As the title says, I am an intermediate player but I cannot juggle at all. I can do lunars, lighthouse flips, whirlwinds, birds, all sorts of ken flips, and other intermediate tricks but there is one thing I cannot do. I cannot juggle AT ALL. I have spent more time trying to juggle than I have any other trick. Whenever I try to juggle, I bend up, wait for the tama to reach it's peak, flip the ken, tap it, but I can never catch the ken. If I do end up catching the ken, it is always in the wrong position and if it is in the right position, the tama is always low near the end of the string so I don't have time to catch it in the cup. It is really frustrating me. Any help?
Hold the tama in your off hand and practice the slow kenflip toss in your primary hand in order to get a feel for it. Try to do it in the same rhythm you would be using when doing an actual juggle too.
Learning to basic 3 ball juggle really helps as well, helps you learn how to keep multiple thing in the air at the same time and is easier than juggling with a kendama to start out
Take it easy, don't be jittery about it. Kendama players are used to doing a trick when the ball is at its highest point; for juggling, you have to unlearn that reflex. Throw the ken up for kenflip when the Tama is on its way down. Get a feel for it first: -Pull the Tama up, -Wait for the tama to come down -As the tama gets to your palm, throw the ken up for your kenflip (slow and high is the way to go here) -As the ken completes the kenflip, throw the tama up -Catch in Big Cup. Just keep it slow first, no need to run before you can learn how to walk. P.S. @goenKendama and other mods, I think we can move this to the Beginners forum.
Definitely true, it's important for the tama to be falling when you toss the ken rather than for the tama to be at its apex, as you'd do in most tricks. When learning to juggle, you also need to get yourself mentally okay with dropping your kendama. For me it always comes in stages. When I was learning late kens, I had to tell myself that as long as I could catch my late ken then even touch the tama on its way back down, I was making progress. So for you maybe step one will be to practice pulling up, tossing the ken, then giving the tama a controlled toss upwards. Even if you're not catching the ken yet, you're setting yourself up for success and just drilling that muscle memory in.
Have you watched the Sweets tutorial for juggles? The technique they show you really helps with learning to re-catch the ken
@lando4commando @Emil Apostol We do have a number of "how to" threads over in Beginner's but this would have probably worked in either location since it's not a 'beginner's' trick really. Anyway thanks for the heads-up and while you guys are over here you might pop in to some of the other "how to" threads and offer any tips you might have.
I learned by flipping the ken in my dominant hand and then while it’s in the air I would tap the tama that is in my off hand. Then I would catch the ken. I would consider watching Cooper Eddy’s Sweets tutorial it really helped me.