02

Stretch
Be sure to stretch shoulders especially since we will be carrying the katsugi okedo for majority of the class. Also stretch your legs because of the amount of standing and bending of the legs. Please take time before class to stretch but we will do light stretching at the start.

Katsugi Fundamentals Focuses
Uchikomi
Focused on isolating the wrist for both right and left hand. With the right hand try to rotate from the shoulder and really opening up the arm and having the "elbow pit" and inner forearm visible to the audience and then rotating the wrist to snap into the drum. Also remember the power grip, to try to grip as a fist rather than a shime grip. Try to evenly grasp the bachi with all fingers. The left hand at the small scale keep the elbow in place and then simply press down with the forearm around the wrist area and then relaxing the wrist to allow the wrist to follow after like a whip or a striking snake. Also be careful with the left handed grip of the bachi and maybe two times this week try just holding the bachi in this new position.
Nuanced hitting
Changing the grip is common when playing the katsugi okedo. When we play harder strikes or purely striking with the right hand, I'd like us to use the "power grip" but when we play faster rhythms I'd like us to used this more nuanced grip. The only thing that is really different is changing our right hand into a shime grip. We did an exercise learning some patterns that included triplets while using this "nuanced" grip. I hope it was easier to play and if you want to try challenging yourself to use a power grip, give it a try and know you will need to rotate your wrist faster. Pay attention to the image below.
The last bit of class is to try to play the rhythm while stepping and getting used to moving and playing the okedo at the same time.
Clean Up

Aisatsu

Extra Notes

If you have any questions or need any clarifications feel free to email me or message here!