Jisei Kiko

A new sense of well-being gained by gently and systematically working the muscles and joints of the entire body while relearning healthy breathing. The result is true relaxation and a renewed sense of peace. Jisei-Kiko develops the physical and mental strength latent in each of us, making it possible to enhance our internal awareness of the body and improve our health and outlook. Exercises consist of technical sequences that truly activate each part of the body, developing a physical synchrony and dynamism that generate, at any age, the vital energy that forms the basis of well-being. Students learn to educate their body from the inside, breathing through the lungs and the skin.  By associating breathing with different images, they learn to stimulate the body differently and perceive an array of new sensations. This sharpens their ability to look deeper and gain new insight.

Awakened awareness and perception of the circulation of ki in the body – this is the basis for good health, a priority in the Tokitsu-Ryu method. Kiko, or the art of harnessing our breathing and energy, is the element on which the entire method is built, for the mobilisation and enhancement of our own energy is found explicitly or implicitly in all its components. Jisei-Kiko is the result of a collaboration between Sensei Tokitsu and Dr. Toshihiko Yayama. The method combines elements drawn from Buddhism, Taoism, yoga and various martial arts, as well from Western and traditional Chinese medicine. Jisei-Kiko incorporates the concept of chakras, which in yoga are seen as the principal centres of energy in the human body. Through different sets of exercises and katas, Jisei-kiko teaches students how to increase their physical capacities and fully develop their natural dynamism through progressive awareness of ki and its circulation throughout the body.

In order for ki to circulate effectively, all our joints must be functioning properly. In kiko, the word “joint” has a special meaning, for in addition to our commonly-accepted ones (wrist, ankle, elbow, knee, shoulder, hip, etc.), we see ourselves as having additional “joints” in the trunk, at the level of the coccyx, the lumbar region, the solar plexus, the sternum and the area just below the throat. These mobile parts of the body, which in kiko are defined as “technical joints”, are centres of energy where considerable strength is developed. So we not only increase the number of joints, but also the functionality of each one. In this method, all these joints must be developed so that each one can serve as a centre of energy, thus reinforcing the other chakras. The result is enhanced movement and strength. In Jisei-kiko, the chakras of the trunk are seen as the body’s joints or “hinges”, while the natural joints (wrist, ankle, elbow, knee, shoulder, hip) are considered chakras.