Frequently Asked Questions

Why have I never heard of Motoki before?

You weren’t allowed to know about it.  This was an art hidden within the martial arts community for centuries.  It was taboo to speak of it outside that realm.

Where did Motoki come from? Is it Japanese?

It is a culmination of many methods from eastern martial arts training.  It also went by many names, and often by no name at all.  The most current name reflects its nature.  Moto represents earth while ki, of course, is power/force.

What's the difference between Motoki and Reiki/other ethereal arts?

Reiki and similar art forms use a spiritual connection to channel universal energy into someone, offering it as a source of healing support.  It is amazing at promoting health and wellbeing.  One area where Reiki struggles to provide benefit is when there has been physical trauma to the body – a car accident, sports injury, extreme levels of stress, etc.  This is where Motoki thrives.  It is a directed flow of powerful earth-based energy, guided by an intention to work with the body to resolve these issues.  Both modalities have their place, and they blend beautifully together.  They are not in competition.  Quite the opposite.  They complement each other very well.

What are Earth-based arts?

Earth-based arts tend to be popular among people who are more science oriented, or who have yet to embrace their more spiritual side.  Einstein believed that everything is made up of energy, some objects simply being more solid with it than others.  This leads us to believe that we all share energy at some level with other people as well as objects.  Earth-based philosophies do not focus on spirits or any form of mysticism.  It’s all just about information and knowing.  From these principles we can practice methods which channel the energy of the earth and direct it in a way that it changes matter (people and objects).  With all that said, does it negate more spiritual modalities?  Absolutely not.  For those who have strong spiritual beliefs, this actually provides a more powerful base from which to operate.  You can definitely have it both ways.

How does Motoki compare to Qigong?

Qigong is all about supporting and increasing your own energy flow.  We all have the ability to tap into three sources of energy:  The unlimited power of the Universe, the similar power from earth, and our own personal power (which is extremely limited).  As we express our own power directly, it depletes out very quickly.  Qigong is a practice to constantly recharge our energy with that of both Universe and earth so we operate more effectively.  Qigong is a wonderful practice for health and wellbeing.

Motoki bypasses the need to internalize energy to make use of it in a powerful way.  Here we use small amounts of our personal energy to direct massive flows of earth-energy directly with an intention to make change.  This is why it is so effective in both healing arts and martial arts.

Do you need to know martial arts to learn Motoki?

No, not really.  The initial practices for beginners feel a bit like a martial art exercise (non-combative) so the student can experience just how powerful the art form is.  These techniques are more akin to Tai Chi than a Karate form, so they are quite gentle.  It’s the easiest way for students to grasp the basic concepts.  Do you need to be comfortable with martial arts to practice or learn Motoki?  No, but a martial arts background may help you pick up on it more quickly.

Can power healing forms do harm?

That’s a tough and controversial question.  To be totally candid, I’d have to answer “yes”, but ONLY if the practitioner was taught how to use it in a harmful way – and that training is restricted.  Of course you could ask the same question of the art form of Acupuncture, which has been embraced throughout the world.  Acupuncture treats you by unblocking energy disruptions in the body.  It is great for pain relief and general healing.  But if you went to someone who wanted to harm you they could use these methods to CREATE blockages throughout your body and make you very ill.  But no practitioner is ever going to do that.

Why is it so easy to learn Motoki?

It’s quick and easy to learn, and also quick and easy to teach.  This is why instructors love working with Motoki.  The ethereal forms, Reiki as an example, require you to adopt certain spiritual beliefs to become effective.  Any doubts in those beliefs tend to reduce your effectiveness as a practitioner.  For some students this is an easy path.  For others, it can be years of struggling.  And as an instructor you have the task of guiding each individual down this path in their own unique way.  That’s a lot of work.

Motoki skills are innate.  You were born with them.  Within the first few years of your life you bury them and then live with a vague understanding that there’s something there but you just can’t quite connect with it.  All the instructor has to do is reconnect you with these skills – the ability to achieve a fully grounded state and direct extremely powerful energy with intention.  We don’t have to teach you the skills.  We just help you remember them.

Most likely you’ve seen Motoki in action before.  A child experiences a minor injury and when their mother places her hands on it the child feels better.  And if you’ve ever played with toddlers you’ve definitely seen it.  When the child wants to be picked up they are light as a feather.  When they don’t want to be picked up they weigh a ton.  Again – these are innate skills you were born with.  We’ll help you remember them, and so much more.

If I know Reiki, how will Motoki help?

