The ever popular "Today I..." thread

[Toby]

Underbird (you know, upside down bird, tama leans against handle, does this have a proper name?)

Bat

[AlexSmith]

Underbird (you know, upside down bird, tama leans against handle, does this have a proper name?)

Bat

I actually say underbird usually... Not really 'correct' but ah well
It gets confusing in rusoko grip... Big cup and little cup are on opposite sides from normal grip haha

[MisterJumpshoe]

I've been getting fairly good at the suicide 1-turn lunar, ever since Jeffrey showed me how it's done.

Also not afraid of swing-in slip-grip special.

But Void, I'm with you on the sui furiken.  Just can't be consistent with that one.

[AlexSmith]

Yesterday I drove down to Calgary (about 3 hours south of Edmonton) and today hung out with some friends here and dama'd all day. Filmed a bit, walked around a lot, and was forced to learn some new tricks to stay afloat in games of dama. Awesome day

[HansNickmans]

Today I landed wingwalker. What a great feeling when it just sits there! Gonna be trying it again a lot today.

[Thorny]

Last night, I managed to do Lunar Landing - Half Tornado - Small Cup Stilts!

Never seen anyone do that trick, so I plan to make a Single Trick edit for it!

[Mark]

I know its nothing compared to all your fancy tricks, but i got Bird 4 times in a row today! Im happy its finally getting consistant! :-P

[Thorny]

I know its nothing compared to all your fancy tricks, but i got Bird 4 times in a row today! Im happy its finally getting consistant! :-P

Regardless of it 'being nothing compared to all [our] fancy tricks' getting the basics down is so important, some people around my area who have started playing kendama have watched me and Harry doing Suicide tricks and before learning to do Bird, Around The World, Lighthouse (etc) they deem it a good idea to learn any kind of spacewalk variation they can... it irritates me greatly because you're not going to improve as much as you can potentially without mastering the basics! They're basic for a reason, to learn first and to help improve your technique even as you get more and more advanced! Everyone needs the basics!

In short, well done for consistently landing Bird! 

[BatDancer]

I know its nothing compared to all your fancy tricks, but i got Bird 4 times in a row today! Im happy its finally getting consistant! :-P

I'm with Thorny on this. The thread is about you showing off where you are in your learning process. If you're at the stage where landing Bird consistently is something you're proud of, show off about it 

Someone who's just starting out may be really proud of the first time they landed a Spike. To them that's just as much of an acheivement someone more experienced landing a 2-turn rotor blade (or whatever).

First time I landed "Bat" I cheered! A more experienced player, seeing my delight asked what I'd just landed. Upon hearing it was Bat, he said "Oh, is that all" and I was crushed. This thread is the anti-thesis of that experience.

PS The second time I landed Bat was in competition and I danced with joy! Hence the username...

[shalafi]

I am currently practicing bird "against the kettle" so landing 4 in a row is still out of my reach.

But with any trick, when you do it for the first time, you want to share it. And for me is the same, my first spike and my first windwalker.

Hoping to get my first moon landing soon

[GbH]

Got much faster at Speed Trick B today.  My best is now 1.30, almost a minute faster than my previous best.  Also, I immediately followed with another attempt that was only slightly slower.  So, that's quite a pleasing improvement.

[BKA]

the trick at 3:27 in the freedom kendama vol 2 video

I love it, looks like the ball is just sucked right onto the spike by magnets haha

Shimadera-san told me that Okada-san called this trick "Hayate Ken", or "Fast Hand Spike".

[AlexSmith]

Ah, thanks for the clarification, looks like my improvised 'quick spike' name was actually somewhat close.

On a sadder note, is it true that Okada-San passed away? I remember hearing this somewhere awhile back...

[BKA]

Yes, that's true, he passed away in December 2009. K.Cima wrote to me in an email shortly afterwards:
"Today I have to tell you a sad news. Maybe you have already known,
Takumi Okada called 'Boarder' died of subarachnoid hemorrhage last month.
He loved kendama and juggling. He had left the big achivement both
kendama and juggling. He hoped to unite and spread kendama and juggling
in worldwide. I cannot believe yet.
I prey his soul may rest in peace.
If your friends know him, please tell them about that."

[Thorny]

I finally managed to land three turn lighthouse! It's eluded me so far, I'm rather pleased with myself.