Seiza's effect on the knees?

Question

My wife is from Japan (samurai family lineage). She tells me that seiza is actually "bad" for the knees. Due to the contraints of certain Japanese societal situations when the samurai were more relevant seiza allowed for the ability to sit for long periods (hours), and still move well from the seiza position. The other benefit is the transferrence of reliance upon the skeleto-muscular system for power to the hara and seika tanden. This allows for improved harmony & power with the overall body and it's surrounding environment. However, the physiological effect on the knee structure itself results in a geometric perversion, and the shape of the knee becomes unsightly. Also, due to this change the knee actually becomes weaker in standing waza from a newtonian physics point of view even though the whole body becomes more effective due to hara reliance. This occurs if done from childhood with serious rigor. Please provide any technically correct and deep arguements/answers to this.

Answer 1

The position of seiza does fall within the normal range of motion for the knee joint. Although the position falls within range it can create compression of the cartilage and bursa of the knee. When we are not use to the position it initially can cause reduced circulation to the lower extremity, muscle cramping, and pain from "tight" tendons and ligaments depending on how long seiza is maintained.

However, if we aren't moving from the knees, "knee-walking" if you will, the amount of damage shouldn't be all that severe even over a long periods of time. This is because the muscles, tendons, and ligaments should somewhat adapt to the position and reduce the overall stress to the joint, plus from seiza the body weight distributes across both the surfaces of the lower leg and thigh. The knees are not load bearing at this point.

If we include "knee-walking", then my opinion is that the amount of cumulative damage increases. This is due to the joint being positioned into load-bearing in a manner it wasn't designed to handle over long periods of time. Add to that the torsion of the joint as the body pivots on the knees in place of the ball or heel of the foot.

Answer 2

Well, most of the older generation Japanese men I see tend to be bowlegged, so maybe there is something to that statement. But generally, from my own experience, I do agree with George above that outside of performing the Shikko, and unless you tend to tense up all the time while in seiza or shift your weight a lot, I doubt if seiza will affect any permanent deformities as long as you relax your leg muscles and settle into a balanced position and establish a good breathing rhythm.

Answer 3

I had knee surgery a few years ago, and was amazed how little pain I felt. I was given pain medication to take, but didn't have to take any of them. The worst thing I went through, was when my knee popped for the first time after the surgery. It dropped me to the ground. Now that hurt! Other then that, no problems. I had a crack the entire length of my knee cap. a torn muscle, and a small flap from tiny pieces of cartilage chipping off into my knee. The doctor repaired the crack, and filed the jagged edges from the flap to smooth it down, and I was good to go. It was no problem for me at all. I'm not trying to say you won't have any pain, but it was nothing compared to what I was expecting. On a scale of 1 - 10...the pain was about a 2 or 3 for me. Good luck!

Answer 4

havent heard that before i hated being my my knees