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Fresh podcast from Rod and MJ, straight outta Japan.

After 10 years of Kendama, our very own pro Christian Fraser is now a legend! To celebrate we've created an entirely new kendama! - The shape is slightly lar...

Full Livestream (rebroadcast) [MEDIA] ^If you weren't there or watching live, feel free to re-live the entirety of the awards show courtesy of Sweets' Twitch channel! Minneapolis, MN The 1st Annual DS Awards took place @ MKO this Saturday and this is how it went down... Since this was a first, I didn't know what would happen at the 2018 DS awards. To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive. There was very little communication on the planning side and even less funding. But that's part of what made the "pilot episode" of the DS Awards so special. I had an idea for a new kind of awards show, but execution is a different beast altogether. The night started off somewhat predictably with a slight delay. The freestyle competition was over two hours behind schedule at one point, but the organizers rallied to catch up a bit by skipping dinner. When it finally wrapped up, Cody and the livestream team from Sweets ran over to set up for DS Awards. But some wi-fi issues dogged the venue, so I handed over my mobile hotspot, braced for data overages, and hoped for the best. It worked. With the wi-fi lit, the doors opened and the room packed in. @htimSxelA took over hosting duties, and absolutely crushed it as emcee to a standing-room only crowd. He even learned how to tie a bow tie, though without a collar it was definitely a chippendale vibe. There were a few hiccups with the video playback of the categories, but with drinks in hand and butts in seats, nobody seemed to mind. The host with the most and his intergalactic bow tie. First, the room was introduced to breakout performance winner JOKBERT, if they didn't know him already. It was pretty epic to have him there at MKO all the way from Finland. Next up, Chad Covington introduced the Best Instabanger (single trick) category, which Bonz took home. Upon seeing the clip, which was a goofy if rediculously difficult line on a jumbo kendama, Bonz said "Oh you chose that one?!" ...The people have spoken, Bonz. Next up, recent KendamaUSA pro Haley Bishoff presented Best Female Edit, which went to Missu, who was livestreaming across the Pacific from Osaka, Japan. Her reaction was pure gold: [MEDIA] Next up, Sweets himself presented the Player of the Year, which surprised no one: Nick Gallagher. No question on that voting, he dominated basically every contest all year. We raffled off a couple of mystery boxes, and some Terra's including one donated by @lategreat808 . @Christian Fraser, who plunked down $50 of tickets in the hopes of winning the mugen, walked with one. @lategreat808 pointed out that his very first Pro mod was a C.Fraser mod that he won from a DSGS, so the dama love came full circle. Nick Gallagher takes home Player of the Year After that, the night got crazy. @Yourdy surprised everyone by showing up to take Best Cinematography for his Edit 7. A well-deserved honor for the insane visuals he put together. After that, we raffled off a Mugen, a GoPro, and had some laughs. The mugen winner wasn't in attendance, but the stoke was real nonetheless: Finally, @Bryan Scagline announced the edit of the year, which would be claimed by Cooper Eddy for his work on the Gallagher Twins' Documentary. All three of them accepted the award together, but it was the producer who gets the trophy for "making them look good", according to the twins. The night ended with drinks, more kendama seshing, and a few late night eats at TGIFridays because, as one person put it "I didn't fly all the way to Minnesota to not go to TGIFridays". Very little sleep and very much fun was had by all. Special thanks to everyone who supported with a raffle ticket and an extra special shout out to Sweets, Jero, and the livestream crew for swinging the very first show. We have ideas to make it bigger and better next year and I hope you'll all tune in for that one. 2018 far exceeded our expectations. -CS [MEDIA] Zack surprises Scags moments before the awards. See you next year... SPECIAL THANKS to everyone who bought a raffle ticket, especially Marcus Todd, Christian Fraser, Joel Sheppard, and David Traska. Full nominees and winners below. We'll have a separate recap of the actual event (open + freestyle) soon. BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE Jokbert (winner) Lucas Adverse Terteleag Tiberiu Paul Sayer Teodore Fiorina Shonuff Chris BEST INSTABANGER Ben Herald Alex Mitchell Bonz Atron (winner) Kaito Nakajima Dylan Westmoreland BEST FEMALE EDIT Emmy Evans - Around the USA Steph Lussier - GT Edit Yua & Yui - All Girls Kendama Contest Missu - Terra Kendama Pro (winner) PLAYER OF THE YEAR Wyatt Bray Bonz Atron Nick Gallagher (winner) Zack Gallagher BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Grain Theory - GT vs JPN 2 (VHS workout Limited Edition) KendamaUSA & TJ Kolesnick - Kendama Adventures 2 KendamaUSA - Japan 2017 Josh Grove - Sweets Team Krom - Kamo Everything Zack Yourd - Edit 7 (winner) Zoomadanke Documentary EDIT OF THE YEAR Keven Desoto - Pro Edit Joshua Grove - Sweets Team Announcement George Marshall - Nice Necklace! KendamaUSA - Team Edit May Krom - Tokyo Trip Sweets - Gallagher Twins Documentary Zack Yourd - Edit 7

