The Meikai Dojo
RH15, Burgess Hill
RH15, Burgess Hill
The Meikai Dojo is a purpose-built log cabin, fully matted and heated, with it's own toilet.
It is a small, private, centre dedicated to the study of Eastern therapeutic and martial arts of Okinawan Te, Yoga and Shiatsu.
'External' teachers also use the facility to teach Yoga and Tai Chi classes.
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What do you love most about your job?
What I love most about my work is helping people to discover and heal themselves and then develop onwards and upwards, it's very satisfying.
The physical side of the arts can offer constant challenges, and can be very rewarding and great fun - in a mature way.
What inspired you to start your own business?
I started teaching Karate over 3 decades ago, because I loved passing on the great stuff I was learning. Later I added Yoga and then Shiatsu into the mix, but it wasn't until discovering, learning and teaching, Te that everything gelled for me and now I can teach a comprehensive bodywork system that incorporates all three branches of the arts under one roof.
Why should our clients choose you?
What can I offer that others can't? Hmm. There aren't many teachers of my experience out there in one art, let alone with in-depth knowledge in each of the umbrella areas of the arts - martial, yogic and therapeutic. Each area shines a light on and deepens one's understanding of the others, and therefore of the wider human experience, in a way which teachers of 'only' the martial arts, or of 'only' the yogic arts etc, cannot grasp. This is not a 'Jack of all trades' approach but a steady deepening and broadening of study over decades which leads eventually to a meta-view.
Can you provide your services online or remotely? If so, please add details.
Sorry, I don't provide any online services. All of the arts that I teach require the physical presence of the student for many reasons.
What changes have you made to keep your customers safe from Covid-19?
During low risk periods classes run as normal, but as the risk increases various strategies have been used; classes are small so distancing is easy, and we can focus on elements of training that don't require contact. Training tools (sticks and wooden weapons etc), mats and high-touch areas of doors etc are disinfected, hand sanitiser is available around the room, ventilation is good (being a log cabin!). As restrictions get tougher, training in the park, or one-on-one with distancing, has been used to keep students ticking over.
Unfortunately however, due to the physical nature of all the arts, masks are not appropriate training-wear, so to an extent it has to be up to individuals as to whether they train or not. During level-four lockdown when schools were still open, the classes remained open, but as most people won't attend anyway there is even more space for the rest of us...
Te Classes
Te classes are twice weekly and run on Mon & Wed from 6:30 to 8pm.
Small high quality classes for mature adults only.
Beginners welcome.
We study the 1400 year old Royal art of Okinawan Te (aka Udun-di). Te is an internal art for self defence and self development. Please note; Te is not a pugilistic art like Kara-te - despite many karate people's belief that it is a sort of proto-karate. True Te is a thousand years older and based around bladed weaponry.
Classes include empty-hand and weapon skills and how to deal with possible aggressors with elegance, dexterity and intelligence, rather than brute strength and aggression.
Being an internal art (like Tai Chi or Yoga), makes Te an ideal art for the smaller, lighter, and more dexterous individual, and is therefore particularly suitable for women; working with 'internal' core strength rather than external musculature, and employing endorphin release rather than being adrenaline based.
Training also includes a working knowledge of healing bodywork in the form of yoga and shiatsu (Japanese deep-tissue massage), and engages one on the Zen/Enlightenment path of therapeutic self-development.
Overall, training should be an enjoyable learning experience, taken at one's own rate, with every student learning to help out those with less experience than themselves.
Classes run twice a week, and students are encouraged to attend both sessions, otherwise progress is slow; this is for neurological reasons which any bone-fide teacher of a physical art will reinforce, be they martial artists, musicians, dancers or yogis. Physical learning has to be as frequent and as immersive as possible in order to make real progress.
Having said that, I do accept students who, for family or work-shift reasons etc, cannot attend more than once a week in the hope being, that as time goes by circumstances may change, or a student's love of the art may evolve and they find they want to place a deeper emphasis on their training and self-development.
Yoga Classes
Yoga classes run on Tues & Thurs each week.
Small high quality classes for mature adults only. Beginners welcome.
The Yoga I teach is mainly Hatha Yoga (physical pose based), with influences drawn from Astanga Vinyasa (flow yoga), and the 'Humanistic' yoga of Vanda Scaravelli. They also include some elegant footwork and paired exercises stretching exercises drawn from Okinawan Te and a little massage in the form of Shiatsu. In this way the Meikai Yoga classes are a little more eclectic than most, which I find makes for a more rounded and fun experience of 'bodywork'.
Yoga is fundamentally a system of stretching, strengthening and relaxing the body in tune with the breathe, to loosen and release habituated tension. Over years this may result in a therapeutic and developmental 'unfolding' within the individual as the body lets go of past trauma and stress and becomes free to evolve and develop once more.
So, in the short term, one gets to stretch out all the aches and pains and strengthen the body in a healthy manner, while in the long term that process deepens and fortifies us to face the world and make better life-choices.
Classes run twice a week, and students are encouraged to attend both sessions, otherwise progress is slow; this is for neurological reasons which any bone-fide teacher of a physical art will reinforce, be they martial artists, music teachers, dancers or yogis. Learning has to be as frequent and as immersive as possible in order to make real progress.
Having said that, I do accept students who, for family or work-shift reasons etc, cannot attend more than once a week. The hope being, that as time goes on life/work/family circumstances may change, or a students love of the art may evolve and they find a they want to place a deeper emphasis on their development.
Shiatsu Classes.
Shiatsu classes run on the first Sunday of each month from 10am to 2pm.
Small high quality classes for mature adults only. Beginners welcome.
Shiatsu (aka Anma), is a practice-based deep-tissue-massage system hailing from Japan. It employs essentially the same theory side as Yoga and also works in conjunction with the breathe; which is taught as appropriate during class. It is practiced at floor level and through clothing.
It is a requirement for this class to be able to work at floor level for prolonged periods (therefore it is necessary to already have a strong 'open' body, flexible groin and leg muscles, and experience of working with one's own breathe). Consequently either yoga, the martial arts, or sports or dance etc, form a great basis for shiatsu practice.
Skills may be learned at a 'friends and family' basis, but may also lead to a professional therapy qualification.
