like the Philippines they all really respond to the moisture in the air or on your hands; bamboo not as much though. For two handed (2 kendama) the Catchy Air is my go-to along with a matched set of NG HG Sweets. The Air is routinely within a few grams of each other out of the box, that plus identical string length and balance abilities makes ambi tricks a lot easier. For me learning new tricks, particularly stalls and nods, clocks, etc. I often use Jumbo sized (24cm) kendama to figure them out then translate what I learn to a standard kendama. For performance or demonstrations on stage the Kenzilla size (34cm - 1.5Kg) kendama is great for being seen though it can be evil when you miss. For teaching newbies, heavier kendama like the bamboo composite ~200g kendama, Jumbos, and Taisei are really good. Heavier weight slows them down to help dial in their fine motor control, same with the bigger cups on the Jumbo or Taisei.
Grain theorys for undirbirds and axe. The aynedter mod specifically is ultra honed for that type of tech
Broken-in pro clear damas from Sweets for leanhouse. I think I have an old Sweets Architect that's pretty honed for them, so I might try to get one soon. Yumu Eclipse, KROM Pop, and Sweets Prime/Next Gen HG: good for any stall, especially for axe/cliffhanger combos and/or wing Old TKs: Great for just training muscle memory on certain balance tricks Old F2 Focus kens: great for slingers from the three that I've had due to all of them being base cup heavy. The only exception I'm making is the 2014 pro mods because for some reason, my Ruisch mod was the first kendama I could fully lunar on.
Fortress ricesplit for stalls and slingers. Two step cup rims + wide bevel + this bevel angle makes a great kendama for wings and all other stall tricks. About slingers. I just feel that they stuck on your finger and don't want to go away also sweets next gen is Hella great for gunslingers
One that comes to mind are the Zens from Kendama Co. They were always honed for slingers. Ozoras and TKs as well. For me, REZ is the lunar master, but I've never played a birthday before. GTs for bats. Especially with a raw ash tama. It just locks right in and makes eclipse tricks a breeze