Editing Shintaido (section)

==Basic Forms==

Every Shintaido practice begins with warming-up exercises designed to soften and extend the body until it can move naturally, without the tensions of everyday life. This may be followed by a period of more vigorous exercises, designed to open of the body. These exercises, like everything in Shintaido, are based on effective martial arts technique.

Most of these exercises can be practised alone, with a single partner or in a group; they can be performed dynamically, formally or slowly and meditatively. Some require use of the voice.

===Tenshingoso (天真五相)===

'''Tenshingoso''' ''(five expressions of cosmic truth)'' is one of the essential forms (or [[kata]], 型) of Shintaido. Its significance can vary depending on the context in which it is performed. As a martial technique, it is a distillation of all the principal techniques (attacks, cuts and throws) of budō. As an artistic symbol, it is a metaphor of the life-cycle, from birth to death. As a technique of personal development, it is an encyclopedia of meditation positions ([[mudras]]).<ref>{{cite book |last = Aoki |first = Hiroyuki |title = Tenshingoso & Eiko |year = 1989 |publisher =Shintaido of America |pages = 3 }}</ref>

===Eiko (栄光)===

Adapted from the art of swordsmanship, '''Eiko''' ''(glory)'' is a hymn to the glory of the human adventure, taking the practitioner between earth and heaven, ideal and reality. If done with conviction, it can bring practitioners out of their ‘small world’ and plunge them into a whirl of new sensations. To do Eiko is open up the space around and within oneself; with a partner, it develops a sense of timing, concentration and gives a chance to go far beyond one's normal limits.

===Hikari (光)===

'''Hikari''' ''(playing with light)'', though virtually indescribable, can be considered Shintaido's artistic masterpiece. It is a unique form of personal expression: its movements are totally free, so it has no form, and cannot be taught.<ref>{{cite book |last = Aoki |first = Hiroyuki |title = Shintaido |year = 1982 |isbn =0-942634-00-4 |pages = 50 }} Hikari to tawamureru</ref>

In Wakame taiso (わかめ体操, ''seaweed exercise'') two people, face to face, alternately take the role of the seaweed and the ocean. The seaweed, rooted on the seabed, waves sinuously in response to the gentle touch of the ocean around it. This exercise can quickly induce a state of deep intensity. It also helps develop a sensitivity to attack and allows a fluid, centred response.

===Taimyo (大妙)===

The gentlest and most recent of the Shintaido kata, '''Taimyo''' ''(great mystery)'' was developed to allow older, less robust people or pregnant women to build up their strength and experience the beauty of Shintaido practice. A long and gentle kata, it contains elements of many aspects of Shintaido practice, has a therapeutic dimension, and builds a state of deep meditation.