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We had a new student in class today, welcome Keith!
Opening questions: Please say your name, where you are located, how long you have been playing taiko and something you have learned about yourself during these last few months.
We have a fair number of videos today as we started on a couple of new concepts for the month of October. After warming up briefly, Franco led us through a coordination exercise that practices hand independence. It is based on rock drumming - one hand playing the high hat part and one hand playing the snare. We switched back and forth on which hand was doing what.
After the warm-up, Yurika led a movement exercise around Gathering and Emptying energy. This is a San Jose Taiko concept where instead of using muscles to strike the drum, we use energy that we store up in our bodies. You can think about it as a spring that is either coiled to spring out or pulled outwards to spring back together. Breathing is a huge part of this. After some breathing and moving exercises, we took it back to the taiko.
Roy Drills
Roy Drills are always great to implement new skills and concepts. The only rule is to not stop playing, even when it gets difficult and you can’t keep up. For today, since the focus was on gather/emptying of energy into the drum, the key is to keep breathing and try not to get too tense.
To finish off the day’s activities Franco led us through putting the rock drumming coordination activity on the taiko.
Check-in Mode and Sharing
When we were back in the studio, it was easier for us to talk to each other and share during the class on our self-observations. We would like to bring back that sharing mode as we know that what you are all learning is valuable to hear from each other. While going through the class and activities, you can ask yourself things like:
What felt good during that exercise and why?
What was hard? What was easy?
What was something that you noticed in yourself that you didn’t notice before?
What are you wondering if other people are experiencing?
Thanks everyone for your honesty and openness to sharing. This is a big part of San Jose Taiko’s learning philosophy and Beginner’s Mind - that we can continually learn from each other no matter how much or little experience you have had with taiko or anything else for that matter.
Have a good week and happy practicing!
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.
Our friends in southern California are also running a taiko class for Parkinson’s called “Rhythmic Flow Taiko” on Sundays. Please check their website for more info.
At any time, feel free to email yurika@taiko.org for questions!