Shugyo means a specific rigorous or ascetic discipline that enhances or reinvigorates one's usual daily practice. I highly encourage the occasional use of shugyo. It deepens the practice and can give you a new sense of excitement about shakuhachi playing.
Here are some examples of shugyo that you can try:
- Play ro continuously for an hour.
- Play 100 breaths of ro every day for a month.
- Play a particular piece four times in a row without stopping. Or eight times. Do this every day for a week, or a month.
- Set a day to play outside for an hour no matter what the weather is. Don't cheat by looking up the weather ahead of time, and don't move to Hawaii first.
- Play shakuhachi for an hour while standing in the ocean.
- Set aside a half hour or an hour to work continuously on one specific technique -- be strict about it.
- Pick a day to carry your shakuhachi with you and play whenever there is nothing preventing you from playing. Play on subways, along the street, in airports, wherever you go.
Or come up with your own shugyo!