YoYo Related News From Around The World
The Kengarden hosts a weekly meetup at their pop-up shop in San Franpsycho every Tuesday…and when you have a bunch of top level kendama and yoyo players hanging out, things are bound to get silly.
On a related note; I want a new Guy Wright video, dammit.
San Franpsycho
505 Divisadero
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 829-7874 f: 415-896-4979
Mon-Thur 11-8 Fri 11-9 Sat. 10-9 Sun 10-7
Best kendama video of the year, hands down.
Featuring Jake Wiens, Kristin Olinyk, Ky Zizan, Matt Rice, Alex Smith, and Brendan Craig.
HUGE congratulations to our friend Jake Wiens on his new sponsorship by Kendama USA! Jake is one of the leading forces in the development and promotion of the modern kendama scene, and is a tremendous human being. It’s great to see someone get the recognition they deserve, and Jake deserves all the accolades he can possibly handle.
This video is a fantastic profile on Jake, with help from Jeremy Stephenson, Matt Rice, Harald Boyesen, Sourmash, Andy Olive, Guy Wright, and Tori Riley. Jake’s signature model kendama will be released in 2014.
Jake Wiens of The Kengarden ruminates on this toy he loves. Substitute the word “yoyo” for “kendama” and everything Jake is saying here still applies.
The Kengarden has an amazing kendama display coming, available soon on their site and at Kendama USA. These North American Walnut displays are made in the US, and are absolutely beautiful! No word on price, but keep an eye out…I have a feeling these are going to disappear quickly.
Jake Wiens from The Kengarden shared this great video with us of kendama player Haley Bishoff.
Haley has been shredding kendama behind the scenes for a while now. You might have seen her in the infamous Basement Sessions. So stoked for her to have an edit out now!
Kendama pros like Zack Yourd & Colin Sander can’t just cruise into a ten-day seven-city extravaganza like the Kengarden Roots Tour without a bit of practice. Here are a few days of getting the feel back, both in-front of, and behind the lens.
Vocal commentary left in to give some insight into the player-filmer relationship.
Kendama Play:
Evan Hatton
Zack Yourd
Colin Sander
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
Xopo Vocaloid just dropped an epic video of some dama and painting in an epic location.
Love the vibe of this video. Everyone has gotten a clip in front of a rad graff mural but these guys throw up their own then jam in front of it. LEVEL UP!!!
The Kengarden has teamed up with San Franpsycho to open a pop-up store and throw an unofficial pre-Bay Area Classic party!
Full details are on the flyer above, and you can RSVP on the Facebook event page…check it out!
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.
We’ve got a burly trio of kendama videos for your enjoyment…plenty of impossible looking tricks to keep you busy this week. Thanks to The Kengarden for passing these along!
First up is a rare look at modern kendama play in Japan. Since most Japanese play is incredibly traditional, this is a really nice departure and a look at the possible future of Japanese kendama play and competition.
Next up with have a quick couple of bangers shot at 300fps in the “Boda x Sloooow” video. A lot of kendama tricks are so subtle and fast that slowing them down almost seems necessary…although I guess people say that about yoyos, too.
And finally we have “Bikes Damas Blades”, a beautifully shot and edited video from Joker Productions. It’s interesting that the kendama contest scene is very underdeveloped compared to yoyos, but that their videos are regularly light-years ahead of ours. Priorities, man.
Rewind put together a great promo video for current internet superstar, Ann Connolly. Great tricks from a great demonstrator, as always.
Spokane, Washington is going to be the site of the 2013 Spotown Throwdown kendama competition.
The event is 5 PM – 9 PM at Mead High School. Admission is $5 and that gets you a raffle ticket and a chance to enter the ladder competition.
Unlike yoyo contests, the ladders are not pre-defined by any governing body…with kendama competitions the ladders are created from scratch for each event by the organizers. So basically, show up ready to work hard for your win.
RSVP on the event page on Facebook, and good luck!