Shintaido - The Way to a New Body
Monday 15:45 – 17:20
16 September – 9 December
Thursday 20:00 – 21:30
3 October – 12 December
A remarkable system of physical and mental training, developed in Japan in the 1960s by martial arts masters. However, it is not intended for fighting or self-defense. It is a form of physical movement and exercise through which you can improve your health, find a harmonious connection with nature, and open yourself to new challenges. It helps you grow and seek inspiration, regardless of your age or physical condition.
The movements of Shintaido are basically simple, but when performed with proper attentiveness, they have profound positive effects on the body, mind and spirit. Shintaido was created to help you awaken your untapped potential and to enable you to live a healthier and more fulfilled life. To achieve this, it uses body movement – a tool that is accessible to everyone.
The spacious and expansive movements activate the natural power of the body and allow for the perception of the beauty of movement and the freedom of the spirit. Therefore this practice can be compared to meditation or to an art form that we can realize individually or together with others. Its healing power and flowing energy renew not only the body but also the spirit. Contained within it is the love of life and of one’s own being.
Shintaido offers an enormous spectrum of possibilities. Sometimes you practice individually, sometimes with a partner, and sometimes in a group. The exercises range from the slow and meditative to the quick and energetic. It includes forms both simple and elegant as well as complex and demanding. Because of that, Shintaido always offers you new levels to explore and new areas you can delve into.
Its system of playing with energy and space makes use of various practices that make it possible to develop your physical conditioning, flexibility, coordination, balance and body awareness. It cultivates openness, communication and a natural inner strength. At the same time, it helps you release tension, stress and blockages in the body and mind. It is a practice that helps to heal the damage inflicted on us by civilization; to overcome obstacles to mutual understanding; and to live a better and healthier life. Simply give it a try and continue for as long as possible. You can’t miss feeling the invigorating effects Shintaido will have. You will soon feel new strength and energy growing.
David Franklin (USA)
For many of his students, this teacher has become both a friend and an inspiration, someone who is able to pass on the art of Shintaido in its full breadth. As an artist, he has been inspired by the freedom, power and depth of Shintaido, and within which he has discovered not only a wonderful physical practice but also an way of artistic expression, an exercise that brings natural health, a path of self-knowledge and spiritual transformation. He has studied Shintaido in the United States, Japan, France and England; he has met the founders of the discipline and delved into its core for more than 30 years, having led workshops all over the world. He’s a 4th-level instructor and and practices this art as a way of physical expression that helps us communicate with others through the instrument of the body.
His teaching style is gentle, playful and supportive. He leads those he works with toward find their own approach to the body and their own way of being, and helps his students develop their physical, mental and spiritual potential, to live a more joyful and harmonious life. His goal is to help people discover the joy and power contained in body movement, to develop their creativity and ability to communicate, harmonize their body, mind and spirit, and support their connection to nature and the spiritual world. David is also an acclaimed award-winning video artist, visual and performance artist. His domain is expression through movement and somatics (Shintaido, t’ai chi, shiatsu), as well as film, digital media, experimental theater and cross-cultural collaboration.
The course will be held in both English and Czech simultaneously according to the needs of the students.
The price is 5 120 CZK for the Monday course during 16 September – 9 December 2024 (12 lessons, doesn’t take place on 28 October). To reserve a place, you need to pay a deposit of 1620 CZK.
The price is 4 750 CZK for the Thursday course during 3 October – 12 December 2024 (11 lessons). To reserve a place, you need to pay a deposit of 1250 CZK.
