About Nishi

The Nishi System is a methodology for the maintenance and recovery of good health that was first introduced in 1927 by Katsuzo Nishi, who at the time was the chief technical engineer for Japans first subway project, the Tokyo subway. From childhood Nishi was weak of constitution, and realizing that the medical science of the day could not cure his ailments, he independently undertook in his late teens the study and practice of what would amount to some 360 types of folk cures and health methods, both ancient and contemporary, Oriental and Occidental. Adding to these his own theories about the dynamics of the human body based on the mechanical science he studied in his own specialty, civil engineering, he established the Nishi-shiki Health Method. His theories are characterized by the idea that, in spite of the fact that the human bone structure and positioning of the internal organs are basically the same as those evolved for the mammalian species that ambulate on four legs, human being have adopted a basically upright two-legged life style that places certain structural strains on the human bone structure, resulting in problems like obstruction of the flow of food through the intestines (constipation) due to the unnatural (vertical) positioning of the organs. As methods to compensate for these structural defects, Nishi conceived and encouraged the use of treatment through exercises such as the goldfish (movement) style spinal column rectification exercise and the Nishi-shiki health fortifying technique( (lateral vibration exercise know as the Haifuku Undo). Furthermore, based on the structure of the human network of arteries and veins, Nishi refuted the heart-driven blood circulation theory of William Harvey, proposing instead a theory that the capillaries provided the true driving force of the circulatory system. And, in order to compensate for the obstruction of circulation in the four limbs resulting from the human species vertical posture, he proposed the Capillary Action- Inducing exercise (Mokan Undo), which involves lying on the back, raising the arms and legs and applying a slight vibrating motion. Besides these exercises, Nishi also recommended methods making use of implements like a hard, half cylinder pillow, design to keep the cerebral vertebrae in the ideal position from a structural standpoint and a flat sleeping platform (flat board) designed to do the same for the vertebrae of the spinal column. He also recommended the use for a hand (touch) healing method equivalent to what is known today as the Chinese kiko method using the flat of the hand. Combining these six basic methods with fasting therapy intended to prevent the harmful effects of constipation and the regular use of magnesium hydroxide as a laxative constitutes the fundamentals of the Nishi shiki Health Method. That is what Katsuzo Nishi wrote in his book: Sickly and weak since early childhood I was, when still a boy, given what was virtually a death sentence by a certain well-known physician: This young fellow, I am sorry to say, will never reach

the age of twenty. But today I am approaching the age that is three times twenty and this, be it noted, after having been actively engaged in engineering work for thirty long years and with stamina enough to have never missed a days work during the last twenty of these years. This health, for which I am so grateful, however, did not come to me by chance. I had to struggle for it. But, leaving the story of that struggle to be told in another part of this book, I wish simply to state here that what I am today I owe to my original methods of health building- methods which are a precious outcome of years of careful study of nearly every theory of health and preventative medicine to be found in the world, of endless experimentation, from the standpoint of modern medical science, of the knowledge so acquired. Four primary elements Nishi Medicine is a rational science of health. It serves everybody who wishes for good health through life. It can suggest to you this rational and working principle of health, on which you should rebuild a new way of living. Four primary elements, which integrate the human being as the ONENishi assumes that the human being is integrated as the ONE by the four primary namely the skin, limbs, nutrition, and mind. These four primary elements are unique in that they retain their own individuality, notwithstanding that they go to combine and integrate the human being as the ONE. In other words we can separate any one of them from the others and make it work or rest at our will.From a different angel of view, the human being may be divided into the following twelve components:(1) the bone, (2) the muscle,(3) the blood and lymph,(4) the blood vessel and lymphatic duct, (5) the respiratory organ, (6) the alimentary organ, (7) the urinary organ,(8) the endocrine gland,(9) the genital organ ,(10) the nervous system, (11) the sensory organ, and (12) the voice, vocal chord, and speaking. All these components coordinate and combine to act as a single whole. But different from the above four elements, they are inseparable each from the others; they have lost their own individuality in composing up the human being. For any disorder happening in any one of them, no single treatment is of any use; reestablishment of the coordination among all the components is the only effective measure for it.On the other hand, the four primary elements may be separately treated both in hygienic and therapeutics, since they retain their own individuality. This is why the Nishi Medicine specifies the skin, nutrition, limb and mind as the four primary elements, which integrate the human being as the ONE. SKIN The skin is that part of the human body which first comes into contact with the air, when we are born and composes a borderline between the human body and environment.There is an intimate realationship between the skin and health. Recall to mind that the glomus which, acting as an emergency controller, plays an important

