Introduction
TKM® (The King Method) is the outcome of an evolution of discoveries, revelations, and studies conducted by many people over time. While the cultural roots of TKM® can be traced to the Orient and perhaps even ancient Greece, there have been continuing developments and changes throughout its history. Glenn T. King, PhD, CD N, CN, Rev has employed relentless study, prayer, and the most recent research to develop the current body of knowledge and techniques known as TKM®. Not a renaming of any other art, TKM® stands alone as a unique method of helping the body to restore proper functioning and heal naturally by using an understanding of the bio-electromagnetic energy system of the body (God's creation). The information that follows is offered for clarification and understanding for those who are interested in TKM® and its origins, and its evolution to what it is today.
Jiro Murai was born in Taiseiji Village (present day Kaga City) Ishikawa prefecture in 1886 into a family with a long line of doctors. He died in 1960 at age 74. Jiro Murai is the man in recent history known to be responsible for the most in-depth study and development of the current method. At age 26 he became fatally ill. No doctor, not even his father or brother, also physicians, could cure him of his illness. He finally requested to be brought to the deep mountains to die alone.
At that time, it is said in one account that he recalled a therapeutic method that he had learned earlier and began sitting in specific positions and holding his fingers. In another account, it is said that he recalled stories heard as a child and applied similar methods each day as he could muster the strength. In either account, during his critical and weakened state, he applied only this method of sitting positions and holding particular fingers and he was healed seemingly miraculously on the seventh day and walked down from the mountain.
Following this, Murai invested decades of intensive study into this self applied therapy. On three separate occasions, Murai made a set of drawings of the energy pathways of the body and applications he had “rediscovered” in an attempt to record his findings. Although he never settled on a definitive name for the method, after using several, including The Method of Enhancing KI-EKI Circulation®, Murai said that the final name was yet to be determined.
Murai lived in a rural area and only visited Tokyo about once a month to practice his method and give instructions in his lectures. Most of his students were elderly friends and relatives of those who provided their homes for his lectures. Murai demonstrated the method and its techniques on the students. There were always more who came to be treated than to listen to his teaching. Very few felt a commitment to treat others and disseminate his teaching.
Murai had told his last apprentice, Haruki Kato, “This is a kind of medical practice. To practice this in Japan, which is a law-governed country, one needs to obtain an official license with which to practice medicine. What I am teaching now is only home therapy; it is first-aid until I come and give treatment.” Murai told Kato not to study any other forms of medicine until he provides permission. He said, "it would confuse you to learn other disciplines before you have learned the basic understandings of this one."
Haruki Kato, after three years of study with Murai and being dedicated to his teachings, was permitted by Murai to go to medical school and become licensed as a medical doctor. Kato had now learned the basics and continued to study with Murai as he attended school. Through this time Murai was teaching Kato the differences between what he was learning in school and what Murai was teaching him.
Dr. Kato became a licensed physician and continued his apprenticeship under Murai, which lasted eight years.
Dr. Kato was born 2 months prematurely in Tokyo in January 1928. The doctors said it was miraculous that he survived.
He had many maternal relatives who were medical doctors. His grandfather was a navy doctor who studied in France at the Pasteur Institute (Meiji Era 1867-1912) and who later became head of the Navy Medical School.
While Kato was growing up, he experienced many health problems and several difficult illnesses that were thought to be due to his premature birth. Other complications followed, and he was helped by oriental medicine.
At about age 25, Kato met Murai and decided to study oriental medicine rather than following the traditional medical practice that many of his relatives had followed for generations. He became Murai’s youngest student/apprentice in 1953 and studied with him up until Murai’s death in 1960 (1961 by another account).
Dr. Kato, who was culturally the rightful successor of Jiro Murai’s art, did not teach foreign students the method. Although, events have presented two known occasions when Dr. Kato taught students and instructors of JSJ®. One occasion was a conference in Hawaii (2002) and one 5 day course in Osaka, Japan in May of 2007. This arrangement was apparently with David Burmeister, whose relation to Murai is in the next section. David Burmeister had since developed a friendly relationship with Dr. Kato, until his death in 2014.
Dr. Kato taught more from a Eastern medical point of view of Murai’s highly advanced method, and for this reason he had only wanted to teach licensed professionals. He also expressed concern that through the teachings brought about through Mary Burmeister’s efforts that, as one might expect, some people have published their own versions of textbooks with varied interpretations and theories. He felt this presented a danger of straying seriously from Jiro Murai’s original discoveries, plus further endanger that these diluted or inferior forms may be imported back into Japan.
