Katsuzo Nishi is a Japanese engineer and Aikido teacher, who were told that he wouldn’t survive his twenties because of his abnormally weak body. To improve his health, Katsuzo did all he could. His parents placed him to live in a Buddhist monastery, where he learned a lot about meditation and swordplay techniques.
As Katsuzo grew older he discovered a lot of literature that he placed his interests into, he read a lot contemporary books that were written by modern doctors as well as ancient treatments about Easter and European medicine. Later on, he wrote his own book as well, in which he set up his own system for strengthening the body. The book was published in 1927 when Katsuzo Nishi was 44 years old.
In this article we brought 6 rules that you can find in his book, which gained a lot of attention since this was explained 90 years ago.
Rule #1: A Hard Back
Spinal curvature can cause a lot of problems for our organs. A healthy and strong back is knowingly very important, so the author paid a lot attention to it. It’s very important to control your posture all day long, and even at night. Katsuzo claimed that maintaining a straight spine will make you 2cm taller and has beneficial work for the circulatory system and the digestive organs.
Rule #2: Use A Solid Roller Instead Of Pillow
Neck scoliosis is one of the first indications that the person’s life is going short, and this was also the opinion of the Japanese. While we can control the position of our head during the day, it’s hard to control it during the night, and Katsuzo recommends getting a solid pillow or a roller and placing the 3rd and 4th vertebrae of the neck on it.
Rule #3: The Goldfish Exercise
- Lie straight on a solid surface
- Stretch your hands up
- Place your soles perpendicular to the floor
- Stretch your left sole forward and your left hand up without removing them from the floor, repeat the same movements for the opposite hand and feet
- Place your clasped hand under your neck, crossing them across the 3rd and 4th vertebrae of your neck
- Bring your legs together and slightly spread your feet out to the sides
- Move your feet left and right, so your body vibrates
- Repeat the exercise for 2 minutes
Rule #4: Improve Capillary Circulation
- Lie on a hard surface
- Put a solid roller under the 3rd and 4th vertebrae of your neck
- Raise your legs and arms, slightly bend your elbows and knees and relax
- Shake your arms and legs
- Repeat the exercise for 1-3 minutes
Rule #5: Joining Your Arms And Soles
- Join your palms together perpendicular to your body and press the fingertips on both hands together, repeat the actions but press together until you reach your palms. Keeping palms pressed together, lift up your hands, and then place them back on your solar plexus.
- Place your connected palms behind your head without changing their position, then place them back on the solar plexus.
- Place your connected palms on the solar plexus and move them towards your legs, then move your hands forward and backward from the breast to the groin 10 times.
- Raise your connected palms perpendicular to your solar plexus, move to the legs, and then place them behind your head.
- Place the connected palms back onto the solar plexus, raise them, and start moving your legs forward and backward keeping your soles joint together.
- Combine both leg and hand movements, and if you feel any pain lower the amount of reps. Try this position with closed eyes 10 minutes.
Rule #6: A Spine And Stomach Exercise
- Move shoulders up and down without changing the position of your arms.
- Move your hands back into the starting position and smoothly bend your head towards your left shoulder, then repeat it for your right shoulder.
- Place your hands on your sole and raise the head up with the chin facing upwards, then lower your head so the chin touches your breasts.
- Raise your arms to the sides, keeping the parallel to the floor and bend your elbows. Bring your hands together in front of your face, round your back, and touch your chest with your chin.
- Spread your hands out to your sides, bring your shoulder blades together, straighten your back, throw your head back, and hold this position for 7 seconds.
- Sit in the starting position and repeat the 1st exercise. Stay that way for 10 minutes.