Talking drum notes

I've got a bunch of notes, and I'm going to stick some here for discussion.

Think of yourself as a drum. Your skin - the whole thing - is one big drum head - aka "skin."

Things we can forget about:

Skeleton. Doesn't matter. The skeleton is a frame, but it is not the structure. Get the drum tuned right, and the skeleton will align naturally.

Grounding: Doesn't matter. The ground is already there. It's not going anywhere.

Muscles: Forget them. Don't use them.

Tendons: Gone. Poof

Fascia: Like the skeleton, the fascia will all align over time. Forget it.

Some things we can think about and notice: Key areas where the skin slacks, and where we can focus on tuning:

Lower back: If it's arched, it's dead. Tuck the pelvis in, and the lower back skin stretches into place.

Wrists: Notice as you turn them, where they stretch the skin, and where they slack.

Shoulders: If they're up, they're slack. Keep them down.

Back of the neck: Tuck the chin under, and the neck skin will stretch into place.

Knees: If they're straight, they're slack. If they're bent - to various degrees, they are tuned.

Feet: Notice little differences...

With a properly-tuned drum, then when the dantian is moved, everything moves with it. If not tuned properly, we can move the dantien all day long - and it will just move inside a layer of loose goop. Sort of like trying to play a drum that has a head that's so loose, it doesn't really do anything except sound "dead." In fact there's a term in drumming when the head is too loose to make any sort of sustained tone - it's called "dead."

To give a good idea of tuning the drum skin, watch this video and even notice the finger movements, and even the eye movements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEsfevRfjCI

Now watch this. Notice the tongues as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-lrE2JcO44

Watch this baby waking up, and just notice it in terms of skin stretching - even the face. Don't think muscles. He's not stretching his muscles. He's stretching his skin. This baby is tuning up his drum for the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP2OqSheJww

In fact, the swaddling serves as a "skin" while he sleeps.

We can see the concept of the skin as a single skin on the body - tuned as a drum - all over the place, once you know what to look for. And you can also then begin to spot when it's being done correctly, and when it's not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orans

https://www.google.com/search?q=oran...w=1106&bih=576

Prayer positions. Look through these various pictures, keeping in mind the skin as "drum tuning" - as creating the structure. The "temple."
https://www.google.com/search?q=sile...w=1106&bih=576

Alright, are you guys ready to really have some fun...

My teacher is Shoji Nishio. Look at the top pic of him on this site, and think in terms of "skin as structure." Fine. Where this gets really fun, is what we're being shown on the bottom picture.
http://aikido.metz.tessy.free.fr/

Anyone notice anything? Quite a few things, actually. : )

I'll give you a hint...
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...NIq10AHn1IGACg

I've just got to post this. This Haka is an amazing demonstration of the power of the skin as structure, and the movement of that structure through breath, and even beating on the "skin."

Literally, a talking drum. And this guy plays it like a master.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=u_rotEpFtZU

Elvis has left the building!

Dan Richards wrote: I've just got to post this. This Haka is an amazing demonstration of the power of the skin as structure, and the movement of that structure through breath, and even beating on the "skin." Literally, a talking drum. And this guy plays it like a master. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=u_rotEpFtZU Elvis has left the building!

Hey, around here even the school kids do that stuff!

Best,

Chris