Watazumi Doso Roshi (Zen Master, Shakuhachi genious-Breath and Jo practitioner)(

Watazumi Doso Roshi 海童 道祖 老師 1911/11 - 1992/12/14 Regarding himself as something other than a “musician,“ he bases his music in an uncompromising vigorous physical discipline. He is a practitioner of the Jo stick, a long hardwood pole with which he stretches, exercises, massages, pounds, and invigorates his body. His Jo Stick practice is part of a daily exercise regimen which begins at 3:30 AM. For over 3,000 consecutive days he has maintained this practice, often accompanied by his wife, Doso Roshi was 80 years old at the time that this talk was given. Years ago he studied Rinzai Zen, attaining the title of Roshi, or Master. He later became the Kanjo, the unifying head of the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism. He shunned traditional organized Zen practice 32 years ago in favor of a practice of his own devising with breath training and vigorous exercise at its core. The lengthening of the Out Breath to which he refers is directly descended from the wisdom of the breath as practiced in Zen. (The Soto-Zen teachings of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi emphasize precisely that lengthening of the Out Breath. See Zen Mind, Beginners Mind, Weatherhill, New York, 1970) So Doso Roshi’s music is based in a psychophysical discipline related to Zen breath awareness and to the martial arts. It is said that the bamboo flute, the most standard variety of which in Japan is called the Shakuhachi, was used by a particular sect of Zen priests as a weapon-in-disguise after the carrying of samurai swords was outlawed in the Meiji period. The priests of the Fuke sect would wander about playing the bamboo flute-a meditative pursuit-but perhaps also a spy’s cover, his eyes and face concealed beneath a woven basket, his flute a handy club.