Seals and Associations?

Sticky tama alone won't "guarantee victory in competitions," no argument there. Though if you equate size with "superior advantage" then I'd also suggest including stickiness in that formula; it does give an advantage.

Not really debating the merits of sticky vs not sticky in competitions or in general, only commenting on the ideas around "certifying" sporting gear for certified/sanctioned events. In this case JKA seals on certified kendama.

 

@goenKendama, i generally equate Gloken's box method to the MLB regulation pertaining baseball bats.

Rule 1.10(a) of the MLB states:
"The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood."

In parallel, what Gloken does is the same.
"The ken shall not be bigger than x inches" and so on, so forth.
In regards to sticky tamas, it's again parallel to MLB's ruling on corked bats.
Sure, corked bats are lighter, thus increasing the swing speed, but it has been proven to not provide an advantage over a normal bat.

In conclusion, the JKA method is precise, but perhaps too precise.
The Gloken method provides some room to play with sizes, and i believe it's a much welcomed move from them.

 

@azleonhart I appreciate your analogy and understand your opinion.

 

Companies that were asked to sponsor the JKA 40th contest were each given up to 300 of those 40th seals, to put on products that they could sell at the event (and leftover product could be sold later). Sweets was a sponsor, along with TK16, Ozora, Shin Fuji, Terra, and Croix (I think that was it?).

There were 12 Terra hadnturned kens with the JKA seal, 11 were ash with purpheart stripes:


The last one is this one:


This Croix handturned kendama also has a JKA 40th seal on the opposite side. Its made from bloodwood and B&W ebony



Stickier paint does make it easier to do some tricks, but if everyone has access to it, then I see no problem with it.
There's another thread where this sort of conversation was happening as well, this is a copy/paste of one of my replies there:
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So, [being able to use any kendama] does make a difference, but remember that everyone else can also use whatever dama they want for the contest too, so it isn't like any one competitor has an advantage over the rest.
Did Bryson win KWC16 cause he was using some dope Sweets ken that was just honed af? No, he won because he was honed af. He probably had a few kens that he had practised with and broken in perfectly, but my guess is he would have placed very well in the contest even if he was using a trib-holed Kaleb ken with a black shin fuji tama on it. What I mean to say is, a kendama won't be the reason someone ends up winning, skills are what do that.

Read more at http://www.downspike.com/threads/competition-legal-kens.486/#PjOCjq8hZocZ2f4j.99
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That's interesting information about the 40th anniversary seals, thank you.

I think perhaps we've drifted off from the original topics of "Seals and Associations." You have my apologies if my posts were seen as being solely about sticky paint, they were not intended to be; there are sticky JKA certified kendama after all. Let's see if we can swing it back.

The JKA, EKA, Gloken, and others use various metrics to decide what is or is not accepted in their events. They or may not share certain features between the various governing bodies but they are intended to level the playing field, to make sure "everyone has access" to a given feature/kendama.

In an effort to keep things accessible for all JKA members it is quite possible that one of the limiting factors on full certification for a given kendama is price. In many places for many people TK16/Shinfuji/Ozora are priced within easier grasp than a Mugen/HG/GT/etc. If an organizing group is aiming for that level playing field they have to consider all possible players they want to reach, or at least the largest percentile they can reasonably manage, to be the most inclusive, to be accessible to the most players. I would imagine that associations and other governing bodies make their rule adjustments based on this.

From what I know of the JKA one of their main efforts is to push consistency in all its players whether an individual challenge like level tests or in its competitions. Additional variables like sticky paint, size, weight, price, etc. increase the possibility of being less consistent from one kendama to the next. If one only looks at their own performance, independent of any outside force, some of these variables will effect consistency. Is it easier to hit a trick more consistently with a larger/stickier/magic kendama vs. a TK16, for most players, probably.

Associations and organizers want to put some kind of control on things so that it's easier for both the players and the associations. Even sporting events with "Open" classes have some restrictions or it would just get nuts. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Associations/Governing bodies have different goals and go about things differently. That one or the other organization doesn't fit with a person's view on how it should be done doesn't take away from the validity of that organisation's efforts to meet its goals. There are a lot of different players out there, it's good to have variety.

 

Very true! At the end of the day, I guess with multiple options available, the players will decide their favourite, and support those events, associated companies, etc.

Also, I can confirm that a max retail price is one of the stipulations put on JKA producers. Exactly as you said, keeping the certified kendamas affordable opens up the game to the largest audience. Interestingly, this was one of the factors that led to end of the OG mugen production. Iwatta wanted to produce kendamas with more beautiful paint jobs, but the max price set by the JKA didn't allow for it. The last of the OG mugens was a batch called the kotobuki: they are red or blue, with gold flakes in the paint, but they do not have JKA seals since the two parties could never come to a resolution.

 

Interesting! At some competitions, there are different categories for beginner/intermediate/advanced, but that is a little bit different. To keep more in line with your example I would imagine different classes for JKA / jumbos / "does it fit in the box" / etc.