This Week I Learned Kendama 

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1 man 2 cups

A fun skill to learn might be throwing a Frisbee! It is deceptively difficult (especially for forehand flicks), and it'd be really fun to see your learning processes applied to it!

you are actually doing harder variants of the trick than you gave yourself credit for, you caught the ken in penguin grip on the bottom cup and you are doing an inward half flip during your lighthouse. Much harder to do in my opinion. Nice job!!!

Nice one!! You even did a few things the hard way! Here are a few bonus tips 1. Always start from a stationary, still, untangled position. 2. Tie a small knot in the string on the outside of the ball to prevent the bead popping out of the hole on your lighthouse. 3. Hole control! Try to land the tama on the cups in a way that you can see inside the hole, and try not to spin in so the string twists or tangles. 4. The direction things move can make tricks easier e.g. Lighthouse -> in is a bit easier with the lighthouse falling toward you so you can watch the spike. 5. KNEES!!!

I immediately went and bought a Kendama because of Mike. Looks challenging, but so satisfying and addicting.

As a semi-professional kendama player, this was very exciting to see, and I’d love to see you learn how to whirlwind next!

The exact, almost involuntary way he cleans the kendama at 9:59 shows the hours he put into this thing. Mad respect.

This man has learnt more things then my entire class has at school😆

Hearing Mike's wife and her joy at his successes just makes me smile.

Mike this was INCREDIBLE! I always thought the artful wizardry of the Kendama was lost to time, where I personally learnt it from one of the last few successors we have today - the great Ryan Higa. He moved mountains for the practices of Kendama, championing it across TV, demonstrating the limitless real-world applications of this mere ‘toy’ that we love. Thank you for this video Mike.

Dude, these were sooo huge in Romania in 2016-2017. Literally EVERY KID had one. And we would go outside and play "game of KEN" for HOURSSSS. Good times! Edit: I mean, I know kendamas were huge worldwide a few years ago. I just pointed out that this brought back good memories!

Thank you so much for making this video and helping grow the Kendama community! This is very valuable. I really hope you continue your Kendama journey!

Dude, the quality on this video was insane! Your shots were beautiful, and everything was so coherent. So well done!

If you found this addictive, i feel like youd really enjoy diabolo-ing as well. There are so many cool diabolo tricks, my favourite was yeeting it up in the air as high as our house and then catching it :D

I will not rest until I see Mike perform the backflip

Ive been kind of waiting for this one because i always thought this would be the perfect thing for you to learn! Would love to see a followup video too. The possibilities are really endless on the kendama, you can always add another trick, or do the trick differently. And once you learn juggles and stalls, this really becomes a ton of fun! I definitely encourage you to stick with it. Great video as always!

Really hit the nail on the head with this one Mike!

LOVE to see this nice long video! Thankyou so much. I always find them so inspiring as I see the time it takes you and what frustrations you overcome to get there. Also Milanote looks perfect to help me with my dog training business to chart each clients progress so thanks for the tip!

Bro these videos really are satisfying, you feel kinda proud that mike gets it in the end it feels like you have been learning the skill as well

Let’s go dude! This is an absolute classic Mike Boyd video. Loved this. I think I’ll have to pick up one of these now

I think this is my favorite video by you so far. Something about the pacing of this video felt so much better.

I’m convinced this is one of the best channels on RU-vid, great job Mike!

Loved this one Mike. I’m always going back through your old videos I just find them and enjoyable watch even years on. And I find these type of object manipulation skills so intriguing, well done on learning this one mate. Keep it up

Yessss it's always an exciting day for me when there's a new Mike Boyd video!

This is amazing!!! I played kendama hardcore for over 4 years a while ago and loved the game, community, culture, and just everything about kendama. Super sick to see a bigger youtuber make a video about it. Thank you Mike, and much love to my dama homies!

Really hit the nail on the head with this one Mike!. Really hit the nail on the head with this one Mike!.

