i just got my first natty (kaizen 2.0 craft maple) and was wondering, how you guys think of the easier to play damas like the slaydawgs which have sticky paints and bigger holes for easier catching. *** UPDATE: The DS Staff has updated the thread title, with "bigger cups," to more accurately reflect content and make it easier to find with the Search function. (OP has been contacted.)
I like sticky paint but not so sticky that I cant adjust my lighthouses. Definitely like big bevels, realy gd for spikes and stalls. Is your kaizen craft hole big? I feel like gettin a kaizen craft or slim
i feel like the hole of the kaizen is just regular size. the bevel on my krom rosadama is definitely bigger (as correctly stated on the krom website)
Skippy tamas and smaller bevels make tricks harder, making you a better player. I've always thought that using 'easier' damas takes away from the fun and challenge of kendama
Sticky paint is what got me on the sweets team LMAO, but seriously sticky paint is a tool that can help you get tricks and in no way is it cheating or "too far" in my opinion. Bigger holes are also just a tool that can help you get tricks as well, but for instance lunar tac is taking it a bit too far. Making birds and lunars seem seem less and no effort needs to be put in to get a banger. Just my thoughts
I like to use sticky paint to get new tricks down and if I'm trying to lace a banger, but when I'm just playing around I use a natty. Using a natty helps my balance on tricks like LH flip or lunar flip, so when I go to sticky paint it's that much easier. I personally love wider bevels, there's obviously a certain point where it's ridiculous, but it makes stilt tricks much easier
There is a sort of 'sweet spot' for playability with the tama hole size. Too large might make a couple stalls easier, but it's terrible for other tricks. The same sorta goes for super sticky paint. Too much, and tricks tip over. You can film some crazy tricks and just hope they slam into place, but if you have to play in person with someone else it'll be obvious that you're just hucking and praying it'll stick. No finesse involved. I like super playable damas, but if you can't rip hard tricks on a tk16 you're only cheating yourself.
Do you think players that start today are potentially at some kind of disadvantage if they just play the newer "playable" kendamas and don't spend a LOT of time with TKs like the early players were more or less FORCED to?
I think they're fun. Besides 1 pro clear and 1 KUSA silk in my collection, the only tamas I have are either natty or glossy. My slaydawg is the only one that feels sticky in my hand and is probably the most grippy tama I have. Bigger holes are also fun but to a certain extent. It's way easier for me to bird with a Stodd mod tama than it is with a TK tama, but I still like to be able to know that I can bird on both. Sticky paints and bigger holes are fun, but like other people said. If you can't do the things you do with a sticky kendama on a slippery kendama, you're just cheating yourself/taking the challenge out of kendama. On another note, the maple 2.0 is a good natty! Great for getting your lunars honed
In some ways, yea. I've seen a lot of newer players that can do some REALLY crazy, flashy tricks, but then can't land around bird consistently. Players who have been in it longer pretty much always have a way better set of foundational skills, even if the newer players can land bang-ier tricks. Part of it is just trick progression too, and the resources that are available to learn from. When I started, lunar flip, or stilt flip was like the pinnacle of dama play. We had to figure out the nuances ourselves. So more playable damas + a different meta game have resulted in a different trickset. I guess once some of the newer players have been in it 5+ years, they'll probably have a good foundation too, and perhaps an even more advanced one than current 'old players' have!
Great forum topic! It's really cool to see kendama change over the years. When I started playing over 6 years ago, the only kendamas that were around were Japanese brands and Sunrise. Sourmash was the first person that I am aware of that introduced paint with a "stick" or "tack" to it. Slowly but surely, companies began producing kendamas with grippy paint. Now, anyone can purchase a kendama with sticky paint. There are several different brands, sizes, and paint types available. Like @Parker Johnson mentioned above, it has changed the game for several people. It's opened up many doors, and I think kendama as a sport has adapted to sticky paint. If everyone can use it, I don't see it as cheating or as a disadvantage. If catching a kendama is easier because of a new shape or size, maybe that's the direction kendama needed to take! @htimSxelA also mentioned the "sweet spot" for playability with these kendamas. A larger bevel may make birds and stilts easier, but lighthouses and lunars may become more difficult as well. If the paint is too sticky, lighthouses and lunars might catch and prevent adjustment. If you have too slick of paint then you'll be working very hard to balance out a lighthouse. It's a balance!
All depends on what you're looking to get out of Kendama. Most people that find their to this forum will be homogeneous, I imagine (those who take Kendama seriously and aim to improve their skills). However, I am around some players that use it simply as a coping strategy- a way to focus on something other than what's upsetting them, and they don't need the progression side of it. They need to relax and focus on feeling succesful with cup tricks. So, I have no problem with super sticky paint or glassy tks. I would hope that the super sticky paint makes it into more new players hands, and that is their entry point, easy, and then they can choose from there how they would like to play. Kendama is what you need from it, and that can vary from time to time, location, mood, etc. there is no wrong way to play Kendama imo. There is also no perfect dama for everyone.
Sticky is not necessarily better than icy or rubber. Large bevels aren't necessarily better than small ones. Sticky paint sacrifices adjustability and cup flow for lunars and boarders Large bevels sacrifice lighthouses for endless spikes and birds.
I like everything. Kinda depends on the day as to what I feel like playing. I usually gravitate to natty or gloss though. I feel like I have to be more precise with a sticky tama because I cant adjust as well. Also cup flow isn't as fun with sticky