Sharp versus Smooth

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Opening question: How has life changed since you were 8 years old? Before class started, those of us logged on early were reflecting on how kids’ lives today are so different from when were kids. So we continued to check in on that topic. Especially when it comes to technology and safety.

Franco led us through some exercises of 3 different sharp taiko movements, similar to last week’s posing movements. We also talked about “GaZuut writing” and did some flowing movements, that might be compared to Tai Chi movements. Both of these types of movements are prevalent in San Jose Taiko’s style. We ended up putting them together in a Sharp versus Smooth Drill. The movement are free movements, you can come up with your own.

Don Don Don Don - SHARP - SHARP -

Don Don DoRo Don - SMOOTH (4 counts)

Number Drill

We also went back to a familiar activity involving numbers. Yurika led a drill that was based on a fun game taught to San Jose Taiko by a Kodo member, Eiichi Saito many years ago. We loved learning from Eiichi as he showed us how to make up taiko patterns based on numbers and also words. For example, he made up a part of a song based on his favourite foods.

Number activity rules: After an even number of Dons, click your bachi twice. After an odd number of Dons, click your bachi once.

Here is a video of the end of the drill when everyone had given a number.

A FEW OTHER THINGS…

SJT is starting up a senior class which is a mix of students from a few different classes who have been playing awhile, plus some new students. It will run on Wednesdays from 1-2PM on Zoom, starting September 9th and is taught by Yurika. If you are interested in joining, you can register here.

Also, Yurika is running a Make-Your-Own Taiko “craft afternoon” if you would like to learn how to make a taiko out of a 5 gallon bucket or box. It will be on Wednesday, September 2nd from 1-2PM. You will need a 5 gallon bucket (OR a medium sized box AND 4 pairs of disposable chopsticks, preferably new and not ripped apart, a box cutter) and a roll of heavy duty clear packing tape and scissors.

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. (The fee for September is $45/month since there are 5 Tuesdays.)

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

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

Kiai Contest and Posing

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Opening question: Which of the elements do you identify with most? Everyone in today’s class was either water or wind, Pat was earth. But no fires! Fluidity, travel, flexibility, going with the flow and groundedness were things that came up.

Kiai Contest

After warming up, Franco led us through a review of kiai and then we split into 2 teams to practice a loud, explosive, short kiai and also to try a longer sustained kiai. We discovered that with Zoom, the loudest person takes over the sound and you can’t hear anyone else!

Movement / Posing

We did a review of the 4 movements we had been working on with Yurika - the “line”, “sunshine”, “X” and “windmill.” That windmill is a nice tricky one that we can continue to practice and coordinate. If you are familiar with Karate Kid, it is a similar to the “Wax On, Wax Off” movement. Or if you were saying “So long, farewell!” The hands move up and out. Maybe that will help! Franco and I talked afterward about how for some concepts it just takes someone explaining it a different way or just after hearing it multiple times that it might just "click” one day.

We also practiced doing shorter movements within one count, alternating with a DON. The movement is free and paired with a kiai. You could think of it more like a striking a pose. Here is a video of PJ Hirabayashi (our AD Emeritus) playing a song that shows an example of how this might be played in a song at 20 seconds. She’s moving around the drum in this instance.

Roy Drills

Since we haven’t done Roy Drills in awhile, we finished off with this activity - the only rule is to play along and not stop playing!

Play along with Franco for practice.

A FEW OTHER THINGS…

SJT is starting up a senior class which is a mix of students from a few different classes who have been plyaing awhile, plus some new students. It will run on Wednesdays from 1-2PM on Zoom, starting September 9th and is taught by Yurika. If you are interested in joining, you can register here.

Also, Yurika is running a Make-Your-Own Taiko “craft afternoon” if you would like to learn how to make a taiko out of a 5 gallon bucket or box. It will be on Wednesday, September 2nd from 1-2PM. You will need a 5 gallon bucket (OR a medium sized box AND 4 pairs of disposable chopsticks, preferably new and not ripped apart, a box cutter) and a roll of heavy duty clear packing tape and scissors.

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. (The fee for September is $45/month since there are 5 Tuesdays.)

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

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

Zoom Mirroring and Numbers as Music

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Opening question: What occupation do you find interesting/fascinating even if you wouldn’t really like to do it? Marlene’s was a recipe tester for Sunset Magazine and she did do it!

Coordination Activities

We finished off warm-ups this morning with a hand coordination activity. There are several similar ones on youtube, like this one.

Mirror Movement

Back in the studio, we used to sometimes do mirror movement. It’s interesting to explore how it feels to be a leader versus being a follower. We started out with a warm-up following Franco. And then split up into pairs and tried to follow along through Zoom.

Movement Drill Level Up

We touched on the movement drill from last week, adding on just a little bit more to the drumming part. Start out playing 4 Don’s. Then each movement has a different pattern before it. I found a fun online taiko drum machine to make a background beat. It’s really easy to use!

In the video I’m playing through each pattern 4 times before moving on to the next one. Remember to say SoRe nice and loud as part of the activity.

