Lighthouse

[Kev]

Hi peeps.

I'm now landing all the tricks in the Kyu gradings . . . except for the lighthouse.

Not really looking for tips as such as I'm pretty comfortable with what needs to be done but I wanted to ask:

As I only have 1 kendama - natural wood ozora, I've nothing to compare to but does a natural tama make lighthouse harder to land? I've seen a lot of discussion on here regarding sticky paint etc.

My ozora is far from sticky in any way, even if I place the ken on the tama its quite hard to keep the balance. (I'm reasonably adept at balancing juggling clubs etc so not a total noob).

Is lighthouse just difficult? (And therefore practice is the answer) or am I setting myself at a disadvantage with an unpainted tama?

Let me know

[JamesFM]

At first, I could only land Lighthouses on my "sticky" kendamas. With a lot of practice, I can now land them on all of my kendamas.  Just keep going at it. Any trick can be landed on pretty much any kendama.
Lighthouse is a very hard trick, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

[BKA]

I think most people find bare wood tamas harder for lighthouse, although the occassional player prefers them.

[Kev]

Thanks for the replies - after all that, rather hilariously I just landed my first lighthouse!

Ha ha

P.S. Good to hear that it's not a no-no with unpainted - personally I think the bare wood is by far the best looking kendama out there. (Although I might pick up a painted one sometime to compare the feel).

Right, now to do it again. Eeek.

[br4d24]

Ive got a natural bamboo tama that i have been using recently with my tribute, it is more slippy but not too bad compared to my other tama (very worn in).

A great tip i came across is to rub your hand grease/sweat into the paint of your tama (just keep it in your and and rub it around for a while). This will soften up the paint and make it stickier and less prone to chips (but probably more prone to dents, but thats not a huge issue). You can also do the same with your cups to make the wood softer and stickier.

Aside from that, i found it makes a huge difference for balancing if you land the lighthouse right over the hole vs other parts of the tama for some reason.

[JamesFM]

Ive got a natural bamboo tama that i have been using recently with my tribute, it is more slippy but not too bad compared to my other tama (very worn in).

A great tip i came across is to rub your hand grease/sweat into the paint of your tama (just keep it in your and and rub it around for a while). This will soften up the paint and make it stickier and less prone to chips (but probably more prone to dents, but thats not a huge issue). You can also do the same with your cups to make the wood softer and stickier.

Aside from that, i found it makes a huge difference for balancing if you land the lighthouse right over the hole vs other parts of the tama for some reason.

Dents are your friend!!!!! Every time I miss a spike or drop my kendama, I remind myself that I am making balance tricks that much easier. 

[Kev]

br4d24 - thanks for the tip but I don't have a painted tama. You're right about landing over the hole though.

JamesFM - dents definitely help - and add to the character of the kendama in my view (makes it a bit more wabi sabi if you know what I mean).

Additional question for BKA:

JamesFM is definitely correct about dents, does there come a point where a tama is so stippled / dented, that it wouldn't be allowed in competition / grading?

[BKA]

Yes. For BKA's stance, see Disallowed Modifications on http://www.kendama.co.uk/approved.html :

Excessive wearing-in. A judge may disallow a kendama if it has too many nicks or notches, which may provide an advantage for balance tricks.

And before you say "How much is too much?"... That is up to the judge in question. As long as they are not over-harsh, and apply a consistent level of judgement, that's okay.
JKA are more extreme, we're told. Any dings or dents on the hole-side of the ball, or more than 1mm of paint chipping around the hole. Zoiks!

[JamesFM]

Yes. For BKA's stance, see Disallowed Modifications on http://www.kendama.co.uk/approved.html :

Excessive wearing-in. A judge may disallow a kendama if it has too many nicks or notches, which may provide an advantage for balance tricks.

And before you say "How much is too much?"... That is up to the judge in question. As long as they are not over-harsh, and apply a consistent level of judgement, that's okay.
JKA are more extreme, we're told. Any dings or dents on the hole-side of the ball, or more than 1mm of paint chipping around the hole. Zoiks!

Wow.. Kendama is supposed to be about having fun. Having such a stringent guideline for wear just seems wrong. Someone should tell the JKA to loosen up a bit.. lol

[Kev]

Wow.. Kendama is supposed to be about having fun. Having such a stringent guideline for wear just seems wrong. Someone should tell the JKA to loosen up a bit.. lol

Of course anything like kendama is about having fun above all else but for gradings / comps to mean anything in any discipline, it's important to have quite strict rules so that everyone is on a consistent and level playing field - either compared against each other (or against their own previous performance).

I really like the way that the JKA/BKA approved kendamas are the standard models and that you can't use the fancy hardwoods etc - this really helps keep things accessible to as many people as possible - especially for those on a lower budget = good vibes.