Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Chapter 400: Sword and Jade Showdown
Akita Satoru's Yumegen Musou-ryu's creation and promotion of "competitive kendama" may have been originally motivated by love...

But like other street sports, local governments, business consortiums and major brands are willing to generously sponsor and vigorously promote this emerging street sport because there is a complete set of business logic behind it.

First of all, the sales of kendama. The kendama used in competitions are divided into ten specifications from easy to difficult, just like the dan. The manufacturers are uniformly issued with certification marks by the association. In addition, the collection nature given by various routines such as artistic design, brand co-branding, and limited editions is naturally high in price. It can be said that a new commodity industry chain running through "design-production-sales" has been opened up.

By the way, the most popular kendama brand with the highest sales volume, and the ever-increasing collection value and appreciation rate is "Yumemoto Musou".

The second is the training of kendama techniques. After completing their apprenticeship, the disciples of Meng Yuan Wushuang-ryu have the "free permission" of the school, which allows them to carry out paid training and event promotion business all over the country.

Then there are the Kendama entertainment performances. The Kendama performances, which incorporate the core of extreme sports, are fancy and can be performed by one person or multiple people. The disciples of Meng Yuan Wushuangliu can also perform for free or for a fee at large events.

"Tsk, I smelled it as soon as I walked in, it really is an advertisement... eh, so difficult!"

Following the movements in his memory, Sakamoto Hide threw the kendama ball up, trying to catch it with the "base" on the side, but he used too much force and threw it onto his nose...

Naturally, this scene was recorded in precise and ruthless close-up by the photographer who was well prepared.

"Well then, today's kendama KOF match begins now!"

"According to the original rules of the kendama competition, you can make three mistakes when making a move, but considering that the guest has never touched kendama before, we have extended the limit to ten!"

"By the way, if the guest team loses, they will need to stay in the dojo and study until they successfully master at least one kendama technique before they can graduate."

After the director announced the rules, one of the four disciple representatives stepped out in an orderly manner and saluted.

"Dream Yuan Wushuang Style, Seventh Stage, Daxiang Wan, See you!"

"The move I'm about to perform is a Kendama Seventh Stage LV10 test move..."

"Baby horse... catch the jumping sword baby horse... turn around again, catch the bamboo horse roller...baby horse brawl, pull the string to stop the sword!"

After introducing himself, the disciple fiercely shouted out a series of second-year moves that only appear in anime and fighting games...

The sword and jade in his hands seemed to come alive. With sharp movements, they circled, flew, danced, and jumped in his hands...
In competitive kendama, each movement of the contestant is called a "move", and these "moves" are divided into levels 1-10 according to their difficulty.

Within the specified time, the total score of the contestants is calculated based on the difficulty, innovation and skills of the moves they complete, and the one with the highest score wins.

"I have finished my move, please give me some advice!"

While the four guests were still giving expressions of surprise and praise, Daxiangwan had already completed this series of "moves" in one go...

Then, he bent down respectfully and raised his hand, signaling the guests to make their move.

"This arrangement by the program team is too cruel. They are well-trained and well-prepared. We, the guests, will probably lose miserably and become free advertisements and teaching demonstrations for others."

"I have really sacrificed too much for my music career..."

Sakamoto Hide's face suddenly fell.

"Oh, so handsome!!!"

Xia Fan, the "King of Support", applauded continuously.

"Is this an action that a human can perform? Not to mention ten attempts, even a hundred attempts might not be enough."

Kobayashi Yukiko frowned slightly and hugged herself pitifully.

"Ahahahaha, I used to play this when I was a kid in the countryside. I was once called the Kanagawa Sword King. Let me go first!"

"Iron Field Ladder II, no school, 0th level, see you!"

Tietian Tiji pretended to be excited and couldn't wait to be the first to make a move.

"The first move is called bamboo horse, right..." "Watch me! Bamboo horse..."

He held the ball in his hand, and shook the hilt of the sword upside down on it into the air...

The "bamboo horse" movement is considered a beginner's move and starting posture for competitive kendama. The hilt of the sword is held upside down like a bamboo horse. After flipping in the air, the tip is inserted back into the ball, and the move is considered complete.

But the hilt of the sword in Tietian's hand, let alone flipping in the air, rose into the air and fell upside down like an intercontinental missile, landing on the top of his sparsely haired head.

"Sorry, that was just a warm-up. Now I'm going to get serious."

"Ahahahaha, the previous ones were all acting to make you careless! Next, I will be fully focused..."

"Ah, how could it be..."

In the next nine times, Tietian pretended to be serious, moved in a panic, and ended up suffering every time.

This made the disciples beside him burst into laughter, and they could no longer maintain the "professional image" they had been maintaining.

"The move is completed at zero, Tetsuda loses!"

The disciple who served as the "referee" nearby suppressed his laughter and judged loudly.

"Damn it, it's only a little bit away from being completed..."

"Meng Yuan Wushuang Liu's skills are superior, I admire you!"

Tietian sighed and retreated with an attitude of "unfortunately defeated the swordsman".

"Everyone, I have just used one of the secrets of manzai. The rest of the journey is up to you..."

When he returned to the guest queue, he spoke to them calmly.

Manzai performances are usually performed by two people. The one who plays the more serious role of finding trouble and making comments is called "Upper hand", and the one who plays the more comical role of acting stupid and foolish is called "Lower hand".

"As expected of a professional, Uncle Tietian has set a good example for us by demonstrating his own teachings..."

Yukiko Kobayashi seemed to realize something and tears welled up in her eyes.

As a comedian, it turns out that Tetsuda used the technique of playing the "underdog" and deliberately acted stupid to lose...

By doing this, the originally serious "duel" style was transformed into a funny variety show, and the three guests behind would not seem too embarrassed even if they lost.

"Xiaolin Yukiko, meet you!"

"Hey, it fell off?"

"Oh my...where did my sword go..."

"Move completion number zero, Xiaolin, lose!"

Taking advantage of the funny atmosphere painstakingly created by Tetsuji Tetsuda, Yukiko Kobayashi also "bravely" stepped forward and seriously "made her move", and then after ten clumsy attempts and failures, she "unfortunately lost".

In fact, although Tetsuda and Kobayashi's actions may seem funny, they have actually been trying very hard in secret...

However, the base of the hilt of this kind of "competitive kendama" is very small, the tip on the top is very thin, and the hole on the ball is also very small. The difficulty of operation is not comparable to the kendama that children play with.

It is difficult for ordinary people without training to control the ball steadily, and the seemingly generous ten attempts are nothing but illusions.

(End of this chapter)