Hey Ive never understood kendama, but I was thinking about giving it a try! What draws people to it? im assuming like yoyo its much harder then it looks! Open to any tips for starting out- suggestions for beginner kendamas
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So for me, the kendama is a peaceful skill toy I like to play with. Yoyos are exceptionally competitive for me and if I try to throw to close to bed, I won’t sleep (no pun intended). When I play with a kendama, I reach a point where I am just playing for fun. For me, there are no rules, no tricks that score x amount of points, or anything like that.
All that being said, someone who practices with a kendama for competitive nature will tell you otherwise. I am just a thrower who occasionally messes around with a kendama.
For how hard it is, you just need to get the 4 basic mounts down and then everything else builds on that.
For tips, I am a hard head and don’t take advice the first time. One thing that many people recommend is hardening the spike with superglue. I highly recommend this for wood, but do not do this for a plastic or you will ruin it.
A beginner kendama should be cheaper, have extra string, and not very many gimmicks. Any basic wood kendama will do. Below is the link for the YoYoExpert Kendama Stuff. I recommend picking up a set of strings and a kendama from here. I like Duncan and Kendama USA stuff, but the choice is really yours. I recommend you start cheap and build your way up, but that choice is ultimately up to you.
Hope this all helps!!
EDIT: One final thing I forgot, surfboard wax helps so much at getting more traction, so you may consider using it. It is cheap and you will never use it all. Plus it smells amazing!
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I started kendama a while back when my throwing arm was acting up so I figured I can just try and pick up a different skill with the other arm gets the tinker moveing
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@gcoomans can give a better answer then me, but…
I got my first Kendama (TJ Kolesnik pro mod from Kendama USA) last December from my best friend when he visited for Christmas. I was more into yoyo then but picked it up in January or February a month or two later. I’m drawn to it because I found it was easier to progress at it then yoyo. I’ve done two online Kendama calls and I’ve learned very fun elements. The community is great, Gethin has sent me two pills, and two kens, the pills are freaking fun, probably a little more fun then normal Kendama.
If you pick up Kendama, people are sure to be there for you, I play alone and that’s hard to do but again Gethin is super kind and crazy supportive.
Go for it bro!!
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Thanks everyone for the replies! Im gonna order a sweets kendama cause those seem to be popular and arent to expensive! Excited
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I recommend the Boost Radar if you’re serious about pursuing Kendama. I personally haven’t play one but I’ve heard great things.
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The 1st one that caught my attention was the Dave Mateo pro model. Looked it up to post a pic to find out he died in 2019. 
This is it.
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thats sad man… yeah I grabbed a kendama now! the positive anecdotes convinced me I need it in my life
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They are a lot of fun! If you like it you’ll end up finding a ken style you like best and paint.
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I picked up Kendama not too long ago out of curiosity. I ended up liking it quite a bit. Something different to throw into the skill toy arsenal. I have a few Sweets Boost Radar’s. I feel they are excellent for starting out.
Same here. It’s a definite change from yo’s. They make good photo’s too.