eLearning in Osaka: Calligraphy, Aikido, and Nanba

I just returned from a full day of filming for a new Wii program for eLearning at Otemae University in Osaka.

Up at 4:30, on the train to Osaka by 6:00, storyboarding on the bullet train, high-definition video recording in demonstrations of Calligraphy, Aikido, and Nanba (physical finesse) throughout the day, and back in Tokyo by midnight.

The program will feature a multimedia introduction and demonstrations of cool elements of Japanese culture under the theme of WA (和, Harmony). It will be an interactive blend of flash, video, audio, and text, mostly in Japanese, but with some points in English.

You can see a panorama of the campus and get an idea of the format by clicking on the links at Otemae University and their program overview.

The program goes into editing and production now, and will be released for viewing online by the end of January. You will hear more about it on this blog, along with a series of eLearning projects which we will launch in 2009.

The Nanba portion of the program was largely improvised, and will feature Nanba walking, running, dance, and philosophy.

It will feature for example samurai movements such as running at a good speed and then suddenly dropping to your knees as you draw a sword.

It will contains a section on the basics of Nanba walking and the rhythm of Nanba movement.
Next year we will make Nanba training available to a global audience through the medium of high-definition interactive video.

One of the more interesting improvisations was done on the spot with a Japanese student who had no previous experience or knowledge of Nanba.

Nanba is based on feeling and image, more than theory, and if this is conveyed properly a person can get it in a Quantum Leap.

There is a phrase in Japanese meaning to keep step with, or keep cadence (歩調を揃える hochou wo soroeru). It has both a physical and a metaphorical meaning, but you cannot get the timing by thinking about it, only by direct kinesthetic perception.

My experiment was to ask the student to stand beside me, and without any verbal signal walk in step with me at the same pace when I started to walk briskly forward. No instruction. As expected, our movements were out of synch from the start, which is obvious from the picture shown here.

Stepping out of Synch (thinking too hard)

We then tried it with very simple instructions, a metaphor designed to help the student feel my movements without looking or thinking about it. I suggesting imagining that we were joined at the hip by an axle, like the two front wheels of a car. Then just to feel it and move with me in step.

This time she moved with me in perfect synch, and kept the cadence throughout.

Stepping in synch (feeling with image)

One of the themes that we will emphasize in the Nanba program is that while we spend lots of time in school learning how to think, Nanba can teach you in no time how to feel and perform better.

Stay tuned, and be sure to subscribe to this blog if you want current information on the eLearning programs we will be launching in English and Japanese in the early part of next year.