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1-Turn Lunar / Lunar Somersault help!

Started by SamB, 06 December, 2012, 16:57:40

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SamB

Right it's been 3 years and I still have only landed a handful of 1-turn lunars and maybe one lunar somersault ever (barrel rolls are still elusive to me) and it's getting me down.[nb]Especially because tons of edits seem to have them as a routine trick but this may be the one time in 100 tries that makes the video [/nb]

Where I'm at now:

1-turn lunars: I go hanging start (string around the base cup), ken comes up turning nice and straight - 90% of the time the cup rim hits the tama and it bounces off in some direction, else the cup lands nice but the angle is wrong and the ken has so much momentum so there isn't time to correct it and either it's too flat and falls forwards or too vertical and it hits my thumb. The few times I've done it it's seemed just flukey and the cup has landed bang on and everything stops immediately still and perfect.

Lunar somersaults : So to start with my lunar lander is nice and straight, I push up and forwards slightly (i.e. pushing the tama through the ken towards the base cup rim) most of the time the catch is bad as above the rest of the time the rotation speed is off - too fast - it hist my thumb during the push (which is obviously not cool) else too slow and it never makes it all the way round.

So... Am I missing something? Is this secretly easy? Anyone have any tips? ? ?[nb]I know "practice" and "knees"...[/nb]

Of course multiple turns and barrel roll[nb]My current "holy grail" trick is lunar barrel roll one way then back the other[/nb] tips would be very welcome too.


Nerdy terminology note: 1-turn lunar is start from hanging or aeroplane ken spins one time before landing with the big cup on the ball (c.f. 1 turn lighthouse). Lunar somersault starts in lunar lander, ken is then flipped 360 degrees in it's long axis (i.e. base cup) back to a lunar lander. Barrel roll starts in lunar lander and the ken turns 360 degrees along its short axis (i.e. small cup) back to lunar lander.
BKO 2011 - 2nd, SRC 2011 - 2nd,  SRC 2012 - 2nd, EJC 2012 (unicorns) - 2nd, SRC 2013 - 2nd, BKO 2013 - 3rd - Always the bridesmaid...

BKA

Even nerdier terminology clarifications:
Quote from: SamB on 06 December, 2012, 16:57:40
1-turn lunars: I go hanging start (string around the base cup),
You mean Hook start, string around the Big cup?
Quote
Nerdy terminology note: 1-turn lunar is start from hanging or aeroplane ken spins one time before landing with the big cup on the ball (c.f. 1 turn lighthouse). Lunar somersault starts in lunar lander, ken is then flipped 360 degrees in it's long axis (i.e. base cup)
No, the Axis it spins around is the shortest axis, i.e. the one that goes through the cross-piece, but not through the big and small cups.
QuoteBarrel roll starts in lunar lander and the ken turns 360 degrees along its short axis (i.e. small cup) back to lunar lander.[/i]
Again, the Axis it turns on this time is the Long axis (Down the length of the ken)

SamB

In re BKA - Yeah everything you said - thats what I mean! Thanks!
BKO 2011 - 2nd, SRC 2011 - 2nd,  SRC 2012 - 2nd, EJC 2012 (unicorns) - 2nd, SRC 2013 - 2nd, BKO 2013 - 3rd - Always the bridesmaid...

AlexSmith

1-turn lunars:
Though I like hanging start for pull up to lunar, I prefer a swinging start to one turn lunar. I suppose its maybe a little trickier with hanging start, but once you have the rotation down the catch will be the same for both. Try and have the ken handle parallel with the floor as you make contact, and use your knees a lot for this one (heck, use your ankles and toes too).

Lunar flips:
I usually tell people that the motion is more of a push 'up' then a push 'out'. Try that, see how it feels. Start low (knees bent, big surprise), and try to catch it when the ken is horizontal (see above). Knees, ankles toes as you land it!

Then I guess just practise it a ludicrous amount. Thats the real trick to kendama :p

MasterKatra42

I agree with Alex on the one turn lunar approach.  I've never had much success with hanging big cup lunar starts, and have had even less luck with one turning from that position.  Learn to control your airplane so the small cup lands facing you every time.  If you can start with the ken parallel to your shoulder angle, rotate with your fingers while the airplane is extending, and pull when the cups are perpendicular to your shoulder angle, you will find that you can turn everything and the ken will operate in a predictable manner.

Now to catching that bad boy!  I have found that a lot of my focus goes into making contact with the big cup, yes, but then also "soft catching" it by rotating my hand back to match the speed it's coming in with.  This prevents the ken from starting to slide off the tama immediately.  If you try to make the middle of your cup the bullseye, and you're trying to hit it with the hole, that's a good reference point.

For lunar flips, practice knowing your forward and back limits to where you can hold a lunar on your kendama.  Place the ken in a lunar.  Rotate forward until it falls off, and backward until it slips off.  If you go down with your knees, and take the ken to a more forward position, then as you come up with your knees, it will allow you more time to apply force on the ken.

Set up the camera, and go for it.  You might be surprised at how many attempts you can get in what feels like a forever time frame.  I used to think it would take hours to get a lunar flip.  Turns out I only had to try for 4 minutes.  This isn't training advice, it's more confidence talk.  You can do this trick, and in a lot less time than you think you can.  Good luck!

The Void

Thanks Alex & Joe. I have the same trouble as Sam with these, so I'll think on your tips when I next give them a go.
If you don't want to BUY MY BOOKS 😉, then why not ask your local library to order them in, and read them for free? That would help too. Cheers!

SamB

Thanks for the tips - aiming for the centre of the big cup, catching horizontal and a lot of knees seem to be helping a lot.
In the little time I've practiced I landed some 1-T with a bit of thumb help but it certainly feels better.
I've been thinking I should get standard aeroplane start lunars and 1-turn aeroplanes absolutely perfect first and the 1-T lunars will come.

Quote from: MasterKatra42 on 06 December, 2012, 19:03:21
Set up the camera, and go for it.  You might be surprised at how many attempts you can get in what feels like a forever time frame.

To be honest I don't really care about doing it on video. I realise I'm in the old school camp of if you can't do it 3 times in a row, you can't really do it[nb]This is a personal thing. Don't get me wrong I like crazy once and never again tricks as much as the next guy![/nb], so that's my target. It may take a while!
BKO 2011 - 2nd, SRC 2011 - 2nd,  SRC 2012 - 2nd, EJC 2012 (unicorns) - 2nd, SRC 2013 - 2nd, BKO 2013 - 3rd - Always the bridesmaid...

KendAlex

maybe this will help,
it is the way i do it,

Yoda

#8
I also had a little problem with the speeed of rotation during lunar somersault. But i found a solution( it's not pushing by finger ;)) During the push try to turn your dama a little bit. Then ken begins to slide down and spins fater. It's hard to explain through the forum, but i hope that it would help :)
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BKA

Here's someone who seems to know how it's done. :-)

the milky oolong

Quote from: KendAlex on 07 December, 2012, 20:59:34
maybe this will help,
it is the way i do it,


Blown away by this bit of video. KendAlex is the chief.
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PikWik

yeah man, kendalex is a major inspiration.

such a cool guy for putting all those tutorials together. ive definitely benefited from every one of em