Numbers as Music

Franco led us through another number activity where you add an accent or louder hit on certain numbers. It’s interesting that over time, the counting makes way to sounding like music, and it becomes much easier. The number groove we played was 1-2-5-8.

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.

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

Number Game

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Opening question: What is your nickname? What nicknames have you had in the past?

Lane wins for number of nicknames!

Kiai + Movement

Franco is back this week. After he led us through warm-ups, we did some kiai review and then split the group into two teams so we could hear ourselves better. We added movement to the kiai.

The word Kiai comes from two kanji characters - “ki” meaning “energy” and “ai” meaning “meeting.” For us in taiko, expressing through kiai is integral to the artform. As KI is one of the four principles in San Jose Taiko, where our energy flows and what we do with it is important. Kiai is one way that energy is expressed. Our body is part of the instrument and as such, energy can flow through movement and breath and voice. It connects us. It impacts those watching us. One of our vocal coaches once said, it is an amazing gift that we can create this vibration in our bodies that can move other people.

Here is a video of the kiai and movement warm-up activity.

Movement Game

We did a review of the 4 movements that were covered last week (see post and videos below). Yurika turned it into a game where flashcards indicated which movement was to be played next. It seemed that the windmills got easier when it was faster.

Number Game

Another game that Franco led us through was a number game. Basically you have to play the number of hits that are called out. It started out with just one number at a time, but moved up levels so that we were playing 3 numbers in a row. It’s interesting how when there were more numbers it became a bit more intuitive as it started to sound more like music. Music is stored and processed in a different part of the brain, which takes less processing.

It was nice to have a bit of time at the end for reflections. We’re grateful to have this time together!

We are working on a taiko “kit” that can be mailed out!

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.

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

"Ma" (Space)

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Welcome to our new student, Ellen!

Opening question: What was your favourite subject in school or what did you study in college?

Today we warmed up with some stepping, clapping and kiai coordination. Here is a video below of a similar drill.

Ma

We talked a little bit about the concept of “Ma” or space in Japanese and how this space is important in taiko. We may fill this musical space between taiko hits with kiai or with movement. We learned 4 different movements that often come up in San Jose Taiko choreography. And we also talked about basic and fancy versions of the movement and how to use your legs to emphasize the movements or make them easier. We started each movement with a Don Don and during the next 2 beats, would fill with “sore” and the movement.

• “Line” - Bring up your arms together, they should reach the top on the “re” of “sore”

• “Circle” - Sweep up your arms on the sides of your body. Marlene said this move reminded her of birds wings. The fancy version starts with crossing your arms in front of you before sweeping up.

• “X” - Similar to some of the X drills we have been working on with Franco, Pointing your bachi out diagonally and leaning into the movement with your legs.

• “Windmill” - A challenging movement requiring each arm to move independently.

Here’s a slower practice video of the windmill:

Here is a practice video of the 4 movements played through 8 times.

Here is a slightly faster practice video of the 4 movements played 4 times through each.

We finished off with a drill/game where I had symbols to represent each movement.

Pat said, “The windmills really emphasize how easy the first 3 movements are!”

A quick reminder of the 4 Principles of San Jose Taiko - each week we might focus one or two more than the others, but as taiko players are always striving to find balance and improve on all 4.

OTHER THINGS…

This past Sunday, San Jose Taiko would have been performing at Palo Alto Obon. Here is a full video of last-year’s performance.

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.

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

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

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.

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:

• SF Ballet Parkinson’s Dance Classes

• Boomwackers - These are tuned percussion tubes that can be used to practice taiko. ManMan was using a pair today.

• San Jose Taiko’s youtube channel (if you can’t get enough taiko)

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!

We had a visitor today! (July 21, 2020)

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Today Vivian Lee came to observe our class. Vivian is a Physical Therapist and taiko player who instructs at the Los Angeles Taiko Institute. Vivian (along with ManMan who will be visiting next week) is working with Sydney Shiroyama, the OT who helped San Jose Taiko start our PD program. LATI is planning to start a program as well, which we think is so awesome.

For today’s check-ins we shared some interesting podcasts, webinars or radio programs:

• (Vivian) TED radio hour

• (Sarah) Podcast: “When Life Gives You Parkinson’s” / Book: “Ending Parkinson’s”

• (Cathy) Book: “I Contain Multitudes”

• (Pat) Podcast: Science Friday

• (Lane) Another plug for SJT’s Obon @ Home performance

• (Marlene) NPR: “The Moth Radio Hour” and “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”

• (Franco) Podcast/TV: Songland

• (Yurika): MasterClass: David Sedaris, Robin Roberts

• Theresa - sorry we forgot to get yours!

COUNTING

We went over counting up to 8 in Japanese today. Typically when Romanized (put into English letters) it would be written like this:

1. Ichi

2. Ni

3. San

4. Shi

5. Go

6. Roku

7. Shichi

8. Hachi

We also wrote it out in “sort of” phonetic if it helps… (Some people may emphasize the last vowel more or less. E.g. “roku” as opposed to “rok”. We don’t usually use the alternate 4 & 7 in taiko as in the video.)

