Sei-Ki in Graz, Austria

Sei-Ki is the Way of Touch. There are many Ways in Japanese culture, some official, others less so. These include Chadō, the Way of Tea, Budō the Way of Martial Art, Shodō the way of calligraphy and others.

A Way is a discipline in which the practitioner is committed to seeing things as they truly are. Each Way has its own character or discipline through which the practitioner works to understand the nature of reality. In Sei-Ki this discipline or character is ‘touch’.

Each Way takes the practitioner back to the beginning, back to basics in every moment. In Sei-Ki, every touch takes us back to the fundamental question, ‘what is it that I touch, here, now’. It is fundamental in being ‘beginners mind’, in being about the essence of what is ‘touched’ and in always starting again.

Sei-Ki was founded by Kishi Akinobu who was Masunaga’s top student for many years. He called Sei-Ki the secret art of shiatsu. Here you will find the heart of Shiatsu, the essence of the Way of Touch.

If you are a Shiatsu practitioner, this will be a window into the roots of that art, a chance to develop your touch mindfully and deepen your contact with others. But Sei-ki has also, always, appealed to people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it fosters creativity, originality and contact. So the only requirement for participation is interest and an open mind.

On this workshop, we will ask what ‘touch’ really is; how can you really ‘touch’ a person; what are we really touching…The emphasis will be on experience through practice and observation.

Alice Whieldon worked closely with Kishi and co-authored Sei-Ki: Life in Resonance, the Secret Art of Shiatsu (2011, Kishi & Whieldon). She has presented Sei-Ki workshops for over 20 years and is the Director of Sei-Ki Hub, home of The Sei-Ki Training. See also Living-in-Resonance for other workshops with Alice.