The Tokitsu - Yayama Collaboration
Preface by K. Tokitsu to the book Qi Healing, Way to a New Mind and Body, by Toshihiko Yayama, MD
At the end of the 1970s, having gone through a number of difficult episodes in my karate practice including joint injuries and back pain, I began to study methods of strengthening qi (or ki), wondering what condition I would be in at 50 if I already had so many problems at the age of 30.
I realised that to continue improving my level on the long path of martial arts, it would be necessary to overcome these problems at any price. At first I practiced a breathing-based method of qi gong developed in Japan. To do so, I travelled regularly to Japan and at the same time studied other traditional methods of body strengthening. Then I studied different qi gong methods with numerous Chinese Masters in Paris, China and Taiwan. On the basis of these experiences, I worked out a synthesis and decided on my own set of personal exercises. Thanks to these practices, the back pain I had been enduring disappeared when I was about 45 years old, the age when such problems normally become more accentuated.
However, the explanations I was given to explain the phenomena of qi and its potential left me dissatisfied because they were mainly based on mysticism. So I continued reading everything that came out in this field and also kept up my personal practice. In 1995, I was delighted to find a book entitled Ki no ningengaku (the study of man through ki). This book was written by Toshihiko Yayama, a surgeon and oncologist at the main hospital of the Saga prefecture in Japan. I was particularly impressed by two things - Dr. Yayama's clarity of exposition of his method, and its effectiveness as attested by the number of patients cured.
I wrote to him immediately to ask for an appointment, and this is how, in early 1996, I found myself in the Saga hospital in Japan with my wife and one of my Japanese friends.
Dr. Yayama directs the cancer department at the hospital and also treats disease and illnesses, depending on the diagnosis, through the kikô (qi gong) method he has developed, through the modern methods of Western medicine, or through an association of the two. The effectiveness of this last method in healing large numbers of people is attested by the fact that it is covered by the local equivalent of Social Security or National Health.
Our first meeting with Dr. Yayama took place in his surgery at the hospital. Before discussing kikô (qi gong), he paused a minute to observe us one after the other and then drew something on a piece of paper. Next he took our pulse and noted down something else on the same sheet.
He drew the forms of the aura enveloping our bodies. It is comprised of three layers. By studying the shape of each person's aura and the features of his pulse, he was able to give us each a check-up on our state of health. In the case of my wife and friend, most of the points he made confirmed problems of which they were already aware. He explained the cause and correlation of their problems.
Showing me the sheet of paper, he turned to me and said: “As for you, your health is excellent. Your energy is particularly well developed in the lower part of your body”. Next he examined me and, showing me another diagram, said “Here is the itinerary of your life so far. Your life changed radically when you were about 23 years old.” That was the year that I left Japan and it was indeed the most important change in my life. There was no way that Dr. Yayama could have known that. Then he went on to explain a number of things, showing me the diagram. Everything he said coincided with what I had actually experienced.
Then he said, “A person's life is recorded in his ki. I have learned to perceive it by practicing the method I have developed and perfected. I am not a genius, so anyone can acquire similar capacities through this method”.
I have met many qi gong Masters with similar, and sometimes spectacular, “innate” capacities, but the methods they taught did not ensure enhancement of the capacities of their students. What this situation often did do, however, was strengthen the charismatic power of masters over students, even to the point where sects were eventually formed.
According to Dr. Yayama, “the value of a method is measured not by the capacity of the founding Master, but by the quality and level of the students who practice it.”
And so it is. Dr. Yayama's method and teaching enable everyone to develop their capacities, regardless of what their innate “gifts” may be. To my mind, this is what gives his method special appeal.
Later, Dr. Yayama took us to his private laboratory where he showed us the Taiji quan (Tai Chi Chuan) that he has developed in conjunction with his method of kikô. The word kikô is generally taken as the literal Japanese translation of the Chinese term qi gong, but there are certain differences of meaning. In the kikô of Dr. Yayama, there are a number of different elements: Chinese qi gong, yoga, martial arts, secret Buddhism, traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine, and Western medicine. This is why we want to establish a distinction between kikô and qi gong.
I showed him my taiji quan and we exchanged views and experiences. He had practiced karate for years in addition to Kendo and Aikido, which brought us even closer. So from that day, we began to nurture our friendship and collaboration. He showed great interest in my practice of martial art and wanted to learn my method.
Our exchanges began later, but on the question of kikô, there is no doubt. He is clearly much further advanced. He is my Master in this field.
On the basis of my experience, I have realised that what people seek in Europe is a complicated method. When practicing qi gong, for example, certain students begin to find it “very simple” and start to ask complex questions, as if simplicity implied some qualitative deficiency.
Yes, we often hear a person say, “It is very simple and monotonous”. But perceiving simplicity and mastering it are two different things.
The Yayama method is, at first sight, quite simple. As Dr. Yayama says, “My method must be feasible for people who are ill. They have to get better and improve their health. My method is not designed to turn kikô into a pastime or leisure practice. I have devised a method that is very accessible thanks to its simplicity. Otherwise, people who are ill would not be able to practice it every day”.
He also says, “In the practice of kikô, I am like a soldier fighting on the front line every day. If I make a mistake, it could cost someone his life, so I have to find a solution for each situation. I cannot abandon my patients. This is how I fight day by day...”.
The main features of the Yayama method are efficiency, effectiveness and simplicity. The prime objective of kikô is well-being. If you feel good, as if your body had become fused with happiness, there would be no complications in your bodily sensations. If the aim of kikô is simple, the method of practice must be so as well. However, the analytical approach to this form of simplicity is complex. The two things should not be confused. That is, in appearance the Yayama method is simple, but there is, to a certain extent, an opening for analysis, which is welcome news for those who wish to approach things rationally.
Dr. Yayama is a seeker who questions “received thought” on the basis of widely extended knowledge in different fields and his own experience. He has established four levels for the mastery of kikô. In the early nineties, his studies created something of a stir in the kikô milieu in Japan because he classified the practice of Shoshuten (microcosmic orbit) at the second level of four, while for most schools Shoshuten represents the final level. This is because in his method, teaching begins at the level of general awareness of ki, followed by the level of Shoshuten. The third level is Daishuten (macrocosmic orbit) while the fourth is Furen-shuten (spontaneous effortless orbit).
In the course of his medical practice, Dr. Yayama has discovered that in women, ki (qi) circulates in a direction opposite to the direction found in men. This was a stunning conclusion, since the pattern in men had been considered universal since the classical Chinese period. Today however, more and more Chinese Qi gong Masters are in agreement with this finding.
Dr. Yayama experiments with the utilisation of modern means to achieve his aims and enhance effectiveness. He has invented new apparatus, including a “zero-search” device which enables the practitioner to seek a ki equilibrium of zero degrees (i.e. perfect ki equilibrium). However, the user of the device must actively work on his or her ki (qi), rather than passively awaiting results, as in Western medicine.
Dr. Yayama stresses the reproducibility of his findings on ki phenomena, because this is the basis of scientific work. He makes us feel extremely hopeful about a marvellous possibility - a true fusion or Oriental and Western wisdom.
Sommaire des pages de cet article :
Document d'archive écrit en ??
par Kenji Tokitsu - publié dans ??