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Bird Grip?

Started by JamesFM, 22 March, 2013, 06:07:31

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JamesFM

So I have been practicing bird relentlessly the past few days. With the standard ken grip I am still very inconsistent. Im guessing this is cheating, but when I place my thumb on the big cup, and index on the small cup, it gives me much more control when balancing. I can nail it 5 times more often when using that weird grip.

I was curious if anyone else uses an unconventional grip for bird, if it is acceptable, or if I should man up and use a standard ken grip.

Thanks.

HansNickmans

I used to do the same, but my advice is to 'man up' :-) Mainly because combinations of tricks, and transitions to other tricks will need you to have the standard ken grip. The trick 'nodding off' for example (bird --> fall to big cup --> back to bird) will obviously not work with your thumb in the big cup. And adjusting your grip mid-move is something to avoid (in my opinion, but I also think for gradings and competitions??)

I suggest you try to focus on getting your standard ken grip as solid as possible to get the same support you get now. Do you pull the tama straigth up or with a small tilt towards the spike? I found this to help with my 'bird-catching'.

Other tip that springs to mind: hold your ken in standard grip, put the tama in the bird position and try to walk around with it. Tilt the ken a bit to the side to see how far you can go before it falls off. This helped me a lot with getting the right 'feel' of the tama in bird position.

Hope it helps!
Kendama Belgium!

happygoat

#2
My advice is also to 'man up' and start using the normal ken grip... and a thing to remember is also that bird is a difficult trick and takes a fair amount of practise before you nail this trick. So the boring advise is start using ken grip and practice, practise, practise....

I guess you have read the topic about balance in bird...if not go here http://www.kendama.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,215.msg1692.html#msg1692

..and as kendamatty says in that topic..."It took me a couple of months not weeks to get these tricks (lighthouse and bird) even semi-consistently!"

Cheers!

JamesFM

Thanks for the advice guys. No more of that wussy "thumb on cup" nonsense for me. lol.