So my friend has been dying to have me start playing kendama, and I want to know how close it is to throwing, does anyone here have experience, is it fun, boring, anything really.
Not very.
But it is certainly an amusing toy.
Just got one today. It’s very fun. Go for it.
It takes a lot more patience than throwing… But its a cheaper simpler toy, no worrying about lube or bearings…
They are fun and challenging! Dont spend more than $20 on one
It’s slower paced, not as creative. Sort of like “how many of these can I do in a row”/“let’s see how many times I can spin it”.
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Based on what I’ve seen, I have to disagree. I just watched videos tonight where players put together some lengthy combos involving full body movements and no lack of creativity or imagination. There’s a documentary titled Where We Are on the kendamaUSA website that’s worth 40 minutes of your time. If I were to compare it directly to yoyoing, I’d say it’s closer to fixed axle play with a lot of stalls and interrupts in the combos.
Conincidently a girl in my class brought a Kendama to class today. I asked her if i could play it for a bit. Man i haven’t been amused this much by a toy since i pick the yoyo up ;D, i can’t believe tossing a wood ball and catching it could be so fun. Definitely gonna pick my own one.
I disagree with this. It is a lot different than yo-yo but you can still be just as creative.
I just got a chameleon! Awesome cant wait for it to come
Kendama isn’t really similar to yoyoing at all. the only similarities are you can make up your own tricks and master different tricks that are already created. The Kendama is a super fun toy, that has really good benefits too as it increases your hand eye coordination and reaction time. Its a lot of fun 
Like every other skill toy imaginable, you get out of it exactly what you put in.
As far as similarity to yoyoing…it’s a simple, classic toy with a long history of traditional play and a new school of players who are coming up with new ideas and implementation, honoring the history while still moving the toy forward.
So, if you’re asking if there are physical similarities…no. But are there philosophical and intellectual similarities? If that’s what you’re looking for, they’re nearly identical.
theres a string and you have to catch stuff…