Seitai

Seitai (properly ordered body, 整体, せいたい). Technically, it consists in easing the activity of the life force by re-adjusting the physiology of the body. Basic known techniques are katsugen undō (活元運動, かつげんうんどう), Seitai taisō （整体体操、せいたいたいそう）and yūki (愉気, ゆき), which has been founded by Haruchika Noguchi (野口晴哉, のぐちはるちか). Major concepts in seitai includes taiheki (体癖, たいへき). Seitai is also known as Noguchi Seitai to prevent ambiguity. Note: For some people Seitai was invented by Michio Takahashi in the 1920s. He is also called the founder of the Seitai School .

History

The term Seitai (or Sei-Tai) was created by Noguchi after the Second World War. It represents a Japanese inner art of healing based on the mastery of ki based on re-adjustment techniques applied on a person (Seitai shido or Seitai sohō) or on oneself (such as Seitai taisō and katsugen undō for example).

It is only known among some of the first generation of practitioners that Seitai arose from an organization created by the government shortly before the Second World War. This organization called Kenko Hojikai had the mission to inventory the knowledges and traditional healing patrimony owned by Japanese healers around the country. Among the people involved was Noguchi.

Out of their study arose the belief that one's internal life force is at the center point of health and well-being. The greatest skills of the Kenko Hojikai group was:

1. to recognize that the body has its own pre-existing order, intimately connected to this life force, and to inventory the particularities of a healthy (ordered) body and
2. to elaborate precise techniques that would stimulate this inner life force in a way that forces the body to re-adjust itself from within, rather than using any external means.

Although the origin of Seitai finds some connections with different forms of healing schools such as Japanese bone settings (sekkotsu and Hone Tsugi) or Chinese medicine known as Kampo (Chinese pharmacopeia), the actual technique of Seitai is in no way similar to any of the above. The name Seitai was created by Noguchi. Before that, it did not exist in any Japanese dictionary. Shortly after the war the Kenko Hojika group split up giving birth to several school of healing arts as Sotai for example. Nevertheless, the larger part of the members followed Noguchi who eventually founded the Seitai Foundation, known in Japanese as Seitai Kyokai.

Known teachers and practitioners

• Junpei Yoshida
• Itsuo Tsuda
• Masatomi Ikeda

Books

• Imoto Kuniaki. The Seitai Method. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2005. ISBN 4770029977.
• Haruchika Noguchi. Colds and their benefits. Tokyo: Zensei, 1986. ISBN 4-915417-01-8.
• Haruchika Noguchi. Order, Spontaneity and the Body. Tokyo: Zensei, 1985. ISBN 4-915417-00-X.
• Haruchika Noguchi. Scolding and Praising. Tokyo: Zensei, 1991. ISBN 4-915417-02-6.
• Itsuo Tsuda. (translated title) Not Doing.
  français :
  "Le Non-Faire". Paris: Courrier du Livre, 1973. ISBN 2-88063-007-X (out of print).
  italiano:
  "Il Non-Fare. Scuola della Respirazione". Milano, Luni Editrice, 2003. ISBN 88-7435-023-6 (out of print translation).
• Richard S. Omura. Katsugen: The Gentle Art of Well-Being. iUniverse, 2000. ISBN 0-595-13079-8.
• Kantaro Hamada Method of Seitaisouhou. Tokyo:taniguti, 2008. ISBN 978-4-86129-071-8.

External links

• (Japanese) Seitai Kyokai translation
• Imoto Seitai Official web Site
• Katsugen undo by Itsuo Tsuda
• Seitai-cvp
• (Japanese) Hamada Seitai Official web Site translationca:Seitai

ja:整体