Prizes!

We know you're all only in it for the glory, but perhaps the sight of all the prizes that are up for grabs this year will spur you all on to put in a little extra practise. Meanwhile, an advance party from TeamKD is heading off to Glastonbury festival, so if you see some wandering Clickers, come and say hi!
24/06/09

Blast from the past on KTV

Void has posted this 80s kendama video over on JTV, which now has a dedicated kendama channel!
04/06/09

More competitions

We have news of more competitions for you. May 31st sees the All Japan Kendama Championship. We hope to be able to bring you the results of that. Also, TeamKD's Matt Hall will be running the first North American kendama competition (that we know of) at the IJA juggling festival on Tuesday 14th July at 11am. Get working on your Best Trick and your Speed Trick Challenge, folks!
And meanwhile, pre-registration tickets are now available for the BJC.
11/05/09

Kendamatty

The fever continues to spread, and Kendamatty really has it bad. This one's a must-see.
03/05/09

World Kendama Open

We have had confirmation that the World Kendama Open Festival will be on July 12th in Osaka, Japan. If anyone is interested in going, get in touch with the guys at Kendama Revolutions.
16/04/09

Lucky 7

So, can we interest anyone in a 7 Turn Aeroplane? Now that's what I'd call quite good!
15/04/09

Kendama School

Here's the latest video from Matt & Void, "Kendama School". That's the beauty of kendama - there's always something new to learn!
13/04/09

New competition date confirmed!

We are very pleased to announce our new, confirmed, date for the BKO. It will take place at 2pm on Friday 21st August at the British Juggling Convention in Norwich. All nationalities welcome! More details at the Comp '09 page.
13/04/09

Kendama Movie

A seventies Japanese cartoon is being made into a live action movie! Get the lowdown over at kendama.net.
29/03/09

iPhone/Pod kendama

We're sure you've all seen the online kendama game, but now here's a version for the iPod/iPhone. Free, and strangely addictive. Can you hit Clifftop?
26/03/09

Birds everywhere!

Kendama Revolutions continues to put out trick after trick, but we were really blown away by this variation of Migration with lots of extra Bird turns, by Emperor. Wow! And did we mention... wow!
26/03/09

Kendama.net

I'm not sure how we missed this site (It must have just popped up) , but US-based kendama.net is a veritable online kendama superstore!
26/03/09

Kitchens, kettles and cuppas

Void says: So you're having trouble with a particular trick? Here's how to crack it - Keep a kendama in your kitchen, and every time you want a cup of tea/coffee/milkshake/beer/whatever, only allow yourself to have one after you've done the trick. It's certainly helping my bamboo horse!
26/03/09

KenDEma!

Sebastian has been in touch to tell us about the new German kendama site. Looks good to us so far!
25/03/09

BKO postponed. :-(

It is with much regret that we have to announce that this year's British Kendama Open is going to have to be postponed. The British Juggling Convention, which was to be our venue, has had major problems with their site, and unfortunately they have made a last minute decission to postpone their event. This means that we do not have anywhere to hold our competition. We are exploring possibilities, but for now, we can only say that we hope the BKO might happen in either June or August. On the plus side, that gives you all more time to practise. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.
18/02/09

Sponsored

Our friends over at Oddballs have kindly agreed to sponsor the BKO this year, providing us with some lovely goodies as prizes. They've also updated their site so you can order online from them now.
17/02/09

World Open Kendama Festival

The BKA are hearing that there will be a World Open Kendama Festival in Japan in July. More details and dates when we get them.
28/01/09

Sourcey

Amren's has been in touch to tell us about his new kendama buyer's guide. He's certainly done his homework, so if you're in the market for a new KD, browse on over there.
27/01/09

Revolution!

There's a new resource out there for those of you who just can't get enough tricks. Kendama Revolutions is a new site with the mission statement: "We want to archive thousands of Kendama tricks as videos." Thanks to K-CIMA for letting us know about it!
06/01/09

Further!

Oh dear. A little guilt at not practising hard enough is sweeping over us in BKA-land, having seen a new video by Kendamatty. Inspirational. Meanwhile, the wonder of Google Translate tells us that there was a little competition in the Czech republic last Saturday. Congratulations to David.
16/12/08

Full on

TeamKD were filming for a new project last week (all very hush-hush at the moment), but this video by Joe has been keeping us mightily amused since then. Meanwhile, we're glad to observe that The Word has spread as far as Lithuania.
20/11/08

Winning secrets

The Void has written a few words on his tips for BKC success. Read them here.
06/11/08

Tricklist videos

The 2009 tricklist videos are out now. See the 2009 competition page to watch them.
05/11/08

Tricklist announced

The official tricklists for the 2009 BKO are out now. Head on over to the 2009 competition page for all the details. Start practising now, folks!
31/10/08

KDs in shops!

