Kengarden

Sakura Classic Chicago was amazing to say the least.  So many players came out from all over the midwest and beyond to hang out and play kendama.  New skills were learned, new friends were made, and new champions were born. 

Check out some of the photos form Jon Robledo.

See the full set HERE.

This year Sakura Classic has expanded to Chicago. Thanks to Navigator Taproom we are able to have a large indoor open space that’s perfect for kendama. OH! Did I mention that there are 48 taps on a POUR IT YO DAMN SELF beer wall!  Navigator is not your normal wait in line bar. Once you walk in you get a card, walk up to the beer wall, and start pourin. Pour a lot or pour a little it’s ok because you just pay by the ounce.  Yes it’s amazing.  Whats even more amazing is that we have this glorious spot from 10am - 4pm on Sunday March 31st.  Huge shout out to Tim and Erik for opening their doors to the kendama players and supporting the game. 

Since the beginning of the Sakura Classic the Bears have always been the mascots of the event.  Originally designed by Fumitaka Saito ( @_TK_SN_ ) the sakura bear is inspired by the classic illustration of the California bear holding the state in it’s arms.  Since it’s creation 5 years ago the bears have collaborated with many artists along the way and each with their unique details. This year I have the pleasure of working with Damon Kirtchmeier.  ( @DK_GT ) When we were talking about the concept for this years bear we talked about origami but decided that would be a bit to time consuming and difficult.  We then had the idea to do more of a “South Park” style paper cut out concept.  We could take the existing photoshop files and add texture and shadow. NOPE! Damon had other plans.  Damon got his scissors out and cut out every element for every bear out of paper.  The real deal.  The result is a detailed, textured, tangible work of art.  Take a look a the bears below and notice the details in the cut outs. MORE BEARS TO COME! Stay tuned to @thekengarden on instagram for more. 

Bryan Scagline is a player, motivator, designer, and all around do it all dude.  Pretty much everything you have seen recently form Kendama USA is the work of Bryan. Instagram, team edits, promo graphics, tours, and more. 

Bryan recently dropped a video titled “flips and tricks” where he flexes with the new KUSA flip series. 1 design, 2 colors , INVERTED to make 2 dope damas.

Peep the video and dive deeper into the mind of Scagline below. 

  So on top of all the work he is doing for kusa dude still goes out and bangs out an edit.  THAT TAKES MOTIVATION.  I had a chance to get some questions to Bryan about motivation. peep the knowledge below and watch the new edit. 

Jake -Do you have any nick names?

Bryan - SCAGSSSS. Ironically enough SCAGS was my dads nickname growing up as well! My younger brother doesn't get called the family nickname for some reason lol, but with out asking, the nickname has stuck itself to me! Such a good feeling walking into a jam and just hearing people show love - “SCAAAGS!!” Love ya’ll  <3_

-If you were to turn your latest video “flips and Tricks” into a pie graph what would take up most of the pie?

30% promotion, 70% swag. _

-Making a kendama edit takes a lot of skills.  Cine, Editing, Kendama, Location, Graphics, promotion, and thinking of tricks. Which of these categories have you spent the most time practicing?

Thank god you, Colin, Jero all knew how to work cameras and capture the cine film / editing LOOK of kendama. That's what got me on the hook. Creating the tricks, landing them, finding the perfect locations, and the feeling of it all coming together is what keeps me going.

-“Kendama” is always changing. For players, business, communities, design, tricks, and events.  Whats your main motivation right now with kendama?

My main motivation for kendama is just to get it in front of more people. I LOVE first reactions. Before the spike. The initial curiosity of somebody stopping, approaching you, and asking “what is that!”  Having gotten to where I am with Kendama today is amazing. I will always have a voice and help guide kids, scenes, players in the right direction. I will always put the culture first and I will always share the history it has. Lastly, I aim to produce quality video and content that gets people pumped. I wanna give the feeling that YOU guys gave me when I first saw kendama. (And when I first saw Turner do the BB flip in the Japan 2012 video.) That shit changed my life. Seriously. I quit my job and I work for Kendama USA now lol. Kendama has literally changed the direction of my life. I blame Colin and Zack._

-To me your motivation shows in the new video “Flips and Tricks”.  it takes time to put a video like this together. Even if it only took you an hour to film all the tricks it's about the motivation to grab your cam and go out and bang out some tricks with the intention of motivating others.  How much does the feedback of others influence your motivation?

Droping a video is the best feeling. When you drop a video you’ve worked really hard on and everyone shows love / shares their favorite parts, omg. Thats the best. I legit get the chills just talking about it. I plan out the tricks, the kendamas used, the song that will be in the video, POV, follow cam, tripod, the angles, location, etc. I usually know what the video will look, sound, and feel like before I even string my kendama.

