So this post is now a few days late. It’s very disconcerting to go through such a time warp as flying halfway around the world can do. We have made it safely back to the U.S. and I have just finished a ridiculously long night of sleep. I tried going to bed at the local hour and woke up early feeling fine. Had my cup of coffee around 7:30am and at about 8:00am I fell asleep again – all the way through until 2 in the afternoon (almost the same hours I would have been sleeping had we been back in Japan. Let’s see how I do tonight. I’ll have to work out extra hard in Karate to try and poop myself out so I really have to sleep at the right time again.
Now to backtrack. We spent our last full day in Japan at Shudo Denmei sensei’s office. We did not take any photographs or videos during treatment time in the office as it was just not appropriate so all will be told in writing, save a few photos of the signs outside and the clinic after a day of work.
Treatment room to the left from our observational perspectiveThe right hand side of the treatment room from our perspective behind the wall
Shudo sensei greeted us in the morning and introduced us to his office space briefly. We were led to the room behind the treatment room and the set of sliding doors between them was opened so that we had a clear view of the three treatment tables from a few feet behind the foot of the bed. We were allowed to observe the treatment day from this room and stood in a line of five to watch as Shudo sensei and his 3 assistants wove seamlessly between the beds and around eachother to treat the 20 patients in the morning from 9am to 12pm then returned after lunch to treat another 20 patients between 2pm and 5pm. What a sight to see.
Shudo sensei would see most patients first and provide root treatment and some local needle work with his own super rotation technique and then, most often he would mark some points for moxa to be done by one of the assistants. Then the patient would be turned onto his/her sides and they would work the neck/occiput area, then onto his/her stomach and Shudo sensei would return to do some more needle work or his head deshi Sato might do it depending on the timing. More moxa and then, about 20 minutes after they lay down for treatment the patients were done. It was incredible to watch Shudo sensei work – at 80 years old he has been working in the clinic attached to his house since 1952. He is an artist and we were privileged enough to have been give (quite literally) a window into his treatment space. Beautiful!
Sign outside Shudo (Shutou)’s clinic
After his day of 40 patients, he was dear enough to join us for dinner. He took us to a mighty fancy restaurant and we ate a most delicate and beautiful meal of many courses with soups and salads, sushi and sashimi, tempura and dumplings, handrolls and pickles and finished with some fruit and just enough time to ask him a few important questions about the day. He gave us some prescious insight and small demonstrations, one of which was on my neck. His work was so powerful in just a few short seconds of demonstration he managed to open up every muscle in my neck.
We got some pretty potent ki from that visit and when you add that to the day before up in Yu Fuin we will have to do all we can to hold that space with us every where we go and, most especially, everywhere we treat!
2011 A day at Shudo sensei’s office
So this post is now a few days late. It’s very disconcerting to go through such a time warp as flying halfway around the world can do. We have made it safely back to the U.S. and I have just finished a ridiculously long night of sleep. I tried going to bed at the local hour and woke up early feeling fine. Had my cup of coffee around 7:30am and at about 8:00am I fell asleep again – all the way through until 2 in the afternoon (almost the same hours I would have been sleeping had we been back in Japan. Let’s see how I do tonight. I’ll have to work out extra hard in Karate to try and poop myself out so I really have to sleep at the right time again.
Now to backtrack. We spent our last full day in Japan at Shudo Denmei sensei’s office. We did not take any photographs or videos during treatment time in the office as it was just not appropriate so all will be told in writing, save a few photos of the signs outside and the clinic after a day of work.
Shudo sensei greeted us in the morning and introduced us to his office space briefly. We were led to the room behind the treatment room and the set of sliding doors between them was opened so that we had a clear view of the three treatment tables from a few feet behind the foot of the bed. We were allowed to observe the treatment day from this room and stood in a line of five to watch as Shudo sensei and his 3 assistants wove seamlessly between the beds and around eachother to treat the 20 patients in the morning from 9am to 12pm then returned after lunch to treat another 20 patients between 2pm and 5pm. What a sight to see.
Shudo sensei would see most patients first and provide root treatment and some local needle work with his own super rotation technique and then, most often he would mark some points for moxa to be done by one of the assistants. Then the patient would be turned onto his/her sides and they would work the neck/occiput area, then onto his/her stomach and Shudo sensei would return to do some more needle work or his head deshi Sato might do it depending on the timing. More moxa and then, about 20 minutes after they lay down for treatment the patients were done. It was incredible to watch Shudo sensei work – at 80 years old he has been working in the clinic attached to his house since 1952. He is an artist and we were privileged enough to have been give (quite literally) a window into his treatment space. Beautiful!
After his day of 40 patients, he was dear enough to join us for dinner. He took us to a mighty fancy restaurant and we ate a most delicate and beautiful meal of many courses with soups and salads, sushi and sashimi, tempura and dumplings, handrolls and pickles and finished with some fruit and just enough time to ask him a few important questions about the day. He gave us some prescious insight and small demonstrations, one of which was on my neck. His work was so powerful in just a few short seconds of demonstration he managed to open up every muscle in my neck.
We got some pretty potent ki from that visit and when you add that to the day before up in Yu Fuin we will have to do all we can to hold that space with us every where we go and, most especially, everywhere we treat!