It should now be easier for you to find a kendama in a shop near you. Many skate shops are now stocking the Yomega Star Catch, as are Oddballs, who have also just started stocking JKA kendamas.
30/10/08

BKC 2009

Next year's Kendama Championships will take place on Friday 17th April, as part of the British Juggling Convention. The big change this time is that the competition will be an Open: all nationalities are welcome to compete! More news next week.
22/10/08

The next comp

Preparations are being made for next year's British Kendama Championships. There'll be a few changes, to keep things interesting. Watch this space!
15/10/08

Poland and Flickr

The march across Europe seems relentless. We've just had word of a new Polish kendama site. No idea what it all says, but they gave us a link, so we're sure they're ace.
If you're the type that loves to gaze longingly at kendamas all day long, then you'll be pleased to hear that there's now a Flickr kendama pictures pool to feast your eyes upon.
24/09/08

China

There's got to be a lot of players in China, right? Well, we're sure there will be soon after the recent launch of this new Chinese site. Of course, we have no idea what's actually written there, but we're sure it's all Good Stuff!
12/09/08

European invasion

The kendama craze is poised to sweep across Europe: Following on from news of a Danish group of players, and after the EKO, there are now new kendama websites for German and Czech kendama players too. Also, watch this space for news of a new UK stockist.
11/09/08

Video: EKO

There's now a video available of all the action from the EKO. Head over to JTV to view it.
21/08/08

E.K.Over!

A great time was had at the first ever EKO. Head on over to the review page for the story & results.
12/08/08

Bilbonkers

If you go down in the woods today, look out for some funny looking mushrooms. No side cups here.
28/07/08

Harder tricks!

We now have an Advanced tricks page, for those of you who want a challenge, and also we've finished putting up the rest of the JKA skill level tables. Head on over to the Tricks page for all this marvellous goodness. Not long now until the EKO. Get clicking, guys and gals!
24/07/08

Hong Kong's happening...

Some fantastically filmed skillful clicking is coming out of Hong Kong. Have a gander at Kendama Edit 2 part 1 if you don't believe us....
15/06/08

EKO is go go go!

The European Kendama Open is now fully confirmed. See the EKO page for more details
03/06/08

Denmark calling...

We hear there is an enthusiastic group of kendama players in Copenhagen. Check them out on facebook.
01/06/08

European Kendama Open!

Plans are afoot for a European kendama meet/competition. Stay tuned for more info. (And be here on the Tuesday....)
13/05/08

More Sakura

A couple of pics from (I think) the Cherry Blossom festival in Washington DC.
24/4/08

Got rhythm

Clicketty click! Kendama as percussion instrument on youtube.
18/4/08

BJC/BKC Video

Far away? In another country? Couldn't come? You can now watch a video compilation of all the kendama action at the BJC here.
8/4/08

Passing through Hanoi?

Anyone in Vietnam this Saturday might like to know that the Japanese Sakura (Cherry blossom) festival will feature "Kendama ball throwing"! Check out this link for more info.
2/4/08

TeamKD expands

TeamKD welcomes Donald Grant into their ranks. Head to the TeamKD page for more info, and expect to see some of Donald's inventive tricks on video soon!
1/4/08

BKC review!

You can now read a full review of the competition here. Pictures are up on the gallery page.
1/4/08

BKC results posted

The full results from the BKC are now available here. Full review to follow.
1/4/08

BKC newsflash

The first British Kendama Championships was a resounding success, with a strong showing from TeamKD. The newly crowned British Kendama Champion is The Void. Full results and lots of pics to follow shortly.
30/3/08

Jive! To survive!

TeamKD have been training hard, going above and beyond the call of duty to bring you this fab new video. Quite frankly, we don't even know why you're wasting your time reading the rest of this paragraph when you could be downloading it now!
17/3/08

More tricks!

The tricks page has been updated with a list of 100 tricks, and the JKA beginner's skill level table. The TeamKD page has also been updated, amongst rumours that the boys are bringing a new video out very shortly. Watch this space!
14/3/08

New video: Speed Trick Challenge

Have a looksee at this kendama video of The Void demonstrating the Speed Trick Challenge. Further details of this comp have been added to the Competition page.
4/3/08

New pages!

