Diane is KITV4’s weekend evening anchor and weekday reporter. She hosts the Aging Well series on Tuesday evenings at 5, 6, and 10 p.m. She is a mother, a cat owner, and a yogi.
Taiko drumming has taken Kenny Endo to places he never expected.
HONOLULU (KITV4) -- Taiko drumming has taken Honolulu's Kenny Endo to places he never anticipated, when he was a young man still finding his rhythm. He's opened for The Who, played for Michael Jackson and Prince, recorded music for the movies "Apocalypse Now," and "Avatar" - and so much more. Now, he tells us how his love of taiko helps his own Aging Well.
His talents carried 69-year-old taiko master Kenny Endo to fame. Endo, owner of the Taiko Center of the Pacific, says, "I've always loved drumming. And music, but all types of drumming."
He puts his heart into each beat. "You have to put your spirit into it. Put it into the drum and receive the spirit from the drum; the connection with the drum is very important," he says.
That spiritual connection keeps him young. "You have to focus and at the same time, not think too hard. It's a matter of concentrating, but at the same time, relaxing," he explains.
It is harder than it looks, as this reporter gives it a whirl. "Ready? Don don don don, doko doko doko doko," he patiently guides me, as I keep missing the rhythm. I promise I'm not super uncoordinated, yet this drumming thing is new to me.
If you want to try for yourself, he takes students at his school, the Taiko Center of the Pacific. "We offer public classes from age two to senior citizens. My philosophy is, it's never too late or too early," he encourages.
Physically and mentally, it helps a person with aging well because it works the whole body, while one's mind is thinking of the beat patterns.
And whether you're a newbie like me or a master like Endo, the value is in the doing. Endo's advice: "Find something you really love, some kind of passion you can wake up every day and say, 'Oh I really love this. I have to improve on this. I have to get better.' Even after 47 years at this, I feel there's so much to learn."
More on Taiko Center of the Pacific's classes and performances here: https://taikoarts.com/.
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Diane is KITV4’s weekend evening anchor and weekday reporter. She hosts the Aging Well series on Tuesday evenings at 5, 6, and 10 p.m. She is a mother, a cat owner, and a yogi.
