Always curious of classes I haven’t heard of I recently checked out Seiki last night knowing almost nothing about it.
So what is Seiki? The class I experienced started with a nice introduction from the friendly Mark Burton who leads things Seiki here in Brighton. I was told “the only rule here is that there isn’t any” and a little of how Seiki came from Shiatsu but evolved into a practice of spontaneous movement and healing. We started with some relaxing chi kung type arm swinging and then got into things. If moaning, groaning and burping put you off, this isn’t the class for you – people let it all out! In some ways “class” would convey the wrong sense – an environment for free movement and expression may be better. Definitely not a rigid Japanese system despite founder akinobu kishi sensei heritage!
We moved onto some partner following work that reminded me of the more subtle aspects of contact improvisation and was very enjoyable. We ended with some gentle, intuitive hands-on bodywork which was very relaxing. The emphasis in this bodywork was on doing “with” rather than “to” and despite almost nothing was being “done” was surprisingly powerful.
Seiki is certainly and interesting art, and I can imagine it appealing to those looking wanting to e
xplore themselves and their health in a free-form way.
xplore themselves and their health in a free-form way. Seiki Founder Akinobu Kishi Sensei (pictured) will be in Brighton next weekend. Here’s the blurb and contact info from the Brighton Natural Health Centre.