Bloomington, MN, October 27, 2016 /PressReleasePing/ - Kendama, a Japanese wooden skill toy, is sweeping the world to get back up on its feet again and play. Challenging, addicting, and entertaining, Kendama creates community by connecting people of different age, background, gender, and ethnicity. Once a year, serious players from all over the world come to compete against one another in a head to head competition in Minnesota. Sweets Kendamas is excited to present the 4th Annual Minnesota Kendama Open at the Mall of America. The event will be 3 days, with preliminary competition starting at the Hilton MOA Friday October 28th at 4pm. Competition will then continue in the Mall of America Rotunda Saturday the 29th from 9am-6pm and Sunday the 30th from 11am-4pm. We are currently expecting over 300 players traveling from 26 states and 6 countries.
• Stakes are high with $4000 in cash and prizes to the winners, drawing competitors from 5 countries and 26 states
• Sponsored players from Sweets Kendamas have won the open division of this event the last 3 years, and are looking to defend the title against the best in the world.
• Bryson Lee, sponsored Sweets Player hailing from Hawaii, is the current World Champion after winning the Kendama World Cup in July 2016, will be competing in the Minnesota Kendama Open and could be the first player to win both events in History
Description of Competition
Beginner and Intermediate Competitions are Speed ladders, with players racing through a list of predetermined tricks with the fastest finishers moving on to later rounds.
Beginner tricks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS_8eOx4Af8
Intermediate tricks:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsHNhmw0Q0w
Freestyle Competition is a timed event with players landing as many trick combos as possible with three judges allocating points based on difficulty, creativity, and control. Players awarded the most points move on. An example of Freestyle competition can be seen here from the annual “Catch and Flow” event in Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdGWrY5XEec
The Open Division is a head to head tournament bracket with players randomly selecting trick cards from a deck, and each having a chance to perform the trick. If one player performs the trick successfully and the other misses, a point is awarded. First to 3 points moves on.
Open Division tricks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9rZNumgNPU
The event is free to attend, and will also include performances by world class Kendama ninjas Zoomadanke from Japan, cup stacking demonstrations, and a teaching area to learn how to play Kendama and do cup stacking.
A full recap of last year’s event can be found on YouTube, along with multiple videos made by players attending the event. We created a short recap as well so you can get a better idea of our event: https://youtu.be/t15fcG_XG-g
About Sweets Kendamas, LLC
Sweets Kendamas exists to “Spread Kendama Love”. The firm, just celebrating its sixth anniversary, has become one of the key players in the global kendama world. Sweets brings its own unique level of craftsmanship and artistry into the creation of some of the best-playing, most durable, and most beautiful kendamas. Matt “Sweets” Jorgenson, Founder and President, said, “We are excited to share with the world our love for kendama and our quality products, especially at the 2016 Fall Toy Preview where we continue to live the dream we dreamt 6 years ago!” To learn more, visit www.sweetskendamas.com or call 952-322-7075 for additional information.
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Press Contact:
Gabriel Klemm
CEO
Sweets Kendamas
9743 Humboldt Ave Bloomington, MN 55431
9523227075
http://www.sweetskendamas.com/