Mr. Uhachi Iino and his daughter Mary, a second generation Japanese American, attended Murai’s lectures in the late 1940s as students of his teaching. They returned to the U.S. in 1954, and Mary studied Shiatsu in a relocation camp. Mr. Iino and Mary continued learning through correspondence with Murai.
Mr. Iino taught those who asked; he also contributed to the dissemination of the method while treating people with it. He used to practice on his daughter while studying and shared information with her as a fellow student of Murai’s teaching. Mr. Iino has since died and Mary Mariko Iino carried on the tradition that was started by her father.
Mary, born in Seattle 1918, married a serviceman named Burmeister and has carried the name Mary Burmeister since then. When Mr. Iino and his daughter returned to the U.S., Haruki Kato had not yet become a student of Murai.
It is said that Mary, after 17 years of studying and working on people in need, started actively sharing the method in 1963. Upon her return to the U.S., she settled in Los Angeles and later moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where *Jin Shin Jyutsu, Inc. was started. In the 1980s Mary turned JSJ, Inc. over to her second son, David, to run the business. Mary Burmeister died January, 2008. Later the organization was sold.
*Jin Shin Jyutsu® is a registered trade mark of Jin Shin Jyutsu, Inc.
Glenn T. King is the Founder and Director of the King Institute, LLC and Better Health Center in Frisco, Texas and holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Environmental Health Science from Pacific Western University, a Masters degree in Acupuncture. King is a registered and licensed Dietetics-Nutritionist from the University of the State of New York (NYSED.gov), a Clinical Nutritionist and member of the International and American Associates of Clinical Nutritionists (IAACN). Dr. King has fulfilled qualifying requirements for professional Microscopy Analysis (live and dry cell microscopy) and is a member of the Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) in Evergreen, Colorado, and is an ordained Reverend and alumnus of Ministers for Christ Outreach, plus a Lecturer on TKM at the University of North Texas (UNT) for six years.
He has studied diverse natural health restoration methods and disciplines starting in his teens including Nutrition/Diet, Herbology, Clear Mind Brain Mapping (EEG and Biofeedback), Neuro-integration Therapy among others. When he was in his later twenties he had a life transforming encounter with Christ that changed everything in his life as he became a dedicated follower of Christ. The passion placed on him was to reveal God's design and a way to help restore order to His creation (mankind) through simple understanding of how God created mankind from scientific energetic principles that are consistent in all God's creation and aligned with His Word.
The first book on “TKM®” published by King Institute now entitled TKM® (The King Method®). It was a training textbook published in 1995, written by King. The roots of King’s book were from the writings of Jiro Murai (a sericulture engineer) that were legally acquired from Japan. These writings were combined with King’s own knowledge gained from in-depth dedicated study, research, and practice on himself and others. Thus was birthed what is internationally known today as TKM®.
Through dedicated perseverance, resourcefulness, and as King says, "obvious blessings of the Lord," King was able to digest and understand the available research provided through different sources of teaching as well as the acquired writings of Murai’s development and studies of the method, or as Murai would say “the art.” This included a variety of spin-off versions from students of Dr. Haruki Kato and Mary Mariko (Iino) Burmeister’s development and teaching of Murai’s work. Most of the spin-off versions had altered the basic foundation of Murai’s work, resulting in the loss of the congruent understanding and intended effectiveness of the art that King felt was essential.
The method or art that Murai rediscovered and King seeks to protect is found to be grounded on sound scientific reproducible principles. How it functions and affects the body is explained by modern physics, specifically quantum physics. As King further developed the method, he found its understanding and applications still followed the same principles set forth by Murai, but now with scientific understanding and proof. King’s discoveries were made in association with input from research medical doctors, scientists, and physicists, then he laid them before the Lord for clarity and His will.
In essence, King stripped what he found to be the collected or added mysticism and mythology surrounding the method down to its core. And in doing so, discovered what he says are "the fingerprints of a perfect and awesome Creator." Some of the answers and deep understanding of the method, which were not taught or found in any writings, came through deep investigative study, asking, knocking, and waiting on the Lord for answers. In this time of seeking, King says he received much understanding that he credits to God. As King says, "Historically, when man finds or discovers something profound and helpful, but has no true understanding of it, man often makes stuff up to create a foundation and usually adds a philosophy. We must search out a matter to determine if real or not, then origin and as much of function as we can through a scientific approach, and when I say scientific I mean to understand more of God's creation. True science is never in conflict with God's word or His consistency in creation. True science is proof of God's word for those needing evidence for faith, like Thomas."
