As a young performer, I practised a lot (6–10 hours a day), which was highly productive in some ways, but also rather unhealthy because I developed tendonitis. As a result I had to find other ways to get and stay in shape in order to prevent the tendonitis from coming back.

Of all the activities I’ve done, my favourite non-musical pastime is judo. Judo is tough, the techniques are complex, and the culture is macho – extremely, playfully macho. During warm- ups, we pick each other up in the fireman’s carry and run up and down the gym. Classes are sometimes like stuntman training: throwing each other, flying through the air, falling down, kicking someone’s legs out from under him. It’s just about as different from the classical flute world as you can imagine.

It has been transformational for me as a musician because it has given me more than some new physical skills; I have a whole new set of metaphors that apply to my music-making. Here are some examples: Judo gave me a whole new view of what it means to “grapple” with a problem. In judo, there’s a lot of actual, physical grappling, a type of wrestling. The object is to make your partner submit, either by pinning him to the floor so he can’t escape, or by capturing him in an arm-lock or choke hold until he “taps” (submits). Through learning to grapple as a fighter, I learned:

• to dig into a problem, to move closer rather than running away from it (Judo instructors are often heard exclaiming “Move in! Move in!”)
• that even when things seem hopeless, I may still be able to escape
• that I can persist longer than I ever imagined before I give up
• to keep looking for weird and surprising ways around a problem
• that head-knowledge is of limited use when what you need is to DO something
• that people very different from me have a lot to teach me
• that we learn in our bodies, not just our minds
• when to keep trying, when to ‘tap’
• how much fun it is to have great training partners
• how to be ‘in the moment,’ aware and alert
• that it’s possible to be completely serious about training yet playful at the same time
• no matter how much you practise, there’s always more to learn

Given my experiences, I highly recommend martial arts as a hobby, because they are a fun way to build strength, endurance, concentration, and skill.

Pandora Bryce teaches flute methods at the University of Toronto and is a researcher in the fields of music education and adult education. She has taught Suzuki flute for over 25 years, and is a Registered Teacher Trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas and the European Suzuki Association.