I bet you are wondering what the new trend is that is going around the school. You have seen it on the announcements, you have seen it in the hallway, and you have seen it out in public. It is rapidly growing in the USA, but it does not originate from here; it originated from Japan in the eighteenth century as anextremely addictive, wooden skill toy. From Japan to the streets of America, this skill toy has become very popular with the youth around the globe. In 2006, a group named Kendama USA brought the first kendama back to America, since then it has spread like wild fire all over the world. They can be found at toy stores and online.

There is a wide range of tricks you can do with a kendama. There are ladders of kendama tricks beginning with the beginner tier which consists of mainly basic tricks such as cups, spikes, and flips. Then it moves on to much harder tricks in the Intermediate tier consisting of advanced flip tricks, string tricks, and combos. Finally the advanced tier which consists of combinations of tricks from all the tiers put together to make some extremely hard combos. All these tiers can be found at competitions all around the world. Many competitions are held right here in the U.S. mainly in states such as New York, Hawaii, and Los Angeles.

“Fun, aggravating, and addicting,” juniors Tom Szedely and Joshua Kurka said

Kendama is an all-around fun and addicting game to play. Whether it’s with friends or a stranger you will always have something in common with another kendama player and that would be the love for the game.

“It changed my life. I lost my friends but gained a hobby,” junior John Mitchell said