Amplitude

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Today’s opening question - “What is your spirit animal?”

  • Yurika - Cat

  • Cathy - Duck

  • Theresa - Lion

  • Lane - Wolf / Rabbit / Bear

  • Franco - Sloth

  • Rebecca - Bird (“3 cheers!)

  • Marlene - Hummingbird

  • ManMan - Elephant

  • Sonya - Bird of prey / Hawk / Dolphin



AMPLITUDE: Large and Small Movements and Sound

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Today’s exercises based around the idea of amplitude. We did some exercises varying the volume in our kiai and it was great to see everyone using their facial expression and body language to emphasize the kiai volume. Try to imagine your voice filling a larger and larger room.

Franco also led a movement activity with stepping and imaging different sized balls in your hands. Here are 2 versions of the activity, with and without the drum. Sometimes the stepping was smaller and sometimes wider.

ROY DRILLS


We also did a round of Roy Drills. If you’re unfamiliar with Roy Drills, this is a staple San Jose Taiko activity where everyone follows the leader in terms of pace, volume and patterns. During the Roy Drills, the number one rule is “don’t stop playing!” It is a training tool that came from Roy Hirabayashi, one of SJT’s founders and can last anywhere from 5 minutes to sometimes 60 minutes!

Here is a recording of today’s Roy Drill, and also one that was recorded previously. (5 min version and 9 min version)


MANMAN visiting from Torrance, CA

We had another guest today, YeeMan “ManMan” Mui who works with Vivian who visited last week. They are about to do a pilot taiko class for people with Parkinson’s this Sunday! You are welcome to register.

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TAIKO FOR PARKINSON’S WEBINAR BY SAN JOSE TAIKO

Finally, San Jose Taiko is running a webinar for the taiko community to learn more about our Taiko for Parkinson’s program. It is our hope that others will engage in this meaningful work and we can continue to learn and share what we’ve learned. You are welcome to sit in on that too, it’s free. Friday, July 31st at 11:00AM PDT. Register HERE.

About this Event

"Certainly, Taiko shares many benefits with other forms of exercise, e.g. big movements, cross body, vocalization, and community… but I found there was something different about Taiko..." - Parkinson's Recreational Class student

This is an overview of San Jose Taiko’s (SJT) Parkinson’s program that started in 2018. The panel will talk about SJT’s experiences of starting the program, how it fits in with the group’s mission and some lessons that have been learned along the way. This is mostly geared towards taiko practitioners, but open to anyone interested in Parkinson’s, accessibility of the arts, and wellness.

Panelists: Franco Imperial (Artistic Director and instructor), Yurika Chiba (Program Coordinator and instructor), Sydney Shiroyama (Consulting Occupational Therapist) and Barbara Rice (Program Consultant and student). Moderated by Linda Uyechi (Stanford lecturer in taiko and former SJT performing member).

Other links of interest:

ANNOUNCEMENTS and REMINDERS:

  • Payment for classes should be made here: https://www.paypal.me/sanjosetaiko OR by check made out to San Jose Taiko, 565 N. 5th Street, San Jose CA 95112 (please mark the check PRC). The fee is $10 drop-in or $36/month.

  • Bachi can be purchased to be mailed for $10 a pair.

  • Private Zoom lessons are available at $25 for 50 minutes. We are not quite yet able to offer in-person private lessons due to COVID restrictions.

  • At any time, feel free to email yurika@taiko.org for questions!