I tried KENDAMA!
Ever heard of a kendama? If you follow me, you probably have! A kendama is a Japanese skill toy that looks like the traditional ball/cup game! Theres a ball on a string attached to a wooden toy with cups and a spike, and the goal is to get the ball on the cups/spike. Simple as that.
I've been practicing kendama on and off for about a year. I really feel like I should be better than I am at this point, but I honestly don't put a lot of practice into it, so it makes sense!
Despite my mediocre kendama skills, the fine kendama players of Los Angeles asked me to be a special guest at the LACMA Urban Lights Kendama Sesh (which usually happens on Tuesday between 8-10pm).
I said yes, obviously. And I made the trek over the LA hill in tons of traffic to go hang out and try to get a ball on a spike. It was awesome!
Watch the video above to see how that went!
After the meetup, I came home and tried to successfully land all the tricks I learned the night before. It was fun for me to drill the tricks, and even more fun to edit the video of it! I hope you enjoy it!
Reflecting back on the experience
It can be really intimidating as a beginner to show up to a skill meetup full of pros. You feel like you don't have a right to be there, like you'll be made fun of or feel embarrassed. But in reality, people are usually really excited to have a new person who's interested in the same thing they are! I've been to a lot of meetups where I'm the worst one there, and it's always ended up being a great experience.
Despite knowing that, it's usually still intimidating! But it's important to get past that fear and still show up.
Get out there and try stuff with other people.
Thank you so much to everyone at the meetup who took time to show me tricks. And thank you to Kendama USA for sending me a shiny new kendama!
If you want to try kendama (you should) you can head over to http://kendamausa.com/
You can use my promo code "taylortries" for 10% off!
Looking for some great quality juggling props like me? Check out the links below and use promo code "TAYLOR15" for 15% off your entire order!
Juggling Balls: Taylor Tries Beanbag Set
Juggling Clubs: Henry's Loop Clubs