A kendama consists of a wooden handle connected to a wooden ball with a string. The handle has three cups and a spike that can be used in a variety of ways to perform different tricks. I’ve been learning this Japanese juggling toy on and off for about 5 years now. Some years, I play a lot, other years… not so much.
I continue to play Kendama because its’ something easy to pick up after a long day, and you can put in as little or as much time as you want and still progress towards new tricks.
In the past, the main reason I stop playing is that I don’t know what trick to learn next. So looking for a challenge and somewhat of a structure to follow, I’ve set off to complete level 6 of the 2022 Kendama World Cup trick list. There are 12 levels to this competition, with each level having 10 tricks. I figured that completing the level halfway up the list would mean I’m at least proficient.
These tricks (which you are seeing in the background) ranged from extremely technical, to extremely silly. But for the sake of the challenge, I insisted on completing each and every one of the tricks. As you can see, some tricks were easier than others for me to complete.