I'm very glad I learned ken grip underbirds and candlestick variations. Those are some of my favorite tricks
I am currently super into single and double taps. I can't quite get them consistently, but when you do the feeling is unrivaled. I can't quite figure out how to docstilt flips and I find them super frustrating.
Fav: Cold Pizza variations Least: hanging spikes. Learned some stuff for a ladder battle and never touched them again after the comp. it just requires a bit too much "setup" for what I like.
Mannn i love spacewalks. Took me some time to get a hold of it, but it's so satisfying once i nailed it. Plus, looks really sexy to non kendama players. Stuff i hate? Juggles and multiple turntables. Could never get the motions right. Also, back in 2014, i hated whirlwinds. It seemed so hard, i just didn't want to try them. Until one day, i went down to Singapore for a speed ladder jam and one of the tricks were whirlwind. Came back from the event, telling myself i had to learn it. Turned out great!
Agree with @azleonhart above about spacewalks, and lightning drops too! They are probably what made me really want to try kendama in the first place. Swirls have been my nemesis for a long time. Its literally in this last week that I've realized that you don't have to hit the string across your finger as hard as you can to set the whole thing in motion. I had issues with timing the release and seeing the catch as well. But sometimes you gotta put in the time.
Favorite...Lunars probably. When you pull a couple up in a row and just stick them so clean it's like the best feeling in the world. A close second would have to be 1 2 3 J sticks, the sequence just feels awesome and the trick looks so clean when you bust it out. Least favorite...swirls. for some reason I can not get these consistently and I have been trying for months. I kinda just end up doing this weird finger roll kinda thing and it's cool but not quite a swirl. Everyone online makes them look so fluid and clean and then I'm over here like a donkey playing with a ball of yarn, it's pathetic.
Favorites: Lunars, turntables, earthturn, stilt, downspike, stuntplane, handlestall, and j-stick Least Favorites: Axe, yanks, border balance, hand roll, JUGGLE, and probably whirlwind.
Something about doing simple cup stalls like moshikame are soothing. Earth turn is my favorite, feels good to lace it multiple times. Least favorite, lunar. Cannot for the life of me figure that one out yet.
OK so I've been playing dama for 5-6 months and STILL CANNOT GET A DAMN LUNAR!!!!!! HELP!!! Ive looked at tutorials... SHITT BUT fave by FAR is j- stick or over the mountain (or is it called nightingale?) idk annyways it goes from bird to... the otherside?? dammit i need to know names too but thats an entirely different issue
Lunar is one of those things that need patience and practice. To start, try putting the ken on the tama. Find the balance spot, remember how it feels. Secondly, improve on airplanes. Your small cup must face you 99% of the time when landing it. Thirdly, cushion the ken's fall. Meet it at the very top of it's pull, similar to bird. I believe KUSA has a great tutorial at their YouTube page regarding this. It's called Bird Over the Valley. Some call it Valley for short.
Why not post here for everyone? Or go post your tips in the beginner forum? I'm sure many others would benefit as well!
Ok here it is. I posted this on the "multiple juggles?" Thread but here it is again I had this exact same struggle with juggles too. Really, it is easier to help you in person because different people have different problems with multi Juggles. When I was learning this trick, I thought it was impossible. My best tips for learning multi juggles are as follows: 1. Make sure you are catching the ken in a way that the slip stop lands around your middle finger. This helps a TON with controlling the speed of the kenflip. This doesn't seem to make much of a differences when you first start getting this trick, but believe me, learn to do this now and it makes things easier later on. Also, this is my best tip to help those of you having problems with the string. 2. Slow everything down. I don't mean slow things down in your mind(which does help), I mean literally slow things down. Kenflips, tama pops, everything. Getting the rhythm of multiple juggles is very important. I would suggest listening to the sound of the ken as someone does a multiple juggle to help you learn this rhythm. Rhythm is very very important when juggling, as it is the basis for understanding the timing of all of it. 3. Loosen up. If you watch someone like Dylan Westmoreland or Gage Cox do juggles, you can see that they are very loose when juggling. Kind of hard to explain, but your wrist should be dropping and flicking with every juggle. 4. USE YOUR KNEES. Doesn't make much sense with juggles, but it actually helps just in case you flip something too fast, or you don't tama pop enough. 5. Finally, practice!!! I had to work exclusively at multiple juggles for about 3 months before I could even do it! I would suggest NOT practicing stringless, as it forms bad habits that will be hard to unlearn in the future. Go to a jam spot and just grind to get that double juggle big cup, using all the tips listed above. Remember not to give up ever!! As far as juggle/multiple juggle to spike, the same tips apply, just with a few extra steps included: 1. Make sure you are cushioning the tama and lofting it back up with EVERY throw. A common misconception is that you don't need to do this with every tama throw. Make sure you DO NOT slap the ball in any way. 2. Don't let the tama roll as you loft it up. Can't really explain this any better. The tama will go out of control otherwise. 3. Catch the tama between your middle/ring fingers, right in the little pocket where your fingers connect to your hand. This dramatically helps you control where the tama will go. 4. You need to use your knees on the last throw, and flip the ken extra slow. This will give you more time to direct the hole of the tama, and make it a lot easier to perform the trick. 5. MOST IMPORTANT TIP!!! Getting the tama to rotate the way you want it is all about practice. Use all of the above steps, and practice just juggling and getting the tama hole where you want it. Learning juggle/multiple juggle to spike is the same as learning big cup spike. It comes without thinking to those that have mastered it. When you first learn big cup spike, you have to learn how to get the tama to rotate so that the hole is oriented so that you can spike it. Juggling to spike is the exact same idea, just a little quicker and more difficult! You guys got this. Juggle is a very rewarding trick. Moral of the story, PRACTICE!!! If anyone has a specific problem with their juggles they need help with, or needs me to further explain a concept, just PM me. Keep shredding!! Read more at http://www.downspike.com/threads/how-to-multi-juggle.1024/#KZVCvIRZhVeoRPih.99
^Super helpful! Gotta go practice more now...I'm also in the camp of those who think those multi juggle things are impossible. Fav Trick: Lighthouses all the way! Any trick with lighthouse! It's a great intermediate, even beginner level trick that looks stylish and cool, and is so satisfying to land every time. I can't wait till I start getting my insta lighthouses and juggle lighthouses. Some dama goals for this year! Least Fav Trick: All stalls. They are hard af to do and look the least stylish for the amount of effort you have to put into learning them. Also juggles but only because I suck at them and can't do them no matter how hard I work at them.
Same! I REALLY want to get some insta's down, but man they are hard. I think my regular lighthouse flips need to get more consistent. Haha I totally agree with this as well! Whenever I practice stalls I end up feeling so defeated afterwards.