role in the blood circulation is most abundantly distributed under the skin, and you will see how much important is the skin to health. Alfred Brauchle remarked that from a viewpoint of nature cure, the skin is one of the most important organs. This implies that the skin is a door, through which benign and salubrious influences of Nature come into the body.The skin has multi-phased functions; like the lungs it respires through the minute pores widely distributed all over the body surface. Certainly man cannot breathe by the lungs alone. This is clearly demonstrated by the familiar fact that when the minute pores on two-thirds of the body surface are blocked up by accident such as getting burn or any artificial means for example coating with paint or tar, the subject would faint with groan.Like the kidney or other excretory organs, the skin eliminates from blood waste matter by the sweat glands; in this connection it may be of interest to quote Maltens remark that in the treatment of renal disease, a very important thing is the stimulation of the general function of skin. This indicates that between the skin and kidney exists a close relationshipMoreover as a heat-regulating organ, the skin acts to regulate, the body temperature by perspiration.Thus far, the idea is taken in the ordinary meaning; but the Nishi Medicine interprets the skin in much wider sense; that the skin, extending from the outer surface into the body, goes to from the lining of various organs. Because of this fact, the more significant is the relation of the skin to health.Indeed the skin is a medium of matter exchange between the body and environment. Without skin no vital process is possible. So vital is the skin to life; a familiar phrase save the skin is expressive of this fact.Dont spoil the skin by being heavily clothed; Work the skin and have the skin wisely remarked a sage. To drill the skin by exposing it to the open air as often as possible in every day life is surest way to health of the skin. Alternating douche is also recommendable, for this promotes good functions of the skin.Aero therapy, or air- bathing cure is also of great use.

NUTRITION What the Nishi Medicine means by the word Nutrition is four elementary matters that build and sustain the human being, namely food, water, light, and air. These four elements essentially are comparable to the Four Elements namely earth, water, fire and air, which the ancient philosopher considered as origin of everything in the universe. Without nutrition theres no life.The fundamental rule of nutrition is that nutrition we take should be fresh and proper. Everybody knows this rule, but we do not always live up to it. Be careful of what you take; bad nutrition will eat out your health.Essentially nutrition is a concentrated form of potential energy, which, when taken into the body, releases the force of expansion prerequisite to life. Once M. Prenant remarked that the essential fact of biology, which can explain the maintenance of life on earth is a force of expansion. It is apparent that what Prenant implied by the words a force of expansion is nutrition. FOOD Before all other things, it should be well impressed in mind that nutritive element

