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Japanese cup and ball game

The "sword [and] ball"; けん玉; kendama is a traditional Japanese skill toy. It consists of a handle (ken), a pair of cups (sarado), and a ball (tama) that are all connected together by a string. On one end of the ken is a cup, while the other end of ken is narrowed down, forming a spike (kensaki) that fits into the hole (ana) of the tama. The kendama is the Japanese version of the classic cup and ball game, and is also a variant of the French cup and ball game bilboquet. Kendama can be held in different grips, and many tricks and combinations can be performed. The game is played by tossing the ball into the air and attempting to catch it on the stick point. Endless tricks and trick combinations can be made with just ken grip, sara grip, tama grip, and candle grip by themselves or together in a combination. Some examples of tricks in each of these grips are as follows:

The origins of the game are disputed. It is believed by some to be a variant of the French ball and cup game bilboquet (bil "ball" boquet "small tree"), a toy that dates back to the 16th century and was popular in Europe during the 17th century. During that same period the kendama is believed to have arrived in Japan via the Silk Road from China during the Edo period (1600 1868),

Hatsukaichi City in Hiroshima Prefecture is considered to be the birthplace of the modern Japanese Kendama due to the city becoming the first place for kendama manufacturing. Hamagatsu Ekusa created the shape of the kendama that is widely recognized today in 1919 in Kure city. During the early 20th century the toy had two side cups and was called a jitsugetsu ball (日月ボール)., literally translating to "sun and moon ball", because of the ball's representation of the sun and the cups' likeness to the crescent moon.

Kendama play has also been used as a measure of accuracy, agility, and learning ability in robotic arms.

There are no specific rules on how to play kendama. However, all forms of kendama competition are regulated by rules. 4 styles of kendama competition are speed ladder, open division, freestyle, and Kendama World Cup (KWC). It is rare that the KWC style of competing is used as an event other than KWC itself.

The speed ladder is a style of competition that is a race of who can finish a set of tricks the fastest. Players will race through an order of tricks that they are given at the event or prior to the event via the internet. The players who finish the trick ladder the fastest wins. There are divisions that sign up to compete in based on their skill level (ex: beginner, intermediate, and advanced/pro).

Open Division is a head to head 1vs1 competition style format. Each round, two players compete against each other and take turns drawing a trick at random. Each trick drawn warrants a maximum of three exchanges – the number of times the players can go back and forth attempting the trick. The first player to 3 points wins. If a player completes the trick and the other player misses, the successful player earns 1 point and the other player draws another trick. If both players complete or miss the trick, then the 1st exchange comes to an end and the first player gets another attempt to complete the trick in the second bout, restarting the process. If both players complete or miss the trick in all three bouts, then the trick is discarded and the second player draws a new trick. Note: In the final round, the first player to 5 points wins. Note: The labeled champion of each event is usually referring to the Open Division winner.

Freestyle is a head to head 1vs1 style of competition. Each match is judged by a panel of three or five judges. The two players competing against each other in each round will take turns performing tricks in 45 second time periods twice each. During the time periods, both players may perform any trick that they choose. Each judge individually decides which player wins based on who did the best in the following three categories: Creativity, Consistency, and Difficulty. The player with the most votes wins the round.

One hundred and twenty tricks are released online prior to the KWC and are split up into groups of 10 tricks each 12 times, forming a level 1 to 12 trick list. The higher level a trick is, the more difficult it is and the more points it is worth. KWC is split into 2 days of competition: Day 1: Qualifying, and Day 2: Finals. Each day has its own set of rules. During Day 1, all players choose 12 tricks from the levels 1–10 in the trick list. Players split the 12 tricks into two rounds of six tricks each, and each player will get 3 minutes for each round to complete as many tricks as possible. The 25 players with the highest point scores will advance to Day 2. Note: The number of points each trick is worth is equivalent to the face value of the level of the trick (ex. level 6 trick is worth 6 points). During Day 2, the players compete one by one from the lowest scoring qualifying player to the highest scoring qualifying player. Each player has three minutes to do an unlimited number of tricks from levels 3–12, and each trick can only be done once. The player who gets the highest number of points in their time period wins. The British Kendama Association was the first group to hold a formal kendama contest outside Japan in 2008 at the British Juggling Convention in Doncaster. Kendama competitions have taken a variety of formats including speed ladders, freestyle, head to head, and world championship style. Typically at these events, there are vendors that sell kendamas, clothing, and accessories. Competitions can range from 1–3 days long and prizes are provided for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of each competition category. Popular competitions include the North American Kendama Open & the Kendama World Cup (KWC).

Starting in 2014, the Kendama World Cup (KWC) is an annual two day event in the summer that takes place in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan and is the largest kendama competition in the world. In 2018 alone, the KWC had an audience of 49,000 members that were watching 415 competitors from 18 countries compete for the title of Kendama World Champion. At KWC, there is also an abundance of vendors selling their merchandise and kendamas, kendama games, and live performances all spread out over the 2 days of the event. Admission to the KWC is free.

Deutsche Kendama Meisterschaft DKM also called German Kendama Championship was the longest standing annual Kendama competition in Europe. The first DKM was held in Berlin, 2014. Ever since then, the event has been organised, hosted and run by the German based company Kendama Europe. The event is held in different locations and cities. The championship format relates to the original classic competition formats of the JKA (Japanese Kendama Association). It includes Speed trick competition, Knock out competition and Freestyle competition and is separated in three different skill levels: beginner, advance and pro. The first winner of the Knock out Pro competition in Berlin, 2014, was Peter Wimmers. There has not been a DKM since 2019.