Katsugen undō (Noguchi)

1. Introduction

Version followed: katsugen undō (活元運動) as the Seitai Kyokai (公益社団法人整体協会, Tokyo) and Haruchika Noguchi's publishers present it in their public descriptions. Practitioner accounts from the European lineages (the Itsuo Tsuda schools and Seitai de Barcelona) fill gaps and are labelled as such. Detailed instruction is given only in the association's own classes and in Noguchi's books; this guide does not reproduce it. [source: Seitai Kyokai admission and books pages; Chikuma Shobo]

What it is. Katsugen undō is the basic self-practice of Noguchi Seitai (野口整体), the system developed by Haruchika Noguchi (1911–1976). Common English renderings are "regenerating" or "regenerative movement" and "spontaneous regenerative movement". Chikuma Shobo, the publisher of Noguchi's Seitai nyūmon (整体入門, Chikuma Bunko, 2002), describes it as a practice that guides the body's own spontaneous movement in order to correct its imbalances (体の自発的な運動を誘導して体の偏りを正す). The publisher also calls it the foundation for the book's other exercises. The idea of spontaneous movement predates Noguchi: Kyotsuki Matsubara is credited with discovering katsugen undō, and Tsunezo Ishii's "living ki" method, which aroused spontaneous movement through the nervous system, is described as closely connected to it. Noguchi adopted the term seitai from 1943. In the 1950s he gave up a treatment model, which he saw as creating dependency, and turned to teaching people to use their own bodies. [source: Chikuma Shobo product page; Wikipedia "Seitai", which cites Tsuda and Japanese sources] [uncertain: the Matsubara and Ishii history rests on a secondary source]

Core idea of change, as the tradition states it (attributed, not established fact). The Seitai Kyokai defines katsugen undō as a self-training method that uses the extrapyramidal system to make a person more sensitive to the inner power that seeks to live life fully [source: Seitai Kyokai activity page]. Noguchi's books, as the association lists them, present katsugen undō and yuki (愉気法, a hands-on practice) as ways of training the extrapyramidal nervous system (錐体外路系) to revive the body's capacity to regulate itself. In this view, conscious control and excess will get in the way. Once the practitioner gives up directing the movement, involuntary movement appears and rebalances the body. Noguchi also treated fever, pain and diarrhoea as part of recovery, and late in life he called katsugen an "inner dialogue". Practitioners describe the movement as anything from vigorous to almost still, and say it can bring old pain, tension, memories and feelings back to the surface. None of these physiological or energetic accounts (ki, extrapyramidal training, toxin elimination) has independent scientific support. [source: Seitai Kyokai books page; Blasco 2014; Seitai de Barcelona; Wikipedia "Seitai"]

What it is not. It is not a psychotherapy. A psychoanalyst who has practised Seitai since 1980 writes that people come to Seitai to cultivate sensitivity and coordination, not for therapy. It should not be offered as a treatment for any physical or mental disorder. [source: Blasco 2014] [synthesis]

Evidence status. No controlled trials or systematic reviews of katsugen undō are known [uncertain]. The nearest clinical literature concerns spontaneous-movement and other qigong practices in China. That literature reports a lack of controlled data on mental-health effects, along with case series of practice-precipitated psychotic, dissociative and anxiety states. It is a different practice and is used here only by analogy. [source: Ng 1999; Shan 2000] [synthesis]

2. Framework

Who teaches, and in what format.

