Ki healing
From: Diana Robson
Alan, I don't know where you stand in the Ki wars, so I'll make this suggestion, if you want to, think of it as theraputic touch (which has been documeted as real and is used in hospitals a great deal, especially with infants (who are not suseptible to placebo effects (I don't think :-))). In any case, touch the sore place softly, with Ki extending. As it softens up, follow in with your fingers or thumb (whatever is comfortable). Do not put any strength in your hands! Practice with the knee slightly bent, then incerease motion while you press. You should notice a sense of a line extending both up and down your leg that runs through the sore area. Press that line starting at the top of your leg and all the way out your toe. You should find this helps your knee considerably, especially if you press it out before AND after training. I have no idea what if any kind of actual injury you may have, but increasing the flow of Ki in any sore or injured part of the body increases circulation and helps the healing process tremendously.
Begin by Coordinating Mind and Body, so that Ki is extending well. Then touch the injured or sore area lightly, and let Ki flow into the injury. Usually it is necessary to take out some slack, especially if the cord is beneath the surface, but it is critical that there be no strength or tension in your hands. Learning all the cords and lines and how to press various areas for health takes a couple of years of intensive study, but any Ki is better than none!:-)
Also, on Wed, 26 Jun 1996 17:47:28 -0400, Joe McParland wrote:
>
>Regarding Diana's Kiatsuho explaination...
>
>... is this then distinguishable from the likes of accupuncture / pressure
>in that ki is being added rather than simply being redirected or
>otherwise unblocked?
>
I believe that is one of the distinguishing factors.
Before I could post, Larry replied:
>Yes.
And Joe asked:
>
>If this is the case, then is there the possibility of "ki-overload?"
>Perhaps dangerous for the half-trained / unskilled hands? Beginning
>to sound like the proverbial death-touch ;> !
Nope, Sensei always tells me you can never have too much Ki.
And Berna Wrote:
>
>That sounds wonderful! Does that treatment work for migraines too? If so, I
>want to learn it!
>
I have found it to be very effective, especially if you catch the migraine
in it's formative stage.
From: Mike Burke
In 1976, I found myself suffering from tendonitis in my left shoulder about 3 weeks before Koichi Tohei was to hold a 10-day seminar in Chicago. I went to my doctor, and he had me wear my arm in a sling for a week and take aspirin. That didn't work, so I took Alkabutadolizine(?) for a week. That didn't work, so I ended up getting cortisone injected. That didn't work either, so I ended up going to the seminar with my arm in a sling.
After our first class, Tohei Sensei came over and asked what was wrong with my arm. He then had me take my arm out of the sling (because it would make the arm weak) and did Kiatsu-ho on my shoulder for about 15 minutes. I've never had painful tendonitis since! (I'm sure part of that is due to better preventative care. When I abuse my shoulder from swimming too vigorously or exercising without warming up, I can feel a "catch" in the shoulder, but I try never to let it get painful. Incidentally, Yoga is part of my preventative routine, and a couple of Yoga sessions remove the "catch".)
My doctor sort of shook his head when I went back for a follow-up and explained how my problems was "witch-doctored" away.
From: MATTHEW C AVERY-SPRIGGS
I noticed in the recent postings that Kiatsu was referred to as
quackery by as publication. It also appeared that the author felt that
it was indeed quackery. Since I practice in the Ki Society and have had
experience with Kiatsu, I was wondering what others opinions are
regarding Kiatsu. It is not your typical western style "got a problem
take a pill" solution and like most other forms of alternative medicine
gets a bad rap from the inexperienced and those who have had a bad
experience from improper application. I myself have self healed using
Kiatsu and have been helped greatly by others and have helped a number of
other people through its use.
My basic questions are: what do people think of Kiatsu? What
has it or what has it not done for them? Does anyone know of
applications that have greatly helped or hindered healing or general health?
If you are skeptical then why? Have you ever experienced Kiatsu and if
so was it a good or bad experience?
Just a request... no flaming on this... if you cannot respond as
an adult and participate in an intellectual discussion then please
refrain from replying... unless you just simply feel you must!
From: Julie Rodriguez
I don't know if this is kiatsu, but one day during training my partner succeeded in sliding her foot down my shin to the top of my instep. (A very effective technique.) Luckily she did not stomp on my foot because she managed to pool the blood from my leg into the vein on the top of my foot into a huge (size of my thumb) hematoma. My instructor came over, had me sit down and applied ki to the hematoma and not only did it dissapate, but I did not even have a bruise to show for my efforts.
This is one aspect of ki I wish I knew more about.
From: Paul Findley
A woman at my dojo once hid from Tohei Sensei when she had an injury some years back to avoid being kiatsu'd by him. :+)
From: Diana Robson
For those who have inquired about what exactly Kiatsuho is, I'll endeavor to reply:
If we are willing to accept the idea that the human body, when healthy, is full of Ki (that old fundamental building block of the Universe:-)), then it stands to reason that when there is an injury, or stress, or tension, the flow of Ki through that part of the body is impaired. Tohei Sensei has developed Kiatsuho as a formal approach to understanding how to put Ki back into the injured areas so that the body can utilize it's own amazing natural abilities to heal. I think we look on very rapid healing as something amazing and unusual, when in reality, that is the normal speed of healing. It has been my experience that we seldom use anything in our nature to it's fullest potential. Kiatsuho has it's most dramatic affects when applied to an injury immediately.
My personal experiences include watching a bruise (very colorful one at that!) that was forming reverse it's process and fade, seeing a wide variety of ankle and shoulder injuries heal in days or weeks rather than weeks or months, and most importantly for me, I can now open blocked sinuses and treat my own headaches without drugs or retreating to bed (an amazing thing most people will not understand until they have lived a few years in the Willamette Vaelley of Allergy Death).
The effects of Kiatsuho seem to me to be a very focused and intense application of the same principles that are behind the now well documented phenomenon of Theraputic Touch, which last I heard was being widely used in hospitals, primarily in neo-natal intensive care units, because of it's tremendous although as-yet unexplained success.
Please note these are my experiences and understanding, however, the Kiatsuho School in Japan is widely known for the remarkable results they have had with otherwise untreatable patients, a couple of whom I have met, and they are real!
From: "George N. Simcox"
Regarding Kiatsu Ho, I have used it on several occasions with good effect, as others have described on this list serv as well as having it applied to me on occasion such as the time I managed to nikkyu a 200 pounder's knee onto my instep. My wife combines it with Therapeutic Touch, a technique developed by Dr. Dee Krieger and Dora Koonz into a very effective modality for helping others. As with most things, it is not a "cure all" but for many things it is a real help.
From: Joe McParland
Regarding Diana's Kiatsuho explaination...
... is this then distinguishable from the likes of accupuncture / pressure in that ki is being added rather than simply being redirected or otherwise unblocked?
From: "Jacobe, Jake"
The analogy often used in kiatsu is that, just as a water pump which dries up must first be primed with a little water to get it pumping again, so too a person's ki-flow when it has been impeded can be restored by "priming" it with a little outside ki. The kiatsu practioner supplies ki to allow the injured party's ki to then take over naturally. I don't know if this means anything to those among us who are non-kibelievers, but there you have it.
From: Larry Novick
At 9:39 PM 6/26/96, Joe McParland wrote:
> If this is the case, then is there the possibility of "ki-overload?"
> Perhaps dangerous for the half-trained / unskilled hands? Beginning
> to sound like the proverbial death-touch ;> !
No. It takes a highly trained and highly skilled person to do damage in that manner. If someone is "under-skilled" in Kiatsu, the only thing that will happen is.... nothing.