First- glue the spike (apply some superglue to the tip of the spike to increase durability) Next- look at sweet kendama's youtube channel, and start working through their beginner tutorials third- start combining things that you learn, and land new combos like around the world, around europe, swing spike- earth turn, and airplane- j-stick. Also, don't be afraid to ask n00b questions to Downspike people.
Don't take this the wrong way, but - is it really bad if I don't glue it? It sounds like an unglued spike would blunt more easily, but does that make it unplayable? Is blunting a bigger problem for beginners, and/or is it basically a choice between more damage to the spike and more damage to the tama?
@semolina We already had a similar thread so yours has been merged. You might also check out these: Beginner Resources Beginner Kendama Thread - about what physical kendama are good for beginners Loose Cups Blunt Spike Glue tip yes/no Preferred glue Lots of other threads out there too, just try the Search function to get you started. Good to have you on the boards.
First thing you should do is to glue your spike. Here is a useful tutorial: ) Next thing you should learn are the different grips and some easy tricks like big cup. Here is a very good trick playlist to start your journey from sweets kendamas: )
I've been playing with my new unit for about a week and I'm having a lot of fun. Especially landing hikoki, which I'm getting better at. I got an Ozora Sakura from Kendama USA; it was on sale for a deep discount and I noticed it had an old (non-holographic) seal and a plain box. My suspicion is that Ozora wanted to unload its old kendamas when they changed their seal (or something like that), and sent them all overseas packaged in bulk? It doesn't feel like a fake (and I don't believe KUSA would sell fakes) but is that the reason that Ozoras are so cheap from them right now?
If it's an old JKA seal and it's discounted then KUSA is likely just trying to move old stock. I don't think the Ozora guys have had any of the old seals for a while so it's not likely they are the motivator behind the sale.