Introduce yourself!

[shalafi]

Hi Ash, welcome to the forum.

Just to say that I loved your signature

[Ash]

Thank you BKA.. I am now slowly getting to know my way around the forums  .

Thanks Shalafi, Bruce Lee is a great inspiration to me.

[primechicken]

Hey y'all
My names Craig And I just started playing Kendama a few months ago (end of June 2012) and I am already addicted haha. I live in Edmonton, Canada and am currently in my 4th year at the University of Alberta. I found out about Kendama from one of my friends from back home in Calgary because he kept posting on facebook about this toy that he was having so much fun with. I got curious and started checking videos out on youtube, thought it looked pretty fun and asked him how I would go about getting my hands on one. He introduced me to Alex Smith who sold me my first apple green KCN battle and I've been playing ever since! I'm very new to this sport so I'm super stoked to meet new players and learn more and more about this wonderful toy!

[BKA]

Hi Craig,
Welcome aboard, and happy clicking!

[AdamWest]

Hey all!

My fascination for kendama first emerged whilst trying to quit smoking trying to keep my hands, or at least one of them busy, a few of my friends owned TK16s... I'd always had a quick play here and there but it wasn't until I was left in possession for a good 10 smokeless weeks that I realised just how fun and amazing it actualy is.

I managed to fuel my need for it purely by playing with my friend's kendamas for a good while but there was only so long I could get away with hoping that Thorny would go home and leave one of his by accident. I eventually caved in and got a black w/silver stripe Shin Fuji, and then it began...

I gave my Shin Fuji to a friend of mine that was moving away, like a nice sentiment kind of deal...
Only for him to move back a few months later (the sneaky bean, I'm onto him).
I currently have a very battered white rabbit Ozora, A Kawasaki TK16, a blue Rakurosen and just recently got my first Mugen! Unfortunately the Mugen has no seal but as any of you will know, it's still just as nice to play... If I'm honest I quite like the fact it's sealless, it's been adopted by me and my friends as the 'Stealth Mugen' :')

I'm Adam, 21 from Grimsby and I couldn't imagine a single day where I don't pick each of my kendamas up and think about what I'm going to do with my day.

(I also cannot wait for the NRC next year, meeting more people that enjoy kendama's going to be awesome!)
Anyone coming to the pub after?!

[BKA]

Hi Adam,
Glad you finally made it to the forum! You sound like you're addicted good and proper!
Have fun.

[cbaxt98]

Hey everyone! Not really sure where to post this but here's what I have to say. First, let me introduce myself, my name is Chase Baxter, I am 14 years old, I am a yoyo'er sponsored by Werrd (Check out my YouTube channel if you'd like to see some of my videos! My channel is Cbaxt98), I haven't done much kendama, I bought one at a contest before and had a lot of fun with and converted some yoyo tricks into kendama, but it broke when I got home and I haven't tried since then  . I'd REALLY like to get back into it! After seeing a friend of mine post a video of a flatpack kendama, I've been inspired to try it again. If you guys have any recommendations on what I should buy, what I should learn, etc., please let me know! I'm not sure how often I'll be on here, but I'm going to try and get on as much as possible! Also, to any fellow yoyo'ers on here (If there are any? Haha), post on here as well! Thanks everyone!

[HansNickmans]

Hello Chase and welcome to the forum!

If you wanna start with kendama I recommend you get a decent kendama, either a sunrise or an oozora (good types to start with). Depending on where you're from there are some local shops and certainly good online shops to get one. If you know someone that plays and can teach you directly, I would recommend meeting up to learn the basics. Otherwise the book 'Spike' from Void and Donald Grant is a great place to start, or the videos showing the tricks from the beginner competitions (they're on the BKA-site or juggling.tv: 2012 BKO Beginner Trick List - juggling videos hosted @ Juggling.tv). They will get you a long way. Since you're into yo-yo, your own creativity will kick in soon enough :-)

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask

[The Void]

Hi Chase,

Welcome aboard. Hans just about covered it, but check out the FAQ too:
http://www.kendama.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,6.0.html

Flatpack kendama?!

I'm a yo-yoer too[nb]See [noembed]
http://juggling.tv/1646 ← Please go to JTV for HD/download[/noembed] and [noembed]
http://juggling.tv/2049 ← Please go to JTV for HD/download[/noembed] for retro skills [/nb]. Well, almost an ex-yo-yoer, really, been playing since '94, haven't really learnt anything new for a decade. :-) I still occasionally go along to a meet tho'.

[cbaxt98]

Hi Chase,

Welcome aboard. Hans just about covered it, but check out the FAQ too:
http://www.kendama.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,6.0.html

Flatpack kendama?!

I'm a yo-yoer too[nb]See [noembed]
http://juggling.tv/1646 ← Please go to JTV for HD/download[/noembed] and [noembed]
http://juggling.tv/2049 ← Please go to JTV for HD/download[/noembed] for retro skills [/nb]. Well, almost an ex-yo-yoer, really, been playing since '94, haven't really learnt anything new for a decade. :-) I still occasionally go along to a meet tho'.

Thanks everyone for the help! And yes, it's insane, here's a picture: http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/293777_437446272979758_449415418_n.jpg (Sorry if I posted it the wrong way!)

Mod Edit: You can use the "picture" button (1st one on the 2nd row of icons) to insert an image, if you like:

Code Select Expand

[img]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/293777_437446272979758_449415418_n.jpg[/img]
...which makes this happen:

[TheEcstatic]

What's up kendudes?!

My name is Evan (TheEcstatic), I've been playing kendama for about a year and 9 months.  I got introduced to it by a friend in 2008, but never really played seriously until 2011.  I love kendama because of the camaraderie and just the awesome people you get to meet.  I'm from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and share the same high school as the greats, Colin Sander and Zackary Yourd.  My first kendama was a blue ozora, which I gladly destroyed through constant pounding as a new player.  I just released my 4th edit, which you can peep right here >
Well, enough reading about me, get dama-ing.

[BKA]

Welcome aboard, Evan. New forumistas always welcome. Click on!

[jackmccloskey]

Sup Evan, its jack McCloskey haha

[BKA]

Hello Jack, welcome too!

[cbaxt98]

Hey guys, sorry for this and all the upcoming newb questions coming from me! So I haven't gotten a new kendama yet, I'm using a small kendama with no string and it comes apart real easily and messing around with it. I've learned to do something on it, not sure what it is but it's super fun, I hold the ball with the spike in it and flip the ken around like a front flip and land the spike back in the hole, I can do it sideways as well, haha. So I realized how much I enjoy this and I want to get a real one now that I can actually do things on, but I'm not sure what I want to get. The two I have in mind are the Kendama USA Pro Model, or the TK16. What is your guys' input on those? The TK16 seems to be a pretty popular Kendama from what I've seen. Is there something else I should start with? Thanks!