100th Post!

I'm making this a bit of an unusual post for the 100th. For one, it's not on the usual M/Th posting schedule, and two, it's going to be about me. Ego aside, I know there are people who are curious about my experiences, habits, and passions (or I could be totally wrong), and I think it would prove interesting to talk about it.

People generally ask me one of four things:

- What's your background (in the arts)?
- How did you get started with taiko?
- Why do you keep playing?
- Do you have any advice?

• What's your background (in the arts?)

I've been studying Shotokan karate for about 10 years total now (I took a 10-year break to focus more on taiko.) It's given me a lot of stamina and lower body strength, as well as a great sense of body awareness.

I studied Tae Kwon Do and Capoeira each for a year, both of which helped me keep light on my feet. Capoeira also gave me fluidity, which I rather lacked. Without Capoeira, I don't think I could have made it into SJT.

Musically, I developed my interests *after* starting taiko. I took several years of Music Theory but only one year of percussion. I had very few hands-on lessons with percussion, but spent that year in the Percussion Ensemble playing the "easier" spots (although some of the "easy" spots were so very not easy.) It was humbling, but I learned a lot because of it.

• How did you get started with taiko?
  

This question is interesting - when asked by taiko players, they tend to want to know how I developed into a performer and what I had to overcome. For non-taiko players, it's more a question of "how did a tall White guy start playing with a bunch of short Asian people?"

I first discovered taiko by accident, at a local Cherry Blossom festival. I came for the karate demo but later that afternoon, I heard something booming that drew me back to the stage area. The crowd filled the plaza but I was tall enough to see over people (yay!) It turned out that the group was San Francisco Taiko Dojo and I was so amazed at what I saw that I went back early the next day to see their performance from the front row. From them I heard about San Jose Taiko, found SJT in the phone book (pre-Google, can you believe it?), and signed up for one of their workshops.

I failed the first time I auditioned for SJT! However, I was lucky because the process was determined to need a radical change, and those of us who were in that last incarnation were offered another chance through.

As for why I wanted to start *doing* taiko, it seemed the perfect blend of movement and music. It was dynamic and expressive, with the strength of an ensemble behind it. I don't recall actually getting to play taiko in my first workshop, but I know it felt right.

• Why do you keep playing?

It's been 17 years and I'm still learning things. Some might consider me an "expert", yet I don't consider that of myself. I learned a foundation of movement through both taiko and martial arts, but remaining so long with Shotokan and SJT has given me a solid base to experiment on top of.

I know how to move my body in optimal ways for both of my arts, but I still want to learn to be better. How do I get more efficient? How do I use less effort without losing intention? What else can other arts teach me that I can bring to the table?

I have rhythms, ideas, patterns, and music in my head that will never completely get to come out, but I have to try! Every time I learn something new about rhythm, 10 more ideas come forth. It's both maddening and inspiring, and I want to bring that fire to others through performing and teaching.

• Do you have any advice?

Sure, it's one of the reasons I do this blog! But instead of rambling on and on about everything I could think of, I'll just list a few of the things I would give priority to:

- Don't let fear shape you as an artist. You will fail, and when you do, you must learn from it and move on.
- The longer you expect answers to be given to you, the more you rely on others for your own growth. It becomes a crutch.
- If you give yourself to your group until there's nothing left, then it benefits neither you nor your group.
- Don't take anything for granted! Bachi length, things you've been doing for years, why things are named a certain way, all of it! When you stop learning, you might as well stop doing.
- As much as it is important that you find what's inspiring to you, you must also keep an open mind to other ideas, ways, and means.

And then there's another category, the random stuff I remember doing/being involved with over the years:

• Memories & Miscellany
  

- I fell off an outdoor stage once while playing and tore the large paper banner hanging off of it. At least I landed on my feet.
- I've brought two left tabi (cloth shoes) to a gig and suffered through playing a 45-minute set.
- Ask me about the "knife and fork" in person.
- I've broken more shime bachi (smaller drumsticks) during practices and performances than I can count (or care to).
- I had to test for my 1st-degree black belt by myself in front of 6 instructors for over an hour. No audience I'll ever be in front of will be as nerve-wracking.
- Even though my favorite group to watch is Kodo, the best show I've ever seen was Kenny Endo and Keith Terry in Berkeley at a small venue of about 40 people. It was less than two hours of almost pure improvisation and amazing to no end!
- I'm 25% Irish, 25% Russian, 25% German, 25% Scottish. Technically, I'm more "mixed" than anyone in my group. How's that for a mind-bender? (And a lot of white!)
- I have double-jointed shoulders but haven't figured out a way to use that in a performance without freaking people out.
- I started playing taiko at 17. Even I forget I was a teen when I started!

I'm sure there are several other things I'll wish I had remembered to post here, but that just means I'll have to save it for another time. For those who made it this far, I hope you found it at least entertaining!