The D.A.M.A. Trick You Always Win Letters With

late slings is why i always take the W in a game of KEN

 

Bird over valley, earth turn to bird, earth turn to spike.

 

Anything with lighthouses and lighthouse flips since those are typically my most consistent tricks.

Other than that? Really, really basic things. Around USA, Around Europe Downspike, etc. I've actually beat a number of kids who are WAY more skilled than I am by doing simple consistency tricks.

Goes back to that other thread where we pointed out that lots of kids (esp nowadays) skip the basics.

Generally @Chelsea May Perez and I play very evenly matched games! Same with one of my local dama buddies. Those are the most fun to play - when you match each other's levels whether it's because you're really at the same level or the people try and match to yours if you're not as up to speed with theirs. One pet peeve of ours when playing others is when people make the tricks into straight up lines instead of single tricks. Not as fun! Keep it simple and your games will last longer and have more tension and fun!

 

Big cup, half ken flip to little cup, base cup downspike.
It's the half ken flip that throws everyone off.

 

1-2-3 jumping stick

 

@htimSxelA , why don't I know what around Canada is???

Awesome thread right here, playing people has definitely been one of my favorite aspects of kendama.

A few of my go-to's
- trade/switch down's
- bird earths and nods
- dub flips/sticks (trips are still a nuisance)
- down and penguin earths

I'm definitely one of those dudes who can't sling worth shit though, but my whirlwind game kinda makes up for that.

 

Lighting drop knee bounce

 

It drives me nuts when people do lines (bcs they almost always do LONG lines) instead of "tricks". The one funny thing about it is that they are often doing the lines on the spur of the moment and don't know when to stop - enough is enough - and they inevitably miss the fourth or fifth trick in the line and I can then hit them with a single zero gravity or something and snag a quick letter, and then they aim for the same long long line again.