Kendama facts for kids
The kendama (けん玉, "sword [and] ball") is a cool traditional Japanese skill toy. It has three main parts: a handle called the ken, a pair of cups called the sarado, and a ball called the tama. All these parts are connected by a string. One end of the ken has a cup, while the other end narrows into a spike, or kensaki. This spike fits into a hole, or ana, in the tama.
The kendama is like the Japanese version of the classic cup-and-ball game. It's also similar to the French game bilboquet. The main idea is always the same: you try to catch one part with another, and they're both tied together by a string. You can hold the kendama in many ways, and there are tons of tricks and combinations you can learn!
People aren't totally sure where kendama came from, but most believe it started in the 1600s or 1700s. When it arrived in Japan during the Edo period, it really started to change and grow. Since then, this fun toy has become popular all over the world. Today, you can find kendamas in different sizes, like jumbo or mini, and they can be made from plastic, metal, or nylon, not just wood. There are even kendama competitions held around the globe, with the biggest one being the annual Kendama World Cup in Japan!
Contents
Parts of a Kendama
A traditional kendama is usually made from wood and has several key parts:
- Ken: This is the main handle part.
- Kensaki: The spike at the top of the ken.
- Ōzara: The big cup.
- Chūzara: The base cup, usually at the bottom of the ken.
- Kozara: The small cup.
- Tama: The ball with a hole in it.
- Ana: The hole in the tama where the spike goes.
- Ito: The string that connects the ken and tama.
- Saradō: The part with the big and small cups that slides onto the ken.
How to String a Kendama
"Stringing" a kendama means putting the ken, sarado, and tama together with the string. You'll need a small bead and the string itself. Here’s how to do it:
- Take one end of the string and push it through the small hole in the tama until it comes out the big hole (ana).
- Put the bead onto the end of the string that came out of the ana. Tie a knot to keep the bead in place.
- Now, take the other end of the string (the untied end) and put it through one of the two holes in the sarado.
- Tip: If you're right-handed, hold the sarado so the big cup is on the right. Put the string through the hole facing you. If you're left-handed, make sure the big cup is on the left and put the string through the hole facing you.
- Next, guide the string through the hole in the ken.
- Tie a knot at this end of the string so it doesn't slip out of the ken piece.
- Finally, slide the sarado down onto the ken. Now your kendama is ready to play!
Kendama Grips
You can hold a kendama in many ways, called "grips." The grip you choose depends on the trick you want to do. Here are some common grips:
- Ken Grip: Hold the ken with all five fingers. The spike should point upwards, and the big cup (or small cup) should face your body.
- Sara Grip: Hold the ken by placing your thumb and index finger just below where the sarado and ken meet.
- Tama Grip: Hold the ball (tama) with your fingertips, making sure the hole (ana) faces upwards.
- Candle Grip: Hold the ken with your index, middle, and thumb fingers, with the spike pointing downwards.
How to Play Kendama
The main idea of kendama is to pull the ken up and balance the tama on one of its cups or the spike, or to do the opposite. There aren't strict rules on how to play. However, many experienced players bend their knees while playing. This helps them control the kendama better. You can create endless tricks and combinations using just the basic grips!
Here are some example tricks for each grip:
Ken Grip Tricks
- Spike: This trick uses the hole in the tama and the spike.
- Hold the ken with the spike pointing straight up.
- Use your other hand to hold the ball still before you start.
- Bend your knees.
- Pull the tama up using your whole body.
- Aim the spike directly into the hole of the tama to catch it.
- Swing Spike: A cool variation of the Spike.
- Hold the ken like you're going to do a regular spike.
- Hold the ball with your free hand and gently pull it back towards you, keeping the string tight.
- Let go of the ball and swing it out in front of you.
- Give the string a little tug to make the tama's hole spin 360 degrees towards you.
- Catch the tama on the spike.
- Around Japan: This trick combines using the small cup, big cup, and the spike.
- Pull the ball up and land it in the small cup.
- Hop the ball over to the big cup by rotating your wrist to the right (or left if you're left-handed).
- Watch the hole in the tama, then hop the ball up onto the spike.
- Around the World: Similar to Around Japan, but you also use the base cup.
- First, land the ball in the small cup, then the big cup, and then the base cup.
- From the base cup, keep an eye on the hole. Hop the ball up and land the hole onto the spike.
- Bird: This trick involves balancing the tama on the edge of a cup.
- Hold the ken with the spike pointing up, and the big cup (or small cup) facing you.
- Tilt the kendama slightly away from you.
- Bend your knees, then extend them while pulling the ball straight up.
- Try to balance the hole of the ball on the edge of the big cup (or small cup) while the ball leans against the spike.
Sara Grip Tricks
- Moshikame: This is a fun back-and-forth trick using the big cup and base cup.
- Pull the ball up into the big cup.
- Bend your knees and hop the ball into the air.
