European Kendama Open 2017

[jakub.zahumensky]

The EKO will take place at the EJC in Lublin, Poland this year. The main event will take place on Friday 28.7. (10:00-18:00) & Saturday 29.7. (12:00-17:00) in the FahrAwaY circus tent (and will be open to the public from the city. The main event will be supported by games, competitions, JKA gradings (The Void) and fun during the whole EJC week so make sure to plan your vacations accordingly!

The new EKO website (created and administered by kendama.cz) is live! http://kendama-open.eu/ - check it out and please, register - it will help us plan the EKO. You can change it later if needed, no worries
Instagram: @europeankendamaopen
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1659336134362608/
Info on the EJC: http://ejc2017.org/
EJC tickets: http://ejc2017.org/en/tickets/
EKO merch (available only until the end of August): https://shop.spreadshirt.com/MephobiaDesigns/ - t-shirts, hoodies, water bottles, mugs, mouse pads, bandanas, you name it. We have it! First choose the logo color, then choose the thing you want, than the color. While you're filling your shopping cart with EKO stuff, also check out other awesome stuff that is nowhere else to be found!

Tricklist videos:


Division for players who have started playing in May / June / July 2017

Beginners


Intermediate


Advanced


Pro


There's a price on Rob's head again, thanks to the BKA!


European Cup (Gloken-style)


LEVEL 1

* - double swirl - any direction is acceptable

LEVEL 2


LEVEL 3


LEVEL 4


LEVEL 5


LEVEL 6


LEVEL 7


LEVEL 8


LEVEL 9


LEVEL10

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Complete and unabridged results are here!

PRO (+x points for tricks hit by both players in respective rounds)
1. Rolf Sandvig Ganer (DK) – 12+1 pts – EKO Champion and European Kendama Champion
2. Kamil Panek (PL) – 9+2 pts
3. Rob Henman (GB) – 7 pts
4. Albert J. Kirvesmäki (FI) – 7 pts
5–6. Aku Helenius (FI) – 4 pts
5–6. Florian Bord (FR) – 4 pts
7. Yi-Chuan Chen (Screw) (TW) – 3+1 pts
8. Markus Lander (DK) – 3 pts
9–11. Filip Vlašic (CZ) – 2 pts
9–11. Marcin Dziopa (PL) – 2 pts
9–11. Olaf Jaszczuk (DE) – 2 pts
12–13. Akira Tajima (JP) – 1+1 pt
12–13. Marcel Chwoika (DE) – 1+1 pt
14–15. Eelco Soesman (NL) – 1 pt
14–15. Theo Baunsgaard (DK) – 1 pt
16–18. Daniel Lambert (Mendo) (IE) – 0 pts
16–18. Clément Bages (FR) – 0 pts
16–18. Romain Simonet (FR)– 0 pts
judge: Jakub Zahumenský (SVK)

Advanced
1. Jakub Kania (PL)
2. Tomáš Zahradík (CZ)
3. Adam Olekszyk (PL)

Intermediate
1. Sebastian Boronski (PL)
2. Sébastien Mejia (FR)
3. Christof Haller (CH)

Beginners
1. Ines Jankowska (PL)
2. Jack Roberts (GB)
3. Laurent Marques (Lolo) (FR)
4. Cédric Foucault (FR)
5–7. Laura Sautois (FR)
5–7. Im Almonius (FI)
5–7. Guilia Vaccaro (DE)


European Cup (1st / 2nd round score)
1. Rolf Sandvig Ganer (DK) – 58/526 pts
2. Albert J. Kirvesmäki (FI) – 15/379 pts
3. Theo Baunsgaard (DK) – 20/257 pts
4. Markus Lander (DK) – 24/236 pts
5. Rob Henman (GB) – 14/186 pts
6. Olaf Jaszczuk (DE) – 19/185 pts
7. Marcin Dziopa (PL) – 14/161 pts
8. Akira Tajima (JP) – 24/125 pts
9–10. Marcel Chwoika (DE) – 7/- pts
9–10. Filip Vlašic (CZ) – 7/- pts
11. Kamil Panek (PL) – 6/- pts
12. Eelco Soesman (NL) – 4/- pts
13. Tomáš Zahradík (CZ) – 3/- pts
14. Adam Olekszyk (PL) – 1/- pt
judge: Jakub Zahumenský (SVK)
right-hand men: Theo Baunsgaard (DK), Rolf Sandvig Ganer (DK)


