YoYo Related News From Around The World
By André Boulay
Yo-yo players have been big into doing Kendama for awhile now.
The ‘crossover’ is always fun to watch happen and slowly but surely Kendama players are coming over to the yo-yo side!
Here Kendama Pro player Jake Wiens (part of the KendamaUSA Pro Team) showcases some of his yo-yo skills in a fun focused YOYO edit.
His Orbits at the end is an awesome showcase of Kendama Skills coming into yo-yo play!
Nice job Jake!
By Steve Brown
The Kengarden has put together an incredible West Coast tour with some of the top talent in the modern kendama scene, running from July 19th – July 27th, and traveling from San Francisco to Seattle. More details online at TheKengarden.com.
Dolores Park // Noon – 4 PM
Shasta Community Park // Noon – 4 PM
Shoreline of Tahoe @ The Marriot // 11 AM – 4 PM
BBQ – Alton Baker Park – (details soon) // 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Ed Benedict Skate Park // 3 PM – 7 PM
Walla Walla Park // 11 AM – 4 PM (Ft. KendamaCo Pros Hunter Bailey, Gus Carstens, & Sam Merkel)
*AFTER PARTY at Hooked on Toys // 5 PM – 6 PM*
Richmond Beach Park // 1 PM
By Steve Brown
The video of Dama Fest 2013 looks absolutely amazing! The amount of skill and energy at this event was just tremendous, and it was nice to see a handful of yoyo players hanging out and having a good time. This video really does make it look like the kendama event of the year…and congrats to Keith Matsumura for taking home the top prize!
Dama Fest 2013 was incredible!!! Dama Fest is an annual event which attracts top level Kendama professionals from all over North America, Europe, and as far as Japan. Event highlights include autograph signings, raffles, demonstrations, and lessons for new players. The event is completely free to the public to attend.
Big thanks to our gold sponsors Kendama USA, Sweets Kendama, Kendama Co, KROM x Kendama DK, and Tribute Kendama.
Big ups to the 2013 Champion, Keith Matsumura!!!
Kendama is a traditional Japanese skill game that challenges hand-eye coordination, balance, and focus. Learn more at www.KendamaUSA.com.
By Steve Brown
Kendama players Joshua Seno & Bobby Guieb put together this great 9-minute documentary about the modern kendama scene. Really nicely done, and definitely worth checking out. Featuring Matt Rice, Sourmash, Jake Wiens, & more.
This video is recommended for audiences 18 years and older.
Youtube version here.
Because it is my regional contest, The Bay Area Classic is dear to my heart. Currently held in San Francisco, CA, the BAC always manages to bring together many of the world’s greatest players.
Since I personally never compete, I am always a spectator on the sidelines. I don’t mind this. In fact, I embrace it. Very rarely do you see me without my trusty camera. Since 1998, I have shot video at pretty much every yoyo event I’ve gone to. Some people have said that my work has documented the growth and change of yoyoing over the past 15 years. While I don’t feel I’m worthy of such high praise, I do feel that my videos have made a large impact in the yoyo community. That is why when the BAC committee asked me if I was willing to help shoot freestyles for the event, I gladly accepted. This acceptance, however, came with a downside.
This year, BAC ran freestyles throughout the day (as opposed to the end of the day). While this made everything run much smoother, it meant that I was unable to film tricks for a clip video since I would be busy with freestyles all day. I was pretty bummed, as I really enjoy making clip videos. So, to get my “documenting fix” in, I decided to shoot photographs and maybe hope that I could grab some good video footage at the Official BAC BBQ on Sunday.
My initial video plan was to make a video that showed people hanging out at the BAC BBQ. I wanted to make a sequel to last year’s BAC video, but this time focus on the players themselves, instead of their tricks. I wanted to show all of us hanging out, laughing, having a good time, making up and sharing tricks, and relaxing after a tough competition. This was the plan until I got home and realized that the photos I had taken all weekend showed a much more interesting story.
Over the course of the weekend, I shot approximately 2000 photos using a combination of my iPhone, Lumix LX7, and Sony NEX-5N using (primarily) a 8mm fisheye. If you were in my vicinity at any point this weekend, odds are I took your picture.
Inspired by Kohta’s EYYC 2012 video, this BAC 2013 video shows a different side of the contest filled with friends, family, spirits, camaraderie, yoyoing, and kendama.
By Steve Brown
It took a while for Kendama USA to release the full video of footage shot during the 2013 International Toy Fair in New York, but it was worth the wait! In their words:
Kendama USA is back in NYC for the 2013 Toy Fair. This full length edit shows the entire sleepless week of our experience at the show and roaming the streets of New York.
Special guests include Batman, Spiderman, Elmo, Power Ranger stunt doubles, and a giant purple crayon.
Huge thanks to Jake Wiens and the Kengarden for the video work.
The California State Yo-Yo Championships is one of the larger yo-yo contests in the United States. Players travel from across the country to show off their amazing tricks and combos, hang out with friends, and compete for thousands of dollars in prize-money.
This video showcases several amazing yoyo (and kendama!) tricks that were filmed at the contest.
Music: Luv(sic) Part 5 featuring Shing02 by Nujabes
Vimeo version here.
By Steve Brown
Jake Wiens from The Kengarden shot, edited, & directed this great video featuring one of our favorite players, Ann Connolly. Great video, great tricks, and it’s especially fantastic to see that the kendama community has such good taste in the players they’re following. 😉
By Steve Brown
The Kengarden hosted their first Kendama Battle of 2013 at Dolores Park in San Francisco, with attendees including Lex from Kendama Co, Thomas Holzer from swisskendama, and SacKendama. There was also a huge yoyo player attendance, including Duncan Crew’s Paul Escolar and Sonny Patrick from AntiYo!
The new champions:
Beginner Boss
– Paul School
Intermediate Champ
-Mary Tolosa
Advanced Grand Royal Champion Boss
-Chris Do
Best trick / Most steeze in the kneeze
-Sans Kadace
Sponsored by KEN LAB , Co Kendama , Kendama USA, and Kengarden.
By Steve Brown
The Kengarden gives us some more wood-on-wood action with this great kendama & bilboquet video.
I’m now officially freshly bummed about my dogs eating my awesome custom bolero that I had made by the guys at The Unit all those years ago. (Anyone know what happened to them? Can’t even find them online anymore.) It was amazing. Had my name carved in the decoration and everything. Now a Google search can’t even find them anymore. Anyone know where I can get a good bolero or drum-style bilboquet?
By Steve Brown
Here’s what happens when two kendama players end up on the same flight to Seattle. Great tricks from Kengarden’s Jake Wiens and Sam Merkel.
By Steve Brown
A fantastic edit by Jake Wiens (The Kengarden) from his collection of kendama footage. He kept filming and filming and filming and never got around to putting it all together…and when he did, the result was 5+ minutes of fantastic tricks from a singularly impressive kendama player.
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Feb | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||