Another Taiko Blog and KODO: Behind the Scenes Video

KODO: Behind the Scenes

It has taken me twice as long to eat my meals in the past few days. I'm not eating more, probably I'm eating less. Why is it taking me so long? Because I am using my left hand to eat. (I'm right-handed, by the way). Using a fork and spoon with your non-dominant hand is one thing, trying to use chopsticks with it is another story. For many westerners, using your dominant hand to eat meals with chopsticks is challenging enough. I am also trying to brush my teeth with my left hand. I'm starting to get used to it, but at first, even as I brushed with my left hand, I couldn't keep from moving my right hand in a brushing motion. It must have been amusing to watch my spastic tooth-brushing ritual.

Using your left hand isn't a new idea. I've heard of many athletes doing the same thing in order to strengthen the non-dominant side of their body. That's what I'm trying to do as well. For taiko beginners, it is always painfully obvious that one of their hands/arms is stronger than the other. Over the past few years, I've watched several new people join the taiko groups I'm in, and almost without fail, during the first lesson, the instructor will say something like, "You're right-handed, aren't you. Your left hand is too weak."

Having one hand stronger than the other usually causes uneven beats, speeding up or slowing down and asymmetrical form when playing. There are several ways to even out your hand and arm strength. One is to practice exercises and etudes starting with your non-dominant hand (as I mentioned in a previous post about practicing shime taiko.) But using your non-dominant hand for everyday activities, like teeth brushing and eating with chopsticks, is another way to work towards becoming ambidextrous.

Although it is not the first time I've heard of this method of training, I was reminded of it in this excellent video about what it is like to be an apprentice with the Kodo Drummers on Sado Island. Apparently, one of the first tasks for new apprentices is to make their own pair of chopsticks and make their own pair of bachi (drum sticks). Then they must eat only using their non-dominant hand. If they can't do it, they go hungry until they learn how.

With a job and a family of four, many of the KODO training techniques are not feasible. After all, they are on a remote island cut off from family, friends, technology and all they have to think about is taiko. But using my non-dominant hand to eat with and brush my teeth, well, that's something I can do without too much trouble. I have found that I don't asks for seconds as often, though, just because it can be so tiring to eat that way.

Well, you probably want to see the video. Here it is. KODO Apprentice Video. Sorry, I can't embed it, so you'll have to go to YouTube to watch it. It is worth the time, though.

Another Taiko Blog

Where did I find this interesting video? I found it at the TAIKOHANA Blog. The owner of the TaikoHana blog wrote to me a week or so ago asking if I knew of any places to practice taiko in Fukuoka. (See my answer to her question here: Where to Practice Taiko in Japan.) I discovered that she also kept a blog about taiko and read through it in one sitting. Perhaps I found it interesting because her story is similar to ours in some ways. At any rate, in the interest of providing all those English speaking taiko enthusiasts out there more reading material, I thought I would recommend it to you.

Marie Ayabe is the writer of the blog. Marie was born and raised in Hawaii. She began learning taiko in the summer of 2007 at the Taiko Center of the Pacific. She enjoyed it so much that she decided to start a group at her college, which is called AIKO. This fall she will go to Japan as a JET teacher and hopes to continue her taiko studies there. She hopes to eventually be able to perform with a professional group and teach taiko to other people as well.

She will probably be busy getting ready for her move to Japan this summer, but once she gets settled in, I imagine she will have lots of interesting posts about her own taiko journey. So please check out her blog:
TaikoHana Blog

A Missed Opportunity

Yesterday was Saturday and I had to work. Usually I can leave work on Saturdays around 1:30, but today I had to stay until 4. Not only did it force me to miss JIGEN practice, but I also missed out on a (perhaps) once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At least my wife was able to participate in it.

What was it? It was a free, private workshop by Mr. Yoshikazu Fujimoto of Kodo. When I say private, I mean that it was not open to the public, but rather only a few members of groups studying at Asano Taiko. I guess altogether there were about 20 people there. If you follow the link on Mr. Fujimoto's name, you'll know this already, but if you are too lazy, here are the main details on him:
He is one of the founding members of Kodo
He is usually the featured player for "Odaiko" and "Yatai Bayashi" at Kodo performances
He is currently the most senior member of Kodo
this year, he'll be 58 years old!

So it was pretty frustrating to me to have to stay at work while one of the taiko world's greats was giving a workshop. At least my wife was able to go and she will have to give me the details.

Today I can make up for missing the workshop a little bit because we will get to see a short concert in the afternoon. In a sort of indirect way, this concert is also related to one of Kodo's founding members, Mr. Eitetsu Hayashi. Mr. Hayashi, does not perform with Kodo anymore and mostly does solo work on the Odaiko.　　He also has a group of several young men, which he has hand picked and trained from all over Japan. They are called "Fu un no kai" (風雲の会) When he has a performance where he needs more than just his solo Odaiko, he will assemble them to play with him. They also perform in concerts without him. In fact, they were a guest at this past summer's Exstasia. This afternoon, they'll be here in Kanazawa again. We will take our daughter to go and see them perform. It's kind of a short concert (only about an hour) and the tickets are quite reasonable (only 1500 yen).