Has kendama reached a point of plateau in terms of trick progression? Sure, you have people like Bonz Atron, Yosuke Abe (aka Aventiss), Ben Herald and Adrian Esteban pushing the possibilities of kendama play. However, aside from those outliers, I feel like people are just trying to raise the bar on the tricks they already know (e.g. more juggles, more kenflip rotations, more taps, landing on bird instead of straight on spike, etc.). Corollarily, I feel like every kendama player comes to a point where they just feel like they aren't progressing anymore and are just going through the motions. Have you reached that point? If ever, do you try to break through it or are you content to stay at that level? Just a bit of a rant on my end. Leave thoughts in the thread!
Evolving, constantly evolving. The only limit is your imagination. Plateaus are just pauses on an endless climb up a mountain with no summit.
Honestly, I don't think so. Sure, a lot of tricks nowadays are still on the jug, tap, kenflip theme, but I also see a ton of innovation. Take Teo from grain theory as an example. He takes new gen stuff, and changes it into something new and creative, which is really inspiring. There are plenty of guys that I see innovating, so I don't at all think kendama has plateaued
"Surely there aren't that many new tricks that haven't been thought of yet" - most kendama players since like 2013
I’ve definitely plateaued but I’m ok with that. I haven’t been putting the time into learning new tricks like I used to but getting married and having a kid does that. I’m content just playing when I get the chance.
Well first, I think your list of outliers is too short lol!! Ben herald, Rod, Kaito, Dwesty, and a dozen others should have been listed, in my opinion lmaoo. I see what you are saying though, it might feel that way because the game has just gotten so advanced in the past 7-8 years. I think its always changing! The jug, slinger, tap, quick lighthouse meta is definitely really taking over right now though.