Hey everybody, I just came to realize that a lot of the kendama edits have downspikes/downspike moves, i've tried all the ways i can think of to get it down but nothing works! Does anybody have any tips/methods on this? Any tips appreciated!!
Note:
For ~40 years, this trick has been called Stab (tama tsukisashi).
"Downspike" is an ugly name. --> opinion.
"Stab" is quicker to say and type. --> fact. :)
Definition:
Spike enters the hole when it's above the horizontal : "Stab"
Spike enters the hole when it's below the horizontal : "Spike"
Oh ok, i had no idea... any tips on doing it?
Well, apart from the basic Stab, I'm not that great at the combinations, so take this all with a pinch of salt.
In another thread, talking about the Backhand Stabs and Jumping Sicks, Matt Robertson suggested trying to slow down the spin. That helped me a little bit - fairly obviously, that gives you a little bit more reaction time when you spot the hole.
In pen grip, the direction of rotation of the ball ought to make a difference. For example, if the bottom edge is spinning up towards you, then you get to "sight" the hole a little earlier. In the opposite direction, you'll see the hole a bit later as it rolls into view from the far side. But most people I see doing these moves in videos seem to go for the latter option, so.... huh!
Personally, I prefer a sideways-rotating hole, stabbing across my body rather than in the Backhand (=in towards your armpit) direction.
Plus... KNEES!
Well, that's some stuff to think about....
Thanks so much for the advice! I'm sure i'll get it, it's just a matter of time. ;)
Hey Swing King,
The Stab (have to admit, I knew this as Downspike too :-[ ) is something I have incorporated into combos recently for its sheer 'bam' factor (in the unlikely case you don't know what I mean, watch any of Alex Ruisch's videos). I am becoming quite consistent with swing to Stab, Stab(bing Heaven) and Backhand Stabs, though at first it was a real mystery to me too. I have a few tips for you:
Hold the ken with your thumb resting in one cup and your fingers in the opposite one, obviously with the spike facing down. Grip tight and notice you have a relatively solid vertical plane so long as you keep your hand straight. Next pull up or swing to Base Cup trying to get the string hole facing up (a little shy of magnetic north is fine; you'll be moving anyhow). Bend your knees and try to keep the tama straight on take-off.
Now (airborne), remember that if you've managed to keep the tama rising straight, you have time (relatively speaking); you can catch at the apex, or as the tama is falling, so concentrate on keeping the wrist locked for the Stab itself. Next, or, better to say, now, the moment you expect to hit home, follow through with your Stabbing arm and sweep the ken hand at least 90 degrees to finish: by that I mean believe that you have made the catch even when you feel you're wide of the mark.
After getting comfortable with Stabs like this, try landing the tama with the string hole horizontal towards you, away from you, side to side, etc, and 'roll' the tama to the right position before the catch for a bit more hole control. At this point, you can probably do away with the 'holding both cups' thing and just use a regular pen grip (I'm not sure if it's 'illegal' in a competition sense, have seen with and without in dozens of videos) if you happen to think it detracts from the look or if you don't want to have to change grip each time you go for a Stab in a combo.
I hope this helps; this is a really great trick and very versatile, really rounds off a good run.
Oh yeah, and, does anyone know what the non-naughty name is for the trick the American/Canadian guys call Stuntplane (tama-grip pull-up Spike)? And also the tama-grip 'upside-down Jumping Stick' that can be done after catching this?
VEEEERRRRYYYY helpful.... I chose this trick/topic because i was both having troubles with it and i hadn't seen a post on it... so i have the "Cup stab" down but how do i "stab" without the cups? Maybe called a swing stab?
whoops my bad, i misread what you said... take back all that i said! so you saying Pretend to pull to basecup to get the hang of it? or Actually pull up to basecup but "miss" and stab???
Quote from: the milky oolong on 01 July, 2013, 00:51:39Oh yeah, and, does anyone know what the non-naughty name is for the trick the American/Canadian guys call Stuntplane (tama-grip pull-up Spike)?
What's naughty is not doing your homework... ;)
Quote from: BKA on 24 June, 2011, 18:57:40- What's that trick called....?
If you're not sure of the name of a trick, check out the JKA gifs of the Kyu and Dan tricks via this page at the BKA (http://kendama.co.uk/tricks.html). Also watch all the BKA tricklist videos (http://juggling.tv/search.php?search_id=tricklist+kendama&search_type=videos), and [noembed]Kendama School (http://juggling.tv/2142)[/noembed]. Void and Donald's books (http://kendama.co.uk/books.html) are also great sources for trick names, in English and Japanese, and are recommended (essential?!) reading. If you're still stuck after all that, then make a post in this thread (http://www.kendama.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,97.0.html).
Hint: homework is issued from school. Also in Spike and KendamApp.
QuoteAnd also the tama-grip 'upside-down Jumping Stick' that can be done after catching this?
There's no traditional Japanese name for this one, as far as we know. We've been calling it Backhand Jumping Stick.
The key is (assuming your stabbing from the cup) make sure that you can see the hole and practise being able to release it from the cup without the hole moving. Once you've got that can literally just put the spike into the hole, you don't even have to be fast once you get the hang of it!
After that and you you learn stab earth turns you'll be able to stab it no matter where the hole is.
This is a very very tricky and fiddley skillset but like most things in Kendama once it 'clicks' you will be able to do them every time without fail, you just gotta put the time in.
On a side note be prepared to DESTROY a few Kendama spikes whilst you learn this :P
I've been working on a few of the basic tricks because I'm currently not that great at kendama. One trick that I haven't been able to understand is stab/downspike. I can't seem to get the hole consistently facing up and when I do I can't seem to get it stabbed at the right time, or twist my wrist. Does anyone have any tips for this move?
Jake.
[Topics merged]
I think there is good advice already on this topic. And, you know... practice.
Nevermind, figured it out.
Jake.