Downspike
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Landed my first few downspikes, help pls

Discussion in 'Beginners' started by beglerijapan, Jul 25, 2018.

  1. beglerijapan

    beglerijapan Honed Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2018
    Hey guys,

    back from the KWC, it.was.DOPE.

    the nearby island and giant shrine Miyajima is handdown , by far, the best sightseeing location EVER. And I've been in Japan for 13 years, and in Kyoto repeatedly too.

    It's like having Kyoto and enoshima compacted into a Ghibli movie, with plenty exploration space to spare. It's not even expensive to visit, unlike most touristic areas in Japan (boring food for twice the price)

    So anyways, if you guys can make it next time, honestly it's worth every cent.
    I got a 20min basically private lesson from one of the Sweets guys, mind blown.

    To the subject at hand, I just landed my first few downspikes last night, and a couple more earlier today, and after the noobgasms, I remembered the staff at KWC warning contestants about what would and would not be accepted as clean tricks during the championship.

    I remember the guy saying that a downspike caught horizontally at shoulder level would not be counted.

    so I was wondering, before I start building wrong form, within what areas is a DS considered a DS?

    yes, I did a search of the forums (and believe me searching for the keyword Downspike on THIS forum was a baaaad idea LOL)

    the motion I've been doing so far is pulling the tama up from around my left ankle diagonaly up to around or above my right shoulder, and spiking it as it's still going upward, with the hole facing my ken hand. I spike it diagonally and stabilize it near my left lower ribs area.

    is that considered a decent DS or do I need to do it as vertically/downward as possible?

    I watched Jake from GT do mindblowingly small-motionned and effortless/soundless DS moves, but that's not for anytime soon.


    thanks :)
     
    Jul 25, 2018
  2. goenKendama

    goenKendama Administrator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2016
    Location:
    Metro Manila, Philippines
    For me it's always about hole control more than anything and I use pretty much the same technique I use for around Japan and around the world with a bit more rotation. I tend to go more in front of me and downspike down and back rather than across my body (unless that's where the hole ends up).





    More across the body style.

     
    Jul 25, 2018
  3. beglerijapan

    beglerijapan Honed Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2018
    Hey man!
    thanks for the links!

    super stoked to meet you in Hatsukaichi :)
    I feel so dumb missing the Tshirt altogether lol
     
    Jul 25, 2018
    goenKendama likes this.
  4. Nick Lectura

    Nick Lectura Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2016
    Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
    it varies from person to person, but in my opinion, a downspike is spiked in a downward motion. if there was doubt that you downspiked it, might not count.

    it sounds like your downspike is sufficient enough. i count anything that's just above horizontal as a downspike.
     
    Jul 26, 2018
    beglerijapan likes this.
  5. beglerijapan

    beglerijapan Honed Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2018
    Hey Nick,

    thanks for chiming in :)

    the reasons for my wondering about it are that 1) when that judge in hatsukaichi picked up the mic to talk about it, a LOT of people in the super duper high level crowd moaned outloud lol

    and 2) some of the DS I managed did go downward but I suppose the entry/spiking point was kind of a 2 O'clock angle rather than a midnight or 1.
     
    Jul 26, 2018
  6. Nick Lectura

    Nick Lectura Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2016
    Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
    Hahaha they're probably not used to the downspike rules being so strict. I think most comps have been fairly lax about downspikes. Up until a couple years ago, KWC was pretty chill on it too, so I guess they're getting more strict this year. Makes sense to me because getting the hole to stay still for a downspike is harder than letting it fall and catching it sara grip.

    I count 2 o clocks! I consider anything from 46 to 14 (on the clock) a downspike lol
     
    Jul 28, 2018
  7. beglerijapan

    beglerijapan Honed Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2018
    LOL

    thanks for that.

    Yeah, trying to spread the begleri over here, I got lucky enough to be close to a few people deep into the original local kendama scene, including Mugenmusou staff and gloken workers. I hear a lot about JKA frowning upon a bunch of things (makes sense) I'm assuming gloken has been trying to bridge the divide (seems to be taking more than one shot to get it right)

    Also I was watching the SWEETS tutorial on youtube, and the recommend grip was the one where you put your fingers inside the cups...
    It worked great but I always feel like grabbing the tama with my lower fingers, and I don't wanna develop that kind of habits.
    I'm shocked at how tight some DS I see are in terms of traveling distance and general motion.
     
    Jul 29, 2018
  8. Nick Lectura

    Nick Lectura Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2016
    Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
    yeah from my understanding, gloken was trying to bridge the divide between new school kendama and traditional kendama, but it''s a hard feat to accomplish.

    i put my fingers inside the cup, but only for certain tricks. i won't usually do it for a regular downspike, but if i were going for a inward revolver downspike fasthands, i would because its easier to do the inward revolver with.
    i guess to get out of that habit you just gotta make sure both hand and ken are separate and not too close to each other. as long as you're conscious of it happening (and knowing that it doesn't count/is a bad habit)
     
    Aug 2, 2018
    beglerijapan likes this.
  9. beglerijapan

    beglerijapan Honed Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2018
    thx :)
     
    Aug 2, 2018
    Nick Lectura likes this.