1. itch / itchy

2. knee

3. sun

4. she

5. go

6. roak / roku

7. sheech / sheechee

8. haach / hachee

The Pat-Cathy Drill

Franco led us through a drill which had some free movement to it. Based on the movements that Pat and Cathy were doing, it became the Pat-Cathy drill.

Isolation Drill

We went over the “Isolation Drill” - this is a drill that several taiko groups, including the SJT performing company will do a version of from time to time as a way to check on technique and evenness between and right and left hands. It’s based on this sequence: 8-8-8-8 / 4-4-4-4 / 2-2-2-2 / alternate for 8

Here is a video from the PRC Activities page with the drill on it.

In this version, the sticking is mirrored, but feel free to explore starting with your non-dominant hand as a level up.

Happy Practicing!

ONE LAST THING…

Sydney sent me a pdf version of the article that she and Barbara (from our class) wrote for the World Parkinson’s Congress’s official blog, called “Flow vs Freeze” which is about the PD program at San Jose Taiko. It’s interesting to note that our program is one of the first of its kind, however, as Franco mentioned it is our hope that it will not be the only one. We hope other groups will do this work, learn more about it and make it even more accessible and beneficial for those with PD. Thanks Sydney and Barbara! (See some of the work that Sydney is doing now at https://www.taiko-in.com/.)

Class summary from July 14th, 2020

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Check-ins today were about book recommendations. Here are some of the ones that were offered:

Fiction:

• The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

• A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman

Nonfiction:

• Audacity of Hope, Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama

• Becoming, by Michelle Obama

• Radical Dharma, by Reverend angel Kyodo williams

• Ending Parkinson’s Disease, by Ray Dorsey, et al.

• Sh*t My Dad Says, by Justin Halpern

• Limitless, by Joaquin Farias (about Dystonia)

• Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism, by Barry M. Prizant

• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi

• The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen

• The Constitution

We worked on a 2-Drum stepping and movement drill led by Franco. You can practice along the video.

We talked about how to try to use the natural strength of your lower body to channel energy up to your upper body. We think a lot about the force of the “den-den” daiko.

We also spent some time reviewing our Kuchishoka or kuchishoga (taiko vocabulary).

DON / DORO - loud sound

tsu / tsuku - soft sound

Ka / KaRa - played on the rim of the taiko

“SU!” - the rest

Yurika mentioned that she encourages her youth students to “cheat” in taiko. That means, if some other vocabulary helps you more, then use that! Think of scatting - sometimes the words that emerge are nonsensical but they can still be rhythmic and musical. Or as in one SJT song, the kids learn a line using the words, “No I don’t want to go, No I don’t want to go, No I don’t want to go home, KA!”

You can find a bunch more kuchishoka drills here or on the PRC activities page:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YunHcBHbKI&feature=youtu.be

https://youtu.be/dmr-KSyG2VE

https://youtu.be/6nY7M1mrJzQ

https://youtu.be/RqGp6BEtBFE

https://youtu.be/x69ahN2qEzg

ANNOUNCEMENTS and REMINDERS:

• If you missed it, you can see the San Jose Taiko performance at SJ Obon at the bottom!

• In the next couple of weeks we may have a visitor or two observing our class. They are taiko professionals who are interested in starting a similar program to PRC in their area. We know them well, and trust they will be respectful in our space. If you feel uncomfortable for any reason about this, please let us know.

• 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!

A few links that were shared during class over the last few weeks

Renshu Movement Drill

• You can say any Kiai that you want.  As we mentioned, the Kiai are meant to help with flow of energy (ki) and is an essential part of playing taiko in SJT’s style. 

• Kiai means “meeting of energy” and is used in martial arts often.  Typical taiko Kiai are SA, YO, HO, HAI, HUP but really you can say anything if it feels like it helps you move energy through you. 

Drill for PRC Song (based on lines 3 & 4)

• The Kuchishoka (taiko vocabulary) for these lines are: 

  • DON DON tsuku tsuku / DORO DORO “Can” “Do” (cresendo/get louder on the DORO DORO)

• Today we talked about finding different words for Can Do.  So Franco is experimenting in the video.  We can try out some new ones next week.  

• You can put your arms straight up or out to the sides diagonally like Franco is doing.

It turns out that the height of our taiko in the studio is approximately 26 inches if that helps with your set-ups. 

Sydney Shiroyama (our consulting OT) and Barbara from our PRC class wrote an article together for the WPC Blog.  You can read it here if interested, it’s called Flow vs. Freeze: The Healing Power of Taiko. 

Sonya’s share, the squirrel obstacle course - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFZFjoX2cGg

PRC Blog - Welcome!

Thank you Lane for suggesting a one-stop shop for all the links and information we discuss during PRC. Feel free to bookmark this page for easy access. If there are things you’d like to see in this space just let us know. See you all next week - keep up the great work!