Why do we kneel in Seiza with our knees wide apart ?
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| To be honest, I don't know. In almost any other style you do keep your knees closed which also is the common way of kneeling in Japan. Even many Shotokai groups in Japan kneel with their knees kept together. Whether Master Murakami introduced this way of kneeling or not I do not know either, I have never asked him the question. If anyone has more information on the matter, let it be known! So much being said let's have a look at the esthetical side of the question which might yield some answers. The first and without doubt main reason is its effect on the pelvis. Kneeling with your knees apart thoroughly stretches your pelvis and softens it. Europeans, compared to Asians, definitely lack in suppleness of the pelvis and hips which is a cultural problem due to the use of chairs. Normally we sit on chairs, only rarely do we sit or kneel on the ground and practically never we crouch. In many restaurants in Japan you eat kneeling in Seiza. The first time I have eaten like this in a Japanese restaurant was on the occasion of Master Egami's last trip to France. I was part of a group of students very proud of dining with the founder of Shotokai Karate, who was accompanied by his assistant, Master Myamoto and also by Master Murakami. We had set up ourselves in advance in a magnificent Seiza, knees opened up to the limit. After a while the position became disagreeable then downright painful. The Japanese facing us remained relaxed and at ease while we were frozen in our positions well determined to prove ourselves to be real Samourai indifferent to pain. But after some time, maybe an hour, our faces musst have given us away and Master Egami asked Master Murakami to "allow us" to move. As we didn't want to lose face, and also because our legs were completely cramped, we waited a couple of minutes and then ended our ordeal. If I had thought about Seiza before I might have spared myself such a painful experience. But on the other hand as I was training myself at the time to kneel in Seiza for twenty, thirty minutes at one go trying to touch the ground with my backside I may consider it just another training session which lasted a bit longer than usual. Master Murakami often said Seiza helped in making one's pelvis supple enough to execute Yoko Geri properly. It is true, the way someone does Seiza and the way he or she does Yoko Geri often are similar. For this reason doing Seiza with your knees kept wide apart seems to be a good exercise for making your hips more supple and relaxed. But you must make sure not to hollow in your back to much and rather try and relax in an overall manner. On the other hand as Seiza is the position you assume for doing Mokuso (the meditation before bouwing at the beginning) the pelvis' position might be modelled on the one taken during Zazen in Zen meditation. Opening up your legs widely in Seiza gives you great stability but is it the best position from a martial arts' point of view as well? Looking at positions depicted in ancient books or at the Seiza of the initiated one truly wonders. They not only kneel in Seiza with their knees closed but also their lower backs are slightly curved. From an esthetical point of view this is less grand but it decidedly facilitates movement. For after all the martial arts are first and foremost arts of movement where the best position is the one that allows for the fastest movement. I remember the first time I saw a great master kneeling in Seiza, keeping his knees closed and slightly sinking into himself. I found this quite bizarre and not really looking good as I was used to our very upright position. But on second thought I realized his was the right position. Have you never seen a predator curling into himself before launching his attack? To come to a conclusion, let's do our big Seiza knees wide apart when ceremonially boughing one to another and as an exercise for making our pelvis more supple. But let's do Seiza with knees closed and our backs slightly curved which is technically correct from a martial arts' point of view for every other exercise done in this position. © Copyright Patrick Herbert, Technical director of Shotokai Europe, February 2004 |