The ever popular "Today I..." thread

[kendamski]

Today I finally did  "one-turn stilt"!!!

[Kev]

Today I failed at 1st Dan self cert, TWICE! . . But only just. . .

1st attempt: all tricks landed including Moshi Kame, but I missed the Bird.

2nd attempt: all tricks landed inc. MK but I missed the Hanging Spike.

[Dimensions]

nice one Kev!
Im trying to go for my 2nd Dan next, i have always been fine for most tricks apart from two - moshikame and hanging spike are my killers!
a tip for MK try using a metronome - 135 bpm is actually slower than people think!

[Kev]

Thanks! After a long period of dislike, I'm pretty in the zone with MK myself at the mo. After a difficult start with it (I hated it, found it boring etc.) I decided the only way I'm going to make it on to the Dan table is to learn to love it instead!

So thanks to patience and practice, me and Moshi Kame are pretty good mates now I've managed to find a focus and flow with it. Nailed over 300 both times I tried it in the above attempts.

There's no way I could have done that while I still hated it

You're right about 135bpm - once you have a groove going it is slower than you think.

EDIT: Ha ha! Just realised I sound a bit like Yoda, "patience your friend is, Moshi Kame learn to love you will" etc.

[The Void]

My sympathies Kev, I managed to fail my target Dan twice today too. This stuff is hard, huh? :-/ Still, at least I do seem to have got my Bird back.

[Kev]

Cheers chap, I'm glad I got the MK's sorted though and to be honest, not quite making it makes it all the more satisfying when you finally do get there.

Don't forget - Bird is the word 

[LarsVegas]

... unpacked my new yellow Ozora (bought at Kendama.cz ). I'm actually more the blue guy, but in the dark, artificially lit winter nights, I see the whole in a yellow tama much better. Anyway, the wood of the ken still is quite rough (is this always the case with Ozora? Can't remember the previous ones) and I managed a bat without the tama touching the ken. It freely sat on the big cup only. Felt quite good.

[Kev]

Nice one Lars, Yellow Ozora all the way I say I've currently got three on rotation to make sure I've always got a familiar feeling competition / grading 'dama to hand, all worn in the same amount etc.

You're right about the low light too, I find yellow is even more visible than white to my eyes at least.

TODAY: Since getting my MK sorted and getting a comfortable 358, I attempted 2nd Dan, and . . . missed BOTH Birds! (Which means I'm still yet to do 1st Dan! Argh!)

Still, it's getting close.

[shalafi]

Today I bought Kendamas for a late Christmas present for the kids of the family.

Well, and a new Oozora for me.

[LarsVegas]

Today I bought Kendamas for a late Christmas present for the kids of the family.

Well, and a new Oozora for me.

I do that all the time: if I buy some for others, miraculously there's always one for me in the package

[shalafi]

Spreading the kendama love ;-) and some for us. Everyone will understand

[Kev]

I hope you all don't mind me sharing my near misses (again). I've been finding that posting my daily progress up here has been motivating and has encouraged me to keep on practicing for my attempt at the Dan table.

Today I . . . Started well with 914 Moshi Kame followed by an attempt at 2nd Dan that turned out to nothing much to shout about.

This evening, I had a good shot at 1st Dan, landing all the tricks and MKs except for one single  (appropriately named) Falling Down.

I've got a pretty clear day tomorrow, I'm hoping to report back with positive news, fingers crossed.

[LarsVegas]

... just did my first Big Cup Scoop Up. After watching the trick in the BKO14 video, I tried to copy Void's body position and movement and the unimaginable happened. Within 10 tries I got three catches. These ladder videos are so inspirational and helpful - thanks a lot for them.

[Kev]

Nice one Lars! That's a trick that still eludes me.

Today I . . . am very pleased to announce that this morning I finally managed to achieve 1st Dan (self cert).

Really pleased as I've been putting a lot of effort in to this recently.

The kettle is most definitely on.

Happy Sunday folks. 

[LarsVegas]

 ... managed Backhand Slip-on-stick and Hanging Pirouette for the first time. I also can do now 8 out of 10 Big Cup Scoop Ups - wouldn't have thought that two days ago.