Kiko, The Reiki Dance

                         ~ Kiko, The Reiki Dance ~ 

Kiko;

 is according to some sources the original name for the practice that has come to be called chi gong or chi kung. This art was practiced by a great many of usui’s students. It has a lot in common with the art that we in the modern west have come to know as Tai Chi; Tai Chi is in fact one form of Chi Gong. Kiko is also called kipo. It means Breath / or Spirit - cultivation; it also means remarkable effect or remarkable results! 

Kata (型 or 形 literally: Form or Pattern) is a Japanese word often describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practiced either solo, or in pairs, or groups. 

More recently, kata (or the dance) has come to be used in English in a more general or figurative sense, referring to any basic form, routine, or pattern of behavior that is practiced to various levels of mastery. It is also something practiced in Massage, and Energy healing Modalities. It is a type of Movement or “Dance” that is done to keep the body moving fluidly as to protect it from stiffness and pain when one is working on clients. Kata’s are used in many traditional Japanese arts such as theater forms like kabuki and schools of tea ceremony, but are most commonly known for their presence in the martial arts.

In Japanese language, kata often written as 方 (and resembling a person dancing) ...

is a frequently-used suffix meaning “way of doing,” with emphasis on the form and order of the process. Other meanings are “training method” and “formal exercise.” The goal of a painter’s practicing, for example, is to merge his consciousness with his brush; the potter’s with his clay; the garden designer’s with the materials of the garden. Once such mastery is achieved, the theory goes, the doing of a thing perfectly is as easy as thinking it.

One of the things that characterizes an organization’s culture are its kata - its routines of thinking and practice. Edgar Schein suggests an organization's culture helps it cope with its environment, and one meaning of kata is, "a way to keep two things in sync or harmony with one another." A task for leaders and managers is to create and maintain the organizational culture through consistent role modeling, teaching, and coaching, which is in many ways analogous to how martial-arts kata are taught.

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In the third Celestine Prophecy series book “The Secret of Shambala” about the 11^th insight, the Kata though not named as such; is spoken of, in a conversation between the main character and a oriental Tai Chi master in the mountains. Where it is revealed that the forms are great for training a person new to the practice, but if one would arise each morning and let the body move in a free form dance for half and hour the way it wants to move; ones energy is greatly increased. This free form dance, along with Liturgical Worship dance, Yoga, Tai Chi, The Martial arts forms, and the Massage Dance practice are all under the term Kata in the Sprit-Hand Tradition. Kata Implies Dance and Movement. 

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So to Clarify these Terms; 

Tai Chi or Taiji vs. Chi Gong

Kiko  is an umbrella term that includes many form movement exercises.

Kata’s  are forms or series of forms. Dance Patterns utalized in various Movement Traditions like Martial Arts, and Tai Chi. 

Chi Gong  is the ancient exercise tradition(s) that help cultivate control over ones internal energies. There are few external movements when compared to other traditions, but the movements are typically more repetitive. Chi Gong is far more internal work than external.

Tai Chi  is a form of Chi Gong that is more external with more form movements, that are more focused. Typically there are many more forms or Kata’s but they are not as repetitive as the Chi Gong movements. Tai Chi is the bases of all Kata’s found within the martial arts, and these slow soft Kata’s are more focused on cultivating control of the precise flow of ones internal energies. After these are cultivated and put with the martial arts traditions, these basic forms or Kata’s help one to memorize physical fighting movement patterns.

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Chi Gong (Chi Kung, Ki Kung, Qi gung, Qi Kong) is used to build up internal energy, while Tai Chi or Taiji... is a way to practice utilizing that energy externally. Chi Gong builds the energy, Tai Chi moves the energy for personal health or to defend or fight, and Reiki Uses the energy combining it with higher energy vibrations to cause healing and balance to occur. Since all of these require Movement, they can all fall under the term Kiko. Kata is Specific patterns or forms of Kiko Exercises. We hope this clarifies what each movement tradition is and what it does.

Yoga;

 is a Tradition which utilizes Breath, Movement, Poses, Posture, and Energy Cultivation to bring the Chakra’s into harmony and thus align the energies of the Five Fold Being Circuit (Body, Mind, Heart, Spirit, Imagination; the Soul Being).

Dance Traditions;

 utilize movement of the body to express stories, ideas, feelings, and emotional energies. Dance allows us to celebrate life and to empower ourselves on multiple levels. There are a vast number of dance traditions in the world. Dancing helps raise energy, harness energy, and amplify energy; before releasing it to become manifest in the world as expression of thoughts and feelings.

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Note; We are working right now on forming a specific Series of Kata's for Reiki which will draw upon Influences from Tai Chi, Reiki, Yoga, and Even Belly, Tribal, Ballet, and Free form Dance. Theses Movement forms will look somewhat like the Kata's found within Tai Chi, and will also use the body to Dance the Reiki Symbol Patterns. These Kata's will be offered as either a separate class workshop or as part of Level 2 Reiki Training we haven't decided that as of yet. This Tradition will most likely be called Spirit-Hand Kiko, Reiki Kiko; something to that effect at least.

Link to Volume 2 of this post;
Kiko Volume 2