Mostly, it balances you out.  If you wish to be a healer, there are benefits to having enough tools in your toolbox to handle most of the issues you encounter.  Reiki only covers half of it.  Although it is great for promoting health and wellbeing, it really isn’t that effective when it comes to trauma (physical damage to the body by an outside force).

Motoki will also help you come to know a much more powerful state of grounding – something that increases your ability to use Reiki and at the same time easily reflects away energy which is not good for you.  With Motoki, there is no need to shield.  Nothing comes in.  The International House Of Reiki understands these benefits and mentions the importance of grounding, but offers no guidance beyond the basic knowledge offered from eastern philosophy.  They say it is really important and yet don’t give any details.

Here's something that might demonstrate the difference:  If you ask a Reiki practitioner what their process is they’ll say that they first ground, then they open/create channels, then flow ethereal energy and offer it to the client for healing.  Pretty basic, right?  The question you might ask after this is if their first step is to ground does that mean that before that they weren’t grounded?  They’re an energy healer.  They should be grounded ALL THE TIME.  When I mention this to Reiki masters their eyes get wide.  “Nobody ever taught me that.”  This is what Motoki teaches.  There is no need to ever be in an ungrounded state.  It’s unsafe, and makes you less effective.

Why weren't we allowed to hear about Motoki?

For centuries, these powerful earth-based methods were kept private within the martial arts communities.  It was tabu to speak of it outside that world.  That’s the short answer.  But why have this rule?  Some of it was political.  Many governments/communities would tolerate the teaching of martial arts – as long as it wasn’t too much of a threat.  A power form which helped people easily perceive actual truth (vs. lies and misinformation) and could also be used as an effective self-defense against ANY threat would have to be demeaned with slander and/or forcefully eradicated.  The martial forms of Motoki often went underground to survive, or tried to give the impression that nothing substantial was going on there.  Even today there is resistance by several organizations to having a public display of an art which easily demonstrates that not everything is based on traditional science.

What are the political factors/changes that influenced the spread of Motoki?

After centuries of hiding, Motoki went public in 2014.  A small group of masters, as a group, decided to take this bold step.  Two changes brought this about.  First, the market for martial arts changed.  As it shifted from a non-profit way of supporting community to a profit-based source of income it also changed its focus to a new market – children.  They discovered that’s where the money was (daycare with a martial arts experience).  The training for adults diminished and eventually dried up.  With all these changes, the energy practices were discarded.  And in doing so, they gave up the right to politically influence those teachings.

Does Motoki interfere with my spiritual beliefs?  Is it "evil" to practice Motoki?

We find that most people with a strong spiritual background find Motoki beneficial and a wonderful way to support community.  The Motoki concepts also make sense to them, and in no way compete with the other practices or their spiritual beliefs.  Now certain religious organizations tend to dissuade their congregation from connecting with any form of energy work. This usually means they see it as something so effective it is a possible threat to their doctrine.  It’s just fear.

Is Motoki the missing piece?

Many students of Motoki come in with a Reiki background.  It’s not that they are dissatisfied with their Reiki methods, but they sometimes feel that something is just missing.  There are situations where Reiki simply didn’t apply.  They want to be more well-rounded in their offerings.

By supplementing their abilities with Motoki they can now effectively address physical damage to the body – trauma healing.  In of itself, this is a huge benefit.  But more than that it gives them a new perspective regarding their Reiki methods.  They say that Reiki now makes more sense to them, and their healings are more powerful.  When asked why, they often use phrases like “how can you have a ceiling without a floor, a left without a right, a yin without a yang?”  Motoki IS that other half.

Can Motoki be done at a distance, like Reiki?

Yes, but it’s different.  The energy of Reiki is an “offering”, without intention, relying upon the guidance of the Universe and the client’s own higher self to make use of it as needed.  Whether you are offering it at a distance or offering it locally makes no difference.  The practitioner’s direct involvement is minimal.

Motoki is a power form, and the energy is directed by the practitioner using their intuition with some assistance from Universal guidance.  Unlike Reiki it is done with intention.  This requires assessment of the damage and adjustments to the methods used.  It is very much “hands on”.  Remote healing is possible, using extremely advanced methods to energetically shift the practitioner’s higher self to the client’s location.  Motoki masters have this ability.

Why is grounding so important in Motoki?

Actually, grounding is important in everything.  But a heavily grounded state is a requirement of Motoki in order to make it effective.  You are pulling up earth energy and directing it.  Without a strong connection to earth, the energy flow is not optimal.  This is why there is such a strong emphasis on grounding in the initial training steps to learning Motoki, and why the method in achieving a grounded state is taught differently than the other healing arts.  The goal is to get the student to ground quickly and easily any time they wish, with the desire to eventually have them living in a grounded state.  There are many advantages to this – more powerful Reiki, less likely to pick up and be affected by other people’s energy, reduces the likelihood of being assaulted.