contained in food are easily destroyed by artificial cooking; if boiled or baked too much food will be deprived of its essential ingredients by half or three-quarters. To cover the loss of nutritive elements the body inevitably would demand for more food. And eventually this may establish a habit of overeating. It is a familiar fact that a habit of overeating is one of the chief causes of digestive order and renal disease. H. Malten indicated that boiled food imposes too much load on the kidney of the civilized men all through life. Realize how wisely he caught the point of the matter.Thus it is clear that immediate reform of eating habit is a pressing business for us, if we really do want to make for good health.What the Nishi Medicine strongly recommends is that breakfast be abolished, and that meal be taken twice a day, at noon and evening. Morning is the time not for intake, but discharge. It is the morning when the bowels move well. It is the time when the body cleans itself. Unwise is it to stuff the bowels with food, when they just start on their task of elimination; this only makes their work stagnate.No less important is taking fresh vegetables raw. This is recommendable to everybody, especially the invalid. As Brauchle showed, the consumption of raw food, particularly raw vegetables would effect almost miraculous healing. There are numbers of clinical findings, which confirm this fact. The reason why raw vegetables are so highly important is quite obvious. It is because raw vegetables contain all the vital elements bestowed by Nature, that kindly mother of mankind, and that without being spoiled. WATER Concerning water, it should be recalled to mind the fact that the human body is composed of water from 58.8 to 65.7%. From this fact one may easily realize how important is water to life. A familiar fact is that without water man couldnt live even five days, while he may fast on water for months.Water is not only one of the essential nutritive elements, but is highly important solvent. Without water acting as a solvent, no biochemical process in the body is likely to happen. Surely where no water is , there is no life.If dehydration, or loss of water should occur, as in severe diarrhea, grave consequence would often follow; a toxin called guanidine would be released in the blood, which is responsible for guanidine poisoning (uremia). The prevention of this poisoning involves bringing the body water content back to a normal level by taking fresh water copiously, because water hydrolyses toxic guanidine into ammonium and urea.However in case of diarrhea drinking fresh water is commonly prohibited for fear that probably this may aggravate the taken view. From the foregoing it is obvious that this is a mistaken view. Far from doing any harm, water does clean and refresh the bowels; above all water does destroy guanidine before it exerts its toxic power.Water has multi-phased functions, highly important in the human organism, of which information will be found in the current medical literature; there is no need of dwelling on them.The one thing to be stressed here is that you should take fresh and plain water; water , when boiled , or flavored, will lose some of its essential elements, which are of high value for health.If you are not accustomed to fresh and plain water, take 30 gram of water every thirty minutes, during the first one and half months. But after the exercise or at meal you may drink a cup or two of waterOptimum amount of daily intake is 23 litersYou had better drink water in small dose from time to time; you may take it

at any time, even during meal. That water may dilute gastric juice is a fallacy. AIR AND LIGHT As for air and light, on one can deny how important they are for life; the description on them will be omitted here. However, there is one point worthy of mention.It is generally recognized that carbon dioxide and water are the end products of metabolism in the body. But this view does not cover the whole sequence of metabolic process. In certain cases, for example, when supply of fresh air becomes deficient, or there is something wrong with a vital organ, incomplete combustion is most likely to happen during metabolism, which may lead to the production of monoxide. Such is a natural sequence of events. Strange to say, no medical textbook has touched on this point.In normal health, the volume of monoxide produced in the body will be too minimal to do any harm to life, but in serious illness it may rise up to the fatal level, and thus precipitate a crisis.The prevention of carbon monoxide poisoning call fro full supply of fresh air to the body through normal function of the skin (in a broader sense), good ventilation and aerotherapy. LIMB Use limbs and have limbs; the more thou dort, the more thou mayestSamuel WardInjured limbs lead to renal disorderTrueta Limbs are the locomotive organs, by which man works and moves. Especially the lower limbs and feet are the supporting basis and pillars of the human being.The foot, when injured, would fail to work properly as a bolster of the body, which, losing the balance tends to incline on the injured side. Eventually this may involve a subluxation of vertebrae, which in turn eventually will cause pralysi, or other disorders of the nerves and blood vessels starting from the foramen vertebrae between the subluxated vertebrae. Very probably, the harmful effect of these disorders may before long extend even to remote regions which these nerves and blood vessels supply.As R.R. Hayhow showed the foot is often a very good index of some serious disease, as there is a relationship between the foot and health. For example, swelling of the ankle and foot is very likely to happen, due to (a) heart disease, (b) renal disease and (c) anemia.In this connection and interesting fact may be quoted from Dr.Truetas findings. He reported that during air raids on London, 1941, victims whose legs had been compressed or broken under timber or the like sometimes died of renal failure. This fact also confirms the correlation between the foot and other organs.On the other hand, the nail of the hand or foot is also an index of certain diseases. R.R. Hayhow remarked that from patients nail much can be learned of the past history.What further confirms the importance of limbs is the fact that the glomus, which plays a very important role in the mechanism of the blood circulation, is most abundantly distributed in the limbs.Therefore it is no exaggeration to say that the limbs are a measure of health, and that without normal limbs there is no health.As a surest ay of keeping the limbs normal, the Nishi Medicine recommends to you the capillary exercise and the Foot Readjusting Cure. MIND

