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Where and When

The 2012 British Kendama Open will be held on Thursday the 12th of April, at
the British Juggling Convention in Southend-on-Sea, at 1.30pm.

Tickets for the BJC are as priced on their web site, but if you are only coming for the day to the kendama competition, we have negotiated a cheaper, £10 ticket for you. You'll need to pay on the day at the registration desk in the main entrance of the leisure centre, and this ticket will give you access only to the beer tent and the BKO competition, between 11am and 7pm.
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BKA Official Kendama Championship 2012

Welcome to the official home of the British Kendama Open Championships.
This year there will be five competitions:

Moshi Kame Division.
Beginners Division Trick Ladder.
Advanced Division Knockout Competition.
Speed Trick Challenge.
Best Trick.

£400s-worth of prize vouchers to be won! Courtesy of Sunrise Kendamas.

Download the printable pocket-tricklist here.

Competitors may only enter one of Beginner or Advanced.

Beginners Trick Ladder.

Players start at the first trick, and if successful, they move on to the next one, etc. Players are only allowed 3 misses in total for the entire list.
i.e. on your 4th miss, you are out.

If a player enters the Beginner division, then they can not enter the Advanced division.

In the event of a tie, the player who reached the highest level with the fewest mistakes is the winner.
If the game is still tied after this, then whoever reached the highest level with no misses will win. If the game is still tied, then players will compete in Moshikame, each player having one minute to complete as many catches as possible. Their run ends at the first drop, or after 60 seconds, whichever comes first.
Tricks (Clarification)

1. Small Cup
2. Swing to Candle
3. Orbit (Orbit must be around the ball, in any direction)
4. Spike (No spin on ball)
5. Moshi Kame (10 catches) (No rimshots allowed)
6. Stopover (No slack string allowed)
7. Flying Top (Ball must completely leave the spike)
8. Tap-back
9. Trapeze Acrobats (2 Rotations minimum)
10. Aeroplane
11. Around Japan
12. Lighthouse (Hold still for 3 seconds)

Beginners Tricks demonstrated by Matt Nix & The Void. Download it from here.
Advanced Knockout Division.

This year the Advanced division will once again be a knockout tournament

Players compete in pairs. A random trick is drawn, and the players attempt it once each. If one player succeeds and the other fails, the successful player gets 1 point. If, after 3 attempts each, no player has scored a point, a new trick is drawn. The first player to 2 points proceeds to the next round.

In the final, the first to 3 points will be the winner.

For the early rounds, tricks are randomly selected from #1-8 on the list. For the Quarter Finals, from 5-12, for the Semi-Finals, from 9-16, and for the final, from 13-20.

If a player enters the Advanced division, then they can not enter the Beginner division.
Tricks (Clarification)

Early Rounds tricks:
1. Knee Bounce (Start with a Big Cup)
2. Aeroplane (Start with the ken held)
3. Swing to Pinkie*
4. Slip-on-Stick (Ball must stay in contact with spike)
5. Around The World
6. Faster Than Gravity (Arm must be fully straightened. Initial movement must be downwards)
7. Pull-up Whirlwind Big Cup
8. Bat (Hold still for 3 seconds. Grip must not touch cross-piece or spike)
Quarter Final Tricks:
9. Reverse Swing In (Ball must fly between hand and body)
10. Thumb Trap (Hold for 3 seconds)
11. Orbit The Cups (Orbits must be around the ball, in any direction)
12. Jumping Stick (no adjustments between aeroplane catch and the throw)
Semi Final Tricks:
13. Gunslinger Spike
14. Around Europe
15. Bird & Turn In (Hold Bird for 1sec minimum. Ball must turn 360˚ onto the spike)
16. Suicide Aeroplane (aka Spacewalk)(only 1 backswing allowed)
Final Tricks:
17. Moon Landing (Hold still for 3 seconds)
18. Lighthouse Somersault (Hold 1st LH for 1sec, 2nd LH for 3secs)
19. Rotor Blade (aka UFO)
20. Suicide Swing In (aka Moon Circle)

*Players with 'fat fingers' may opt out of this trick as soon as it is drawn, and a replacement trick will be chosen. Any player who wishes to opt-out must demonstrate their finger-fatness. (If the widest part of the pad of the finger is visible below the ball, that's an official fat finger.)

Advanced tricks demonstrated by Matt Nix & The Void. Download the video from here.

The Speed Trick Challenge

The idea: complete 10 set tricks in order, in as fast a time as possible. If you miss a trick, you just keep going until you hit it.

This year, the STC will also be a knockout competition, so you don't necessarily have to be fast, just "faster than the other guy"!

The tricks are:
Japanese name / English name (Clarification)
1. Oozara / Big cup
2. Kozara / Small cup
3. Chuuzara / Base cup
4. Rousoku / Candlestick
5. Swinging Oozara (String must remain completely taut until horizontal)
6. Tsubame Kaeshi / Orbit (Oozara>Orbit>Ozara)
7. Tomeken / Pull-up-in
8. Maeuchi / Tap Back (Oozara>tap ball with ken>Oozara)
9. Hikouki / Aeroplane
10. Moshikame for 10 catches (Starting with Oozara or Kozara - player's choice)

Speed Trick Challenge demo by Matt Pang


Download the video from here.

Best Trick Competition

While the judges are tallying the scores and positions for Beginner, Advanced and Speed divisions, a Best Trick competition will be run. Music will be played for 10 minutes maximum, and the stage will be open for anyone to come up on stage and attempt any trick. If they succeed, a judge will write down their name and trick. At the end of the 10 minutes, the judge will present a short-list of Best Trickers for the audience to vote on.

Rules

The ball must not be spinning when in the start position.

All tricks must be performed with a BKA-approved kendama.

For multi-stage tricks, no adjustments may be made to the string with the free hand. Similarly, the ball may not be re-positioned after an initial catch, before moving on to a later stage.

All nationalities may enter.
The highest placed British Player in the Advanced division will be awarded the title "British Kendama Champion".

The judges' decisions are final.