The really good news is that the Motoki method of grounding is incredibly easy to learn!

Can you self-treat with Motoki?

You can, if you are sure of the source of the trauma.  If you bang you knee against a coffee table you can definitely use Motoki to help the body heal the damage very quickly.  But if you wake up one day and your wrist is in pain for no apparent reason, self-healing with any modality tends to get more complex.  In these situations, people tend to treat the “symptoms”, but what you really want to do is go after the cause.  That wrist pain might actually be a pinched nerve in your shoulder.  Running healing energy on your wrist, adding ice, using topicals, and even working with western medicine may be a waste of time if the problem really isn’t located there.  In this case self-healing requires self-assessment – and that is seldom a good idea.  Third party perspective is always the best approach.

I wasn't born with any healing abilities.  Can I learn Motoki?

Don’t be so quick to judge.  Everyone has these abilities, but for some people they are just buried really deep.  Motoki has an uncanny ability to bring them to the surface quickly and easily.

Can Motoki be used on animals?

Yes.  In fact, we’ve taught classes to owners of older dogs.  When dogs get to a certain age, they tend to have hip issues.  Motoki is wonderful at relaxing the joint and eliminating the pain, providing a much more comfortable experience.

Can Motoki be applied to food and/or water?

Yes.  In fact, energizing water with specific intentions can aid the body in its healing process.  And it’s a great way to send healing energy to someone distant.  Energized water is often used to assist cancer patients go through their chemo therapy treatments more comfortably.

My energy feels stronger in class than it does at home.  Why?

Group energy experience tends to help you tap into your own abilities more easily.  You’ll still be effective outside of class and as you practice more and more you reach a point where you are always just as powerful as in a class environment.

Can I offer Motoki to people in my life who need it?  Strangers?

Yes.  As long as you have permission to do so.  Because Motoki is powerful and can cause significant changes to the body, the practitioners follow a strict ethical code.  You can only treat someone if you have their informed consent.  Meaning they must understand what you are offering and agree to being treated whole heartedly without reservation.

I'm a massage therapist.  I'm a yoga teacher.  I'm a (fill in the blank).  How will Motoki help me?

First, whatever your profession, you tend to find yourself in a teaching role when it comes to your clients.  You have to be able to connect with them so an understand can be reached, leading to more effective growth.  As you interact, you quickly determine what belief systems they are in alignment with and which might feel alien to them.  Motoki provides you with an entirely new vocabulary which reaches those who may not yet be comfortable with spiritually-based techniques but want to explore something beyond basic physicality.  It’s a wonderful bridge.

For massage therapists, Motoki can prolong your career.  Many massage therapists burn out after 6-7 years.  Their body just can’t handle the repetitively strong physical processes.  Motoki allows you to replace much of the mechanical force with energy.  The clients feel you are pressing just as hard when in fact you are using very little muscle.  This can really save you over time.

Yoga teachers are always helping their students find physical alignment, which leads to a more comfortable experience of yoga.  Using the concepts of Motoki can help them find energetic alignment, which takes the experience much further.  And since it is taught in a practical way (does not sound mystical), students pick up on it easily.  They also find the grounding methods of Motoki extremely beneficial in all their practices.

Whatever your offering, ask yourself what sets you apart from all the others.  If it isn’t clear, you could be missing out.  If you can clearly state that your methods are in alignment with individuals who wish to seek a higher level of learning, imagine the results.

Do I need to energetically cleanse/clear the room after doing Motoki?

Anytime you open up your environment to the general public it is a good idea to cleanse it from time to time.  Since Motoki is a power form, just practicing it tends to cleanse the environment.

Can I use Motoki on infants/premature babies?  Pregnant mothers?

Of course you can.  But if your goal is to simply offer comfort and support (instead of healing a trauma), we’d suggest you use Reiki enhanced with Motoki grounding.

Can Motoki help with sleep issues?

Most sleep issues are not the result of physical trauma.  We’d suggest Reiki instead of Motoki.

Do I need to meditate or be in a light trance state to practice Motoki?

No.  It is best applied when you are grounded, present, and focused.

Can Motoki treat fertility issues?

It depends on the issues.  If it is based on physical trauma to the body, we have seen some benefits to Motoki.  Also, masters in Motoki have a very strong intuitive and spiritual side.  Sometimes they can address this from a more metaphysical standpoint.

I have a question that isn’t answered here. What next?

We invite you to take a class with us in San Jose, California or contact us with any additional questions. Thank you!