Seitai
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Seitai (整体) is a form of bodywork and alternative medicine practice, originally developed as training tool within health education.[1] It was developed in Japan by Haruchika Noguchi (1911–1976) in the mid-20th century. The kanji comprising the word are 整 sei, "regulated, coordinated, in order", and 体 tai, "body, organism", therefore translated together as as "the body in order".[2]
The term seitai already existed in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. In the 1920s, it was adapted and introduced Japan by Michio Takahashi, a master of seitai-jutsu, and later by Noguchi from 1943.[3] Important to its development was a regular meeting group of experts in various fields of traditional Japanese medicine, led by Noguchi, called Dainippon Rengō Chiryō-shikai.[4]
Seitai is known in Europe due to its practice by Itsuo Tsuda beginning in 1972 (with dojos in Paris, Geneva, Milan, Rome, Madrid, and Palma de Mallorca) and Katsumi Mamine in Barcelona the following year.[5]
Historical background
[edit]The origin of the word "seitai" is set forth in a work in Japanese by Michio Takahashi, a master of seitaijutsu (正体術) very popular in the early 1920s.[6] Mallory Fromm sums it up like this:[3]
According to reliable sources, the term "seitai" comes from classical Chinese medicine and has been known for centuries. At the beginning of the 20th century, this word was more popular, but with different ideograms.
Michio Takahashi already used the term "seitai". The ideogram for "sei" is 正, which means "natural, correct", although Takahashi used it as a verb. Takahashi speaks of seitai as "tadashii karada" (正體), "the conforming body" (correct/proper body). The term for body, karada (體), comes from classical Chinese; this fact suggests that Takahashi wanted to guide his school in a specific line.[3]
It was also written "seitai" with the ideogram 正体, a new kanji for writing "body" that gave it a more modern approach. Later it appeared with the spelling, 正胎, which can be translated as "the conforming womb". This gave rise to the term seitaijutsu written like this: 正胎術, which would be translated as "the art of the conforming womb". Later, it drifted towards 生体, the «living body». And, finally, as 意教, "to put the body in the best possible order", a term that Noguchi made public in 1943. This writing of the word "seitai" became the reference and is currently known as "Seitai Noguchi ».[3]
Seitai Noguchi
[edit]Seitai culture was developed by Haruchika Noguchi in Japan after World War II. Noguchi collaborated and coordinated a group of prominent experts in traditional Japanese medicine, who met periodically during World War II.[7] Yoshida Naoki thus describes the composition of this group:[4]
Before and after the war, there was an organization called Dainippon Rengo Chiryoshikai, under the direction of Haruchika Noguchi. I remember Akiko, Noguchi's wife, saying to me: "In hindsight, this seems to have been the happiest period of his life." In fact, it is likely that this was because seitai sōhō had reached its maturity, so this period was the time when the philosophy of seitai took shape.
References amd notes
[edit]- ^ Mamine, Katsumi (2014). El movimiento vital (in Spanish). Barcelona: Icaria. p. 11. ISBN 978-84-9888-586-6.
- ^ Mamine, Katsumi (2007). Seitai, una nueva comprensión de la naturaleza humana (in Spanish). Barcelona: Seitai de Barcelona. p. 254. ISBN 978-84-611-5066-3.
- ^ a b c d Bel, Andréine (2015). Le corps accordé (in French). Les Mayons: Le Tilt. p. 415-416. ISBN 978-2-9551348-0-1.
- ^ a b Naoki, Yoshida (2014). 整体法の成り立ち (Origine de la méthode Seitai). Excerpts translated from the Japanese by Mallory Fromm.
- ^ "La práctica japonesa Seitai trabaja en la liberación del cuerpo". Palma de Mallorca: Ultima hora. 16 November 2001. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
- ^ Takahashi, Michio. 体術 (Seitaijutsu) (in Japanese). Tokyo: Taniguchi Shoten.
- ^ Very few documents are currently available about this event, but some can be found at [1]National Diet Library.Includes a book in four parts:『整体読本』 “Readings in seitai” published about 1947 and contains the names and specialties of the members of the association, and a collection:『触手療法講座』“Hands-on therapy seminar” where ancient texts with seminars on yuki are collected.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Seitai at Wikimedia Commons- Seitai Institute in Tokyo Seitai Kyokai (in japanese)
- H.Noguchi's writings (in Japanese)
