I live in Murfreesboro, TN. There is absolutely no kendama here, besides me. So this last weekend I gave away 6 of my damas to friends and kids. I have been wanting to start some kind of a club to spread kendama here, I just have no clue what to do. I'm just looking for some helpful ideas. Any advice is good advice. Thank you!
I would probably just get a phone number list or email list and try to get people together once a week. That is where I would start, playing with other people will get those new players advancing and wanting to play more. Find out a day when the most people are usually free and shoot for that. Maybe have random meet ups too, even if it is just two or three people playing it will grow from there. Plan it and they will come. Food, drinks and music are also a major plus. I wouldnt make it too rigid to begin with, just try to have fun.
Try hitting up KUSA or sweets. When my friend started our kendama club during the senior year of high school, he reached out to a smaller kendama company that he was sponsored by.
Make it fun for n00bs. Like, whoever can hit the most moshikame wins one of your old kendamas. That way you can force them to progress and spread the love
I've been doing that with a bunch of kids at my elementary school. But instead of damas it's stickers and stuff. The best two companies that I reached out to were Sol and krom actually. Kendamausa requires some stuff to be filled out which isn't difficult and sweets has so far sucked at customer service. I have like 20- 30 kids with parents who will buy anything that stops there kids from playing video games, but they still haven't responded once.
I guess for starters, try doing some meetups/jams weekly if anyone is available. that way you can see how much they have grow & it's pretty much of an assessment of how did it affect their life. Also try make jams engaging like making an edit. Before, seeing myself in an edit really drive me to engage more to kendama. Right now im pretty much kinda off & trying to do catch ups whenever i can, but never in one day that i miss do anything kendama related,even just playing it for a bit making goony tricks. Kidding aside, one last thing if you ever make your club, is make it fun & interesting so more people can join you & try out kendama themselves
Not sure when or who you tried to contact but they've been really supportive to us in the past. If you tried to contact them in the last couple of months it might have fallen through the cracks since they were doing a big move about a month ago IIRC.
This!! Getting giveaways and whatever from companies is cool, but that's not the point. You've gotta be the event coordinator, make a plan for dama jams and stick to it. Post about it everywhere you think there might be people interested in checking it out. Playing dama is fun. Just get out there and rep. Even if only a couple homies show up, you can still have a sweet time
I've got a magic ritual for you, guaranteed to get all the homies to your event. Get TJ's promod, a bottle of coconut water, and a bag of trail mix. Lay them all out of a bench, rock, or tree stump. Take a picture, put it on IG and tag him. Lace a stuntplane > handroll to lighthouse > surface spin. He should roll up to you within the next 5 minutes, bringing the entire hype train with him. or just get your friends interested and give it time. The six people you gave it to may bring in 2 or 3 more, and that's how communities grow! I would recommended meeting up outside where others can you see play, most people won't care but the one or two who stop by might join in. Good luck!
Thank you so much for the help. Planning and things of that nature are not my strong suit, I'm going to have to work on it. Murfreesboro is a college town so I know there will be some people into it. I should probably start playing in public more. Now I need to name the club and get this going. I'm too excited
Im sure if you just start playing with a few people it will grow from there. And believe it or not Tennessee is actually a good state for kendama as there is Battle at the Border each year and you also have RWB in Chattanooga. I would maybe hit them up and see if they have any ideas on how to rep your state.
I live about an hour away from Chattanooga, I really want to pick up my grain theory in person when I order one. However, I don't think such a thing is possible. I was super excited for the last battle at the border but we got snowed in and didn't make it. Nothing is going to stop me next time.
I’m reading this thread because I would like to start a ken club at the high school I work at. Just wondering how it went for you last year? How many students did you have? Did you do any events/competitions?