So, this is my first post!
Hi all - I'm Guy Heathcote (aka GbH) one of the more elderly Team KD members.
I've been playing with kendamas since first seeing Donald Grant and Fritz Grobe (of Mentos/Coke fame!) practicing with them at a juggling convention many years ago. For a long while, I just used the plastic versions that were, back then, occasionally found in British toy shops. As I knew all-but-nothing about Japanese kendama culture and what was really possible, I didn't make too much progress (some might argue I still haven't....).
Eventually, having looked around the web for any English-language instructions, I decided to write my own Kendama page (which can still be seen here -
http://www.guyheathcote.com/KendamaBriefGuide.html). I still didn't know any of the terminology or many of the standard tricks at the time, but the page came to the attention of at least some people in Japan and I was kindly sent my first proper JKA damas (yep, including my first Mugen), along with some other cool stuff. As it happened, this also seemed to coincide with a slight increase in interest from at least a few others in the juggling community, eventually leading to the whole Team KD idea getting hatched on a long coach journey from Bodmin to Redruth during the 2006 British Juggling Convention. The Team KD idea seemed almost like a joke at first, but somehow Robin (and, later, Void) managed to turn it into something real. I was officially asked to join the team some while later and wear my official shirt with pride (when Void makes me...

).
I've since competed in each of the UK competitions, previously winning both the Advanced Trick List and Speed Trick Challenge competitions. I also won the recent BKA art competition, which was a nice surprise. I've also served as a competition judge.
I've been responsible for two kendama videos, Kendama Variations and More Kendama Variations, both of which can be found on juggling.tv. I've also made appearances in a few of the other TeamKD/BKA productions, to a greater or lesser extent.
Personally, although I still like to learn a certain amount of standard technique, I seem to have more fun thinking up different ideas, silly variations and eccentric ways to present the prop to others. But, maybe this is just an admission that I'm not good enough to be attempting the 'sick tricks' that now feature in so many on-line videos?
Oh, and before you ask, no, I don't know how many kendamas I have, nor what make they all are. And, no, I'm not currently interested in selling Mugens!
Click, click....
Guy