Freestyle
1. Rolf Sandvig Ganer (DK)
2. Theo Baunsgaard (DK)
3–4. Akira Tajima (JP)
3–4. Yi-Chuan Chen (Screw) (TW)
judges: Jakub Zahumenský (SVK), Filip Vlašic (CZ), The Void (GB)


7-to-Spike
Heat 1:
1. Kamil Panek (PL) – 7 pts
2. Markus Lander (DK) – 5 pts
3. Theo Baunsgaard (DK) – 3 pts
4–5. Marcin Dziopa (PL) – 2 pts
4–5. Rolf Sandvig Ganer (DK) – 2 pts
6–7. Olaf Jaszczuk (PL/DE) – 1 pt
6–7. The Void (GB) – 1 pt
8. Adam Olekszyk (PL) – 0 pt

Heat 2:
1. Akira Tajima (JP) – 7 pts
2. Albert J. Kirvesmäki (FI) – 4 pts
3. Marcel Chwoika (DE) – 3 pts
4. Daniel Lambert (Mendo) (IE) – 2 pts
5. Tomáš Zahradík (CZ)– 1 pt
6–7. Aku Helenius (FI) – 0 pts
6–7. Kalle Helenius (FI) – 0 pts

Finals:
1. Akira Tajima (JP) – 7 pts
2–3. Albert J. Kirvesmäki (FI) – 6 pts
2–3. Markus Lander (DK) – 6 pts
4. Kamil Panek (PL) – 5 pts
5. Theo Baunsgaard (DK) – 3 pts
6. Marcel Chwoika (DE) – 0 pts

judges: Rob Henman (GB), Filip Vlašic (CZ), Eelco Soesman (NL)
score keeper: Jakub Zahumenský (SVK)


MC for all occasions: John Maico Piezas-Simm (GB)

The EKO was sponsored by:
Platinum level: Kendama.cz, Royal Kendama, Sunrise Kendama
Gold level: GLOKEN, Kendama China, Kendama USA, Krom Kendama, Nativ Kendama, What Kendama, Zoot Kendamas
Silver: British Kendama Association, Kendama.pl, Mr. Sourmash, Project ARK
Bronze: MC2

Don't forget to get your EKO apparel at: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/MephobiaDesigns/ - available only until the end of August.

Sponsors and supporters rock! And some of them rule!

[The Void]

Great to hear. Thanks EKO team!

[Dimensions]

Yay!
Will definitely be there

[shalafi]

It's an odd year, so I'll probably miss this one. Have fun!

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[jakub.zahumensky]

Tricklists are out!


Division for players who have started playing in May / June / July 2017







Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced will be Speedtrick divisions. A small group of players lines up and attempts the tricks one by one. Once a trick is landed successfully, the player can go to the next trick. The fastest player in the group goes on to the next round.




Players compete 1-on-1 in a knockout fashion. A random trick is drawn. Each player than has one chance to land it. If only one player succeeds, he gets a point. If both/neither succeed, nobody gets a point. If no points are awarded after each player has had three tries, a new trick is drawn. First player to get 2 points (3 points in the semifinals / 5 points in the finals) moves to the next round.

Tricks 1-21 will be used from round 1 up to quarterfinals
Tricks 19-27 will be used for semifinals and finals

[Dimensions]

Ouch! Tough list!
Will there be a video as I am unsure on the wording of many of these?

[The Void]

Ouch! Tough list!
Will there be a video as I am unsure on the wording of many of these?

Damn, how come you can see them? I just see broken image links, and get 403 Forbidden when I try to go to the site, or view the images in a different tab. *confused*

[Dimensions]

Facebook Link

[The Void]

Facebook Link

Ah, well, if you're going to cheat, and use your brain.... :-/
I've added them to the first post.

Cripes. Last year's hit rate was 40%. Good luck everyone.

[shalafi]

I'm going to comment here instead of facebook since it is going to be slightly long.

I see this trend on other competitions and is something I think will hard the Kendama community on the long run, and I'm talking about the beginners division.

It is ok to keep pushing the bar further on Pro, and Advanced, I think Intermediate and beginners should not push the bar, they are meant for people to get into Kendama, they are meant for people that are starting (beginners) and for people that starts the difficulty of the tricks should not be raised, otherwise it means that being a beginner now is way harder than being a beginner 3-5 years ago. That's not fair, that demotivates players and scares potential people to join and try.

I think beginners should contain tricks that you can land in your first days of practice (big difference between landing a lighthouse once and landing one in three) so a new player can feel that most of the tricks can be landed and with practice, they could be landed with enough consistency.

That's why I think a ladder is the best way for beginners and not a speed trick list. You keep going up the ladder until you miss. Fine, if there's a trick you can't land yet, that's where you stop.

