Marco On the Scene: The Kendama Quest

By Marco

Photography by Christopher and Sergio

Editor’s note: Marco, along with Tim L. , won an award last year as "Journalists of the Year" for their excellent work for The Grizzly Posts.

Cal Prep/ 10/10/23

I heard Mr. Obidi will be having a kendama club today so I want to report on it. I sauntered into the club and saw Mr. Obidi and a couple of kids doing a couple of tricks. Yep, it brought back great memories of when I was in Kendama club last year. This time, I watched club members doing their tricks with their kendama, while some seemed kinda hard like the “lighthouse, airplane” and others.

OK, You’re probably wondering what the Kendama is. It’s a traditional Japanese toy that builds skills. It consists of a handle, a pair of cups, and a ball 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 that fits into the hole of the “tama”.

WAIT!!!! Can you believe it? I saw Mr. Obidi struggling with “the Lighthouse”. It sure looked like he ain’t going to do it . But Mr. Obidi never disappoints. This reporter, with her very open eyes, watched in wonder as the ball landed on the cup of the kendama. He did it.

Now it's the kids’ turn to try “Lighthouse” . It took forever for all to do it. But one kid stood out , although I won’t mention his name. For now we call him K Ball .

No this isn't K Ball, the reigning Kendama champ, it's Adrian, who is practicing with the Kendama during his Advisory. Photos by Christopher and Sergio

Listen up, here’s what played out! K Ball surprised us as he started to do some tricks that Mr. Obidi couldn't even do. This high school reporter watched with wonder like an older sister and had to admit that this kid “got talent for a 7th grader”. And he was just warming up, and started competing faster than the video playing in the background. The classroom filled with the sound of clicking balls.

By the end of the period, it looked like K Ball won.

This is Marco reporting here and now for The Grizzly Posts! Stay tuned next week for the next episode of this breaking story. Angel will provide more photography.