Jisei-kikô Manual - vol 1 :
This introductory manual is concerned mainly with awareness and shôshûten. It describes the exercises and provides practical suggestions for students working on the shôshûten level.
Elements available :
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Extracts :
2.1 The five stages of kikô In this method, there are five stages :
1- Awareness of ki : activation of the meridians
2- Shôshûten : small or microcosmic circuit
3- Zenshin-shûten : circuit covering the entire body surface
4- Daïshûten : large or macrocosmic circuit in-depth
5- Furenshûten : spontaneous permanent circulation 1- The first stage consists of a series of exercises that enable the meridians to be activated. When executing these exercises, you feel a tingling, warmth, numbness, or other sensations in the part of the body being affected by the exercise, such as the hands or the back. Organisation of these sensations leads to the second stage. 2- Shôshûten, or the small circuit, travels over the surface of the upper part of the body along the central axis. It descends from the top of the head to the coccyx, and then circles back to the top. The beneficial effects of Shôshûten have long been known. According to the standard reference of Chinese medicine written two thousand years ago, the small circuit goes up the back and down the trunk. In treating his patients, Dr. Yayama has discovered that the direction of this pathway depends on gender. He explained this discovery in a Chinese journal specialised in therapeutic qi gong. This hypothesis has since been confirmed and today is accepted by qi gong masters.
When Dr. Yayama was in the Shôshûten phase, he found that in the evenings, after treating his patients, he felt an immense fatigue. The more patients he cured during the day, the more tired he felt at night. When he got beyond this stage, he stopped feeling tired after treating patients and instead began to feel somehow refreshed by his healing sessions. He explains that the Shôshûten stage is comparable to a reservoir of energy that is refilled by exercise; the reservoir is limited, so if you utilise all its contents, you begin to use up your own ki, thus bringing on fatigue and the need for replenishment. 3- By progressing in Shôshûten, you increase the sensitivity of your entire body, which leads naturally to Zenshin-shûten, the stage halfway between Shôshûten and Daïshûten. In Zenshin-shûten, the energy circulates throughout the body, but it stays on the surface. It is a direct augmentation of Shôshûten and is often confused with Daïshûten. Such confusion can be found even in certain published works. 4- The Daïshûten stage is a higher level. This is because when Daïshûten is reached, ki is automatically reconstituted whenever it is used, entering as it were through the head and through the feet. The more ki expended, the more obtained. This is why the act of healing affords a sense of renewal to the person who has attained the stage of Daïshûten.
In fact, when I studied qi gong with Chinese masters, all of them stated, like a well-established truth, that one should not heal many people with qi, because if a certain limit is exceeded, one's own vitality will suffer. This conclusion is true, but only for the second and third stages.
The pathway of Daïshûten lies at a deeper level. It runs through the interior of the entire body with ki travelling in spirals. 5- Furenshûten is the final stage in ki training. Without need of effort, ki circulates freely because you are in perfect harmony with the ki of the universe. We can consider it as the ultimate objective in our kikô quest. These stages of progress should not be considered mechanically - the first stage leading to the second, etc. Going beyond the shôshûten level does not at all imply that you can stop working on awareness of the spinal column. On the contrary, working on such awareness now takes on a new dimension. At the same time, breathing becomes quite quickly an introduction to daïshûten. All the activities of the Tokitsu-ryû Academy are based on a strengthening of health and the search for well-being. This is why Jiseï kikô is the starting point of our physical activity. We are all conscious of the fact that we live by eating food, but we are not very conscious of living by «eating» images, ideas, feelings that modulate the quality of our ki. In our daily lives, we are exposed to numerous stimuli that affect the quality of our ki. Practicing kikô teaches us to manage them so that ki formation is positive.
We know that stress is the cause of most of our illnesses. We can't dissolve stress only with the power of the spirit, so physical exercise is essential, since we live with a body. Our approach to the struggle against stress can lead to a form of philosophy, because we begin to think about the reason why we live within a body.
