---
title: When the Drum Beats
description: After a long taikai weekend, Joshua reflects on the importance of addressing life's small tasks to release energy and regain focus.
image: https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Taiko%20Drum%20In%20Low%20Key%20Navy%20Blue.png
---
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# When the Drum Beats
[Joshua Shapiro November 1, 2026](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/author/joshua-shapiro)
- [Essay](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/tag/essay)
- 1 mins
I arrived home from taikai weekend late Monday night. The drive from Albuquerque to San Diego took thirteen hours, and I had only a few hours of sleep the previous night on account of a cigar and a fire pit. Tuesday morning thrust me back into the fray with a school drop-off, status meetings, and unanswered emails. Meanwhile, echoes of the taikai ricocheted in my mind. The crack of the bokken snapping; Mr. Ritacco stepping up to cut; the beat of the drum.
The work day ended and I walked downstairs to my bedroom, eager to lie down, decompress, and digest the weekend. And there, on my bed, was my garment bag and suitcase still waiting to be unpacked. A small knot formed in my stomach. Unpacking my suitcase was not part of the plan.
We make plans. We imagine a future, and we naively assume the universe will oblige. Of course, it does not. Each little deviation from the plan adds up. Every failure compounds. First into doubt, then anxiety, and ultimately fear. But fear is nothing more than the accumulation of each drum beat rattling your hara, being amplified by a history of plans gone awry. We ignore those drum beats when they are soft and quiet. One beat for the laundry in the suitcase. Another for my hakama which I folded too quickly. A third for a stain on my tuxedo.
Each quiet drum beat is energy from the universe that enters your body. Something must happen to the energy. That energy can accumulate, filling the hara, the lungs, and the mind until it explodes. And then, an echo from the taikai: *Put that energy into action!*
So I unpacked the suitcase, loaded the laundry in the machine, and re-folded my hakama. And with the energy dissipated, I sat down to think.
### Joshua Shapiro
Joshua Shapiro is CEO of Meadowlark Engineering, a full service software development company. He has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, and is a deshi of Ittō Tenshin-ryū, Yamate-ryū, and Goseki-ryū with over two decades of martial arts training.
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