Japan, Seitai Kyokai. The association is a public-interest incorporated association (公益社団法人) based in Setagaya, Tokyo. Newcomers start with an introductory course, the 活元運動普及会 (Katsugen Undō Fukyūkai), held regularly at the association's certified guidance rooms (認定指導室). This is the main course open to non-members. The association also holds a katsugen meeting for first-timers at its headquarters dōjō, centred on katsugen practice. [source: Seitai Kyokai activity page] Most other courses and individual Seitai guidance (個人指導) are for members only. Membership requires an application to a guidance room, or sponsorship by two members with a letter of introduction, and approval is not guaranteed. Separate fees apply for group courses and individual guidance. Members receive the monthly magazine Gekkan Zensei (月刊全生). [source: Seitai Kyokai admission page]
Teaching authority. Teaching rests with the Seitai Kyokai's certified guidance rooms and the instructors who run them. The association runs an instruction course that teaches Seitai manipulation (seitai sōhō) as an auxiliary technique and trains instructors, and it certifies "Seitai Consultants", who are listed in its directory of guidance rooms. It warns that people offering "Noguchi Seitai" who are not in that directory, including uncertified members, have no connection with the association. "Katsugen Undō" is the association's registered trademark, and using the name for courses, publications or websites requires its permission. [source: Seitai Kyokai activity page; Seitai Kyokai guidance alert (2026)] Outside the association, lineage schools set their own teaching standards [uncertain]. No government licence or health-profession regulation of katsugen undō in Japan or elsewhere is known [uncertain]. The association's legal status is a corporate status, not a clinical licence. [source: Seitai Kyokai admission page]
Europe. Itsuo Tsuda studied with Noguchi from 1940 and returned to Europe in 1970 to spread the regenerative movement and his ideas on ki. He opened L'École de la Respiration in Paris in 1973. Dōjōs in his network now operate in France, Italy and the Netherlands. Seitai de Barcelona, linked to Katsumi Mamine, offers practice sessions, an introductory course and individual attention. These lineages are not the Seitai Kyokai, and their wording differs. [source: Wikipedia "Itsuo Tsuda"; Seitai de Barcelona]

The published shape of a practice, described qualitatively.

Preparation. Some preparatory exercises (準備運動) come first, though Seitai de Barcelona says practice can also start by simply letting movement come. The preparatory movements loosen the trunk and are paired with exhalation. Teachers vary in how they describe them; see section 4. [source: Blasco 2014; Seitai de Barcelona; Shadowbody Butoh Manual]
Letting go. The practitioner adopts what Blasco calls an "abandoned mind" (mente abandonada). Spontaneous movement is then allowed to appear without conscious direction. It is not forced, judged, or compared with gymnastics. [source: Blasco 2014]
Spontaneous movement. The movement may be dynamic or close to still and differs every time. Barcelona's description says the movement involves the head, spine and pelvis. [source: Seitai de Barcelona; Blasco 2014]
Ending and return. The movement settles and attention returns to ordinary awareness. How the Seitai Kyokai closes a practice is not described in its public pages [uncertain].

Katsugen can be practised alone or in a group, and over time the practice becomes self-practice. [source: Blasco 2014]
Session count and phase criteria. The tradition publishes no fixed course length, and no published criteria for moving between stages are known [uncertain]. Entry is through the introductory course, followed by membership-based group and individual guidance.

Framework for the psychotherapist [synthesis]. Unless the therapist is themselves authorised by a Seitai guidance room, teaching or leading katsugen is the Seitai instructor's job. The therapist's job runs in four phases:

(a) assess suitability and safety;
(b) prepare the client and refer;
(c) support the client while they practise elsewhere, and integrate what comes up;
(d) review, and pause or stop when warning signs appear.

Move from (a) to (b) only when screening finds no exclusion and the client gives informed consent. Move from (b) to (c) once the client has attended the introductory course. Go to (d) at any red flag (section 5).

3. Guiding principles

Attribute, do not assert. Ki, the regenerative movement, extrapyramidal training and the release of "jaki" (邪気, stale or harmful ki) are the tradition's concepts. Practical meaning: say "Seitai teaches that…", never "your body is releasing toxins". [source: Seitai de Barcelona; Seitai Kyokai books page] [synthesis]
Non-doing over effort. The tradition holds that will and striving block the movement, and Blasco links this to wu wei. Practical meaning: never coach a client to produce movement or a breakthrough, and treat "trying harder" as a sign to step back. [source: Blasco 2014]
Each session is different. Movement is not to be compared or judged. Practical meaning: do not rate a client's movements, and do not hold up other people's movements as a model. [source: Blasco 2014]
Teaching authority sits with the tradition. Practical meaning: refer to the Seitai Kyokai's introductory course, or to a recognised lineage school. Do not run classes branded as Noguchi Seitai unless that school has authorised you. [source: Seitai Kyokai admission page] [synthesis]
Self-regulation, not dependency. Noguchi turned away from treatment because it created dependency. Practical meaning: support the client's own judgement about whether and how to practise. [source: Wikipedia "Seitai"]
Stay in charge of your own body. Involuntary movement always carries a risk of losing control. Practical meaning: agree before practice that the client can open their eyes and stop at any moment, and check that they can actually do so. [synthesis; compare the CCMD-2 criteria, which treat the inability to stop as a defining feature of qigong deviation, as reported by Shan 2000]
Medical care is never delayed. The tradition sees fever and pain as signs of recovery. Practical meaning: any new, persistent or severe physical symptom goes to a doctor, whatever the client's Seitai framework says. [source: Wikipedia "Seitai"] [synthesis]
Touch is consented, non-sexual and someone else's skill. Yuki and any hands-on guidance are for the Seitai instructor, not the therapist. Practical meaning: no hands-on Seitai work in psychotherapy unless your professional code permits it and you hold the training. [source: USABP Code VIII; EABP 2020 Principle 7] [synthesis]
Material that surfaces belongs in therapy. Practitioners report that old pain, memories and feelings can return during practice. Practical meaning: make room in sessions to process these experiences, and read them as experiences, not as evidence of past events. [source: Seitai de Barcelona; Blasco 2014] [synthesis]
Physical safety first. Practical meaning: use a clear floor space, with no hard edges or furniture within reach, and screen for medical risks (section 4.1). [synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

This inventory has two parts. Items 4.4–4.7 are the components of katsugen undō as its schools publicly describe them. They are here so the therapist can recognise what the client meets, and they are taught by the Seitai instructor; nothing in them is an instruction to perform. Items 4.1–4.3 and 4.8–4.12 are the psychotherapist's own interventions [synthesis]. The guide gives no repetition counts, hold times or breathing timings.

4.1 Suitability and physical-safety screening (therapist)

Purpose / when: Before a client starts katsugen undō, or when a client already practising brings it into therapy. Neither the Seitai Kyokai nor the European schools publish contraindications [uncertain]. The list below is therefore drawn from the qigong-deviation literature and general clinical safety [synthesis].
Steps:
1. Psychiatric screen. Ask about any personal history of psychosis, bipolar disorder, mania or hypomania, and about family history of psychosis. Ask about current or past dissociative symptoms and dissociative disorders, and current PTSD with flashbacks. Ask about panic disorder, recent substance use and current suicidality. Practice-precipitated psychotic, manic, dissociative and anxiety presentations are reported after qigong, mostly in people with prior vulnerability. [source: Shan 2000; Ng 1999]
2. Medical screen [synthesis]. The practice involves involuntary, sometimes vigorous movement and forceful exhalation. Ask about epilepsy or other seizure disorders (involuntary movement can mask or resemble a seizure), cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension and pregnancy. Ask about osteoporosis or fragility fractures, recent surgery or injury, and spinal or joint conditions, including hypermobility and neck problems. Ask about balance problems, falls and dizziness, and about anticoagulant use (bruising from knocks). When any of these apply, the client asks their doctor before starting.
3. Practice-pattern screen. Ask whether the client plans to practise alone, how much, and whether they have learnt from a teacher. In Shan's series, most affected people practised alone and were self-taught, and excessive or compulsive practice was a recurring feature. [source: Shan 2000]
4. Decision. With active psychosis, mania, a recent psychotic episode, or severe unstabilised dissociation, advise against starting. With other risk factors, agree a stabilisation plan and medical clearance first. Write down the decision and the reasons. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "Katsugen undō asks you to let movement happen without steering it. For most people that feels freeing. For some, especially anyone who has had experiences of losing touch with reality, or of 'leaving' their body, it can be destabilising. So I'd like to ask some questions before you start."
Watch for: minimising of past episodes ("that was years ago"); eagerness to use the practice to bring back memories; plans for long solo practice. The screen is working when the client can name their own warning signs and agrees who they will contact.

4.2 Informed-consent and expectation conversation (therapist)

Purpose / when: Before referral. The aim is a balanced picture of what the practice is, what is claimed, what is not known, and the client's right to stop.
Steps:
1. Describe the practice as the tradition does, and label its concepts as the tradition's (ki, regenerative movement, extrapyramidal self-regulation).
2. Tell the client the evidence status: no controlled studies are known [uncertain].
3. Describe the experiences practitioners report: movements from vigorous to still; the return of old pain, tension, memories and feelings; yawning; emotional arousal. [source: Seitai de Barcelona; Blasco 2014; Shadowbody Butoh Manual]
4. Agree that the client can open their eyes and stop at any point, and that they will tell their teacher about their therapy and any risk factors they choose to share.
5. Make clear that katsugen is not a substitute for medical or psychiatric care. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "The Seitai tradition understands this movement as the body regulating itself through what it calls ki. That's its way of seeing it; there's no research showing what it does or doesn't do. You stay in charge. You can open your eyes and stop at any moment."
Watch for: clients treating the practice as a cure; pressure from family or community to join; any sense that refusing would disappoint the therapist.

4.3 Space and physical-safety set-up (therapist advice for home practice)

Purpose / when: When the client will practise at home, or when the therapist checks a group setting.
Steps [synthesis]:
1. A clear floor area with a soft, non-slip surface, away from furniture corners, glass, stoves, stairs and open windows.
2. Glasses, jewellery and objects in pockets removed; loose clothing.
3. No practice straight after a large meal, alcohol or drugs, or when acutely unwell or exhausted.
4. Solo beginners practise only after learning in a supervised class, and let someone know they are practising.
5. Anyone who is dizzy, faint or in chest pain stops, sits or lies down, and gets medical help if it persists.
Example language (illustrative): "Movements can get bigger than you expect, so give yourself room. Imagine you might roll or sway and not want to hit anything."
Watch for: bruises or knocks reported after practice; practising in cramped or unsafe spaces; falls. Any injury means the client reviews the practice with the teacher and, if needed, a doctor.

4.4 Preparatory exercises (taught by the Seitai instructor)

Purpose / when: In the schools' accounts, they come before the spontaneous phase to loosen tension and help movement start. Seitai de Barcelona says practice can begin either with them or by letting movement come directly. [source: Seitai de Barcelona; Blasco 2014]
Steps as published (qualitative, for recognition):
- The Seitai Kyokai does not publish its preparatory sequence online; Noguchi's 整体法の基礎 is listed by the association as explaining katsugen undō and yuki in concrete terms [source: Seitai Kyokai books page]. The term 邪気 (jaki, stale or harmful ki) is a tradition concept; how it figures in the association's preparatory exercises is [uncertain].
- One published teaching variant, from a butoh teaching site that cites no Seitai source, follows this order:
  1. Loose, unplanned movement of head, neck, arms and trunk.
  2. A long audible exhalation while bending forward with gentle pressure just below the breastbone.
  3. Seated trunk twists with the eyes following the turn, ending in sudden relaxation.
  4. A twist with a small bounce and arm swing.
  5. A whole-body tensing on a strong exhalation, released suddenly.
  6. Sitting with eyes closed and letting whatever movement arises continue.
  It is described here as that site's version, not as Seitai Kyokai practice. [source: Shadowbody Butoh Manual] [uncertain: relationship to Noguchi's sequence not verified]
Example language (illustrative, therapist to client): "What did the teacher have you do before the free part? How did your body respond to the breathing out and the twisting?"
Watch for [synthesis]: dizziness, tingling in hands or lips, or light-headedness after forceful exhalations (possible over-breathing); pain in the neck or back with twisting; abdominal pain from pressing below the breastbone; pregnancy or recent abdominal surgery (hand pressure on the abdomen is inappropriate without medical advice). These are reported to the teacher, who adapts or omits the exercise.

4.5 Spontaneous movement phase (taught by the Seitai instructor)

Purpose / when: The core of the practice. In the tradition's terms, the body's own regulating movement is allowed to appear. [source: Chikuma Shobo; Seitai Kyokai books page]
Steps as published (qualitative):
1. The practitioner, often with eyes closed, gives up conscious direction ("abandoned mind").
2. They allow movement that is pleasant and automatic, without forcing or comparing it.
3. Movement may be large or small, involving head, spine and pelvis, and differs each time.
Practitioners report that deep pains from old injuries can surface, and that the body may find movements it could not make voluntarily. [source: Blasco 2014; Seitai de Barcelona]
Example language (illustrative, therapist debrief): "When the movement came, did you still feel you could stop it if you wanted to?" / "What was it like not to be the one deciding?"
Watch for:
- Loss of control: the client feels unable to stop, or the movement continues after practice. This matches the qigong-deviation criterion of practice that cannot be stopped at will. [source: Shan 2000]
- Dissociation: gaps in awareness, depersonalisation or derealisation, "watching from outside".
- Other warning signs: visions or voices; a sensation of energy rushing to the head; sleeplessness or elation afterwards; growing preoccupation with the practice. [source: Shan 2000]
- Physical: injury from knocking into objects.
- Signs it is going well [synthesis]: the client feels settled afterwards, keeps clear awareness, can stop at will, and sleeps and functions normally.

4.6 Ending and return to ordinary awareness

Purpose / when: Closing a practice so the client leaves oriented.
Steps: The Seitai Kyokai's closing is not described publicly [uncertain]. The butoh variant closes with a few full breaths and noticing what one sees, hears and feels. [source: Shadowbody Butoh Manual] The therapist's addition [synthesis]: before travelling or driving, the client checks that they are oriented. That means knowing the time and place, feet felt on the floor, and normal steadiness on standing.
Example language (illustrative): "Before you leave, notice your feet, look around the room and name a few things you see."
Watch for: lingering trance-like states, unsteadiness, or emotional flooding after practice. These are discussed with the teacher and taken into account in the screening review (4.1).

4.7 Yuki (愉気法) and other hands-on Seitai forms: referral only

Purpose / when: In the tradition, yuki is a practice in which one person lies face down while the other places their hands on them without intent, "breathing through the hands". The Seitai Kyokai describes yuki as developing the instinctive "laying on of hands" by which people protect one another into a practice of ki resonance, based on breathing and concentrated attention. The tradition presents yuki, alongside katsugen, as a way to revive self-regulation. [source: Seitai Kyokai activity page and books page] Feelings such as anger, pain or anguish and childhood memories are said to surface during yuki. [source: Blasco 2014; Seitai Kyokai books page] Individual Seitai guidance (個人指導) is a member service given at guidance rooms. [source: Seitai Kyokai admission page]
Steps (therapist):
1. Describe the practice for referral, without performing it.
2. Before the client attends, discuss consent to touch: they can ask what will be touched and why, decline any touch, and stop at any moment.
3. Clients with trauma histories may ask for adaptations: staying clothed, choosing body position, having a companion present, or attending only touch-free sessions.
4. Make clear that sexual or genital touch never belongs in this or any bodywork, and that the client can report concerns.
5. Do not combine hands-on yuki with psychotherapy yourself. Mainstream codes (BACP, UKCP, BPS, HCPC, APA, AAMFT) contain no touch provision but forbid sexual contact and require practice within competence. Body-psychotherapy codes (USABP, EABP) permit touch only with assessment, informed consent that is monitored over time, and the right to refuse. [source: USABP Code VIII; EABP 2020 Principle 7; UKCP 2019 items 4, 23; APA 10.05] [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "Some Seitai guidance involves the teacher's hands resting on your back. You can ask about that beforehand, say no to it, or stop it partway. If anything ever feels sexual or wrong, stop, leave, and tell me or someone you trust."
Watch for: client reports of touch they did not agree to, pressure to accept touch, or secrecy. Feelings or memories that surface under touch come back to therapy (4.9). Boundary violations are handled through reporting (section 5).

4.8 Referral and collaboration with the Seitai instructor (therapist)

Purpose / when: Once screening and consent are complete.
Steps:
1. Point the client to the Seitai Kyokai's Katsugen Undō Fukyūkai at a certified guidance room in Japan, and check that the instructor appears in the association's directory of certified Seitai Consultants [source: Seitai Kyokai guidance alert (2026)]. Outside Japan, point them to an established lineage school, for example the École Itsuo Tsuda dōjōs or Seitai de Barcelona. [source: Seitai Kyokai admission page; Wikipedia "Itsuo Tsuda"; Seitai de Barcelona]
2. With the client's written consent, agree what may be shared with the teacher: for example, "history of dissociation; please let them practise near the wall with eyes open if they want".
3. Agree that the client, or the teacher with consent, will tell the therapist about any adverse reaction.
4. Do not take fees for referrals. [source: EABP 2020 5.d]
5. Where a client receives parallel services, discuss the roles openly to avoid confusion. [source: EABP 2020 6.b] [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "Would it help if the teacher knew a little of what we've talked about, just enough to keep you safe? You decide what goes in."
Watch for: teachers who discourage medical or psychiatric care, promise cures, or demand exclusive loyalty. Any of these is a reason to reconsider the referral. [synthesis]