The soul sits on the throne of nucleated cell.O.W. Holmes Goethe remarked, Without mind there can be no matter; without matter no mind. Truly the human being is an entity, which mind and body go to compound and integrate.Man is called Homo sapiens; this implies that among all creatures man alone is endowed with mind by Providence. Here the work mind is used in a broader sense to implicate soul, spirit, and mind (in the ordinary sense).Why Nature has endowed man with mind?Probably it may be that She has committed to man the freedom of life; if its o, it is up to us to live a worthy life.To live a worthy life, it is the thing of first consideration to have and keep god health through life. Needless to say that good health means soundness in mind and body.There is a intimate relationship between mind and body. Not seldom that worry, anxiety and nervous breakdown may result in some organic disorders such as tuberculosis, heart disease may lead to serious mental and emotional disturbances.In this respect, the psychosomatic medicine has reason detre, particularly in that it lays stress on the importance of seeing the human being as a whole.See to it that mind be sound, cheerful, and bright no matter how hard and tough life is. SIX LAWS AND EXERCISES PRACTISE SIX RULES

The six rules of the hygiene and therapy of Nishi medicine. If we study the skeleton, muscles, nerves, blood vessels, internal organs of the human being in detail, we can see that man crawled on his four limbs, keeping the body horizontal, just like the other vertebrates, and that his spinal column was originally designed as a beam like those of four-footed animals. As long as it was used as a beam, its structure was really ideal. But at certain stage of his evolution, man began to take an upright posture and to use his backbone as a pillar or a column. Because of its structural condition, this change of function caused many dynamic difficulties to the spine, and we have become liable to many diseases. At the same time, however, this upright posture prevented the blood flow from stagnating in the brain, which was allowed to develop extraordinarily. This enabled man, the lord of creation, to build a brilliant civilization. Another helpful factor was that the lower limbs alone had become the locomotive organ and had made the upper limbs available for higher cultural activities.Beside the problems caused by the upright posture, the cultural life of mankind contains various unnatural restrictions, which always menace the healthiness of our life. To correct disturbances in body and mind and assure a good health is the purpose of the Six Rules of Nishi medicine: 1) Flat bed, 2) Solid pillow, 3) Goldfish exercise, 4) capillary exercise, 5) palm and sole joining exercise and manual contact cure, 6) dorso ventral exercise.They are not only the basis of hygiene and therapy, but also an excellent corrective for unnatural strains coming from the cultural life. Therefore one should practice them daily.

THE FLAT BED

THE FLAT BED What to do: The bed on which you lie should be flat and hard as much as possible and the coverlet should be light without your having to fell cold. You must try to lie flat on this bed. Effects: When the body is placed this flat on a hard leveled bed, the weight is most equitably distributed, the muscles are given he maximum relaxation; and any subluxation or deflexure of the spine caused by the upright posture during the daytime is easily corrected; furthermore, the very hardness of the bed secures the functional activities of the skin and prevents the liver from becoming sluggish and moreover stimulates the veins distributed superficially all over he body so as to promote the return of the blood towards the heart. This in turn leads to the inversing activity of the liver, with the result that all the waste matter which have been deposited during the daytime will be swept away from the body and the motor nerves will be kept from any undue pressure or strain. Moreover the intestines will be secured against constipation or stasis. This you will be sure to get a good sleep and awake the next morning quite refreshed mentally or physically.

