I recently shared a version of this on Facebook without tap shoes, to give a taste of what I’ve been practicing. Here’s a version with all the sounds! A slow and challenging process, but I’m having fun.

Just a video this week!  Watch to see what my bachi bag looks like and where I’ll be taking taiko class tomorrow

I’ll be back with my impression of class next week and and the next Core Awareness Video.

Be copasetic,

Carrie

Carrie

I do not have a romantic story about Japan this week, as in my introduction last week, but I’m still doing well here.  Unfortunately, I’ve been sick and barely pulled a video together for you.  (In fact, I spoke so slowly when I recorded, the initial video was over 8 minutes long!)  But, the video is below and has all you need to get started!

Focus: Core Awareness, Strength, Posture

Watch for:

Initiate all movement from the core, lengthen spine and pay
attention to your posture.

Repeat the full set 5 times, 3 times a week.

Extension: Get the full benefits of this exercise by stretching afterwards.

Bachi (and all my stuff) come next week, so new video in 2 weeks!

Be Copasetic,

Carrie

Last week I boarded a boat at Yamashita Park in Yokohama, expecting to enjoy the view.  Instead my experience was surprisingly kinesthetic.  Due to the boat’s rocking, I immediately stabilized my core muscles to keep from toppling over and the rest of my body gave in to the relaxing motions.  The result was a flexed core that seemed to flow with the boat, guiding my limbs to follow and react, in a carefree way.  I could hardly look at the view as I thought about how this emulated playing taiko.
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I feel strongly about initiating movement from the core when practicing taiko regardless of the volume or style being played.  I think often how I might become more aware of my core in everything I do so I can then to transfer that feeling to my practice.  A strong core can mean better posture, which alleviates pressure on the spine and encourages general alignment.  This has to make for a better taiko player—and one with fewer injuries—right?  Over the next few months, I’ll be posting some simple exercises you can do to increase awareness of your core in day-to-day activities.

Focus:Core Awareness, Strength, Posture
Watch for:Do you feel any part of your body tensing up besides the belly muscles when doing this exercise?  If so, take a moment to slow things down and really isolate the transverse abdominis. 
As usual, I’ve demonstrated the exercise in the video below (coming soon). Activate the transverse abdominis muscle in isolation.  On hands and knees, hands under shoulders and knees under hips and head level with the spine, pull the belly button up towards the spine and hold for 5 seconds.  

Don’t round the back or move/hunch the shoulders.  Extend the spine and draw the shoulders down and away from the ears.  This is an isolation of the transverse abdominis muscles and other parts of the body should not move during the exercise.  The core includes not only the stomach, but the muscles surrounding that area, into the back as well.  Keep this in mind and focus on the entire core as you hold this position.   Exhale as you draw the belly up and inhale when you release.
Repeat 10 times, for 3 sets, 3 times a week.

Extension:

After a week of this, try focusing on lifting up the whole lower belly as well.  This shifts the exercise more toward strength-building and you will notice a stronger stomach within a few sessions. 


Once I have my bachi, I’ll try to get back to posting once a week, but for now, I’ll be back in 2 weeks!

Wow, it’s been way too long since I’ve written here.  I have had to adjust my priorities, as I now have 2 small boys, but I’m hoping to re-focus here on the blog in the coming months.  For now, updates!

What have I been up to?

After 2 years in Chengdu, China, where I taught taiko to a small group of educators (interview with the group coming soon), I am now back in Japan.  This is my first time living in a big city in Japan, but the adjustment has been easy.  While the big city has lots to offer, I’m hopeful that I can discover a nearby community taiko group here soon and eventually take lessons at Hibikus.  I’ve been here a week but plan to get on this asap.

What’s coming up?

I have a seriously unique and amazing taiko experience opportunity brewing.  I’m still figuring out the details, but if you’re looking for a short one-of-a-kind Japan experience, please stay tuned.  I’ll release general information in September, but dates are tentatively scheduled for 2018.

The Blog

I have a few body awareness videos coming up as I await the arrival of my drums and bachi!

Back next Friday with video/exercise #1.  Great to be back!

What is taiko?　(If you just want to see the video, scroll down.)
When I started my MPhil. program at The University of Hong Kong in Ethnomusicology, I wanted to write about taiko’s history.  To begin, I needed to articulate a definition of taiko.  For many months I read articles, books, watched movies, dissected concerts.  I interviewed a wide range of players from the novice to Eitetsu Hayashi, in the United States, in Japan, around Asia.  While I sought clarity, everything became more muddled.  This question, “What is taiko,” was no longer a starting point to my thesis, it became the thesis itself.

Each person I read about, studied, or talked to had different ideas about taiko but there seemed to be one constant: community.  Taiko involves community, relies on community, creates community.  This idea was intriguing and I wanted to understand more about the taiko community and what was unique and special about it.
In The Study of Ethnomusicology (279-280), Bruno Nettl states, “…besides the excellent, the outstanding, who represents the musical ideal in composition or performance, we need an understanding of the ordinary but musically acceptable person… It is such people who comprise the real mainstream of musical life in the world, make music a cultural and human universal, constitute the acceptable everyday experience in a culture.”
With this in mind, in summer 2012 I flew from Hong Kong to the East Coast and rode Megabus for one month, visiting the “ordinary” players of the taiko community to ask them what “Taiko Is…” Below is a compilation video, a small glimpse into the collective definition I came to understand from them.  I hope you enjoy it.
A huge thanks to: The Genki Spark, Rutsubo Taiko, Icho Daiko, Dekiru Denison Daiko, Odaiko New England, Kyo Daiko, Philadelphia Taiko Center,O•Daiko (Hong Kong), and Mana Hayashi Tang.
If you’d be willing, please share your definition of taiko in the comments below.

And, for fun, some outtakes: