I'm glad to have my own observations and beliefs backed up by Peter.
Many people in Japan do walk bow-legged, and it is indeed because of seiza,
at least to a large extent.
There is no conceivable reason to insist on playing seiza other than
adherence to tradition; it doesn't help you play any better than sitting in
a chair or standing up. That said, I like the mood of solemnity it brings
and sometimes use it for individual songs. For a longer practice session,
though...I don't really see the point. After all, we don't insist on
playing with baskets on our heads, do we?
(There is a large masochistic element to Japanese culture that I often hope
does not get transmitted to the States in the form of Eastern spirituality
mumbo jumbo. Obviously, if your knees are in pain, you're going to have
that much less focus on your flute.)
Zachary Braverman
On 01.11.29 10:43 AM, "PH" <bamboomuse@yahoo.com> opined:
> I've often ruminated on the adivsability of sitting in seiza, the
> cross-legged, or
> lotus/semi-lotus positions. The knee is the most primitive joint in the body,
> dating back to the
> dinosaurs, and like the finger and toe joints is designed for movement in one
> plane only. The
> lotus and its variants put a lot of lateral and torsional strain on the
> joint--as Bud pointed out,
> it's a yoga asana, and so was probably not designed to be held for long
> periods. Some people
> manage, though, and even find it comfortable. About ten years ago I did a
> Vipassana retreat in
> Rajastan, which involved 10 hours of meditation a day--much like a Zen
> sesshin--and I remember
> experiencing intense pain in my knees. It's hard enough trying to feel a
> half-dollar-sized spot on
> your skin "from the tip of your toes, to the top of your head; from the top of
> your head, to the
> tip of your toes" for ten hours a day without experiencing joint torture. We
> were told the pain
> was merely psychological, an attachment, and would pass, but I didn't get that
> far after only ten
> days. After about fifteen years I find an hour or two is my limit, and
> interestingly that limit
> hasn't moved up or down in all that time.
>
> During three years of studies with Kurahashi sensei in Kyoto, I never got
> beyond "beginner's
> seiza"--with an extra zabuton between my upper and lower legs. Even then, the
> mid-lesson break was
> spent dealing with the numbness. In karate class in college we had to sit in
> seiza on a wood floor
> briefly at the end of class, and I'll never forget the time our teacher gave
> us a half-hour
> lecture before letting us sit cross-legged--about overcoming our weaknesses,
> of course.
>
> Anyway, enough reminiscing--seiza is very comfortable when you get used to it,
> but I think it also
> has its drawbacks. As a bodyworker I tend to observe people's bodies and
> gaits, and I've noticed
> that many Japanese women are somewhat pigeon-toed, and some even show slight
> signs of dropfoot,
> which is caused by paralysis of or damage to nerves in the legs. I've also
> seen far more women
> with postures indicative of shortened ilio-psoas muscles (they run along the
> front of the hip) in
> Japan than in any of the other three dozen or so countries I've been to. Both
> of these could be
> due to longs periods spent sitting in seiza, and it seems that Japanese women
> spend quite a bit
> more time sitting that way than men. It's just conjecture, but we can't
> forget that all of these
> things are human inventions, and while they certainly all have great benefits,
> they may at times
> be working against the human body, or at least individual human bodies. So I'd
> agree with Bud that
> as long as you're supoorting your diaphragm, sit in a way that's comfortable.
>
> As a footnote, I've read that part of attaining aparigraha, the stage of yoga
> which is basically
> non-attachment, is the ability to see one's past lives, and that this ability
> is due to letting go
> of attachment to this life. It's beyond the stage of asana, so this author
> said, because first you
> have to stop holding on to your joints too tightly!
>
> Peter
>
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......
Zachary Braverman
Japanese to English Translation
Virtual: zachary@kotodama.net | Physical: Oita City, Japan
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