4.9 Integration of practice experiences in psychotherapy (therapist)

Purpose / when: After the client has practised and brings back sensations, images, feelings or memories.
Steps [synthesis]:
1. Invite a description of the experience in sensory terms first: what moved, where, how it felt, whether stopping was possible.
2. Explore the meaning the client gives it, staying inside the client's framework without endorsing claims about ki.
3. For memories that surface, use memory-research cautions. Bodily or emotional experiences are not proof of past events. Do not interpret movements as recovered memories or suggest abuse histories.
4. Link the experience to therapy goals, for example noticing how control and letting go show up in relationships.
5. Close by checking orientation and next steps.
Example language (illustrative): "You said your shoulders shook and a memory of school came up. Let's stay with what you noticed in your body first. What it means can come later, and it doesn't have to mean anything fixed."
Watch for: the client building certainty about past events from movement experiences; escalating intensity sought deliberately; insight that helps daily life (a good sign).

4.10 Stop-and-ground procedure for dissociation or overwhelm (therapist)

Purpose / when: When a client becomes dissociated, flooded or disoriented while recounting practice, or arrives still affected by it.
Steps [synthesis]:
1. Ask them to open their eyes and look around.
2. Name the time and place.
3. Invite the client to press their feet into the floor and feel the chair.
4. Ask them to name things they see and hear.
5. Slow, ordinary breathing, without forcing breaths or holding.
6. Once they are oriented, review what happened and whether to pause practice.
7. Teach the client the same steps for use during katsugen, so that opening the eyes and orienting becomes their agreed stop signal.
Example language (illustrative): "Let's pause. Eyes open with me. It's Thursday, you're in my office. Feel your feet on the floor. Tell me three things you can see."
Watch for: the time taken to re-orient; repeated episodes, which mean a pause in practice and a review of the screening (4.1).

4.11 Monitoring for psychotic, manic or anxiety reactions (therapist)

Purpose / when: Throughout any period of practice, especially at the start or when practice increases.
Steps:
1. At each session, ask briefly about sleep, mood, unusual experiences, energy sensations in the head, and the amount of practice.
2. If psychotic or manic features appear (delusions, hallucinations, disorganised speech, elation, over-talkativeness, practice-related posturing), stop the practice and arrange urgent psychiatric assessment. Shan's case series describes these presentations, often beginning within days of practice. [source: Shan 2000]
3. Anxiety, hypochondriacal or obsessive presentations also call for a pause and review. [source: Shan 2000]
4. Ng proposes the term "precipitated" rather than "induced". In line with that, treat the practice as a stressor in a vulnerable person, and assess underlying conditions. [source: Ng 1999]
Example language (illustrative): "Since you started, how's your sleep been? Anything unusual, like sounds or sensations that didn't seem to come from anywhere, or a feeling of energy that won't settle?"
Watch for: reduced sleep, grandiosity, spiritual preoccupation that crowds out ordinary life, and compulsive practice.

4.12 Working with the client's Seitai concepts (taiheki, ki, "recovery" symptoms) (therapist)

Purpose / when: When a client explains themselves or their illness in Seitai terms.
Steps:
1. Learn the client's terms. Taiheki (体癖, "body habit") is Noguchi's typology of body-mind dynamics; Blasco describes five: vertical, lateral, frontal, rotatory and central. [source: Blasco 2014; Seitai Kyokai books page, Taiheki]
2. Use the terms as the client's own language, not as a validated personality measure.
3. Where the client reads fever, pain or other symptoms as recovery, gently check that they have had medical assessment. [source: Wikipedia "Seitai"] [synthesis]
4. Respect the cultural and spiritual meaning the practice has for the client.
Example language (illustrative): "In Seitai that's understood as the body rebalancing. I'm glad it feels meaningful. Has a doctor also had a look at the fever, just to be safe?"
Watch for: symptoms left medically unassessed, and shame at "not doing it right" (Blasco notes the tradition's insistence on practising "correctly").

5. Handling problems

The Seitai sources cited here do not address clinical problems, so the guidance below is [synthesis] unless a source is given.

