I want to be a “doctor” who takes care of not only human’shealth but also all living things, nature and our planet.

There’s a country where we’ve met people from, but we’ve not interviewed – that’s Poland. Kakikofu (和氣香風), a traditional Japanese medicine clinic in Tokyo, allowed us to introduce a great student from overseas.

Sebastian Zieliński, a young, energetic, serious, enthusiastic acupuncturist, flew to Japan all the way across the Eurasia to take training of acupuncture, martial arts and bodywork from Hiroshi Yamamoto, the co-owner of Kakikofu. Yamamoto has shared his medical knowledge and philosophy with many people from all over the world.

This is the second interview with one of his disciples, the previous one was Renato Riberti, an experienced Italian Shiatsu Operator/Martial artists. Yamamoto expects Sebastian to be a good acupuncturist and work together after he gains more experience.

*Interview at Kakikofu (Meguro-ku)

● Travelling is my university, people are my professors

I’m from Warsaw, the capital of Poland. I’ve travelled to Asian countries because I feel deeply fascinated by the Eastern culture.

Travelling and meeting new people is my great passion, a source of inspiration and wisdom. It allows me to open to other people and their cultures. To me, travelling is my university. People that I meet are my professors.

It was in my first trip to South Korea where I experienced the training of Buddhism and Tai Chi. I started to get interested in the deep understanding of human beings. After that, the opportunity of going to India emerged. There I worked at a children’s clinic as a volunteer in the Ladakh region. By then I’d already finished chiropractic school, but I was unsure of which field I should pursue.
After seeing how effective my treatments were turning out to be and seeing the relief I was able to bring even in the most serious conditions, I decided to undertake the path of becoming a “doctor”. I’ve developed a wish to deepen my skills in the art of healing.

I highly recommend everyone that has the opportunity to solo travel, because I believe that travelling on your own gives you a unique experience of finding your true self, not only within yourself but also within a community.
To the people that are scared of traveling by themselves and feeling lonely, don’t be! The amount of people you meet along the way will always bring good company.

● Encountering the greatest professors

This is my 3rd visit to Japan and I’ve been here for 3 months. Since 2017, I have been coming every year, in order to learn from great teachers. I’ll be a student for my entire life because the process of learning has no finish line. Quoting the Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki (鈴木俊隆): “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few”.

I used to learn martial arts, bodywork and chiropractic before and got interested in natural medicine and natural way of healing people in Poland. That’s one of the reasons why I have decided to come to Japan: to meet some teachers who are able to teach the medicine which is different from the Western one. By coming here I have the ability to learn directly from the source.

However I had no idea who I should meet to accomplish my goal. I decided to leave it up to fate. I didn’t know anyone here so I asked the locals and searched online. I found people who I would be able to learn from and met a karate master, an acupuncture physician, a doctor and many others. They treated me as their student and I felt accepted as a part of their community.

Then I met Yamamoto sensei for the first time in 2017 during my first visit to Japan. It was before he opened his clinic. I found him via Internet and messaged him. He was supposed to come to Poland soon, but I decided to travel to meet him myself.

He brought me to his hometown in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. His mother served me really good vegetarian meals at her own cafe. He taught me Qi-gong (気功) and some martial arts. I feel very thankful to have had the opportunity of leaning from him.

He taught me the basic of Oriental medicine and I was really fascinated. I wanted to explore it more seriously, so I started studying acupuncture. Yamamoto sensei introduced me to the Polish acupuncturist Oskar Olszewski, and eventually I worked at his clinic in Poland right after coming back from Japan. The opportunity to work with Oskar and learn from him has been one of my most precious and challenging educational experiences. I feel endlessly grateful to him. I also learned more about acupuncture from Tsugio Sugiura a Japanese acupuncturist/dietetic instructor in Kyoto, and a teacher in South Korea. They offered further insight into medicine.

I’m interested in kampoyaku (漢方薬, Chinese herbal medicine) too. Actually I’ve been learning about it for several years. I learned from some teachers including Kaori sensei, Yamamoto sensei’s wife, and Fusako Tsuchiya (Shakuyakudo) from Azumino, Nagano Prefecture. I’ll learn more about it in Taiwan next year (2020).

● Difficult life challenges made me the person I am today.

I grew up in Italy, in sunny Tuscany. After living there for 12 years, I moved to Poland where my dad was living. At that time, I took training of Kung Fu and Taekwondo which made me stronger physically and mentally. I started practicing Kung Fu at the age of 13. At that time I was watching Bruce Lee’s and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s movies on TV. I tried other martial arts such as Karate and boxing, but I focused on Kung Fu because my master felt like a father to me as he was providing me mental support. My father was not feeling the same way towards my passion, so I used to practice in secret.

Eventually I was taking care of my father and that got me interested in how the body functions, how it moves and in its body systems. I started learning Chiropractic after I graduated high school. I also started traveling mostly to Asian countries to find the different ways of healing. It was during these travels, that I felt my purpose was to help people into living more consciously.

● Taking care of our lives, children and planet

After departing from Japan, I will start working in my new clinic in Warsaw. I launched my own foundation in Poland in June 2019. It’s called “Heart To Heart Foundation”. Our goal is to combine Western and Eastern medicine.

We focus on three things. Firstly, treating children who are suffering from various diseases including mental disorders such as autism or Down syndrome, as well as diseases of civilization such as obesity and diabetes. Secondly, teaching people how to take care of their health and live a conscious life, with respect to the ecosystem which we are part of. The 3rd one is teaching everyone about alimentation and medicine. Also we focus on young people because they are the ones who will create our common future.

Becoming a good doctor and working with those who try to take care of the planet earth – that’s my dream.

● What is Tokyo to you?

Tokyo is a very good place for discovering new things.

To me, each place is like a „gold mine”. The only thing you have to do is to take the time to get to know it. You can do it when you sip tea with no rush and observe people passing by at a café. You can do it when you sit on a bench in a park, when you stand at a ramen shop and watch others.

A hairdresser can share his/her life story with us, and it’s mixed with the stories told by other people. Each day a new chapter may begin – a word, a friend whom we have just met – for a moment or for a lifetime. And soon, a seemingly bleak, meaningless place becomes a mirror of the whole universe and a window of life. Tokyo reminds me of the word “Ichigo Ichie (一期一会, Treasure every encounter as it may not come again)”. You might be able to turn a moment into the eternity here.

I’ve had a really good time in Tokyo because I met many people not only from Japan but also from abroad. I shared my stories, knowledge, feelings and emotions with them and this sharing has been a great learning.

I like nature, but also the city. It’s like Yin and yang (陰陽).

Sebastian’s link
Akupunktura Sebastian Zieliński (Facebook):
https://www.facebook.com/AkupunkturaSebastian/