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The ever popular "Today I..." thread

Started by BatDancer, 04 July, 2011, 21:24:24

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John

Tomorrow is another day, Void!

I've been amusing myself with wingwalking variations over the past couple of days. Just simple things as I'm not very good at them. Nodding off to banking, and sliding back and forth from bird. I think it'll be awhile before I get anywhere near consistent with them but landed both variations more than 1 time.

Outlink has been very spike-y up to now so it's been nice to work on something a bit calmer and balanced...

The Void

As indeed, was this evening. I managed to hit a few things, but nothing special. Set a very unimpressive record though... http://kendama.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,209.msg28263.html#msg28263

Nice Winging, John.
If you don't want to BUY MY BOOKS 😉, then why not ask your local library to order them in, and read them for free? That would help too. Cheers!

The Void

If you don't want to BUY MY BOOKS 😉, then why not ask your local library to order them in, and read them for free? That would help too. Cheers!

The Void

No time to play kendama for the past couple of days. Been busy with interesting projects.
Well, I did squeeze in 10 minutes on Outlink. Got the first bit! :)
If you don't want to BUY MY BOOKS 😉, then why not ask your local library to order them in, and read them for free? That would help too. Cheers!

kendamatty

Not coming from a juggling background, I'm incredibly chuffed with myself that I've finally unlocked juggles to spikes and lighthouses. Strangely though, I've found myself juggling the ball on the right, and the ken on the left (which from what I can tell is odd for a right handed player...) Oh well, it still works!

johndmc

Got closer to landing whirlwind today. Landed a couple without any spin on the tama. Made up though as feel like I'm getting there with it at least.
Dont practice what you can do, practice what you can't! :)

The Void

So, @johndmc  if I understand you right, you did
[from loaded ken] > Whirlwind Spike, or, if you did the Spike first,
Spike > Whirlwind Spike.
Well done!
I guess you mean you're after a Whirlwind Earth Turn? You'll get one soon. :-)
If you don't want to BUY MY BOOKS 😉, then why not ask your local library to order them in, and read them for free? That would help too. Cheers!

johndmc

Yeah that's it, so going for whirlwind earth turn.
Dont practice what you can do, practice what you can't! :)

John

@johndmc As someone who has only recently learned whirlwinds, I watched a lot of videos and took a lot of tips from people until I finally unlocked it. From one beginner to another, my absolute best advice is this:

1. Decide which ken grip you're going to use. Many people hold the ken with the index, thumb and middle finger all at the bottom but some people find it much easier to place the index finger much higher, under the sarado. Have a look at the kendama USA tutorial with Dave Mateo to see what I mean - I liked this for awhile, but in the end I found it easier to place all my fingers at the bottom. Choose whatever's comfortable for you.

2. Don't use any wrist! This is what caused me the most trouble and led to most of my problems with the tama spinning too quickly. Start with your knees low, and use the upward momentum of your body to make the tama spin. With a bit of practice you should be able to find the "sweet spot" of the tama rotating just as you want it.

3. Don't look at the kenflip (well, at least not for too long). Try and keep your eyes as much as possible on the tama rotating so you can get the spike. This is easier said than done, I know, and I still glance down at the kenflip to make sure it's not too wonky. But that's not the most important thing. If you don't keep an eye on the tama, you'll never spike it anyway!

4. Perfect kenflips will come with time. You're not going to be rocking exact kenflips, one may come every now and again but expect them to be wonky whilst you learn the trick.

5. Don't throw the tama too high, or you'll get a weird yank situation going.

Hope I helped! :D

johndmc

Thanks John, some great points there, really appreciate it. I was practicing it the opposite way for what most tutorials I'd seen mentioned. Now that I can launch the tama without spin, it let's me just work on the kenflip and spike. I can then fine tune the earth turn once more consistent with the kenflips.
I know what you mean by where to hold the ken though, I certainly preferred holding further down as I found it easier to control the tama, along with a quicker kenflip. I did find that rather than push the ken to get it spinning, that just exaggerating the opening of my hand made the ken flip quite well, as pushing it for me just made my arm have more movement to have to cope with, if that makes any sense?
Dont practice what you can do, practice what you can't! :)

John

Quote from: johndmc on 02 April, 2017, 21:29:49
I did find that rather than push the ken to get it spinning, that just exaggerating the opening of my hand made the ken flip quite well, as pushing it for me just made my arm have more movement to have to cope with, if that makes any sense?

I know what you mean, it's easier in a sense to do the tama release and kenflip in one simultaneous motion. Like a pull up gunslinger.  However in the long term, you will learn how to do it in 2 different motions. If you watch other people do whirlwinds, they release the tama first, give it a moment and then do the kenflip to spike. That's difficult, and I still haven't got it down the way I want, but it becomes easier.

I suggest to just do whatever feels comfortable for you at the moment, whether it's technically "right" or not, and then fine tune once it's a bit easier. Whirlwinds are hard, and it'll take some time. I'm still pretty rubbish at them so take my advice with a pinch of salt, but give it a couple of months and the clicks will come more frequently.

johndmc

To be honest I think I have it as two different motions, launching the tama with zero spin was what forced me to delay the kenflip. I'll have to try and film it to check.
Dont practice what you can do, practice what you can't! :)

shalafi

After almost no play for a couple months, today I run the Irish Open and I had time to jam... oh man am I rusty.

But I did land a hanging fast hand spike on the second try, which was awesome. Not in camera, but I have eye witnesses :)
Spanish Kendama Champion 2010, 2012, 2014-16
Depth Perception is Overrated.

The Void

If you don't want to BUY MY BOOKS 😉, then why not ask your local library to order them in, and read them for free? That would help too. Cheers!

The Void

Today I had a jam session with @Tom Derrick & @I.A.M . Since Ian sprained his thumb yesterday, we had a game of weak-hand ken, which he promptly won. :) Also just some fun trick swapping.
I also tried the trick that I thought up the other night whilst not going to sleep. It turns out to be quite hard. I might try to film it for the Collab.
If you don't want to BUY MY BOOKS 😉, then why not ask your local library to order them in, and read them for free? That would help too. Cheers!