Ken Hill’s calm demeanor and warm disposition comes across more than sincere, in a face-to- face interview on Sunday, August 23, at an Omaha coffee stop. He’s sharing his vision and passion for a new class he calls Flowpulse.
Starting August 27, Hill will instruct small groups of classes in finding their own pulse to music, and the moment itself through spinning nunchaku. Hill, a nationally known freestyle nunchaku athlete has several videos online showing his fierce and beautiful mastery of fire and light, fused together through seemingly orchestrated movements. Classes will be held at Omaha’s Healing Gallery, 4225 Cuming Street.
“The beauty of what I do is that there’s no routine,” Hill said. “You feel the music and you let it go through you. Some spins, I feel better connected. Fire spinning has this roaring sound to it. It’s amazing. There aren’t bad spins – it’s all in your mind. When you let go and let it take you. It becomes something inside me that I need to express. It’s a discipline. I respect it. It’s a chaotic sound – like a jet engine.”
Benefits of Flowpulse
Hills lists several reasons for taking Flowpulse – including spiritual gain and exercise. He believes that coordination, rhythm and tapping into one’s creativity allows students to push themselves to limits beyond their imagination, and express themselves through a medium new to them, but still an ancient mysterious art form.
Fire
The fear and fascination of spinning fire tightly next to his body and arms has left a few scars on his arms. Will class members start right off spinning fire? No. Building a comfort level and learning how to feel the way the instruments move through student’s hands and around their bodies is first. Hill wants to build a solid, confident foundation with students that respects their personal safety, as well as the art form.
“I’m very philosophical about this,” Hill said. “I wear the right clothes, and I’ve learned that fire can rest a couple of seconds on my hand and not burn.”
Any Age Limits?
Hill reiterated that no matter the age, his priority is safety and respect. Students under the age of 19 will have to sign a waiver by their parents or guardian. He indicated that anyone under 19 will not be allowed to spin fire; he will have glow spinning sessions.
Passion for His Art
Hill, an award-winning songwriter and creative force behind Soulwire. His tapestries of autobiographical poems were woven into the album A Radiant Nothing. The 14-tracks follow Hill’s melancholic and melodic open diary. This new age record reflects the cycle of human emotions, and embraces the journey along the way. It’s intricate, electronic pieces caress and tangle within a greater body of winds and silhouettes of airy sounds.
“A Radiant Nothing is truly a healing album, but it's unlike many other healing albums, because it is not focused on trying to make someone feel better by filling the dark moments with the sun's rays,” Hill said. “It actually is an expression that the storms in our lives are as natural, and necessary, as the sunny days. It is as natural as the seasons on Earth, and to resist the storms, only creates imbalance and friction.
“It's about sitting through those storms, fearful or not, and just watching it with magnificence and honesty, and letting it do what it was there to do. Then I say, sitting with that storm brings about something very profound that is incredibly hard to describe, but it's a sort of inner light that shines when we can only see when we sit with it and listen. It's about finding inner strength and character when we are stripped away from a past that had once defined us.”
New Life for Nunchaku
Hill’s committed to exonerating the violent reputation of his beloved nunchaku. He believes the art form has been misconstrued, and with dedication students can learn this skill and bring a new life to the surface.
“What I do is like how water flows,” he said. “Whatever direction it takes me.”
 |
