夢アカデミー/夢蔵MUSASHIブログ

Wadaiko Basic Posture (for Yokouchi, horizontal hit）

The basic posture is very important in order to get the sense of distance to the taiko, and for being capable of hitting it continuously with a stable sound without getting tired.

Yokouchi (Horizontal hit) is the technique for hitting the taiko which is positioned horizontal to the ground.

The name of the technique isn’t actually unified and depending of the style and team it may differs. In our blog we decided to call it as yokouchi.

In Japan, there are many styles adopting the horizontal hitting. The most popular traditional groups that use that yokouchi are

Hachijō Taiko (Hachijō-jima, Tokyo)

Kogura Gion Daiko (Kita Kyushu, Fukuoka)

Miyake Taiko (Miyake-jima, Tokyo).

Here we are going to explain yokouchi as for using a Nagado Daiko of 1.5 to 1.6 shaku(45 to 48 cm of diameter) in a Hachijō Daiza (stand) making the heigth of the taiko center part of about 118 cm to 124 cm from the ground.

It’s possible to hit the taiko in pair from both sides.

As the yokouchi is in a high position, the eye line also becomes high, making it stand out naturally and for having less burden to the lower body I believe it may be also easy to get to used to.

There are 2 ways for standing:

Lower body　

Foot

The legs should be open a little wider than the shoulders, and the farther from the taiko should go one step behind, while the nearer one should have the knee a little bent.   。 Bad Example：The foot’s stepping position has a bad inclination, making it more difficult to hit the same sound with both hands.

Posture	Relax the shoulders and aim the center of the taiko. Bad Example: 3 patterns The arms are bent and the reach is short.It doesn’t have a good look and also have a short force range, producing little kinetic energy.  The upper body is unstable Big distance of arms and low focus   Since it’s disobeying the gravity, which makes the power weaken and also the arms getting tired faster.
Upper body	When hitting the face, before hitting the edge is good to have an inclination of 45 degrees so the transition is smooth.
Depth Width	Depth of arm and elbow: The elbow comes in front of the body line, while the upper arm is extended. Depth of the fist: The thumb joint comes in front of the edge (it prevents the accident of hitting the finger). Depth of the bachi: The bachi tip is in the center. Width: Just try to get the posture from the front and make the body not surpass the horizontal line. It’s good if the bachi also can keep that condition：
Height	Arm: the arm near the taiko comes up. Fist: positioned with a distance of 1 fist from the taiko face.
Inclination	The bachi inclination is 30° from the taiko. The arm inclination is also 30°. The arm is almost parallel to the ground, while the bachi has a 45° inclination.
Direction	Bachi direction: Sahou (Left): postioned at the 8:10 or 2:40 in the clock. Uhou (Right): positioned at the 4:50 or 10:20 in the clock.