I remember once being taught personally by Tohei Sensei. It was a Kiatsu lesson. Kiatsu is a way of treatment where Ki is applied by touching in order to help body condition to improve and recover health & well-beingness. It derives from Te a te concept (put a hand on).
Tohei Sensei was teaching a few of kiatsu students in his private quarters. He is a very creative, resourceful man and teacher. He used whatever means he considered ok to help us understand. So he made us do kiatsu upon his own body so he could give us instant feedback on our technique. I was applying kiatsu to him and then I noticed he was asleep. Snoring. So I just stared in the eye of one of my colleages. I didn´t say a single word, but I remember thinking then “the old man is tired” or something like that. After all, it was a kiatsu lesson! How could he sleep during it?
At that very moment I felt a soft yet strong hand correcting my technique, while Tohei´s voice said “don´t push, just touch… regain your focus”. He was wide awake, corecting precisely my rather poor treatment. Then he say “ok, that´s correct”. In no time he was sound asleep again. I was to shocked and perplexed as to dare to even think, so I remained in no-mind not because of personal realization, but of fear to somehow awaking Sensei again through my brain wave activity or something like that.
Time went by. Precisely at four o´clock, Tohei Sensei awakened saying “owarimasu!” (time´s up!) and he dsimissed us.
How could he know when to awake? The class finished at four, and at that time he awakened. He used to be like that.
I know because I was there
by Adrian Kertesz
