(Note: Mods, if this isn't the right place for this sorry, I was going to post in sessions but that seemed more for event announcements. Please move this is you need to.) Hey, so I'm going to be visiting the USA for the Holiday season, specifically LA, Santa Barbara, and San Fransisco. This will be my American Kendama community debut (yay). It's not a kendama trip, but are there any good spots/kendama shops in any of those cities? I'd love to shake some hands and jam with ppl. Some questions I wasn't able to answer on my own: Is the Ken Garden a place you can visit? What is the connection between Kendama and San Franpsycho? It appears to only be a clothing store. Does DWI have a presence in SF, or is it only an online store? I've heard about Kendama OC and Klack Shack, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get out to huntington beach. If I'm in LA for the LACMA lights session I'll be sure to join. It seems that Kinokuniya in SF sells Kendamas, but I'm not sure to what extent. If anybody could point me in the right direction, that's be great!
No, it was sorta just Jake's backyard, and also the 'general idea/vibe' of the battles that he used to hold in SF (usually they were held in conjunction with a garden makeover). Now it is mainly a blog and jam session I guess? Jake recently moved to Oakland so... Jake and the SF crew are friends with the SFP owners, so they would use their shop to host events sometimes. SFP doesn't really rep kendama at all though, and lately the events (KG Tuesdays) have moved to Japantown. From what I heard some new SFP employees weren't stoked on the extra work KG Tues entailed, so they tried hosting somewhere new, and the new spot worked really well! DWI is now based in Portland, Rice moved there a couple years ago. Haven't been to the KlackShack myself, but Mel (the owner) is awesome. Stop by and show them some support if you can! Do it! LACMA sessions seem really awesome! I'm pretty sure they do sell damas, but I don't know if there will be any other players there, or a spot to jam. Probably worth checking out though Check out KG Tuesday for sure, follow @thekengarden on insta to see some info on when and where (should be Tuesday evening, I think in Japantown?). You can try hitting up some local players to hang out and jam as well, guys like @handsoffmysack on insta, or the 'San Francisco Kendama Team' (? I may have that wrong?). Just search around on insta, don't be afraid to start a conversation with someone new, and I'm sure you'll be able to meet some players. The first time I met Jake, Rice, Sourmash, and a bunch of others was on a road trip. We just looked up where the KG battle was, and crashed the event the day before it happened, because we figured they would be there setting up (we were right). Just kinda sent it on a whim, now 4-5 years later I work with Jake on projects routinely, Rice is on the Terra team, and Sourmash is working on moving to Vancouver. Haha, funny how things work out
What's up man! Dope that you're visiting the US for the holidays, San Francisco is super nice around this time of year (and crowded!). Alex pretty much covered everything, but I'll add on to some stuff. The KGTuesday sessions have been moved to Japantown, specifically underneath the Peace Pagoda. They're every Tuesday from 5 - 8 PM (or whenever everyone leaves). However, sometimes we can't jam at the pagoda (e.g. there was a huge event going on last Tuesday). So instead, the sesh moved to this hallway right across from the Kinokuniya bookstore. The two places to check for KGTuesday are underneath the big pagoda or inside the mall near the bookstore. They're both within like 2 minutes of each other so that's helpful. And feel free to check @thekengarden or @sanfranciscokendama on instagram for other info regarding kgtues. The Kinokuinya bookstore does sell kendamas, but as of right now they only have KUSA damas in stock. They got kaizens, halfsplits, silk tribs, some pro mods and tributes. I have never been to the Klack Shack, but I have worked with the owner, Mel, at an event before and she is super cool. I'd recommend trying to get out there if you can. Hope to see you at a Tuesday sesh!
Thank you both for your help! I reached it to @Chelsea May Perez, and it looks like both LACMA and KG are on Tuesday, which is too bad, I'd love to do both! It'll depend on when my fam wants to leave LA. I'm gonna reach out to klack shack and make sure they're open while I'm in LA, and try to get down there. Thanks so much for your help guys!
If you're still in the Bay Area on Sunday, there's Sunday Flow in Vacaville run by @Daun_yon super fun crew!
I wish I could go to the ken garden. that would be a dream come true to be where so many pros have once been.
hey everyone! this is my homie from my town in Japan! (i have nothing to add, except for that I love all cali members I've met so far)
*Bump* thanks for the input everyone, I'm flying out this Sunday and will def be there for LACMA lights! I can't wait to meet everyone! Come through!!! I'm bummed that I won't be around for KG toesdays but if anyone wants to get a syncro around town by all means message me. Still trying to convince the fam to head to Orange County for a day, so I can check out knack shack! any recommendations to make it an easier sell could help too
Really want a Kendama community here in West Covina, CA. (A small city near OC) I got like 5 people into kendama at my school but only like 3 actually kept on playing. The rest just lost interest. But I also want a store somewhere near here.