Seiki Jutsu - Energy art which has been hijacked & monopolized.

[Oneironaut]

I've been doing some research in the ancient art of seiki jutsu which is the indigenous energy art of Japan and has it's roots in shintoism. It's been practiced long before reiki made it's way to Japan and was used by the Samurai. Seiki is referred to as strengthened and activated chi and since it is strongly felt it is considered to be non subtle energy. To quote another source:

Seiki Jutsu energy encourages effortless spontaneous movement, improvisation and liveliness.  As enhanced, concentrated, super-charged chi (Life Force Energy), you'll want to shout and jump. - See more at: http://www.beyond50radio.com/Article-Seiki_Jutsu.html#sthash.TmjmpHnT.dpuf     

 

Now here's where things begin to get a little bit interesting. If you search seiki jutsu nearly all of the search engine results pages point to the exact same source. It's IMPOSSIBLE to not bump into Bradford Keeney's website (beautiful website by the way) or his YouTube videos promoting this art. Now on his website he claims to be the ONLY successor to this art as the lineage was passed down to him by the late Ikuko Osumi sensei. I found out from another source that the claim of him being the only successor of this art is false. If I'm not mistaking somewhere in his stupid book he also makes the claim that others (who obviously are not him) who say they practice seiki jutsu are really just doing acupuncture or variations of Chinese medicine or Qigong and not true seiki jutsu. Again, I cannot recall if it's from the book or not but if I decide to dig through that monstrosity I will quote the exact words and page number on here.

 

When I was first introduced to meditation, qigong, reiki and yoga I was warned to look out for teachers or gurus who charge ridiculously large amounts of money. Well guess what? If you look through Bradford Keeneys website under the mentoring section lo and behold. I'll keep that one a surprise for the adventurous of you. That information can be found in the previously posted link. 

 

Lastly, the guy must of hired an excellent reputation management firm but I guess even then certain things can slip through the cracks.

 

I'm not trying to trash the guys reputation here for absolutely no reason but I did have a little bit of a conversation with him through email. Once I called him out on the money issue and pointed out the fact that a trip to Japan to learn seiki jutsu (without being watered down with the bushmen stuff which I have 0 interest in) would be much cheaper then he stopped responding. I've already made up my mind about this guy but would also like to hear what others in this forum think. 

Edited April 28, 2015 by Oneironaut

[thelerner]

That's a story that repeats itself through dozens of small lineage arts.

[9th]

yeh.. if you have any interest in "energy work" you better be prepared for an endless horde of shysters and onion-eyed worm ticklers

 

man... thats just the beginning, too

[noonespecial]

He should move shop to Hollywood, they would eat that up in LA.

[Aetherous]

a trip to Japan to learn seiki jutsu

 

You should totally do that.

[Oneironaut]

You should totally do that.

 

If only I knew who in Japan is legitmitately knowledgeable in seiki jutsu, their location, if the person(s) is reputable and willing to teach it to me then I'd be more than happy to. 

[Leif]

...

Edited April 29, 2015 by Leif

[Leif]

...

Edited April 29, 2015 by Leif

[soaring crane]

The price is actually not outrageous.

[Bruce Qi]

I bought a few keeney books way back and from the start something about him just didnt feel right to me so I just put them away where they remain to this day.have no interest in him or what he tries to sell what so ever, far better and cheaper teachers out there.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Bruce Qi

[Oneironaut]

The price is actually not outrageous.

 

You're right. It's beyond outrageous. 

[Nungali]

If only I knew who in Japan is legitmitately knowledgeable in seiki jutsu, their location, if the person(s) is reputable and willing to teach it to me then I'd be more than happy to. 

 

There is an old story in our club, some of the seniors, years back,  went over to Okinawa to train  . A senior teacher met them at the airport, was totally welcoming, gave them all a present - Including a new black belt and uniform (WTF?)  with the 'new' club logo on it. He wanted to take them to a hotel and arrange a session for the next day, but they already had a hotel booked. They could not believe how welcoming and friendly he was. 

 

Then at the hotel later this guy turns up claiming to be a representative of the 'real guy'. Turns out the first guy was a fake and trying to nab a crew of OS instructors.      .... some people will try anything. 

 

Then they became enmeshed in the battle over there for leadership of the style and a bunch of people claiming it was them ...  

Edited April 29, 2015 by Nungali

[LazyChuan]

I'm not a fan of Bradford Keeney, but I think his heart is in the right place.

 

You are always right to look closely when lineage is claimed.

 

"Tuition for the two-year program is $4,000", which covers 20 days of intensive (in 5 day retreats), and online learning to support that.

 

That is not any more than many other teachers would charge on a per/day basis.

 

Sometimes its so the teacher can eat, or support a monastic community, but among some of my teachers, the money is just an expression of sincerity, they really don't care about it anyway (not always the case).

 

I agree that you would want to find a teacher who can transmit, if you are interested in that kind of formless energy practice.

[thelerner]

yeh.. if you have any interest in "energy work" you better be prepared for an endless horde of shysters and onion-eyed worm ticklers

man... thats just the beginning, too

There's that, but I was referring to lineage spread and problems.  In many arts you have father to son, and you have favorite students, many very high level and you have schisms as high level teachers expand, add or change the original art. 

 

A lineage holder dies and successor-ship goes up for grabs with lots of contention on who is teaching the real art.  Often all the parties are sincere and dedicated but it makes for a messy situation with bad feelings and vendettas. 

[Dainin]

There is at least one other book on this practice, "The Shamanic Healer" by Malcolm Ritchie, that was published back in the 1980s. He was married to a Japanese woman and moved to a remote village in Japan, where he was trained by Ikuko Osumi. He is now a poet on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Maybe he would have a lead on who to learn it from in Japan.