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Ki is the Japanese word for the energy that is known in Chinese as Qi or Chi. It is usually expressed as energy but in the wider it is the basic building block of all things; matter and energy. So, for the Chinese and Japanese energy and matter are the same thing. Ki is a manifestation of the Tao that by definition can never be fully explained by words since they are a clumsy tool of the mind which itself a manifestation of the Tao. All things are a manifestation of Ki. Some are obvious but others are not, they cannot be explained or measured. They can only be experienced

In Shiatsu we talk about the flow of Ki but what is it? Conventional science is unable to prove that it exists, but as a student of Shiatsu I am being taught to feel it, but what is it that I am feeling for?

My logical mind was very well set-up after over 20 years in the IT industry when I started learning about Ki in Tai Chi classes and then in Shiatsu. I was very ready to explain these feelings away with Western ideas of blood flow and nerve stimulation but the more I practise the more aware of a definite flow around my own body I become. When I give Shiatsu I am aware of a range of feelings from the very physical through a tingling and flow beneath my hands and down to a feeling of rightness in myself.

These contacts with Ki have brought me to a place where although I still feel that although physiology is a large part of the experience there is more than science can ever explain by dispassionate experiment. The instruments can record the physical responses but it takes a human to experience the moment. I like to compare my experience of Ki with my love of music.

Music has its own complex theory and can be broken down into keys, beats, harmonic theories and scales. If you want then it can be discussed as a branch of physics as waveforms and frequencies. Our responses to it can even be recorded by EEG and MRI scans. Despite this we all still prefer to talk about music in emotional terms and recall the groove, the feel, the drive or the movement contained in a favourite piece. There is something intangible about music that cannot be explained by the theory or the science. We are rarely moved by a mechanically produced tune; I have never been brought to tears by a mobile phone ring tone!

The feeling of Ki and the feeling of music is for me the same. It is a combination of many factors, most of which can probably be explained in scientific terms. Blood, muscles and nerve function are part of the experience of Ki as are the sound waves produced by a guitar string; but there is something else. There is that intangible part that we as humans respond to, something that must be imparted into the music by a human, something that we empathetically pick up on.

Ki fills that space it is the manifestation of the physical body but it is also in that feeling and that empathy. It is the intention to help healing and it is the willingness to receive that healing. Ki is that connection between giver and receiver during the treatment.

When we learn to play music it is a physical challenge to learn the mechanical movements and a struggle to learn enough theory to play a decent tune. At the beginning the music is simple but gradually we progress. Occasionally, something beautiful appears but we then struggle to find that moment again. Eventually, if we persist, then it all fits together and we can give ourselves totally to the moment of playing and real music happens.

The same is true when developing Ki awareness and learning the Shiatsu technique. Zen Shiatsu takes its name from the Zen concept of being in the moment. Like a musician a Shiatsu practitioner must be in the flow and allow the Ki to flow. Now that I am in the second year of my training I just need to ensure that my Shiatsu gets better than my guitar playing!