Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Greetings Kyle,
As is the case with all newly vocal members, we look forward to your participation.  What type of shakuhachi and style of music do you play?

Hi Jeff and Perry,

Thank you for your kind welcome to the forum.  I am new to the forum and it really feels great to be welcomed.

To give you a little bit of my background:

I have been playing for the past 14 years and taking lessons starting in the USA, in Princeton, NJ with Steven Rowland, a superb player and a long time student of Ralph Samuelson.  In 2000 I came over to Japan as part of the USA national Karate team to compete at the All Japan National Karate championships, and I fell in love with the country and the culture.  The following year I moved to Japan dedicating myself to Karate and Shakuhachi.  They are both very much inter-related, and although the focus of this forum is strictly on Shakuhachi, I would be glad to answer questions on their relations, if anyone has any specific questions.  (Just as a side note, and by no means do I intend to boast, I graduated from the Japan Karate Shoto-Federation's (JKS) Instructor Training Program just this past April, making me the first non-Japanese to ever graduate from their three-year intensive Instructor Training Program. (http://www.jks.jp/japanese/officer.html)  With a bruised face, jaw, and cut lips, I managed to continue with weekly Shakuhachi lessons as well as build a family of three kids now, along with my wife Hagiwara Emi.)

I was referred by Ralph Sensei to study with Christopher Yohmei Blasdel Sensei and Kinya Sogawa Sensei, and have been studying with them since 2001.  I completed the Jun-Shihan curriculum of the Chikumeisa Shakuhachi Guild with Christopher Sensei, and am now studying the Kinko-ryu Honkyoku with him.  I also studied the Watazumido Honkyoku with Sogawa Sensei, and continue to visit him once or twice a month for review lessons as well as shakuhachi making and repair instructions.

I fell in love with both the Kinko-ryu gaikyoku pieces which were challenging in a way that helped me learn the Watazumido pieces.  And in turn, I fell in love with the Watazumido pieces that are helping me now understand the difference in playability of the Kinko-ryu Honkyoku.  They are indeed very different from each other, yet, if one is able to understand that difference, we can develop an almost rare playing ability that can shift in the same manner daytime shifts to nighttime, and the vise versa, but essentially, both are part of the same day.

Thank you again for the welcome, and I look forward to many discussions to come.

Kyle.

"The following year I moved to Japan dedicating myself to Karate and Shakuhachi.  They are both very much inter-related, and although the focus of this forum is strictly on Shakuhachi, I would be glad to answer questions on their relations, if anyone has any specific questions." 


I don't have any specific questions, but I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on the relationship of shakuhachi and martial arts.  I think there are a fair number of martial artists on the forum, and plenty of room for such discussions under  "Miscellaneous" or "Off-topic."

Last edited by Yooper (2008-10-19 16:16:57)

Perhaps Kyle connects Karate with Shakuhachi via discipline, Gishin.

Insightful connections can be found in both the biggest and smallest of things, whether by hard-suffered intention or momentary inspiration.  None of these exclude the validity of the other nor should they be necessarily shunned, belittled or ignored simply because they don't conform to one previously accepted concept or another.  Why not confront these musings openly before passing judgment.  I for one fully expect there to be a relationship between shakuhachi practice and the practice of karate which may go beyond cultural restraints and guidelines or even preconceived notions.  I certainly am interested to hear about it.  Thanks for bringing it up Kyle and thanks for letting us know a little about yourself.

Jeff Cairns wrote:

Insightful connections can be found in both the biggest and smallest of things, whether by hard-suffered intention or momentary inspiration.  None of these exclude the validity of the other nor should they be necessarily shunned, belittled or ignored simply because they don't conform to one previously accepted concept or another.  Why not confront these musings openly before passing judgment.  I for one fully expect there to be a relationship between shakuhachi practice and the practice of karate which may go beyond cultural restraints and guidelines or even preconceived notions.  I certainly am interested to hear about it.  Thanks for bringing it up Kyle and thanks for letting us know a little about yourself.

Well said, Jeff.

Marc wrote:

Gishin wrote:

Marc wrote:

Perhaps Kyle connects Karate with Shakuhachi via discipline, Gishin.

This could very well be the case. But we could say Shakuhachi relates  anything.

It seemed as though you were being needlessly critical of Kyle's input. That's why I commented.

Yes I am critical. I just feel that linking Karate to Shakuhachi is another far fetched fantasy. It can have a relation to him as an individual and that is all good. Overall Shakuhachi is linked to each of us by some personal experience links etc but again this is personal. The reason why I am critical is that he seems to present this by the words he used that Shakuhachi and Karate have much in common. Karate is a martial art and it has no direct tangible relation with Shakuhachi/music no matter how much you want to debate it. If real Japanese Koryu Bujutsu like iai, kenjutsu kyudo etc have no direct realtion other than being Japanese or share a similar etiquette rank structure etc then how can karate have a relation with Shakuhachi when it is not even Japanese and is originally a  self defense art?

Tairaku wrote:

Watazumi practiced martial arts.

Yes like most people of his time. Still does not link with Shakuhachi itself. Anyway he started martial arts as a kid most probably before he even got to shakuhachi.

"They are both very much inter-related"
Does not necessarily claim any historical or cultural conection- I took it as a personal statement actually. I find my own practices of taijiquan and shakuhachi support each other tremendously- by a physical and ki strengthenening practice one gains the ability to actually blow more strongly; by the mental discipline of a martial art one gains focus in one's playing. I would never claim a direct cultural connection, but the "inter-relationship" is within. The same issues i work on in one, the breakthroughs i make in one can often in some way be applied to the other.

Thank you for your kind greeting, Kyle, and congratulations!

Last edited by Marc (2008-10-20 10:02:30)

Hi Kyle,
Welcome to this forum, and the more so because you entered a hurricane and kept your tranquillity. My compliments for the neat way you flew over this storm and observed the clouds below. And I agree, breath it is; together with a tranquil posture and a quiet mind. I learned, that after a good session of Tai Chi my tone and playing on the shakuhachi are much better. So I can easely see the way in which martial arts- and shakuhachitraining share a lot of the same principles. Wasn't that what you meant?
And my congratulations to you and your missis with your newborn care, I'm sure he will grew up in an excellent state of mind.

Well, ain't that all special-like 

[I still retain the Holy Title of SmartAss, but thanks for the retraction.]

And ditto from me, Kyle. Gracefully done.

eB