A (modern) drummer has a skill useful in Kung Fu

[fa_jing]

The ability to move all four limbs both independently and cohesively with respect to one another.

[straight blast]

Being a drummer also helped with boxing sometimes. It makes it heaps easier to fight with broken rhythm or 1-2-flurry-1 type punching. I also reckon it'd be good with Capoeira :)

[David Jamieson]

by that logic, people who can drive a standard car have kung fu skill.

peace

[gazza99]

I drummed for many years. The thing I found that helped me the most was that I was FAST and more fluid naturally in kung fu as a result. When going around the drum set doing solos forces you to have relaxed speed. If you tense you get tired really quickly and your speed and rythm is seriously hindered, its the same way with kung-fu.

Gary

[PHILBERT]

Difference between stick shift and drums is a drummer has to move his/her body around depending on the size of the set, while a driver keeps one hand on the wheel, one hand on the stick, one on the clutch and one on the gas or break.

[Chang Style Novice]

Elvin Jones would whup Geddy Lee like a punk ass b!tch.

Or at least, I'd rather listen to Elvin Jones that almost anybody else. I'd rather clean my ears with a taser than listen to Geddy Lee.

[JusticeZero]

Why do you think we spend so much time learning how to play music.. of an African (rhythm-dependent, instead of tone-dependent) form with lots of broken or adjusted polyrhythms?

[Chang Style Novice]

To impress chicks with your dance moves?

[PHILBERT]

I've never played the drumbs. In Junior High I did the Tuba.

[WTJune]

Originally posted by straight blast
Being a drummer also helped with boxing sometimes. It makes it heaps easier to fight with broken rhythm or 1-2-flurry-1 type punching. I also reckon it'd be good with Capoeira :)

He He... i'm drumming now for almost 16 years... i'll say this at my next fight : "Hey stop - I'm drumming for 16 years". ;)

I think dave lambardo (slayer) will kick everybodys butt - fast and a very good technican. :D

So long

June
http://www.mp3.com/misbegotten

[Souljah]

lol yea , billy cobham - supreme fist.....:D

I think it helped me with my hand speed, I found although im quite tall i can keep up when doing speed drills and the like in kung fu.

I dont have as much experiance as WT cos hes being drumming since I was 1 year old ..... lol, i've been doing it for about 4 years

[guohuen]

I practice Roy Haynes fist.:D
Four limb coordination takes a lot of practice, much more complicated than driving a car. I find it helps my gong fu alot. The ability to have each limb doing something different and being balanced makes many things easier.
P.S. Everyone thinks they can play the drums until they actually try to do it. Kind of like fighting.

[Souljah]

yea im with u there guohuen

[Chang Style Novice]

It's sort of offtopic, but tabla drummers are astounding. I've seen Zakir Hussein in concert about 3-4 times, and he does more with just his fingers than some guys do with all four limbs.

Wackiest drum I know of: the "Ghatam" from the south of India. It's a clay pot/tube you smack one rim of with your fingertips, and push or depress your belly into the other side to change the size of the cavity and thus the pitch of the tone. Probably the easiest place to hear them is on a John McLaughlin with Shakti record called "Remember Shakti, the Believer" with V. Selvaganesh on the Ghatam. And Zakir Hussein as a bonus.

Anyway, you don't always need to use your feet to play drums well - but sometimes breath control don't hurt.

[fa_jing]

First of all, CSN, don't be dissing Geddy Lee. Die Meistersinger. NOT! but as a band they rocked, and Neil Peart is the guy with the bad-ass double bass drum setup.

I grew up with a friend who is an accomplished professional jazz drummer. What he has learned to do is amazing. He almost always beats me in tennis and basketball, even though he is unathletic. It's partly psychological. I think it has something to do with his hand coordination.

But the point I'm trying to make is having awareness in all four limbs, something that I can't get straight. If I'm concentrating on both hands, I forget my footwork. If I concentrate on footwork and one hand, I lose awareness of the other. This brings to mind one of the Praying Mantis qigong exercises I learned where you have three limbs moving in three different directions. It's to build your awareness.

Even if you've ever played the piano, you'll know what I'm talking about. At my level, if I concentrate on one hand, I might be able to play something, but with both hands, it becomes more difficult. Yet good pianists use two hands and a foot without thinking too hard.

I wonder if all the Sil lum tao practice I'm doing is detrimental in the following regard: We put our concentration into one point of the body and lead our chi (awareness) to that point. But when you're fighting bare-handed, you want to have awareness throughout your whole body, especially your moving parts.

[Chang Style Novice]

fajing

I am soooooo glad I don't know enough about Rush to tell them apart...**** Canucks all look alike anyway.:D

The rest of your post is a point well taken.

