🤯Unbelievable Kan On Success Stories 🫢 Power of your Lower Body

Don't overlook your lower body - it's the key to mastering the Shinobue. While many concentrate on the mouth and fingers, the real secret to producing a beautiful tone, particularly the effortless and glorious kan on, lies in the utilization of your lower body.

Real-life success stories: (This could happen to you, too!!)

• My student, Adrias, could not make ANY kan on sound. He would just get the ryo on note and couldn't switch to the kan on. I told him to tighten his buttocks as he played the note, and voila!! A beautiful kan on sound appeared!!! 🤯

• I was practicing "A Life Sent On" (Noah's part), and in a kan-on-filled phrase, I noticed an increased amount of spit. Also, my lips would buzz from tension. I remembered my teacher saying, "Use your lower body. Power should go DOWN." I applied the principle to this phrase, and wow! No more spit bubbles!!! 🤩

• My student, Josh's kan on sounded windy, strident, and forced. I asked him to practice pushing down his diaphragm and leaving his mouth alone. Next week, his kan on sounded totally different!!! 😳

Here is how you can use your lower body for glorious kan on sound.

• Take a LOW breath and keep the air low in your body as a storage like you have a cushion in your lower body. Lean down on it when you play the note.

• "Higher the tree, deeper the roots" - The higher the note you are playing, the deeper your energy needs to go down. Plant your feet firmly on the floor and push down your lower body as you play the note.

• Keep your knees loose.

• Tuck your tailbone slightly.

• Trust your lower body and let go of the tension in your mouth. Using mouth tension to play kan on is a sure way to make an ugly sound.

I don't like wearing my loose slippers when playing shinobue, because my toes cannot grip the carpet!!

Bunta sensei also says, "Pretend someone is trying to punch your stomach. Your stomach would tighten immediately as a reflex. Do that as you play kan on."

Bunta sensei says his calves sometimes start hurting because he tightens them to play the shinobue.

He also says great power resides in "Tanden".

Start using your lower body to play shinobue, and let me know how it changed your shinobue playing, too!