Читать книгу Complete Aikido. Aikido Kyohan: The Definitive Guide to the Way of Harmony онлайн

21 страница из 78

From the moment of his birth, Suenaka’s survival was in doubt. He was a “breach baby,” born feet first; a difficult enough birth in a hospital, made even more hazardous by his home delivery by a midwife. The family physician, Doctor Yamamoto, was quickly summoned and, working with the midwife, was able to deliver the baby. Still, newborn Suenaka would not breathe. Knowing they had but a few minutes before oxygen deprivation would result in irreparable brain damage, the midwife, Yamamoto, and Suenaka’s maternal grandfather, Tsurujiro Iwahiro, worked feverishly to revive the infant: the physician using the accouterments of Western medicine, while Grandfather Tsurujiro applied his decades of skill in reiki—the projection of ki (vital life energy) through the laying on of hands. Finally, almost five minutes after his delivery, technically long enough for brain damage to occur, Roy Suenaka took his first breath.

Though he suffered no permanent damage as the result of his difficult birth, Suenaka’s youth was plagued with related health problems. He was barely months old before he was diagnosed with bronchial asthma. Attacks were frequent, sudden, and severe, his respiratory tract becoming clogged with mucous, often to the point where he would stop breathing altogether. Tsurujiro would immediately begin performing reiki while Dr. Yamamoto, who fortunately lived but minutes away, was summoned. Eastern and Western medicine again worked together to handle the crisis.