How to Create "Slow Breath" - Must-Have for a Beautiful Shinobue Tone
From day 1, my teacher, Bunta Satoh sensei, said, "Your breath is too fast. Make it slow." But every time I thought I was making my breath slow, shinobue gave me a weak, frail, windy breath with no resonance. Another thing Bunta sensei often tells his students is, "Play shinobue with your whole body, like you are pushing a car. When you push a car, you don't just do it with your arms. You use your core muscles. Likewise, don't push out the air with your mouth. Use your core muscles". He even makes his students push a wall to get the feel of it!
Then I realized that in order for me to push like that, I must make my breath heavy. I mean, if the car was light, why would I push like that? So, I imagined my breath being heavy like lava instead of fast-flowing water. And lo and behold, my breath became slow and my sound less windy and richer!!!!!! Hallelujah, thank you, baby Buddha!!!
Fast-moving water
Heavy and slow-moving lava
If you blow the air out with your lips, your breath will be like easy-flowing water. But if you propel the air with your stomach, lower back, buttocks, calves, and even your toes, you can create the lava breath that shinobue loves. Keep that in mind even if you don't get the results right away. One day, it will click, and suddenly, you KNOW that's what I talked about long ago. That's how you get better.
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