Nothing better than another gd quality post by mike boyd !! 🎉 never disappoints 😊❤

This is definitely one of your best videos yet Love it!

he is back!!! always a highlight to my day to watch your videos

Yaaaaassss I’m stoked for this video!!!

so happy to see you finally kendama :)

Love the video! I must say the “kickflip of kendama” has got to be either whirlwind or lunar, tricks that are pretty difficult to learn but once you get them going they never leave!

I lived in Japan as a kid while my dad was stationed on a US Air Force base. I remember me and my siblings each got one of these one Christmas - thanks for the nostalgia, and well done! Very impressive!

The level of support from Kim is crazy. Total legend.

Finally you try! As someone who loves kendama I am really excited for this

Thank you Mike for the part after the sponsor, it's sooo relaxing and intriguing... great video, as always ❤

shout out sweets kendamas for being the only company to have tutorials from beginner to advanced

I managed to do 'Faster then Gravity' while sitting on a chair, because I was fed up of everyone constantly saying "You've got to use your knees". Have you looking into going to a BJC (British Juggling Convention)? We have a bunch of things you've already done (Juggling, Knife throwing, Unicycling, Kendama, Slacklining) and maybe you'll find a new thing you'll want to learn.

Hey Mike, great to see you learn kendama! Kendama is actually my very first skill toy which I received in the 90s and how I got into skill toys in the first place. Glad to see you doing great!

Been waiting for this one!

love the channel mike. long time viewer and ive never been dissapointed.

I really appreciate how you talked about the sponsor - useful and interesting. These are the ads I can watch! Also: mad learning skills/strategies, love it!

I've seen all of your videos sir. You're my inspiration.

So fun to watch you learn! Also that whole thing about sleep just making you better is so true!

well done Mike! Loved the music inn this one

this is amazing i’ve been watching for a bit now and u doing a video on something i love and im okay at is awesome

Love it!! Kendama joy evident :)

Excellent video, congrats for the evolution! 👏👏 I experienced the same feeling playing Diabolo!

Mike I love the quality of your videos.

kendama! a great fun toy and skill to learn, mike! great job mike!

i love how excited he gets about a wooden toy. it seems so innocuous, but the amount of sheer willpower and persistence to perform the tricks is truly a wonder of human nature.

Such a visually satisfying video!

This channel is so goated, never fails to entertain

Dude it’s about time I love it

Great video Mike! Well done!

This is a great skill for multiple videos! You can learn airplane, Ken flip, ufo, then even chain tricks together. Keep it up! It’s so rewarding

I remember playing with the Kendama all the way in 2016-2017 because it was very popular in my country (Romania) and I love how he came upon the Kendama to actually learn it.

The thing thats so cool about kendama is how stillness and relaxed tension makes you better. It's a really great way to learn about stillness and balance and tension.

I have been playing kendama for around 3 and a half years now, seriously one of the most fun hobbies I've ever picked up. It would be so great if you could make a part two! Trying to Juggle, whirlwind, lunar would be awesome to watch!

kendama is my absolute favorite thing in the world. been playing for over 10 years now. highly recommend!

I just 3d printed a kendma a few weeks ago, so this is perfect timing!!

Woah cool! I love all your videos. Thank you for this one!

Interesting how you ended up learning arguably harder versions for some of the tricks, i.e. penguin catch for bottom cup in around europe and inward in for the lighthouse finish. The penguin catch might be because the kendama was still stringed for right handed play. Normally the big cup is supposed to be facing towards you/up in ken grip, so for you, playing left handed, the cups were flipped.

Can’t wait for the next time you do it!

Aewsome!!! Thank you for sharing the joy of kendama. :- )

The timing on this couldn't be more perfect! I just bought a Kendama earlier today!! Guess I know what tricks I've got to learn first

Great job! One thing I have to mention, you learned a harder trick, at the start of the video you presented the lighthouse and then spike it but you learned a harder trick which is inward spike, you rotated the ken in the other way. Nicely done.

