The Japanese have a rich culture that often seems mysterious to outsiders and prompts them to undertake research -- which often yields knowledge which can be useful in daily living. Japanese wisdom covers all aspects of life, from traditional arts to their daily activities such as walking. For example, they engage in something called nanba walking -- but what exactly is that?
Podcast Highlights
- Interest in Japan. At 2:47, William shares what attracted him to Japan.
- Learning the Japanese language. At 4:20, Nick and William discuss what it is like learning the Japanese language.
- Nanba. William defines nanba at 6:14
- Nanba aruki. At 7:43, William explains what nanba walking is and how it differs from modern walking.
- How William got into nanba. William shares at 15:41 how he stumbled into nanba.
- Achieving great results with nanba movement. At 17:46, William shares some stories about professional Japanese athletes who make use of nanba movement to achieve world-class results.
- Nanba in music. At 22:49, William explains how musicians can use nanba as well.
- Teaching nanba walking. At 28:29, William shares how he teaches nanba walking.
- Benefits of nanba training. The two talk about the benefits of nanba training at 29:55.
- William’s ikigai. At 32:05, William talks about his ikigai.
William Reed
William Reed is an author and Japanologist with over four decades of experience in Japan; he is a bilingual professional communicator, dedicated to sharing practical wisdom from Japanese culture through teaching, speaking, and writing, and also holds a master teacher rank in nanba walking.
Interest in Japan
William shares that he first went to Japan at the age of 20 and has been learning new things about the culture ever since. There are so many layers to Japanese culture that there is always something to pique his curiosity and that’s what keeps him there.
Learning the Japanese language
Nick shares that his conversation with William brought him an interest in aspects of Japanese culture that are neglected: things like kanji, learning more proverbs, and parts of the Japanese language. Studying the Japanese language is difficult and takes years to master, says William. However, people can also have a deep understanding of it without speaking grammatically correct Japanese by focusing on the etymology of the words, giving it a good English explanation, and looking at the meaning of the kanji.
Nanba
So what’s the meaning of the word nanba?
William explains that nanba is ordinarily written in katakana (phonetic alphabet). The kanji associated with it are nan (difficult) and ba (place), so it’s a difficult place or trouble spot, and the full definition of nanba is that it is the art of physical finesse that enables one to get out of trouble spots.The full definition of Nanba is that it is the art of physical finesse that enables one to get out of trouble spots. - William Reed
Nanba aruki
Nanba aruki is the Japanese word for nanba walking. William explains that it means moving with soft steps and small strides; it is described as a ninja or samurai walk -- people don’t make waves when they enter the space. To explain further, he differentiates it from gendai (modern) walking:
In modern walking, people twist their upper and lower body in opposite directions; in nanba walking, the upper and lower body are connected, there is no twisting -- the principles of nanba are: don’t twist, don’t force, and don’t disconnect.
Modern walking tends to emphasize muscular force; whereas nanba focuses on the bones, particularly the sacrum, the pelvis.
Modern walking is adapted to paved roads; nanba walking is adapted to uneven or natural surfaces.
In modern walking, people use large strides; whereas in nanba walking it’s more compact -- small strides.
How William got into nanba
William shares that when he was training in aikido, his sensei demonstrated the nanba walking or samurai walk, as his sensei calls it; that attracted William to find out more about nanba, and while doing his research, he discovered that there is a professor at Toho Gakuen, Japan’s largest conservatory of music, who teaches nanba to his students. William decided to join the class, and years later, he was asked to teach at the same institution. Because he was also practicing tap dance at that time, William taught nanba tap at Toho Gakuen for four years.Achieving great results with nanba movement
William says that a lot of Japanese people use nanba to achieve great results; in the year 1876, German doctor Erwin Balz came to Japan and became the physician for the major emperor. Balz wrote in his diary about the jinrikisha (rickshaw), a person-powered carriage; he would hire a jinrikisha and go long distances. Normally, they would have to change horses six times to do it, but with jinrikisha, it only took him 27 hours to complete his journey. He was astounded with how the Japanese people were able to do it; they have nanba technique which enables them to perform their tasks simply.
Nanba for music students
As mentioned, William studied nanba at Toho Gakuen; the name of his instructor is Yano Tatsuhiko, or Yano sensei. William shares that Yano was trained as a physical education teacher. However, to teach physical education in a conservatory of music, a lot of sports are prohibited to avoid injuries to students. Initially, he focused on track and field and swimming, then he tried and experimented with yoga, Feldenkrais, and Alexander technique. Still, because students spend so much time practicing their instruments, they don’t have time to exercise much; they want something that they can do while they are rehearsing. So, Yano adapted the nanba technique and created a curriculum.Nanba training
There are three parts to the curriculum: nanba balanced exercises, nanba flow exercises, and nanba walking.
Nanba balanced exercises - the 12 ways that people can move their body to realign it. The exercises take about three minutes to conduct
Nanba flow exercises - there are 7 exercises that are based on movements from daily life. The purpose is to build rhythm and energy
Benefits of nanba
There are three benefits in Nanba Training. One is the ability to do self-tuning, next is accelerated mastery, and the last one which we all need is enhanced energy. - William Reed
William states that there are three benefits in nanba training: the ability to do self-tuning, accelerated mastery, and enhanced energy.
Self-tuning - people can get out of balance in life, so with the help of nanba, they can restore themselves
Accelerated mastery - nanba helps accelerate people’s mastery of a skill or performance
Enhanced energy - nanba helps people gain vibrancy
William’s ikigai
Nanba is William’s ikiga; he shares that he keeps coming back to it because it is inexhaustible; he’s been practicing it for about 15 years -- there's always a new insight that comes from it, even though it may look to be repeating the same thing on the outside.