Kikô is in a sense a reflection on our existence through the body.
8.4 THE DRAGON KATA Press your palms together with your forearms held horizontally. In this position, exert horizontal pressure on the spinal column, first on one side, then on the other. Gradually lower the point on which pressure is exerted, successively focusing on 5 points of the spinal column corresponding to the charkas described further on. Make sure not to "twist" the body (it is necessary to lower the centre of gravity) nor to lean forward. Try to feel the pressure being exerted laterally on the vertebrae; how the hinges close on the front of the trunk; how different pressures are exerted on your internal organs ! Next execute 10 to 15 circular movements in one direction, followed by another 10 or 15 in the other. - Integration breathing
- Ritsu-zen having formed a ki ball with your hands : 1 to 2 minutes
- After this exercise, you can do an exercise to open or expand the lungs.
Table of contents :
1. | Introduction | 4 |
1.1 | ki and kikô | 5 |
1.2 | Reencounter | 6 |
2. | Jiseï-kikô | 7 |
2.1 | The five stages of kikô | 7 |
2.2 | The jiseï-kikô method | 8 |
3. | Principal elements of jisei-kikô | 10 |
3.1 | Breathing | 10 |
3.2 | Relaxation | 10 |
3.3 | Concentration | 11 |
3.4 | Visualisation | 11 |
3.5 | Application : three exercises | 11 |
3.5.1 | Checking degree of relaxation | 11 |
3.5.2 | Breathing like a sponge | 12 |
4. | Creating a ki ball | 14 |
4.1 | Stimulating the fingers | 14 |
4.1.1 | Stimulating the fingers by rubbing | 14 |
4.1.2 | Stimulating the fingers by flexion | 14 |
4.2 | Forming the ki ball | 15 |
5. | Stretching and sensation awareness | 16 |
5.1 | Loosening hands, fingers and wrists | 16 |
5.1.1 | Flexing the fingers | 16 |
5.1.2 | Stretching the arms and wrists | 17 |
5.2 | Leg rubs | 18 |
5.3 | Opening or expanding the chest and the back | 19 |
6. | Ritsu-zen | 21 |
6.1 | First position | 21 |
6.2 | Second position | 22 |
6.3 | Short duration ritsu-zen: images | 23 |
6.4 | Circulating ki through the arms (ude-shuten) | 24 |
7. | General activation of the meridians | 26 |
7.1 | The 12 main meridians | 26 |
7.2 | The 8 extraordinary meridians | 27 |
7.3 | Pathway of the meridians and of ki inside the body | 28 |
8. | The five basic kata of kikô | 29 |
8.1 | The pendulum kata | 29 |
8.2 | The bird kata | 31 |
8.3 | The tortoise kata | 32 |
8.4 | The dragon kata | 33 |
8.5 | The bear kata | 34 |
9. | Integration breathing | 36 |
9.1 | How to breathe | 36 |
9.2 | Word-image-breathing | 36 |
9.3 | Stimulating the right and left lungs | 37 |
10. | The practice of shôshûten | 39 |
10.1 | Overview | 39 |
10.2 | Stimulating the chakras | 40 |
10.3 | Determining the direction of shôshûten | 41 |
10.3.1 | The descending path | 41 |
10.3.2 | Determining the direction of ki | 41 |
10.4 | The direction of ki flow | 43 |
10.5 | Shuko (final exercise) | 44 |
11. | Sitting shôshûten | 45 |
11.1 | Undulation of the spinal column | 45 |
11.2 | Horizontal movement of the spinal column | 47 |
11.3 | Spiral movement of the spinal column | 48 |
11.4 | Movement of the cervical vertebrae | 50 |
12. | Testing the effect of ki | 52 |
12.1 | Principle of the test | 52 |
12.2 | Testing the effect of ki on force (the o-ring test) | 53 |
12.3 | The « seal » of shôshûten | 54 |
12.4 | Joining your ki with the ki of trees | 55 |
12.5 | Self-testing the effect of ki on muscular strength | 55 |