"Nothing happens" / stuck client. The tradition says will and effort block the movement, and that each practice differs. [source: Blasco 2014] Normalise stillness, discourage forcing, and explore any pressure to perform. Do not offer techniques to provoke movement. Example (illustrative): "In Seitai, trying to make it happen is said to get in the way. What's it like to let nothing happen?"
Overwhelm during or after practice. Use the stop-and-ground procedure (4.10). Advise the client to pause practice until it has been reviewed with you and the teacher. Afterwards, consider keeping the eyes open or practising in a smaller range, as the teacher advises.
Loss of control, or movement that continues outside practice. Stop the practice. Rule out neurological causes, such as seizures and movement disorders, by medical referral. Assess for dissociative or psychotic process. The inability to stop at will is a defining feature of qigong deviation in the CCMD-2. [source: Shan 2000]
Psychotic or manic reaction. Stop the practice. Arrange urgent psychiatric assessment, follow local crisis pathways, assess risk to self and others, and involve the client's support network with consent. Shan describes these reactions as often time-limited, and treatment as a matter for psychiatric care. [source: Shan 2000]
Re-experiencing trauma. Movements or sensations may trigger flashbacks. Go back to stabilisation work. If practice resumes, agree trauma-informed adaptations with the teacher: eyes open, position near an exit, the right to step out, no hands-on work. Do not use katsugen as an exposure method.
Compulsive or excessive practice. Excessive practice is a recurring risk factor in the qigong literature. [source: Shan 2000] Explore what the practice is doing for the client, such as avoidance, relief or spiritual seeking, and agree a sustainable pattern with the teacher. Do not set a dose yourself.
Non-adherence. The tradition values self-direction and opposes dependency. [source: Wikipedia "Seitai"] Stopping is a legitimate choice; explore it without pressure.
Clash of explanatory models / rupture. A client may feel the therapist dismisses Seitai, or may reject medicine because Seitai treats symptoms as recovery. Acknowledge the meaning the practice has, and state your safety concerns plainly. Agree that medical assessment and Seitai can coexist. Repair any rupture by naming the disagreement openly.
Physical injury or medical symptoms. Send the client to medical care promptly. Fever, persistent pain and diarrhoea are assessed by a doctor whatever the tradition's view. [source: Wikipedia "Seitai"] Tell the teacher with consent.
Group or teacher concerns. These include pressure to continue, isolation from family, discouragement of medical care, financial exploitation, and unwanted or sexual touch. Support the client to leave. For sexual or abusive conduct, help with reporting. Unlike regulated professions, no government regulator for katsugen teachers is known [uncertain]. The Seitai Kyokai's directory of certified instructors shows whether a teacher is authorised by the association [source: Seitai Kyokai guidance alert (2026)]. Reports therefore go to the association or school, the police where a crime may have occurred, and, if the person also holds a health-profession licence, that profession's regulator.
Your own boundaries. If you are trained and authorised in Seitai and want to bring it into therapy, check that your own professional code and insurer allow it. Keep the roles distinct, document consent, and seek supervision. Never touch without explicit, ongoing consent; never touch sexually. [source: USABP Code VIII; EABP 2020 Principle 7; BACP 2018 paras 13, 33–35]
Children. Noguchi wrote on childcare, and Blasco notes that the swaying of katsugen often soothes mothers and babies. [source: Seitai Kyokai books page; Blasco 2014] For any minor, practice requires parental consent and the child's own assent, with safeguarding procedures in place. Do not refer children with psychiatric vulnerability.

Sources

Web sources

Books (cited from publisher or association listings)

Noguchi, H. (2002). 整体入門 (Seitai nyūmon). Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo (Chikuma Bunko).
Noguchi, H. 健康生活の原理; 整体法の基礎; 愉気法一・二. Tokyo: Zensei-sha [uncertain: years not given in the association's list].
Noguchi, H. (2013). 体癖 (Taiheki). Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo (Chikuma Bunko).
Tsuda, I. (1973). Le Non-Faire. Paris [uncertain: publisher not verified].
Noguchi, H. (1984). Order, Spontaneity and the Body. Tokyo: Zensei [uncertain: listed in a secondary source only].

← Previous · X-079Delsarte system and Dalcroze eurhythmics Next · X-082 →Dispokinesis for musicians