Walking to History class, off in the distance, I see a guy playing with a wooden toy: A painted wooden ball, with a hole in it, is attached, by string, to a larger piece. It’s shaped like a lowercase “t,” and at four of the ends is a cup, and the top end a point. I recognize the toy as a “kendama.”
Back in middle school I’d been obsessed with the kendama, along with the rest of the school. It was our fad. Kids would wear it around their necks and flick the ball up to the larger piece (the ken) trying to land tricks on one of the cups or “spike.” We played with our kendamas during recesses, at lunch, and in class whenever the teachers turned their backs. Actually the kendama became such a problem for the school that they banned the toy from the premises.
By doing a quick web search you’ll find that my school wasn’t the only one to do this. Back in around 2013 to 2015 kendama was a craze around the country, all the kids had them, and parents were asking where the toy had come from.
In its community, there is debate of where and when kendama originated, but it could go as far back as 16th century France, as records exist of noble children playing with a toy known as bilboquet. The toy is similar to modern day kendama, as it too is made of wood, and has two pieces held together by string, but it’s simpler, having only two cups for the ball to land into.
In the 1700s the bilboquet appeared in Japan where it rose to culture as a drinking game. It morphed into various forms throughout the centuries until, in the 1920s, a man named Tohei Hongo began manufacturing the Kendama I played with in middle school. the same edition I found the guy playing with on my way to History class.
When I got out of my class, I saw him in the same spot, alone, continually trying to make tricks. During all my days wrapped up in the middle school fad I had never seen anyone so good. I assumed this guy had to be one of the best at Kendama, So I went up to him to make acquaintance. He told me his name, Tim Orr.
Tim is a fellow Front Range student, pursuing a degree in computer science. But he is also very dedicated to Kendama. From the time I went up to him, in the days after, I found that Tim kept going to the same spot, and from viewing his instagram posts I saw how disciplined he was to Kendama. He told me, “it’s coming up on seven years” that he’s been “really addicted” to it, and it shows. I asked him if he had participated in any tournaments, “I’ve done a few in the past” he said, and he told me he wants to do more.
I believe we are lucky to have Tim on our campus. Walking from class to class, it’s good to see someone so dedicated to a craft such as Kendama, and to have a fellow student of Front Range so passionate about what they are doing.
Tim invites any and all people to come “sesh” with him, and agrees a Kendama club should be created. “If you haven’t tried Kendama, It’s really fun,” he says.