“The Holy Spirit has been a great teacher to me in this process,” King said. “And all He has taught me has stood-up through every scrutiny.”
The KI-IKI JUTSU® book was originally based on writings received from Japan. Dr. King had sought after these writings for almost seven years. The writings revealed a greater understanding than what he had previously learned of the method through Mary Burmeister and her only international instructors (Wayne, Philomena and Muriel) at the time.
In the early 1990s, King acquired a copy of the second set of drawings and writings by Murai through a Japanese couple who were business associates of King’s friend, Mr. Rick Setzer., a Christian business man. They had been helping King with translation of communications with the Ise Jingu Shrine in Japan (Index Manager at the Grand Shrine of Ise Jingu Chokokan Historical Museum in Kuratayan, Ise City Mie Japan 516, and Mr. Yasuji Akioka, Director and Chief at the Shrine). The original documents and written records of Jiro Murai’s work were said to be archived in the shrine. They also contacted Dr. Haruki Kato.
King had studied the translated history and notes of Dr. Kato, which were more detailed and had some differences from the material and teaching of Jin Shin Jyutsu, Inc. in the USA.
Murai had originally given a set of the same drawings to Mary Burmeister that he had given to Dr. Kato. King received his copy of the set in the early 1990s from Japan after his long search. Because of differences in understanding and teaching, there was a lack of communication between the late Mary Burmeister, Dr. Kato or Dr. King. Although, there is obviously communication between Mary's son David Burmeister and Dr. Kato.
King has great admiration and respect for the work Murai accomplished in his life. He also continues to have great respect for Mary Burmeister and Dr. Kato in their respective work for what he learned as a result of their sharing, although not aligned in faith.
Dr. Kato is not a Christian and is believed to be of the Shinto faith. It is said that Mary Burmeister attended a Southern Baptist Church for many years. Therefore, it is assumed she is a Christian, although not confirmed. Her son David, who was in charge of Jin Shin Jyutsu Inc., is known to follow the Buddhist faith. Jiro Murai was said to be a student of the Bible but is not known to be a Christian. No one knows what his faith was. King is a born-again Spirit-filled Christian.
Led by his conviction as a Christian for Truth, King found through his research that there were some fundamental discrepancies in some of the teachings of Jin Shin Jyutsu®.
This started with the translations and teaching of the name “Jin Shin Jyutsu®” from the Kanji, or Chinese characters that the Japanese use. He researched and found that there had been several names for the method Murai taught. Murai used different names at different times in an attempt to find an appropriate name that accurately described the art. Jin Shin Jyutsu® was one of the last names he used, and Murai had said “the name Jin Shin Jyutsu® was still temporary.” It is said, He was searching for a more accurate description, but his death came before he made any other change. Mary Burmeister and Dr. Haruki Kato continued using the name Jin Shin Jyutsu®.
One of King’s first realizations was the Japanese characters of JSJ® and JSJ® Inc.’s English translation of the last symbol to mean "art." Depending on the usage and context it could be allowable to mean “technique”, "method", "art" or "tactics." Although, coming from the way JSJ® tends to explain things there is a tendency to mystify it as well as other aspects of the method, which is a Japanese cultural tendency. This may be a small discrepancy to some people, but it raised questions about literal accuracy in connotation.
After much in-depth research into Murai’s writings and his increasing understanding of the method brought about through study and much contemplation, he arrived at the name KI-IKI JUTSU®. This name came partly due to Murai’s writings of the method which were known as "The Method of Enhancing KI-EKI Circulation®".
Ki-Eki translated to “Energy Moving Bodily Fluids.” Jutsu means “art” or “way” and Jyutsu means “technique.” Ki’s original Japanese meaning is “life, heart, feeling.” The culture evolved and later changed the word to mean “energy,” which most people use as the current connotation. It was also culturally used by different people to represent different types of energy. This commonly occurs even in the American culture where the connotation and intent of words change over generations. “Iki” means “breath.” This was another reason why King named the method KI-IKI JUTSU®, with the connotation of “Breath of Life Art.” “Understand that the body's natural energy or bio-energy is created by God,” King said.
“It is unseen (not manifested) but it governs the manifested body, which quantum physicists and medical science researchers have proven scientifically repeatedly.”
With this new naming and discovery, in the early 1990's King separated himself from Jin Shin Jyutsu, Inc, which had began to embrace new age philosophies that conflicted with his Christian beliefs. King established the name “Ki Iki Jutsu®” after checking this term against varied translations to test congruency, and thus formed King Institute, Inc. (dissolved in 2015), then formed King Institute, LLC and the Better Health Center in Frisco, TX.
