Re: [Harp-L] martial arts, music theory, pop music, and harmonica.

b2becom@xxxxxxxxxxx · Mon, 03 Oct 2005 23:48:47 +0000

I have10 years of martial arts training - am a Black Belt in Okinawan Ryuku Kenpo Kyushu Jitsu Karate and am now studying  non-classical Gung-Fu under Bruce Lee's first student, Jesse Glover - but have limited (2 years) of harmonica training. My observations on the similarities between the two disciplines are as follows:

1)  Martial Arts and Harmonica endeavors are very similar in that they involve learning new muscle memory patterns - the only difference I can see is that in Martial Arts, the muscle memory involves the larger muscle groups (arms / legs / core balance) than the harp's (mouth / tongue / diaphram). 

2)  Both studies involve a lot of effort that is hard to measure progress in the near-term - the real challenge is to grant yourself  patience over a realistic timeframe and not get frustrated with the apparent lack of improvement day by day. After years of katas and repetitive training I became a reasonably powerful striker. I once asked Jesse Glover what I was doing wrong in a punching drill and he said the only thing I was doing wrong was that I had not yet thrown that punch a million times. His point was repetitive effort produced the fine motor tweaks that could be molded into good skill. 

I also know how hard it has been for me to learn throat vibrato, the top octave, tongue-blocking, positions and now the ever elusive overblow! I think it may actually be harder to initiate an attempt at a new skill/technique that is even on the path to becoming correct with the harmonica than it is in learning a new movement, strike or kata in Martial Arts. I would finally get the the point with my harp playing where out of frustration I would try the exact opposite of what I thought might be the correct "guess" to learn a new skill. I can still remember thinking how completely hopeless it was for me to think I could ever get four seperate notes out of the 3 hole draw. I resolved to just keep playing in hopes of building up the small motor skills in my mouth, tongue and lips, diaphram that might lead to success..

3)  Both studies can be physically painful - during one of my  3-1/2 hour belt tests, I had to spar a professional boxer who had been on ESPN's Friday night fights for 3 rounds and then immediately grapple with an accomplished and rather large Jiu Jitsu black-belt in for 3 rounds.  And during street busking harp performances, I have ripped out mustache hairs that have brought tears to my eyes on many occasions and played for hours with a near bursting bladder pain. 

The reward for the pain and the effort and apparent lack of progress must be sufficient enough in any endeavor to keep motivation up such that you can progress - in Martial Arts, its the feeling of command over your physical body and the confidence that the martial arts skillset gives you.  With the Harmonica, for me at least,  it is the feeling that the vibrating reed creates in my head from a two-draw double bend or a 9-blow bend.  That and the fact that chicks dig scars and musicicians.
--
Ross Macdonald

