Kendama is a Japanese skill-toy written けん玉 .

It is a variation of traditional ball ‘n cup which teaches creativity, consistency, patience, balance, focus and fun.

Kendamas are made up of the ‘ken’ (handle) and the ‘tama’ (ball). A string connects the tama to the ken. The objective is to toss and catch the ball onto the different cups and eventually onto the ‘spike’.

It can be played by anyone and fits into your pocket to be taken with you anywhere.

Kendama can be highly addictive given the vast variety of tricks - more of which are being invented every day.

It is relatively new to the West but has been part of Japanese culture for a hundred years.