From Jero, My friendship with Jake began just before the time of the first ever KenGarden battle. (Technically KenDoppler at the time haha) Jake had recently bought his first Kendama at one of our SF retailers, and he wanted to throw a Kendama party. KUSA jumped on board to sponsor the party, and the rest was history. In the following years, Jake grew to become one of the most influential Pro’s in the game with a truly amazing mix of talents. He has a uniquely individual play-style, a genuine passion for teaching Kendama and hosting events, an insane eye for photo and video, world class editing skills, hype behind the mic, and a restless creative energy that has fueled countless amazing projects. Since an amazing celebration at DamaFest so many years ago, Jake has been a shining example of what a true professional Kendama player is. His contributions have made an undeniable impact not just on Kendama USA, but for Kendama as a whole. His efforts have truly spanned across the globe, and it’s been incredible to see what actually grew from a seed in the Kengarden. Just like you never want summer to end, there always comes a bittersweet day that brings us into the next season. Although today Jake is stepping away from the KUSA Pro Team, he will be celebrated forever as a part of the KUSA Legacy. Jake, we love you and wish you nothing but the best on these new chapters of your life unfolding with your move, your family, and with GT. This is not a goodbye, or an ending, but simply another step forward in this crazy journey. We will continue to be excited for the next projects we collaborate on together, and we can’t wait to see what you will create next. Much Love. Much respect. #KusaFam4Life
Damn this is wild. Jake was the most visible pro to me right when I started playing. I'll be unendingly hyped if we get a GT Wiens mod. I'd be super curious to know what went on behind the scenes here. Have other pros "stepped down" like this in the past?
When Kendama Co went down there were a ton of people stepping down but that was before we found out what was going on behind the scenes. GT has potentials to be a big contender this year if they start releasing Kendamas that are affordable and readily available (potentially going away from their small batch concept???). Idk just something to think about. For people that aren’t into collecting and like quality over quantity, companies like RWB and GT are products I’ve grown to respect and will continue to purchase from them even if the price is 2 or 3 times more expensive.
What was going on behind the scenes at KendamaCo? I’m so out of the loop on the who’s who in the world of kendama companies and legends. I thought Wiens owned KUSA. I thought he had a pro mod from his own company like Sweets. I know Jake owns GT and his brother owns RWB. I wouldn’t have known that the Sol Shape was designed at RWB if Chad hadn’t told me himself. Where do you guys learn about these things?
Sometimes from the people themselves and sometimes from others. For example, I can tell you that GT is doing some big things in the next coming months. Helps to live close to the players lol This was honestly the 2nd most shocked I've been in the kendama realm, first being what happened with the Co. Jake is a huge inspiration to a lot of people, myself included, so it's a big change to see him leave KUSA. Excited to see what's in store for the future with Grain Theory tho!
I definitely can't wait to see what's in store with GT and all the energy and focus Jake will be bringing to it. Also, now there's a slot on the KUSA pro team that everyone will hope Haley will fill!
Big moves in the dama world! Hyped for Jake, he has a lot of big things coming up in his life over the next little while. We’ve had a ton of great times working together, and I’m sure there will be more to come. I’ll always remember the first time we met, when Kristin and I crashed the pre-party for a kengarden battle at 1314. We spent the night building a rad little art/garden area in the back, at the time I never would have imagined the depth of friendships we forged that night (not just with Jake, but Rice, Mash, and some others too). Funny how things work out!
I personally feel like GT should maintain their core concept of Small Batch, Big Idea. If manufacturing overseas ever happens, I feel like that ruins Grain Theory's main concept. Mainly, I always looked to GT for the highest quality, premium products. If they started making standard made kendamas, they wouldn't stand out as much, and would also probably lead to a decrease in making the high quality products that we all love. Also, there are enough companies out there that just manufacture overseas, but not enough that have the core concept of quality in their name. Newer companies like Fortress Kendama seem like they are doing good because of their uniqueness, but other new companies that just act like the rest, quickly die out. Grain Theory has been unique, and true to their origins for a long time, and it has still been working, and players like me LOVE their products. Making the batches bigger could help relieve the stress of the players who are worried about missing the drop (RIP me and my Cookie Monster KA that I missed) But Grain Theory needs to maintain their quality. Also covering a GT pro mod for Jake (GT-JW I guess) would be interesting, but not necessarily the best first move. When Sweets made a pro mod for his own company, it was a similar thing, just self-promotion. Sometimes it works, and other times it could be taken very wrong. I would love to see more improvements from GT soon. One thing I think would be cool is a GT-2, and GT-2.5 to update the original 1, and 1.5. These could sport bigger cups, and modifications to the swords to keep up with the competition. If that doesn't happen, I wouldn't mind, because GT has some of the most unique shapes already, from their classic shapes to their pro mods. Lets keep this #gtlife coming!
I hope that KUSA makes a dama to commemorate Jake leaving the pro team and KUSA itself because the loss of Jake from the company will be a bit hard to get used to. Still, I'm excited to see what Jake will be doing with GT next. Maybe his v4 tama will come on more kens coming out of GT, who knows. All I know is that Jake is ready to make kendama better in any way possible.
Moving on but not moving away from kendama. Sounds like a lot of good things coming down the pike. Good luck to Jake and GT, looking forward to the newnew.
I doubt they would move away from US made. Wouldn’t you think they would like to make their Kendamas more readily available though and impact the global market? Sure the supply and demand might be different once supply is higher but look at Krom and Sweets. They’re DOMINATING the newer markets like Romania, Israel, Germany, etc. Now’s the chance to really go into that market and make an impact. This is probably going to happen within the next couple of months (maybe during Sakura Classic or KWC?). I’m just hoping their don’t go overboard with the boosted cups though.
To everyone who has posted, Jake has stated that, as (co)owner of Grain Theory, he will not be making a GT pro mod for himself. He's going to put all his energy into supporting the GT players; the pros, the prospects, and the flow members. And, nearly all the GT ken shapes are designed in part by him anyways. (he also said I have to fight for the empty spot on the KUSA team lmao)
But now this means that Jake's first and only pro mod will never be made or released again...JERO, PLEASE MAKE SOMETHING TO COMMEMORATE JAKE'S KUSA LEGACY