The Anatomy page has been updated, the Benefits page has been created, and since we'd been asked, a clarification to the BKC rules has been added to the Competition page. Just over a month left for practising, folks!
23/2/08

New Site for a New Year

It's been party time here at the BKA as we've been celebrating the launch of our new look website for 2008. We've been working hard to pack the new site with lots of fresh content to ensure that the BKA remains the best English language kendama site on the web. In particular check out the great new videos section on our links page, new photos in the gallery and throughout the site, and brand new sections on both the anatomy of kendama and also the BKA's very own TeamKD, not to mention all the recent news updates. So take a look around, drop us a line and keep on clicking!
9/2/08

Speed Trick Challenge

As officially announced onstage at Chocfest, the Speed Trick Challenge will be running parallel to the main British Kendama Championships. The idea: complete the first 10 tricks on the tricklist, in order, in as fast a time as possible. If you miss a trick, you just keep going until you hit it. Get practising folks - how fast can you get? Meanwhile, anyone for a game of Unicorns?
13/02/08

Tricklist on tour

The Void will be attending some juggling conventions in the next few weeks, and running a kendama workshop in the BKC tricklist (See Competition page). So get yourselves along to Chocfest in York, the Ballring in Birmingham, or NAJC3 in Nottingham for some live top tips.
06/02/08

Master & the new kid

The BKA was delighted to be able to attend the Scottish Juggling Convention this last weekend, where we got the chance to meet up again with our mentor Matt Hall, without whom there simply would be no BKA. Many tricks were swapped, and jaws were dropped. Check out Azrelle's photos from the kendama workshop (click 'next' a few times). Also in attendance was ace young juggler, and classy kendama clicker Tom Derrick, whose rockin' Lighthouse variations, amongst myriad other tricks, ensured he was sharply snapped up into the ranks of TeamKD. Welcome aboard, Tom!
04/02/08

Vidmania!

More kendama videos have been released to usher in the new year. Firstly, TeamKD player Guy Heathcote has thrown lots of new crazy trick ideas together in Kendama Variations. As if that weren't enough to keep you busy, you can also see the whole of TeamKD in action at BoB juggling convention in Kendama-go-go. More updates soon....
28/01/08

Pocketmod Tricklist

Can't remember the BKC tricklist for your practice sessions? Fakoriginal has sent us this uberneat little origami list that you can print out and fold away into your pocket (The folding instructions are even printed on it). Now you never need pause to figure out what number 16 was again. Nice one that Fak!
14/01/08

Videodama

The past few weeks have been busy here at the BKA and has seen the release of two new Kendama videos. Two weeks have now passed since the release of the Kendama Tribe Video and today sees the release of the 2008 BKC Tricklist Video. If you haven't already done so then check them out today... The competition's hotting up!
5/12/07

1st British Kendama Championships

The BKA are delighted to announce the first ever British Kendama Championships which will be held on the 29th of March 2008 at the Doncaster Dome as a part of the British Juggling Convention. This is a very exciting development for the UK Kendama scene, so don't forget to keep checking the BKA site for updates on what is already shaping up to be a great event. The countdown begins, 138 days until the 1st ever British Kendama Champion is crowned victorious. It could be anyone, even you, so grab that Kendama, bend those knees and get practicing! We'll see you in March...
14/11/07

Kendama World goes Live

The BKA headquarters have been filled with excitement since we found out last week that actual Japanese Kendamas were going to be available in the UK. Well, we're pleased to announce that as of today Kendama-world.com has gone live providing a valuable resource for anyone in the UK interested in Kendama. Currently stocking The TK16, Mugen 3 and Sakura models from Japan and also the Yomega Star catch this could easily be the best news for UK players we've ever heard... so go check it out!!
30/10/07

Breaking News

We at the BKA have just recieved news of a new webstore dedicated to Kendama which is due to open up in the UK sometime in the not too distant future. Rumour has it that the Yomega Starcatch is already in stock and a reliable importer for all the main japanese models has been found and an order placed, meaning that the gears have well and truly been set in motion! This is fantastic news as being able to buy the Japanese models direct from the UK will be a major boost to all UK players. We'll do our best to keep you up to date on the progress of this development and will of course be linking directly to the site as soon as it's up and running, so keep checking back!!
23/10/07

BKA Site Launch!

The brand new British Kendama Association website is here! Comitted to spreading the game of kendama in the UK, consider the BKA your first stop for all things Kendama. In the future the BKA hopes to bring both demos and competitions to the UK and also, perhaps most importantly, a reliable source of good quality Kendama's available within Britain! We'll do our best to keep you updated as and when any progress is made...

TeamKD Takeover!

TeamKD is the official BKA demonstration team and is not only the Number One Kendama team in the UK but is also the only team currently to receive sponsorship from the BKA!