Shakuhachi and Life

From: Alcvin I. Ramos (ramos@bc.sympatico.ca)
Date: Sun Mar 22 1998 - 22:12:47 PST


Hello everyone,
  My name is Al Ramos and I was recently introduced to the mailing list.
I've been playing shakuhachi for several years now and I must say that
"the path" has been amazing and wonderful up to now. I'm constantly
fascinated by the idea of integrating shakuhachi with an active, healthy
lifesytle. The players that come immediately to mind are Watazumi-doso,
Riley Lee, and Marco Lienhard. I wrote to Riley-sensei last year about
this and I thought I'd share his response to me with all of you. I
received his permission to put it on the mailing list.

Riley Lee wrote:

Your August letter asked: "How beneficial is it to combine a physical
regimen (such as long distance running) with shakuhachi training? Does
physical excercise affect the way one plays?"

My answer: We forget that shakuhachi playing is not an isolated
activity,
separated and unrelated to the rest of our lives. Everything we do
affects
the way we play (and the reverse is also true). If you rephrased your
questions to go, "How beneficial is it to combine a physical regime
(such
as long distance running) with living? Does physical exercise affect the
way one feels?", then you can see how obvious the answers are. So why is
it, one wonders, that there are a lot of great shakuhachi players who
don't
exercise (eg., I think just about all of the 'great masters' from Japan
being invited to the big Shakuhachi Festival in Boulder don't exercise
and
are also smokers! The mind boggles!!). My answer to that is that they
would
be even greater players if they were heathier. There are very few if any
positive things you might want to do in life that you couldn't do better
by
being fitter and heathier.

Also, there is a difference between being a 'master' at playing
shakuhachi
and a master at living. If becoming a master technician and suberb
performer on the shakuhachi is one's ultimate goal, then physical
exercise
might be a waste of time, but if that is one's ultimate goal, then maybe
one doesn't understand the point of playing the shakuhachi in the first
place. Furthermore, if that is one's goal, then ultimate disappointment
is
unavoidable. No matter how superb a player you become, a time comes when
you eventually start getting worse and begin to loose your technical
abilities. Just ask all of the old masters who are coming to Boulder.

That's just my personal opinion, you must realise. I've always liked
physical activity, so maybe I am just biased.

(Disclaimer: My comments are not intended any way to imply that I am a
"master at living".)

Are you attending the Shakuhachi Festival in Boulder?

Best regards, Riley

I hope everyone is doing well and may your breath be strong,

Al



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