THE SOLID PILLOW more THE GOLDFISH EXERCISE

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What to do: The Goldfish Exercise is to be practiced as follows: first lie straight on ones face or ones back, then bend back the toes towards the body as far as possible and place both and under the neck, crossing them against the fourth or the fifth cervical vertebra: and, in this position, oscillate the whole body just as a swimming goldfish does. This exercise should be taken for a minute of two in once in the morning and also in the evening. Effects: The Goldfish exercise which aims at spinal readjustment is a sure way to correct scoliosis, adjust any deviated vertebra, relieve undue strains of the spinal nerves as well as paralysis of the peripheral nerves and secure and unhampered and normal circulation of the blood. Not only that it stimulates the production of the red blood cells in the marrow, increases the tension of the sympathetic nerves,

contracts the superficial vessels distributed all over the body and, furthermore, moves the bowels regularly and lastly keeps and equilibrium between the two main nervous systems which run along each side of the body and establishes a desired

THE CAPILLARITY EXERCISE What to do: To practice the Capillarity Exercise, first lie flat on the back, raise the head slightly by placing a pillow or cushion under it: stretch forward as straight as possible both arms and legs, keeping the soles of the feet parallel to the bed or the floor, and, with the body in such a position, give both arms and legs vibratory movement. This exercise should be kept up for one or two minutes in the morning and also in the evening. Effects: This exercise which gives rise to capillary phenomenon will prove fruitful regulating properly the valves of the veins in the limbs, so as to stimulate the flow of the blood, and also promoting the movement and renewal of the lymphatic fluid.As this exercise gives rise to capillarity in the limbs and draws the blood there, it naturally follows that the improvement of the general blood circulation will ensue.This exercise has also effect of preventing parasites and other germs from invading the body and , at the same time, helping to activate to a suitable degree the various organs of the body.

THE PALM AND SOLE JOINING EXERCISE

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DORSO VENTRAL EXERCISE Preparatory exercise consisting of eleven movements is to be practiced; the time required for this exercise is one minute: 1.What to do: Move the shoulders up and down.Effects: This is a movement of trapezius, latissimus dorsi and other muscles of shoulders. The exercise helps to release tension. Daily practice would prevent paralysis of the upper limbs and stiffening of the shoulders. 2.What to do: Bend the head rightward.Effects: In order to stimulate the pumping action of the thoracic duct, which opens into the jugular vein at the upper pit of the left collarbone, the head must be first bent rightward so as to strain the left side of the neck. 3.What to do: Bend the head leftward.Effects: This exercise is intended for stimulating the jugular vein and lymphatic gland in the right neck. A round back posture is apt to entail the swelling of the heart and right cervical lymphatic gland,

which would easily be checked by this movement. 4. What to do: Bend the head forward.Effects: The posterior root of the spinal cord and spinalis dorsi muscle are apt to be compressed when in disease. This exercise is to prevent such disorder. 5.What to do: Bend the head backward.Effects: This is a stretching and stimulating the anterior root of the spinal cord and also the vagrant nerves. The exercises from #1 to # 5 are to be taken with the seventh cervical vertebra as a centre, and would increase the alkaline concentration of the body fluids. 6.What to do: Turn the head right backward: Effects: This exercise is expected to counteract the alkaline concentration of the body fluids, enhanced by the preceding exercises. 7.What to do: Turn the head left backward: Effects: This exercise is also intended for stimulating the sympathetic nerves, thereby counteracting the increasing alkaline concentration of the body fluids. The exercises from #1 to #7 should be repeated 10 times each. 8.What to do: Stretch out both arms horizontally and turn the head right and left one time. Effects: By stretching both arms in that way you can stimulate the pumping function of the lymphatic glad in the chest and by turning the head right and left, you can strain the neck muscles. Those who are in danger of apoplexy will find the neck muscles so stiff and the blood vessels and nerves so compressed that they cannot turn their heads properly and will feel the tips of fingers as if paralyzed. By this exercise you can prevent such a dangerous condition. 9.What to do: Raise up both arms in parallel, palm to palm, and turn the head right and left one time. Effects: This is intended for invigorating the pumping function of the armpit lymphatic gland and also for stretching the neck muscles.10. What to do: Pull down both upheld arms on the level of shoulders, bending each arm at the elbow, with a firm fist made. Effects: By this exercise, the seventh cervical nerve, which controls the thumb and index finger, and, eight cervical nerves, which controls the other three fingers, would be stimulated, thereby prevent or cure paralysis of fingers and increase the grasping power of the hand. 11.What to do: Draw as far backward as possible, both arms as in the same position of #10 exercise, and turn the head backwards with the chin stretched upwards as far as possible.Effects: This is to stimulate the pumping function of the lymphatic gland in the chest and to invigorate the vagrant nerves as well as the thyroid gland. As was shown above, the eleven preparatory exercises have all reasons, anatomical and physiological; therefore the order and number of practice must be followed exactly and directed.Viewed as a whole, these exercises first release the trapezius muscles then stimulate the vagrant nerves in such a manner as to antagonize with sympathetic nerves.Upon completion of the preparatory exercises, you must release yourselves by opening the palms and placing them lengthwise upon the laps,

before passing into the dorso- ventral exercise.