On a speed trick ladder, if there's a trick you can't land, you get stuck there. That happened to me on Advanced a few years ago, I could land all the tricks with reasonable consistency except one, that trick alone could take me 10 minutes. Obviously I did not joined that division. Now put yourself on the shoes of a beginner that can't do a downspike. It is a trick that took me a while to get along with. On a ladder, that's fine, on a speed trick list, that's another story.

Mind you, falling down is a 3-in-10 trick for 1st Dan. Are we expecting beginners to be of the level of a 1st Dan now? I think we should aim at Kyu 1 level.

I think that in the heat of pushing the tricks and making it fun for the pros we're neglecting the people that is just starting.

Anyway, that's just my opinion, It is a question of priorities when designing an event. A speed trick list could be more fun for spectators but less fun to participate. Who are you designing the event for is the decision of the organizers. All I'm saying is that I have other priorities when designing events and trying to lay out my PoV here.

[jakub.zahumensky]

Ouch! Tough list!
Will there be a video as I am unsure on the wording of many of these?

Yes, there will be videos soon

Cripes. Last year's hit rate was 40%. Good luck everyone.

The difficulty is significantly higher compared to last year. The result of letting loose some of the rulez (by the Red Hand of Democracy). But last year's Czech Open was also significantly more difficult than EKO, and I think the success rate was not worse. We will see what happens.

@shalafi - you might be right about the beginners section being a bit too difficult for a complete beginner who picks up a dama at the EJC. And I have a tendency to agree with you. At the same time, it is 3 months before the EKO. Plenty of time to practice 9 tricks. I don't agree with your ladder/speedtrick distinction. Ladder, like you describe it, is completely merciless - you make one mistake, end of story. You got stuck in the speedtrick on a single trick - you would get eliminated in the ladder on the same trick - I don't see a difference. The speedtrick gives you the option of another try. Nobody forces you to a higher speed. Nice and easy most often does it.

[shalafi]

@shalafi - you might be right about the beginners section being a bit too difficult for a complete beginner who picks up a dama at the EJC. And I have a tendency to agree with you. At the same time, it is 3 months before the EKO. Plenty of time to practice 9 tricks. I don't agree with your ladder/speedtrick distinction. Ladder, like you describe it, is completely merciless - you make one mistake, end of story. You got stuck in the speedtrick on a single trick - you would get eliminated in the ladder on the same trick - I don't see a difference. The speedtrick gives you the option of another try. Nobody forces you to a higher speed. Nice and easy most often does it.

As I said, that was just my opinion. I appreciate the thought you put into the reply.

While it is true that there is 3 months to EKO, it is usually the case that some people gets interested during EJC or, as it happens to me, there are jugglers that only play kendama every now and then and still may have fun entering a competition. This is what I've seen on the IKO for 3 years, but again, Ireland is quite a small sample.

On the ladder Vs. speed trick. I see your point on them being similar, but while on a ladder I know I can get to certain point and that's it, I need to complete the speed ladder for it to count.

The difference is, by the time I entered the EKO for the first time, I hadn't landed a single lighthouse, which was the last trick of beginners, but I entered anyway because I could do almost all the other tricks. If it was a speed trick list, I could not have completed it, not in 5 minutes, not in 10, not in 30, I knew that, and I would not have entered.

I'm not claiming that that is what happens to everyone, but there is a big difference when you know you can't land a certain trick. Yes, ladders are merciless, but speed trick lists require you to land all the tricks, they are more demanding.

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

[johndmc]

As I'm able to make it to bko for the first time this year, I feel that I can relate to this.
When I first got a kendama, despite not being able to make it to bko I used the beginner trick list and the timescale to the comp as my practice goals. It was really fun.
Knowing that I could attend this year I was excited about seeing what the new lists would be, and felt like I might have a crack at the intermediate level, as I felt confident that I should be comfortable with what would be released for beginners.
When they were released I admit it got me a little disheartened as the jump up seemed quite steep for me. I am entering the beginner level this year, and can say that the speed ladder seems to be a great way to start.
A lot of people starting might be able to land tricks but not first time, so the chance to continue until you complete the list I think is less daunting than one go and you're out, especially after you put in practice and you have first time nerves etc.

Sent from my F3111 using Tapatalk

[shalafi]

I guess it depends on each person. I feel better without the time pressure, but I can see how other people works better without the pressure of only a few tries.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[The Void]

I can see arguments either way for ladder or speed. But I agree with shalafi about the level of tricks in Beginners. A beginner who has practised hard for three months isn't a beginner anymore! :-)