Sweets Kendamas was founded in 2010 in Minnesota by Matt “Sweets” Jorgenson, and is one of the few brands that hand-paints its kendamas in its own studio. This Pro Model bears its founder’s name and uses the BOOST shape with a Sticky Clear finish.

• BrandSweets Kendamas
• ModelMatt “Sweets” Jorgenson Pro Model
• ShapeBOOST
• FinishSticky Clear

Design

BOOST is a ken shape of Sweets’ own, conceived as a more aggressive version of its earlier designs. A kendama is made up of a ken (handle with spike), a sarado (the piece with the side cups) and a tama (the ball). On the BOOST the cups are slightly larger, the support points for stalls (tricks in which the ball rests on the ken) are more pronounced and the base cup has a balance bevel that makes it easier to rest the kendama on the tama. To match those bigger cups, the BOOST tama is also slightly larger than usual.

Finish

Sticky Clear is the glossy clear lacquer that Sweets uses on most of its kendamas. It is tacky: it gives the ball plenty of grip in balance tricks while leaving room to correct its position on the fly. With use, that feel gradually softens.