#bishmod #kusa #kendamausa We are extremely excited to announce Haley Bishoff as the newest Pro for Kendama USA! We couldn't be anymore proud of Haley and her accomplishments in and outside of kendama. If Haley is thousands of miles over seas or miles up in the sky - climbing, she exerts what it takes to be an influencer, a strong and determind female a player in the scene, and a professional. Love ya bish!!!!! ❤️ #bishmod mod LET'S GO! "Recieving a Pro Model had been a dream of mine ever since I joined Kendama USA. The design for this kendama is inspired by a mountain landscape painting I made during a rough and dark winter. I created an alternate reality for myself through art. The tama design represents the sunset in the sky. The three tree stand tall for home in Bend, Oregon, where I found kendama in the year 2010. You'll find the tribute logo on the base cup. I was the last member added to the Tribute Team in 2013 and am the last one off in 2018. This is the closing of an incredible chapter and these years have been the most memorable in my entire life. Create your reality, work towards your goals, live with compassion and always remember to practice Kaizen I want to give a huge thank you everyone who has supported me over the years! There are far too many people to list, but I want to highlight a few that have been there since the beginning. I would like to thank Yuka Hyuga, Carolina Herrera, Molly Harney and Kristin Olinyk for collaborating with me on all our female events and contests throughout the years. Miya Song and Emmy Evans, forever my KUSA sisters. Karen Du for the additional comp footage for this video. Everyone who has attended the All Girl's Kendama Opens! My family for being supportive of me, allowing me to following what I love. My KUSA fam, for the unforgettable memories over the years. and of course, Jeremy at KendamaUSA for every opportunity you've given me!" - Haley Bishoff Keep up with Haley on Instagram! @hbishhh #bishmod #girlskendamacollective Shot & Edited by Ben Neilson - @neilson.ben - - - Stay up to date with Kendama USA! Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kendamausa/ Twitter https://twitter.com/KendamaUSA Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kendamausa/ Website http://kendamausa.com Shop https://shop.kendamausa.com Kendama USA Playlist Spotify https://open.spotify.com/user/1213025... Apple Music https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/... Other ways to connect with Kendama USA - DownSpike https://www.downspike.com Click Clack Radio Podcast (with Haley Bishoff) https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

#dwestymod #kendama #kendamausa #kusa DYLAN WESTMORELAND IS PRO FOR KENDAMA USA!!! "When I started playing kendama in 2014, I never expected to become a professional. But here I am, more stoked than ever to present to you my first pro model. With my Pro Model, I wanted to represent a few different aspects of my life. For my tama design, I took inspiration from the colors of a baseball. Growing up, I spent a lot of my time on on the baseball field and I will always have a profound love for the game. The sun on the small cup represents where I spend all of my time playing Kendama; here in sunny California. The 57 in the big cup is in honor of my Grandma who was my biggest fan. Thank you to Tj Kolesnik, Wyatt Bray and Brayden Brinkerhoff for being my biggest inspirations, and to the Kendama USA team for being a second family to me." -DWesty FOLLOW DYLAN ON INSTAGRAM! @dwesty_ - - - Stay up to date with Kendama USA! Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kendamausa/ Twitter https://twitter.com/KendamaUSA Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kendamausa/ Website http://kendamausa.com Shop https://shop.kendamausa.com Kendama USA Playlist Spotify https://open.spotify.com/user/1213025... Apple Music https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/... Other ways to connect with Kendama USA - DownSpike https://www.downspike.com

#kendama #kendamausa #KGROOTSTour2013 Tune in 10/21 @ 6pm PST (9pm EST) to watch the video and LIVE CHAT with the pros! The Kengarden Roots Tour was something special. Something that everyone dreams of. That perfect summer with all of your friends traveling the west coast, FEEDING off of each others energy, no sleep, laughing, and playing kendama. Watch how these players paved the way for what we know as kendama today. -much respect

There’s a little street in Tokyo Where all the sleepy cabbies go

Sol Kendamas Pro Kevin DeSoto introduces the Rosewood Kevin DeSoto Pro Model. This Kendama is a special edition version of the Maple Kevin DeSoto Pro Model. Film Locations: Miyajima Island, Japan Hatsukaichi, Japan Los Angeles, California Las Vegas, Nevada Filmed by: Adrian Elvembuena Kyle Lee Thomas Ishikawa Omar Acosta

During KWC we announced Missu as the newest member of our pro team. Today, we are pleased to share her newest edit, and announce her pro status to the whole internet. Missu's tricks are unmatched, and we can't get enough of her amazing style. She has been one of our favourite players to watch for years, and we couldn't be happier to have her on the team. Welcome to the pro team, Missu! Edit by Rintarou Kanemoto, ありがとうございます!