Top 14 Edits Released Before 2011

A couple months back we posted a blog titled 12 EDITS FROM 2011 EVERY KENDAMA PLAYER SHOULD WATCH and it got a lot of good feedback. 2011 was an important year for a lot of us around Sweets Kendamas. Sweets was founded in late 2010, and we first started really getting involved in the community in 2011. The edits put out that year influenced us tremendously and we have a lot of memories from that time period. 2011 was a pretty banger year overall, but we realized there were a lot of pre-2011 edits out there that people might have missed, especially if they came into the scene at the same time as us. So, here we have it - Matt "Sweets" Top 14 edits released before 2011.

1. Oct 14, 2010 Turner Thorne Kendama USA Pro Edit Turner was one of the first pro sponsored kendama players in the game. I personally looked up to him when I first started playing kendama. I was lucky enough to meet him at a Kengarden Battle in May of 2011 in San Francisco. Still to this day Turner is one of my favorite kendama players who has always been pushing the game further and further. 2. Oct 26, 2010 Sweets Kendamas Edit #1 I put this one here not because it is one of the best but because it was my first full edit ever. I remember working really hard to land tricks that now seem trivial. Everyone has an edit like this out on YouTube somewhere. It helps me remember how far I've come and how far I still have to go in Kendama. 3. Sep. 4, 2010 Chaz Edwards Edit #6 Chaz Edwards is about as OG as it gets in the kendama game. He is shredding a White Mugen in most of the clips in this edit. Chaz was the first to land a bunch of crazy technical tricks here in the US. A lot of the Trades and juggles we see now were being done by Chaz 6 years ago. Fast forward to 4:00 to see one of the hardest tricks at that time being done. Do yourself a favor and check out all his edits for some mind melting tricks. 4. July 25, 2010 Nicolas Schopfer KENDAME GENEVE - SUMMER 2010 EDIT Nicolas Schopfer was a big part of the community when it first started and still plays to this day. There were many USA players who looked to him for kendama history and knowledge when kendama was just getting big here. His kendama technique is flawless with every trick. He is an amazing photographer and videographer as well which really made this edit one of my favorites. 5. Dec. 31, 2009 Kendama # KendAlex Keyaki test Alex Ruisch a.k.a. Kendalex, Supernog, The Dutch Master, Shmellls gooood, is one of my favorite kendama players of all time. His love for the game is unmatched by any other player. Don't believe me? Take a look at his collection seen here. http://bit.ly/1SXRry3 Alex is a 5th Dan Kendama Master and has landed some of the craziest tech tricks you have ever seen. This video shows how technical Ruisch was from the jump. Aside from this video he has tons of tutorials that many players have learned from over the years. Check them out and learn something new. 6. Nov. 16, 2009 Matt Nix hotsteppin' kendama edit 09' This may be the most underated kendama player in the history of our sport. In 2009 Matt was landing some crazy stall tricks that would stump most pro players in the game today. Matt is one of the best if not the best player out of the United Kingdom. 7. Oct 12, 2009 Colin Sander Edit #7 Colin Sander, the godfather of modern day kendama created the most legendary edit of all time. The edit of all edits, the best of the best, the crème de la crème. If you have been playing kendama for the last 7 years or just started yesterday you better have watched this edit. So much progression brought together in one amazing kendama edit. Colin blew everyones mind when he came out with edit 7. There were 2 things that made this edit so amazing, the tricks and the editing. Now today that sounds obvious, but back in 2009 no one was thinking about editing something pretty/cool we were just trying to lace hard tricks. Colin did both things perfectly and changed the way we look at kendama edits today. 8. Aug 10, 2009 Dutch Kendama Edit 7 High Technique Dutch Kendama a.k.a Jeffrey van Reeven a.k.a Jeffrety Van Rasta has been in the game for a while now. Jeffrey is famous for having the largest number of sequential edits numbering up to edit # 28. All of the edits are pure genius. Jeffrey is known for his unconventional play and creativity with inventing new tricks. This edit is one I learned a lot from when I first started kendama. 9. Jan. 2, 2009 KENDAMA champion at Sportster meeting : 創世記ヤコブ（前田隆宏 六段) For a while this was the first/only video that showed up on YouTube when you typed in kendama. I know a lot of people will say that this is the first kendama video they ever saw. This video is cool because the player is a classic JKA player. They land everything with crazy consistency and don't land tricks to the spike. In the JKA a lot of tricks end by holding the trick for 3 seconds, unlike the USA where we like to spike everything for it to count. This video is a classic every kendama player should watch. 10. Sep 1, 2008 Kendama Joe How to Play Kendama #1 Kendama Joe is a character to say the least. He has his own kendama style and we all love him for it. If you have ever been to the MKO you may have been lucky enough to meet this guy. He was the one wearing yellow shaded glasses 90% of the day. His edits are always filled with gems of kendama knowledge he drops on his viewers. He makes videos that teach you something and make you laugh all at the same time. What more can you ask for? 11. Aug 22, 2008 Freedom Kendama Vol. 2 Okada Takumi once a Japanese Kendama champion, passed away in late 2009. Its sad to know that Takumi-san never got to see what the sport he loved has turned into. This edit is amazing, boarder balance, axe flips, Freestyle tricks and all in 2008!!!!!! Take notes young shredders, take note. Check out his first edit HERE 12. Apr 18, 2008 Kendama 2008 edit by Kendama USA Another edit that was watched by almost every kendama player that started playing in the early years. Like most people reading this blog I assumed that these players were all once pros for Kendama USA. I recently found out that this video was a joke for the rollerblading community. They had all played so much they decided to make a kendama edit to release on blading pages as a joke. Little did they know people actually thought they were real pros and started asking about sponsorships. And that is where it all began. 13. Feb 21, 2007 Kendama Edit #1 - けん玉 Here it is. The earliest video in the countdown and one that will make you remember what it was like to start kendama from the beginning again. Colin lands the basics with his classic JKA steeze, 3 second holds all day. Without this video who knows where kendama in the USA would be today? Thanks Yinza for paving the way for all us dama heads. 14. Aug 15, 2008 Zach Yourd Edit #3 Zach has always been one of the most solid rippers in the game. When kendama was young this dude was lacing instas, taps, inward everything and of course lunars!!!! This dude landed a TRIPPLE LUNAR FLIP!!!!!!! This was one of the main edits that fueled me on my kendama journey. Whenever I needed a new trick to learn I would watch this video and get stoked to grind some more. Zach is a good homie of mine and I love to shout out his edits whenever I get the chance.