Battle at the Border History

Battle at the Border is the longest running kendama event in the United States, held annually in Nashville, Tennessee. It all started back in January of 2012 in a garage with 15-20 kendama players looking to hang out and have some friendly competition. Over the next few years, the event bounced back and forth between the states of Tennessee and Kentucky, hence the name Battle at the "Border". In 2015 we decided to make Nashville, TN the official home city for BATB, and it has remained there ever since. In 2022, we hosted over 300 kendama players in person at Rocketown in Nashville, TN. Battle at the Border has hosted participants from 35 US States as well as international kendama players from Japan, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Ecuador. In 2021, we saw 1,024 live concurrent viewers with 22,526 total live views when we partnered with Sweets Kendamas to host the event online, setting the record for the most streamed online kendama event. We are excited to announce that we will be partnering with Sweets again this year to stream the in-person event online for the first time ever. 2023 will mark the 12th year of BATB, and we are expecting it to grow beyond 300 attendees this year. The name “Battle at the Border” was given to the event in 2014 after it switched locations between the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. We are excited to be continuing several traditions we have created throughout the years, while implementing some new ideas and formats to keep things fresh. We hope that you will consider supporting our event to provide the kendama community with an opportunity to grow stronger. Your participation in this event allows people from all over to establish new friendships, reconnect with old friends, and grow the kendama community as a whole. Help us continue to write a piece of kendama history together.


Follow the BATB Instagram page to keep up to date with new information regarding the event. If you have any questions regarding the event, please email support@solkendamas.com