- While the ball is in the air, quickly rotate the ken downwards so the base cup faces up.
- Catch the ball in the base cup. Keep repeating this!
- Clack Back: This trick uses the big cup (or small cup) and the end of the handle.
- Pull the ball up onto the big cup.
- Tilt the ken about 45 degrees downwards. This will make the base cup point towards the ground and the ball will start to fall off the big cup.
- "Clack" (hit) the ball with the very end of the ken.
- Catch the ball back on the big cup.
Tama Grip Tricks
- Airplane: This trick is like a "Swing Spike" but you hold the ball instead.
- Hold the ball with the hole facing upwards.
- Use your other hand to hold the ken steady.
- With your free hand, gently pull the ken back a little.
- Release the ken with your free hand.
- As the ken flies in the air, pull it so it spins 180 degrees towards you, making the spike point downwards.
- Catch the spike in the hole of the tama.
- Lighthouse: This trick involves balancing the ken on the tama.
- Hold the tama steady with your free hand.
- Gently pull the ken upwards, letting it rise above the tama. Try to keep the ken stable.
- As the ken rises higher than the ball, place the tama directly under the base cup of the ken.
- Balance the ken on top of the tama.
Candle Grip Tricks
- Candlestick: This trick uses the base cup.
- Pull or swing the ball upwards.
- Land the ball directly onto the base cup.
Kendama in Today's World
Kendama has become much more popular since it first grew in Japan. In the 2000s, it really took off outside Japan, leading to the first kendama companies starting in other countries.
Kendama USA was the first kendama company in the United States, founded in 2006. They helped spread kendama in North America, even reaching communities involved in winter sports, BMX biking, and rollerblading. Since then, Kendama USA has helped kendama grow across the country. In 2010, another company called Sweets Kendamas was started in Minnesota by Matt "Sweets" Jorgenson. Their goal is to "Spread Kendama Love," and they've done a great job of that over the years.
In Europe, companies like Kendama Europe (started in 2008) and KROM Kendama from Denmark (started in 2010) also helped kendama become popular. Many kendama companies have teams of sponsored players who help promote their brands. These players come from all over the world and are of all ages.
The kendama community stays connected through social media platforms like Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Tiktok, Twitch, and Twitter.
Kendama and Robots
Kendama play has even been used to test how accurate, agile, and quick to learn robotic arms are!
Kendama Competition Rules
While there are no specific rules for just playing kendama casually, all official kendama competitions follow certain rules. There are four main types of kendama competitions: Speed Ladder, Open Division, Freestyle, and the Kendama World Cup (KWC). The KWC style is usually only used for the World Cup itself.
Speed Ladder
The Speed Ladder is a race to see who can finish a set of tricks the fastest. Players are given a list of tricks and must complete them in order as quickly as possible. The player who finishes first wins. Competitions often have different skill levels, like beginner, intermediate, and advanced/pro.
Open Division
Open Division is a head-to-head competition where two players compete against each other. In each round, players take turns drawing a trick randomly. Each trick gives players up to three chances to complete it. The first player to score 3 points wins the round.
- If one player completes the trick and the other misses, the successful player gets 1 point. The other player then draws a new trick.
- If both players complete the trick or both miss it, they move to the next attempt for that same trick.
- If both players complete or miss the trick on all three attempts, that trick is thrown out, and the second player draws a new trick.
- Note: In the final round, the first player to 5 points wins. The winner of the Open Division is usually named the champion of the event.
Freestyle
Freestyle is another head-to-head competition judged by a panel of 3 or 5 judges. Two players take turns performing tricks for 45 seconds, twice each. During their time, players can perform any trick they choose. Each judge decides which player performed better based on three things: Creativity, Consistency, and Difficulty. The player with the most votes from the judges wins the round.
Kendama World Cup (KWC) Rules
Before the KWC, 120 tricks are released online, divided into 12 levels (10 tricks per level). Higher level tricks are harder and worth more points. The KWC has two days: Day 1 for Qualifying and Day 2 for Finals.
- Day 1 (Qualifying): All players choose 12 tricks from levels 1-10. They split these 12 tricks into two rounds of 6 tricks each. Each player gets 3 minutes per round to complete as many tricks as possible. The 25 players with the highest scores move on to Day 2.
- Points: A trick is worth points equal to its level (e.g., a level 6 trick is worth 6 points).
- Day 2 (Finals): Players compete one by one, starting with the lowest-scoring qualifier. Each player has 3 minutes to do as many tricks as they can from levels 3-12. Each trick can only be done once. The player with the highest score wins.
- Points: A trick is worth its level squared (e.g., a level 6 trick is worth 36 points). Level 11 tricks are worth 151 points, and level 12 tricks are worth 194 points.
Kendama Competitions
Kendama competitions have been happening since 1979, with the first being the All Japan Kendama-Do Championships. The British Kendama Association held the first formal competition outside Japan in 2008. Kendama competitions come in many forms, including speed ladders, freestyle, and world championship styles.