The Main exerciseWhat to do: Putting the pivotal point of the coccyx and keeping the trunk (from the coccyx to the top of the head) as straight as possible, swing it laterally as if it were a stick. The ventral movement, which is done as follows, should accompany this swinging movement: each time the backbone is inclined to the right or to the left, the lower abdomen should be pushed outward. In other words, there are two ventral movements for one swing (a pair of right and left inclinations) of the backbone. The exercise is done independently from the rhythm of respiration.This exercise should be practiced rot ten minutes, every morning and evening. Its standard speed is 50-55 swings per minutes, which amounts roughly to 500 swings in ten minutes. You had better take at leas three moths to attain this speed, because, otherwise, various troubles may appear. In so doing, you can make you skin resistant enough to allow you to do the exercise nakedly even in cold winter.Thus the condition of the whole body should be ameliorated gradually to make you really healthy. Effects: This Dorso-Ventral exercise respectively stimulates the sympathetic and vagrant nerves so as to bring them into a balanced state and their function will be performed with the greatest possible effect. Moreover the former will check the dangerous dilation of the cerebral blood vessels and the latter the intestinal stasis. This exercise makes function of intestines, including the absorption of nutriment, perfect. By the simultaneous practice of both exercises, we can harmonize our nervous system as well as our body fluids and also establish the balance of body and mind.Doing this exercise one should constantly think of getting better, pray for becoming abler, and believe in turning more virtuous.When the body fluids as well as the nerves are well equilibrated, wickedness, inability or immorality will be ameliorated by thinking of getting good, able, and virtuous. MISCELLANEOUS DAILY MAXIMS FOR HEALTH 1. To drink thirty grams of fresh unboiled water every thirty minutes. 2. To practice the Goldfish Exercise 3. Healthy are those who simultaneously move their back and abdomen drink water and believe in getting better. 4. To expose the abdomen while sleeping at night. 5. To use the Flat Bed and the Solid Pillow. 6. To do the Capillary Exercise and then apply the Fan-like exercise and up-and-down exercise to the feet and then do the Capillary Exercise again 7. To replenish vitamin C by drinking daily 20 to 30g of persimmon leaf decoction, and to increase the quantity after perspiration. 8. To take in gomashio (mixture of parched sesame seeds and salt, six grams for adult,

three grams for a child (increase after perspiration) and to observe a one-day long salt-free diet every two or three weeks. 9. To take edible seaweeds such as tangle, wakame (Undaris pianatifada), hijiki (spindle shaped bladder leaf or Cystophylium fusitoforme, etc) about 10g(0.4 oz) per day 10. To take in rice bran, which may be lightly parched 6g for an adult and 3g for a child. 11. To take mutorunin (4 or 5 tablets for an adult and reduced doses for a child according to his age) or other food vermifuges which are free of bad aftereffects. The intake should be continued for three or four days in the beginning and in the middle of a month. This should be continued for three months. After a three-month long interruption, the vermifuge should be administered for another three months. 12. To take 70-110 g of raw vegetables composed of more than three different kinds daily. A patient must take, by all means, more than five kinds. 13. To establish the custom of two meals a day (lunch and dinner). 14. To take the hot-cold bath. 15. To adjust occasionally nutritious excess and shortage by the rice gruel cure, the agar-agar diet or the fasting cures. 16. To wash the anus after each evacuation and wash hands and feet in coming home from work.

DRINKING UNBOILED WATER

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GAMASHIO

KEY POINTS OF NISHI SYSTEM STAGNATED FECES AND CANCER

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