Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

I will be blowing here in Minneapolis in just a bit.

Shakuhachi love to all after 9 hours of blowing here in London!!!
Although we had 5 people canceling because of flu etc we had a great day with great people playing together here at SOAS.
Now back at home packing to return to Denmark- leaving 5 am tomorrow morning.
Hope you guys in the US are enjoying now!

a morning honkyoku in Los Angeles for Phil and all the shakuhachi brothers and sisters

Yeah!,  Go Packers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still three hours left to International Shakuhachi Day here on the West Coast of Amerikay.

Started out this morning with practice. Played afternoon on a staircase at Pitzer College watching the rain come down in torrents.

Spoke with Shakuhachi Brother from Chicago, mrwuwu, tonight. 

Ending with more practice.

A perfect day.

Thank you Perry!

I put two bindings on a 1.8 showing a short crack, then continued work on a 2.0 then drilled the holes.

K.

Hi all, I had the most amazing fulling shakuhachi day! I'll have to write later as my weekend is full.
Eternally grateful.

Edit:


The day start at 8:30 am when Kohl picked me up. Driving across the Brooklyn Bridge in light fluttering snow was the perfect ambience for the workshop. The set up was a little tight but thanks for Kohl, Mike (tingjunkie here on the Forum), Shoan - the center's director - and a few early participants everything went smoothly.


All photos: Kohl Sudduth

As soon as I greeted the participants and started the workshop, the room slowly began to spiral into the eye of a hurricane (for me at least!).


There were 13 participants, 3 didn't make it due to the snow storm.  A crafty woman was finished with her shakuhachi in about an hour while others were just beginning to cut the utaguchi. This was the largest group of beginners I've led so I didn't anticipate how to balance both teaching how to blow and cut and drill at once!  Thanks to Mike for helping me in getting people started on blowing!



I was gratified and proud that every participant successfully crafted their own fully functional natural bore shakuhachi. The chaos of all the drilling and sawing of the earlier section balanced out perfectly with the sumptuous, serene sounds of the playing section. There was a moment where the entire room vibrated with an enormous chord! It was quite harmonious to my ears. At the end of the day, all except one was able to produce more than just a sound. Some were playing in the second octave!

I ended the workshop by playing Shingetsu for Phil. This was the first time I've performed a piece after having taught for 6 hours straight (there was however lunch break, a scrumptious vegetarian meal provided by the temple). It was both a challenging and illuminating experience.

A deep bow of gratitude to everyone who made this workshop possible and to everyone who joined us in this unofficial international shakuhachi playdate.  I'm proud to say the shakuhachi world now has at least 11 new inductees.

And let's not forget a happy belated birthday to Jeff!

- namaste, Perry

Last edited by Yungflutes (2010-02-08 11:28:20)

On February 6th,  International Shakuhachi Day,  shared common thoughts and emotions with my shakuhachi brother, the infamous Chris Moran.      Being of the same age and sharing similar passion for the bamboo flute,  distance was defeated by friendship and reminiscent history.   Thank you Perry Yung for bringing me this change of a more rewarding lifestyle and a whole circle of valued shakuhachi brothers and sisters,  many more to meet, and so little time.   Then practiced til sleepy in anticipation of the next lesson.

Hopefully I will be able to attend next one.

Nice photos.  Will have to plan for a specifically shakuhachi event next year!

Kiku Day wrote:

Please note the ONLY player in the frame who has good posture  :

The far, far left. His posture is so good that the shakuhachi isn't even in contact with his chin.

The technique is very subtle. Very Taoist.

I always thought most of us with teachers were taught to place the sheet music slightly above eye level to encourage good posture.   Everyone there is reading their notation through their nostrils.  BTW, who's the hot chick on the far right with the second best posture and the dominatrix boots?