-Was there a time in your live where you had NO motivation? Also What pulled you out of the motivation dead zone?

Everybody gets in slumps. What I do to get out of it is - find one trick (or even a transition) that I'm feeling and just hone it, try it differently (penguin grip/ fast hand) ,and blow it up. If that isn’t working, I’ll dead ass do cup flow and go back to basics until I essentially find that 'AWE' moment and build from there. Plan out 3-6 tricks, b roll, boom. We back at it.

-Name one motivation tool that EVEYONE has access to and can use to get that BOOST of energy and motivation that makes you want to go out and get it?

THIS WORKS. I Promise. What I do to motivate myself when I feel like I suck - Go back and watch 1-3 Kendama videos that got you FIRED up back in the day. Find literally ONE trick you think is dope and alter it, make it harder, or add onto it! Find a clever way to tweak THAT trick and post it on insta. Don't apologize or type some bullshit “sorry this is all I could land” caption. Those are THE worst. Talk about how this trick inspired you and you wanna challenge somebody else! Before you know it, you’ll be lacing BETTER tricks and you’ll forget all about the slump… until it comes back. Then repeat. Lol

-Would you rather extreme armpit hair (Long and thick like you can’t wear short sleeve shirts because its busting out) or extremely lopsided nostrils (like pinky fit in the left and thumb fit in the right)?

If you don’t know Adrian Esteban then allow me to educate you. Yung String God comes from the land of California currently residing in San Jose.  His talents include Kendama, Photography, yoyo, smiling, and bamboo fighting. 

His string game has always been strong but after his recent incident with the radioactive string factory on February 1st where thousands of radioactive fibers fell from the forklift crushing him for days until he was found, his powers seem to have grown.  It’s as if he is now some kind of mutant string god.   Just take a look for yourself. 

Follow @eslayban on insta 

Sakura Classic is coming to Chicago on March 31st.  Open, speed ladders, and more will go down a the Navigator Taproom in Logans Square.  The event is open to all ages and free to attend.  

If you want to compete in the open division please sign up below with Challonge.  There is a $10 registration fee when you arrive on the 31st. Registration gets you a swag bag and a raffle ticket as well.

REGESTER FOR OPEN! CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW.

Kendamas are great models. They have a way of working with light and the amazing capability of transforming from one piece into 2 or even 3.  There are thousands of ways to shoot a dama.  The photos below are from a cutting board in my kitchen.  When inspiration hits you gotta hit back. This is where magic is made.  

Challenge!  Take some photos of your kendamas.  Really flex your creativity.  

There have been a hand full of Kendama podcast that have come and gone in the past few years.  All of which started with momentum but then had fallen off after a few episodes.  From the ashes of the fallen rises the NERDS. 

Say hello to kendamas newest podcast, DAMA NERDS.  Featuring MJ and ROD.  

What makes this one different?  Instead of it being an interview show its just 2 guys in Japan nerding out about kendama and they aren’t scared to talk about anything.  It’s not all fluff and rainbows.  In episode 5 they shed some light on the JKA and how their controlling power is holding back kendama evolution in Japan. it gets juicy.  

I hope this podcast survives and continues to talk about real subjects within kendama all while providing a unique insight into the kendama world from two of the games OG’s. 

EP.5  28 Tricks later, Tragic Leaf Green story, Kensession Stand, BOO JKA. 

Dama Nerds - 

INSTAGRAM @damanerds 

MJ (Kyandamabu) - @mj_incro 

Following the success of the “First Spike Challenge” Sweets is taking it world wide.  The first spike challenge was a campaign attached to the nation wide distribution deal with Target.  The Sweets prime was now accessible almost everywhere in the USA.  Sweets challenged players to walk into a target, buy the Prime, and teach some one who has never played kendama how to spike it.  If you completed the challenge and met the criteria you would be eligible to win 1 of EVERYTHING.. YES EVERYTHING in the sweets warehouse.  People went nuts.  The hype was real in the USA but people outside the states were left out of the action.  Enter the Sweets First Spike Challenge WORLD WIDE. 

Here is why I love this challenge. Kendama is full of different types of people.  Some are outgoing and have no problem talking and teaching people and and some are more mellow in personality and keep to themselves.  This challenge not only assist at growing the community of kendama players but it can grow both the confidence of the player who is taking the challenge of approaching a total stranger and talking to them.  Teaching some one to spike isn’t always easy. I have taught thousands how to spike over my career and there are some that just don’t get it or refuse to try so by approaching a stranger with this mission you are really putting yourself out there.  It’s an amazing Win, Win , Win, Win situation.  The player wins a new found social skill, The rando person wins the excitement of the spike, sweets wins with a powerful passionate marketing campaign, and the community wins a potential new player.  BOOM!  Hats of to the Sweets boys. 

