at the taiko drum dojo

At our taiko drum dojo in Brooklyn, New York we play for four hours non-stop. It is an intense drumming experience. During our practice we play several different drum compositions. All of them start at a slow/medium pace and gradually build in speed and intensity. When I began my journey playing taiko drums I initially played for two hours. After playing the drums for two hours fatigue would set in and I would have to stop playing from sheer exhaustion to recover. Playing the drums to the point of exhaustion is a satisfying exhaustion and beyond the exhaustion there is a sense of euphoria. This kind of training is very much like track and field training. The process for learning how to play taiko drums is trial and error. In our practice we train to strike the drums with precision hits into the drum. The physical style of playing taiko is vary martial arts oriented, as in karate and jui-jitsu.

The stances we take are very deep, rooted in earth and the strikes are precise and highly stylized. In order to become good at it, it requires regular practice. My experience as an inter-collegiate athlete training and competing with world class athletes, running the 110 meter high hurdles was perfect training as a preparation for learning and becoming very good at playing taiko drums. My background as Shodan-First Degree Black in Aikido was instrumental in my achieving mastery in this most physically challenging style of drumming.

The taiko compositions we play are not only percussion rhythms they are comprised of integral physical movements, some are very martial arts-like and other movements very dance-like. As I progressed in learning the various rhythms and compositions I developed tremendous physical and mental stamina. After practicing regularly I began to play for longer periods of time and I eventually gained enough stamina to play for four hour non-stop. This type of physically is very much like training for a marathon.

It is a satisfying sense of accomplishment to have mastered the playing of several complex drum and percussion rhythms as well as learning very challenging physical movement compositions and to play non-stop for four hours.