I have been looking at kendamas and this forum and am wondering what makes a kendama good? Does it have to do with the ball or the handle, or the stick that sticks onto the ball. (sorry my vocab is lacking). Even so what what would you recommend to be my first kendama.
A lot of what it comes down to is preference, kinda like in yoyos. imo quality would be durability and weight(as far as balance goes when dealing with different tricks) I’ve been able to play oozoras, sweets and tributes and all of them have been good but they’ve all been different. I like the tributes because they feel really solid but they’re also heavier and out of the box they’re pretty slick (that’s what I was looking for so I am happy with mine) oozoras are a lighter as far as weight goes and the paint is glossy to begin with but it breaks in pretty well plus they’re JKA approved (which means they’re approved for competition in japan/the UK) sweets seem to be in the middle of the two (as far as I’ve seen) and can range from tacky to pretty slick depending on what you’re looking for. The tacky ones being the atack and matte marbles (from what I’ve heard) and the slicker ones being the glossy models. for your first kendama I would recommend an oozora but a lot of people want sticker tamas for easier balance tricks so the atacks would probably be the way to go if that’s what you’re looking for
Weight.
I personally love cherry wood tama and kens!! They play nice and heavy but its perfect for me 