At these events, you can often find vendors selling kendamas, clothes, and accessories. Competitions can last from one to three days, and prizes are given to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each category. Popular competitions include the North American Kendama Open and the Kendama World Cup (KWC).
Kendama World Cup
The Kendama World Cup (KWC) is an annual two-day event held in the summer in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan. It started in 2014 and is the biggest kendama competition in the world. In 2018, 415 competitors from 18 different countries competed, with an audience of 49,000 people!
At KWC, there are also many vendors selling merchandise, kendama games, and live performances over the two days. Admission to the KWC is free.
KWC Winners
- 2014: Bonz Atron (KROM Kendama)
- 2015: Wyatt Bray (Kendama USA)
- 2016: Bryson Lee (Sweets Kendamas)
- 2017: So Kanada (Sweets Kendamas)
- 2018: Nick Gallagher (Sweets Kendamas)
- 2019: Rui Sora (Kendama USA)
- 2020: Takuya Igarashi (Su-Lab, Kendama Israel)
North American Kendama Open (NAKO)
The North American Kendama Open (NAKO), once known as the Minnesota Kendama Open, is an annual kendama event held in Minnesota every Fall since 2013. NAKO has grown over the years, from a one-day event to a three-day event. It has been held in different cities in Minnesota, including Saint Paul, the Mall of America in Bloomington, and Minneapolis.
NAKO offers several types of competitions:
- Beginner speed ladder
- Intermediate speed ladder
- Amateur open division
- Pro Open Division
- Freestyle
Each competition style is spread out over the event days. On the final day, champions are crowned in all divisions.
NAKO Winners
- 2013: Max Norcross (Sweets Kendamas)
- 2014: Lukas Funk (Sweets Kendamas)
- 2015: Zack Gallagher (Sweets Kendamas)
- 2016: Nick Gallagher (Sweets Kendamas)
- 2017: So Kanada (Sweets Kendamas)
- 2018: So Kanada (Sweets Kendamas)
- 2019: Hiroto "Motty" Motohashi (Su Lab)
- 2020: Nick Gallagher (Sweets Kendamas)
Catch & Flow
Catch & Flow, the Freestyle World Championship, first took place in September 2014 in downtown Tokyo, Japan. This event created a new way to judge freestyle kendama skills. Players from around the world apply by listing their achievements. About 60 top players are chosen to perform for 90 seconds each. Judges then pick 16 finalists who go head-to-head in battles, with each player getting two 45-second turns, until a champion is found.
Catch & Flow - World Freestyle Winners
- 2014 - Thorkild May / DENMARK / KROM Kendama
- 2015 - Bonz Atron / USA / KROM Kendama
- 2016 - Jake Fischer / USA / KROM Kendama
- 2017 - Bonz Atron / USA / KROM Kendama
- 2018 - Bonz Atron / USA / KROM Kendama
- 2019 - Kaito Nakajima / JAPAN / Grain Theory
- 2020 - Takuya Igarashi / JAPAN / Su-Lab, Kendama Israel
Battle at the Border
The Battle at the Border is the longest-running annual kendama competition in the United States. It's currently hosted by Sol Kendamas, a company based in Kentucky. The event happens on the first weekend of January in Tennessee, USA.
The very first public kendama competition in Tennessee was held in June 2011 in Nashville. It was called the "Nashville Kendama Battle." Later, a group of players called The Kendama Squad, along with the Kensession Stand blog, hosted annual battles in Clarksville, Tennessee. The name "Battle at the Border" was first used for the 2014 competition. In 2015, Sol Kendamas officially started organizing the event. The competition reached its largest attendance in 2015, with about 150 people.
Battle at the Border Open Winners
- 2012 - Christian Fraser / USA / Sweets Kendamas
- 2013 - William Penniman / USA / Sweets Kendamas
- 2014 - Jake Fischer / USA / Krom Kendama
- 2015 - William Penniman / USA / Sweets Kendamas
- 2016 - Kevin DeSoto / USA / Sol Kendamas
- 2017 - Liam Rauter / USA / Sol Kendamas
- 2018 - Bonz Atron / USA / Krom Kendama
- 2019 - Liam Rauter / USA / Sol Kendamas
- 2020 - Alex Mitchell / USA / Sol Kendamas
- 2021 - Liam Rauter / USA / Sol kendamas
Dama Fest
Dama Fest was North America's first big kendama competition, hosted by Kendama USA. The first Dama Fest was in 2011, and the second was in 2013. Kendama players came from all over North America, Europe, and Japan to compete. Players battled in a single-elimination bracket format.
Dama Fest Winners
- 2011 / Sebastian Orrego / USA / Unsponsored
- 2013 / Keith Matsumura / USA / Kendama USA
Images for kids
-
Bilboquet, a cup-and-ball toy from Europe, similar to kendama.
See also
In Spanish: Kendama para niños
