2024 UYYC 1st place Kendama Champion
2023 UYYC 1st place Kendama Champion
This years Kendama format consists of one freestyle round synchronized to the music choice of the competitor! In addition we are adding 2 days of Kendamas ladders with $1000 in prizes available on the evening of Friday June 6. The Kendama portion on Saturday June 7, includes a continuation of offstage ladder events with Kendama Freesyles as the last event on the main stage!
Kendama Freestyles
All players perform a 2 minute performance. It is recommended to focus on putting together a routine of landing as many hits and spikes with as few misses as possible; showing the judges a clean freestyle with a good base of tricks and exhibiting control of the Kendama.
Kendama Finals will begin immediately at the conclusion of all the Yoyo divisions; because of this please be prepared to go earlier than the time posted on the schedule.
Music
All competitors are competing to their preselected song that they uploaded online. If you registered day of the contest then music will be preselected for you.
Kendama Ladders
We are currently developing the list of kendama tricks for the ladder portion and will update this page before the event.
Friday format: Friday night kendama jam and ladders will include 2 ways to win prizes at the STL City Foundry. For every ladder trick learned you will receive a raffle ticket; for every ladder card competed you will receive a prize. Keep in mind to earn a raffle ticket or prize you need to register online or in person and get your 2 day pass.
Saturday format: A continuation of Ladder trick cards to earn prizes and practiced off-stage in the Atrium. Feel free to use cards from Friday nights jam or pick them up at the contest table if you only attend on Saturday. No raffle tickets given out per trick on Saturday, however completion of a trick card on Saturday earns a prize and which can be picked up at the contest table. Saturday Freestyles at the Missouri History Museum are on stage and scheduled as the last event of the day.
Judging
Judges for the 2025 UYYC kendama freestyle contest this year are Daniel Dietz, Coffin Nachtmahr, and CJ Atkinson! In regards to scoring, negative points will not be scored for any missed spikes, drops, or switching kendamas. That being said if you keep missing your trick your not scoring. So set your goal to land as many spikes as possible and sticking to your practiced routine. A player can also repeat the same tricks and repeatedly score points towards their total tech points but will risk a lower score in difficulty. We have included all three kendama score cards to familiarize yourself better with the expectations of the judges.
Tech Score (Judge 1)
Left clicker: number of spikes
Right clicker: number of times the dama hits a basecup, smallcup, or large cup. All elements will count as 1 click for example 360 flips, tosses, or rotations. If your element ends with a missed spike you still score the element but will not pick up points for any missed spikes.
Note: At the end, Judge 1, will multiply total spikes x 5. The total score from both categories makes up your tech score.
Difficulty (Judge 2)
On a scale of 1-10: Judge 2 will score based on the difficulty of tricks you predominately feature in your freestyle. 1 pt being beginner level tricks and 10 pts being advanced level tricks.
Note: Repetition of tricks won’t score negative points but may not yield the highest difficulty score.
Originality (Judge 3)
On a scale of 1-10: Judge 3 will score based on the originality, style, composition, and flow of how well player synchronized their trick combos to music
Awards
$1000 in Prizes will be handed out during Friday nights Kendama Ladders for completing different levels at the City Foundry STL.
Additional Prizes will be handed out during Saturdays Kendama Ladders for completing different levels at the History Museum.
The award ceremony is scheduled for 3pm or immediately following Saturday’s Kendama Freestyle Finals.
Kendama freestyle prize bags and awards will be given out from our sponsors onstage for 1st-3rd place.
UYYC medals for the Kendama Freestyle division will be awarded to 1st – 3rd place Overall.
In addition all Kendama freestyles will be uploaded to YouTube on the NYYL contest channel!
