World Shakuhachi Discussion / Go to Live Shakuhachi Chat
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Hello from Tokyo-Nerimaku,
I have been a fan of the Shakuhachi forum for the past few months.
Yoroshiku Onegai Itashimasu.
Sincerely,
Kyle Kamal Helou.
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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?
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Hi Kyle, Great to see you here! Always fun to hear from fellow students of Kinya and Christopher.
All the best, Perry
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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.
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welcome!!! nice to see another Steven Rowland student here. natsukashii! 8 years since you went there? time does fly....
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"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)
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Kyle Kamal Helou wrote:
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.
What is the relation to Karate?
#1 Karate is from Okinawa so traditionally cannot be seen as a Japanese thing.
#2 Even old forms fo Japanese martial arts like iaido,Kenjutsu or Kyudo have no direct relation other than the cultural aspects that are common within Japanese arts.
So I strongly suspect your stuff is only based on self assumptions so we could say Shakuhachi as relations with Taichi or Yoga it could be as far fetched as this.
Last edited by Gishin (2008-10-20 00:17:50)
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Perhaps Kyle connects Karate with Shakuhachi via discipline, Gishin.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Nice to see you here, Kyle. We met online a while back. I'm enjoying the jinashi shakuhachi you sold me then. Hope this finds you and yours well.
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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?
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Watazumi practiced martial arts.
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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.
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Gishin wrote:
Marc wrote:
Gishin wrote:
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?
Brother Gishin, As a soul on your spiritual path, you must know that all things are inter-related.
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"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.
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Hello to all,
Marc, great to hear from you and I am really happy to hear that you are enjoying the Ji-nashi. We are all doing fine, my wife and I just had our third baby two weeks ago! It's a boy!
Gishin - Thank you for your input and perspective. I have enjoyed reading all your input and I hope I can clarify a few things regarding the "inter-relation" between Karate and Shakuhachi.
"#1 Karate is from Okinawa so traditionally cannot be seen as a Japanese thing."
--- Karate is from Okinawa equally as Shakuhachi is from China. They have both been imported to Mainland Japan and in turn "Japanized" to meet the needs of the Japanese personality, way of thinking, and whatever demands they had at that time. Traditional Karate in Okinawa today, although somewhat similar to the Japanese Karate that I train in, is completely different in technique. The spirit is the same, but the technique has evolved to great extents. Modern Japanese Karate is also practiced in Okinawa, in the same way a Japanese Shakuhachi is practiced in China today. While the Karate I practice is a 20th century evolution of its precursor which go back to ancient Egypt, as some have speculated from the Hieroglyphics on the ancient Pyramids, making its way through to India and the Shaolin Temple in China, mixing with what was already there in Okinawa, and finally arriving to Japan in 1917 through Gichin Funakoshi Sensei. What happened after that, is all the workings of Mainland Japanese students of Funakoshi Sensei.
"#2 Even old forms fo Japanese martial arts like iaido,Kenjutsu or Kyudo have no direct relation other than the cultural aspects that are common within Japanese arts.
So I strongly suspect your stuff is only based on self assumptions so we could say Shakuhachi as relations with Taichi or Yoga it could be as far fetched as this."
--- Just breath, and you will know the answer to my relation between Karate and Shakuhachi! It's in the breath we all take. We all breath unconsciously. But when we start focusing on our breath as a source for creating power and thus bringing out of each one of us the power to create, we use our breath in a similar fashion in both Karate and Shakuhachi. That's the beginning of it all. Breath for creation, and isn't that what Karate and Shakuhachi are all about?
Breathing, proper breathing that is.
Ok, we don't have to push any wholes closed, and we don't have to meri or kari or any of the techniques required to play the Shakuhachi, but we still have to breath and focus our breathing in order to produce the clearest and most beautiful of sounds that can be created on the Shakuhachi. That breath requires a certain amount of relaxation I have been able to harvest through my Karate training.
That ability to relax my body while I train Karate, which took years to develop and I am still working towards higher levels of relaxation, allows me to create the maximum amount of power necessary to stop an opponent using the least amount of energy. The clearest of sounds I have ever produced on my Shakuhachi was when I applied my relaxation to my playing. And that is the inter-relation I was referring to.
I hope this clarifies my previously made statement. My apologies for this somewhat long explanation.
Best regards....time to go and put the kids to bed! Oyasuminasai!
Kyle.
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Thank you for your kind greeting, Kyle, and congratulations!
Last edited by Marc (2008-10-20 10:02:30)
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•
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect
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Heck, Gishin ain't so danged smart...
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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.
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Hi Dun,
Thanks for your post. You are right on track with what I explained. It is the same inter-relation I am referring to. I can relate 100% to what you said.
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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
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Hey Gishin, I wouldn't mess with Kyle.
Not only because he has a Shihan in Karate, but he has two more kids than you
With palms joined and a deep bow, Perry
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