------------- Original message -------------- 

> I have a limited experience in martial arts, having studied Tai Chi 
> (internal and martial applications) for only two years. This was a development 
> in my study of meditation which has been a part fo my life since 1989. I've 
> played harp for almost 30 years and drums for 20 years. I'm also a visual artist 
> and have a BFA as well a a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 
> I mention all this because I look for similarities in all areas of creativity 
> and thought they might be of interest regrading this thread. 
> 
> Muscle memory, as Jimmy mentioned, is key. We pratice the basics to absorb, 
> and bury, the rudimentary functions in our subconscious, not to totally "remove" 
> them from our minds. Whether it is practicing the movements in a martial arts 
> form, knowing the mechanincs of playing of a harp, or the manipulation of a 
> paintbrush, they become secondary considerations as we develop our knowledge 
> into an art form. The idea is to develop a fluid method of expression, to go 
> beyond rudimentary mechanical expression of the art. The goal is to develop an 
> advanced state of consciousness (a "zen" state if you would) which allows 
> expression drawn from the subconscious level (which is blocked by our conscious 
> mind) to the point of freeing our instincts/feelings over our knowledge. 
> 
> I would expand my agreement with Jimmy's comment to say that at that level 
> of artistic expression, where the conscious mind acts only as a conduit for the 
> subconscious mind to freely express itself, there is no difference between Bach, 
> the B-52s, Yip Man (a master of Wing Chun self defense), Leonardo Davinci, 
> preparing a good meal, and living a good life. None of this is limited to the 
> artist. Feeling at a level where it really reaches the soul, is no different for 
> anyone. 
> 
> Anyone can achieve some level of expression/appreciation which I call, for 
> lack of a better term, "pure". For artists, musicians, etc....it is about 
> passion more than anything else. What drives us? Think about why we play 
> harmonicas. Think about your favorite piece, your favorite player. Think about 
> how it feels when you learn something new on a harp or how it feels when you 
> finally get the sound you want from one. Think about the countless Harp-L posts 
> on "TONE". Great "TONE" is that ability to create the emotional response we 
> strive so hard for. It moves us. It transcends the simple (or not so simple) 
> mechanincs of playing. It puts us one step closer to expressing the emotion we 
> felt when we first heard the harp and hadn't yet learned to play it, and I bet 
> most of us can pinpoint exactly when that happened. 
> 
> I do not assume to speak for Jimmy, but my own interpretation of his comments is 
> that the goal of martial arts is to create an awareness which allows instinct to 
> flow through the subconscious mind and allow the muscle memory built through 
> years of practice to react without a "gate" of conscious processing. 
> Sounds like what we want as harp players too ;-). 
> When it happens it makes us more than harmonica players... it makes us artists. 
> 
> 
> "Do not think...........Feeeeeeeel". 
> Bruce Lee 
> 
> 
> -------------- Original message from rainbowjimmy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: 
> -------------- 
> 
> 
> > With martial arts and music, you practice to get muscle memory--that's the 
> > magic. With martial arts you depend on muscle memory because there's no time 
> to 
> > think. 
> > 
> > With martial arts you learn where and how to hit people--that's the physics. 
> > With music you learn music theory--what notes to play and when. 
> > 
> > With martial arts once you have the physics and the muscle memory down, you 
> work 
> > to improve them. The goal is to move a fast as possible, hit as hard as 
> > possible, all with no concious thought. You don't care about what you're 
> > saying. You care about surviving. There's more to music than muscle memory and 
> > music theory. I want music with good arrangements, good melodies (I do after 
> > all play a melody instrument) and I want a beat you can dance to. That's why I 
> > play pop. As far as pop being a legitimate music form, I haven't heard anyone 
> > write better songs than "Rubber Soul" era Beatles. I don't hear a lot of 
> > difference between the B52's "Dead Beat Club" and Bach. Nothing wrong with 
> > modern jazz, but sometimes you want to go out dancing. 
> > 
> > Rainbow Jimmy 
> > http://www.spaceanimals.com 
> > http://www.soundclick.com/theelectricstarlightspaceanimals.htm 
> > _______________________________________________ 
> > Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org 
> > Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx 
> > http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l 
> 
> 
> -------------- Original message from rainbowjimmy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: 
> -------------- 
> 
> 
> > With martial arts and music, you practice to get muscle memory--that's the 
> > magic. With martial arts you depend on muscle memory because there's no time 
> to 
> > think. 
> > 
> > With martial arts you learn where and how to hit people--that's the physics. 
> > With music you learn music theory--what notes to play and when. 
> > 
> > With martial arts once you have the physics and the muscle memory down, you 
> work 
> > to improve them. The goal is to move a fast as possible, hit as hard as 
> > possible, all with no concious thought. You don't care about what you're 
> > saying. You care about surviving. There's more to music than muscle memory and 
> > music theory. I want music with good arrangements, good melodies (I do after 
> > all play a melody instrument) and I want a beat you can dance to. That's why I 
> > play pop. As far as pop being a legitimate music form, I haven't heard anyone 
> > write better songs than "Rubber Soul" era Beatles. I don't hear a lot of 
> > difference between the B52's "Dead Beat Club" and Bach. Nothing wrong with 
> > modern jazz, but sometimes you want to go out dancing. 
> > 
> > Rainbow Jimmy 
> > http://www.spaceanimals.com 
> > http://www.soundclick.com/theelectricstarlightspaceanimals.htm 
> > _______________________________________________ 
> > Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org 
> > Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx 
> > http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l 
> _______________________________________________ 
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org 
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx 
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l 