HERE THEY ARE! Practice up! 

Kendama France just released an edit full of dope tricks, new players, and beautiful french locations.  I had a chance to chill the with the Kendama France crew in Paris last year and it’s inspiring how passionate people are all around the world for kendama. 

Check out their video “Baguettes Edit 1″ and give their youtube a subscribe. 

Merci beaucoup!

This past summer the GT squad took a trip to Paris for the Japan Expo.  Hundreds of thousands of fans traveled to the festival to get their fix of all the things they love from Japan.  We were there to introduce Kendama.  We traveled in from Portland, San Jose, and Chicago to form like voltron and make an impression on the thousands of festival goers.  Little did we know that when we arrived at our VRBO rental there was an experimental film house down the street  that unknown to us had an intern by the Name of Beau Walters. Beau is from Colorado. He has been in the kendama scene as a player and photographer for YEARS. He has been in GT Community edits as well as many of the OG KenCo videos.  We had no idea he was in Paris and more less down the street. Throughout our time in Paris Beau was with us taking 35 mm film photos with is vintage Leica.  The fact that all of these people game together around this obscure Japanese game from different places and ended up on the same street in Paris is amazing.  All of the small events that happened in 5 individuals lives leading up to these photos speaks for how important each moment is.  Nothing captures a moment like a shutter, glass, and 35 mm film. 

There are a lot of really really really REALLY good kendama players out there. Everyone has their own style and tricks.  There are the players that do the tricks that you never thought about that are pretty obtainable and there are the players that do the crazy hammers that aren’t really the most innovative but there is no way in hell you feel like you can even come close to doing them. 

Ben Herald is both of these players.  Ben does tricks you never thought of and will more than likely never do.  It is indeed magic. 

Make sure to go follow @benherald on Instagram and binge his feed.

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Day 28 #kendama #28trickslater

I used the GT-E1 Walnut ROKU for the 28 Tricks later challenge.  I have always loved walnut.  The smell reminds me of fresh cut wood in a wood shop.  The dark wood gets darker as you play it and it evolves as you do alongside it.  Check out my favorite tricks from my 28 Tricks later challenge on Instagram.  HUGE shout out to Sweets Kendama’s for hosting  and creating this amazing challenge that sparks new life into the kendama world every year. 

Pour your own beer and chill with kendama! Navigator taproom is a new style of bar in Chicago where you are your own bar tender.  Mix it with some Kendama and you have yourself a pretty good time.  You can also buy a GT and put it on your tab. It’s pretty rad. =)

2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month. 

2211 N Milwaukee ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Kendama is something that can be shared with everyone.  Years ago I came home to Tennessee with a Gold Shin Fuji and a Silver Shin Fuji for my brother Eric and my cousin Tyler.   Little did I know that these two damas would shape every moment we shared together as a family for the rest of our lives.  Since then we have all moved forward with our lives but kendama has come with us every step of the way.  Eric is working as a mechanical engineer, Tyler is getting his masters in public health, and I’m focusing on spreading kendama to the world.  

We recently came together for thanksgiving and we were able to immediately start jamming as if we were jamming every day together for the past 6 years.  The power of family combined with the power of kendama has brought my family closer than I ever imagined and I hope it can do the same for yours.  Check out some of the footage from our trip to White Oak Creek Tennessee for Thanksgiving at my grandparents Cabin. 

If you play kendama actively then you have a grip of kendamas.  There are so many to choose from and so many different options of shape, color, and style.  You will also know that you have some that you have not played in ages.  These are the Damas you give. 

I know it is hard. Every dama has a story.  “That was the one I got at damafest, I found that one at a good will, TJ gave me that one on KG Roots Tour 2013!”   At first it is hard to let go but once you realize that you and that dama will make a new story for someone else it’s much easier to give it away.   A bit ago I embarked on a Journey to So Cal for the Dirtybird Campout.  DB Campout is a three day music festival that’s all about bass, house, and electronic music.  I loaded up a bag with 20 kendamas ranging from my first pro mods, to old GT-1s. These were all going to find new homes and they did.  We were the first ones there and immediately started giving damas. 

Do your self a favor and lace one of the most important bangers in your dama life. GIVE A DAMA TO SOME ONE WHO IS STOKED!