Great job Mike!!! Btw, that video of Kuma is INSANE!! The things they do with and without string are demential... 👀👀👀

The fact youre doing penguin basecup to spike is actually amazing. (I’ve been playing for 5 years and still can’t get that consistently) a really good way to practice cup consistency is learning the trick called moshikame. Sweets Kendamas should have a tutorial on it. Thank you for making this video and growing the great community!

U actually did a bit harder version of the around europe , the base cup to spike u did was actually in penguin grip , really cool to see u tried kendama and i hope we'll see you continue grind it 😁 many love from the kendaman fam ❤

Ok, the fact that your first off, playing a right handed strung kendama, and being left handed. Nuts. Also your doing penguin spike, witch is very much a pain in da but trick. Nuts. Wild

Naturally the next step should be yo yo! I love it and it actually has more depth than you'd think. Tip: there are multiple types of yo yos, responsive and unresponsive. Responsive yo yos are generally easier and unresponsive are used for more advanced tricks

as a kendama player id love to see you go further with this.

I like how you used a Japanese-like music for this, an excellent video! It’s great to see you back doing manual skills :D

god you can tell he loves doing the skill videos. Mike actually inspired me to learn things like how to solve a Rubix Cube in under a minute, and to spin a basketball for over a minute

Awesome Mike! Just some tips: 1. when you do lighthouse and flip it back into the hole, flip the spike towards yourself. This makes it a lot easier. 2. I notice you’re landing on the base cup by turning your palm down. That is actually a new trick called penguin grip base cup. It’s a lot easier to land on basecup byturning your palm outwards. 3. When you do cup tricks, try to always have the hole pointing at your eyes. Try using your knees for this. This takes practice. Having the hole face you makes spiking way way easier. All in all, you did remarkable for a beginner! Your ken grip was exemplary. I’d love to see you learn more difficult tricks like lunar and stilt!

Great video and great job!

I'm impressed! I think you should try other tricks too, like Bird, Airplane, Around the world, Tama control, etc 👍

Great job! We want to see you learn Whirlwind next! Worth noting that you’re actually doing more difficult versions of Around Europe, and Lighthouse! The way you’re twisting your wrist in Around Europe is called penguin grip, and you might’ve found twisting your wrist to the other way easier. Similarly, when you complete the “falling-in” piece of Lighthouse, you should flip the ken towards yourself as opposed to away; it makes it easier to track where the spike is in relation to the tama!

im excited for this

Love it at the start when he says "Thus uz deh wun, our zehroh"

One of my favorite hobbies besides cubing! Hyped for this one:)

Awesome video! Hope you're still playing and progressing!

congrats on 3 million subs Mike, great to see another fellow Scotsman doing so well!

At 5:47, I noticed a few interesting things in your notes. IMO Lunar is much more difficult than lighthouse because of the way you have to pop it up, and Around USA is just around Europe with extra steps, so it’s inherently more difficult. I’d love to see you try both of them!

This is the first TWIL in a year! I'm so hyped!

This is amazing and captures what all kendama players go through when first learning!

I would love to see you learn to spin yarn with a drop spindle! It's definitely a little on the fine detail side of things but it's really rewarding!

Oh god I desperately want to get my hands on one of these now

Great old school video!

Man you are the best!

Here in Chile we have a similar toy called "emboque", which has no cups, and the ball is shaped like a bell. Otherwise it's almost the same. Fun to watch you learn something cool, as always.

Amazing !

I would love to see you try speedrunning a video game! It's such a niche skill with an incredibly high skill ceiling, yet at the same time very approachable and beginner friendly

This is a great video!

Shoutout to the penguin basecup. Way harder than a regular basecup. Enjoyed the video and levelups!

Great stuff!

Congrats!

I love the ending of the video. It’s more cool