[GeneChing]

I'm not a drummer, but I totally agree, especially after seeing Kodo/Ondekosa many times. I even did an interview with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart on the martial connection - he was a judo champ, a military drummer and heads a smithsonian music archival group - http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=115

[David Jamieson]

so, while being a drummer gives you inna riddim, does being a drummer make you a better boxer?

peace

[straight blast]

(1) Jayson Sherlock (Mortification). Trying to play his drum lines takes an insane level of aggression. If I could get that mindset sparring I'd kill people!

(2) Igor Cavalerra (Sepultura). Tends to revert you to a tribal state or 'reptile brain'.

(3) Lars Ulrich (Metallica). Even though Lars is a ****, the little fella can sure play drums

And as for all the rock/swing/jazz/whatever drummers...I fall asleep listening to most of them. Metal is superior!!!

I wonder if Brasillian metal (a'la Sepultura) is superior too? I know I've seen photos of one of the guys in Sepultura wearing a "Brasillian Jiu Jitsu" shirt. Must ask Ralek...:confused:

[Chang Style Novice]

don't underestimate the jazz guys...

not drummers, but

Charles Mingus threw Jimmy Knepper (a close friend and longtime member of his band) down a flight of stairs for not playing a trombone part the way he wanted. He also can be seen in a documentary shooting at the walls of his own house. From the inside.

Miles Davis lost his voice because he blew his stack and shouted at Orrin Keepnews (I think it was) at the top of his lungs for eight hours. Miles was also an avid boxing fan and it was his main hobby for years.

My guess is the drummers were a little more level headed because they blew off steam by hitting things for a living.

Metal is not superior, once you've learned to listen to the music instead of the volume.;) :D I think you'd like Last Exit and Borbetomagus, though.

[Souljah]

Bruford, i knew his son, he came to london and down to my m8s workplace..... GAVE US A PAIR OF USED STICK !!!!!!! WOW:eek:

[GeneChing]

Mick Fleetwood was a big fencer - so was Bruce ****enson from Iron Maiden. I got to arm Bruce several years ago. Whenver Iron Maiden plays the bay area, they would stop by my old workshop www.amfence.com. Like many drummer, Bruce was ambidexterous, which isn't really that much of an advantage in fencing since it's one-handed, but is certainly beneifcial in combat

In fencing, we reduce all combat down to 3 factors: timing distance and velocity. Drummers have great timing. And many drummers, like Mick and Bruce, are pretty tall. That reach allows them to have a bigger trap set. Also I imagine that velocity play a factor in how deep you strike into the drum to get different sounds.

[Former castleva]

Yeah,Bruce was a good fencer as I far as I remember.
He could actually have made it to olympic team of England but as he had to pick Maiden or fencing,he chose the band.

But Bruce is not a drummer as your post may let one understand,Gene (of course you know that,just to clear up)

[guohuen]

"Junior and the drummer were fighting, about a girl in the neighborhood. The drummer never played a bad lick in his life and Junior never played any good." Leon Russel

[HuangKaiVun]

The physical aspect of music coordination is only part of the picture.

There's an entire training mentality that goes with it that fosters good kung fu under the right circumstances.

Also, those who are innately wired toward controlling their bodies to do what they wish tend to excel at kung fu.

[Tvebak]

I dont know if this have been mentioned as im having trouble reading the second page....but in some african towns drummers are feared fighters, often they are peacekeepers.
Many of them are roumoured to have killed men with their incredibly conditioned hands.
In the same line of thought, my a friend of my fathers father was a very skilled fighter, he used a hand formation allmost similair to a tigerclaw...exept that his technique came from the fact that in his line of work he digged all day and if he relaxed his big hands they would naturally curl into claws:o)

[WTJune]

I'd say in all styles are very good drummers - but some music styles are better for showing your drummin skills - so jazz drummer have more chances to show their technic as an rock drummer - which doesnt mean the drummers are not good. So I've been on a workshop from the drummer from prince (Leila K ?) she's a small woman - but she playes very good - but in the prince songs you wont hear her skills - that also counts for some metal drummer - so i think lars ulrich is a bad example - cause he doensnt play very good live - listen to the live album with the orchester (do you spell it like this) - he playes very inprecise.

My band once played with Dave Lambardos Grip Inc as local Support - so we had the chance to watch the whole store from backstage. Hes a metal drummer - but his technical skills are very high.

So last but not least - what even more counts is - not the technical skill - that the drummer has to fit into the music and most times 'less is more', if you take the nickleback drummer - he doesnt play fancy drum fills or rythms but he creates the right pressure on which the sound of the band is focussed.

ciao and keep on rocking...

WTJune
http://www.mp3.com/misbegotten

[GeneChing]

Oh right. My bad. Never mind. :o