We can already see the remarks “no, but Colin Sander, it's over”, “it's an old thing” … so yes, it's not wrong, we agree with the new generation. Players of a much higher level than Colin Sander, there have been plenty of them for 2 years on all continents. And we want to say that it's a rather good sign because it means that Kendama is developing at high speed. Finally, especially on American lands, in Japan and in certain European countries... in France, we still have a slight delay even if we are starting to see the emergence of rather comfortable players.
So why an article on Colin Sander ? Quite simply because when we started kendama, Colin was the benchmark for Kendama at global from Youtube! And casually, it was he who laid good foundations that are still respected.
So who is Colin Sander?
Colin Sander is an American who in 2006 discovered the kendama and had as much enthusiasm as us around the object. After his encounter with the kendama, he even wrote to The Japan Times in one such email exchange, “I couldn't contain myself and went around telling my close friends that I had this epic discovery for them. They all thought it was wild and really out-there.” In short, it's gone, he hooked up with the kendama and he intends to talk about it around him.
That's pretty good because Colin Sander is a director and is pretty good at video editing. He then started playing kendama and posting short videos of him playing… the edicts were born! Just for that, an article on this genius has its place on the kendama-france site!
We get on pretty well with the concept of edits, the videos come out regularly and we see his level rise, rise, rise… Until his Edit 7 which was THE revelation for us. Two years later, in 2008, Kendama USA officially became a company and Colin Sander then became a pro player and began a great promotion of Kendama in the US and then worldwide.
Why do we hang on so much with this player?
Already, it must be said, his style is devastating at the time, it's clean and he invents many tricks while at the base, he was a little alone in the world to play. We also adhere to his vision of kendama. For him, kendama opens the mind to a new way of thinking and seeing things. Kendama develops sensations and reflexes in general. And above all, at a time when everything is going digital, he finds it important to promote a simple, natural game that develops the world perception and what surrounds us. In short, we are ok with him down the line: Turn off your TV and play KD!
Colin Sander today
It is true that we hear much less about him today. Colin no longer releases edits and he has focused on new pro projects, a lot around making videos.
But he did most of the work, that is to say develop the kendama and give way to many players just as talented as him. Colin, however, continues to watch over the KD, he is still a consultant for Kendama USA and still participates in the production of videos for the brand.
We grant you that his style on the edicts mentioned above has taken a bit of age, but his media absence does not prevent him still playing and his video from the summer of 2014 shows that the old Colin is not dead…. We let you judge for yourself!