King’s goal was to honor God in what He had created and to remain respectful to the intentions of Murai’s work. After several years of using the name Ki Iki Jutsu®, he found there were people who, because of superstitions, fear, or prejudice associated with Eastern cultures, were not open to learning about this extraordinary important method. To remove this barrier, he changed the name to “The King Method®” or TKM®. He reflected on the verse in Mark 16:18 about …lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover, obviously understanding the verse was not referring to TKM®. Although, the name bares the same name as King, King says, "It refers to The KING, our Lord and Savior, as He is the creator of mankind (John 1:1-3) and the only Healer (Exodus 15:26 and over 18 other references), therefore He alone should get the glory.
Further research found that some of what was claimed to be originally Japanese was actually accumulated from China and Korea, and some of those countries’ teachings came from the Greeks, much like in the USA. The Grecian culture provided the most fundamental roots of Western medicine. The Hippocratic Oath, elements, and most pharmaceutical and medical science roots came from the Greeks. All of these have issues when seeing with a biblical world view.
Life comes from God, as well as our spirit and natural bio-electromagnetic energy. In the book of Genesis, when God created man, He imparted spirit and energy, the Breath of life. When energy ceases to function, the person dies and the spirit departs. Do not confuse the bio-electromagnetic energy with the spirit of man. When a person dies, the spirit remains eternal, not the bio-electromagnetic energy.
King says, "this living system (the body) is an ingredient of what separated Adam from a pile of dirt and allowed his spirit to dwell in him." The pinnacle hands-on reference in Scripture is in Mark 16:18, and when Christ laid His hands on the sick and they were healed. He instructed His followers to do the same for those who were sick. "Healing is a gift of God! Again, Jesus was healing spiritually, and was not using TKM®. For some it seems necessary to remind them of the obvious. What I am saying is that Jesus emphasized the importance of touch and without explaining why!" So, King was not making assumptions, only observations.
Although never denying the Asian roots, King presented more of the American terminology and explained the true science and physics understanding to students and clients, as we currently know. He found that extreme caution from people was due to a lack of knowledge about “Eastern” medicine (prejudice due to ignorance) was still very ingrained in American minds. King explains, many Christians still rely on limited knowledge or common prejudice rather than filtering all knowledge through Holy Spirit and God's word for Truth and purpose, which may be to simply avoid due to darkness or not His purpose for you.
It is interesting that King found similar responses from the Asian-American community due to the influences of Western medicine and similar thinking.
There has also been a huge negative connotation on any relation to the word “energy” in the US and many parts of the world due in large part to the New Age movement and use of the same word for many of their practices. Energy in the majority of dictionaries is defined mostly as electricity, hence our bio-electrical system. Not the central nervous system, which is like a wiring system that conducts energy.
King learned that people were not so much interested in the history of TKM®, as they were in how and mostly "IF it could help!" So, instead of triggering the unwarranted fears in some people by explaining the history of the method, he gave them what they were seeking - help! And many thousands internationally have received it.
King said, “Some students or understudies asked about the times that I don’t look at any book when working on someone in a session or a hands-on class. And I have been asked what I was doing when they recognized that I wasn't applying any sequences in the books. I try to convey that once you’ve gained a better understanding of the body’s energy circulation (God's creation) and how it responds, then you can often go beyond the basic applications, powerful as they may be, and directly help the particular need of the person, like the particular energy congestion they are expressing, to usually obtain more expedient and longer lasting results. This you cannot learn from any books, and that is how I developed over 40 percent of the applications and some of the Emergency Integrative Medicine Techniques that are presented in King Institute literature (over a dozen books).”
Over the years, a few misinformed individuals thought that King had simply changed Jiro Murai’s method and put a “Christian twist” on it. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
TKM® is in no way a religion. King’s personal faith in Christ is simply that: personal. TKM® will work on anyone of any faith, because it is an understanding of God's creation on that level that is consistent with every person, scientifically proven. Simple example: If we discovered that every human has a heart and an electrical pulsation that causes it to beat/pump properly, who created that heart and pulsation for proper function? If the answer is anything other than God, then we've got a major problem in discerning truth.
However, King’s research has revealed to him that the bio-electromagnetic system of the body truly is the work of a masterful and powerful Creator. Science, if anything, has proven that this is something that cannot evolve from a single-cell organism, but must be crafted by the Master Craftsman Himself.
Much revelation of TKM® has come to King through prayer and asking the Lord, and waiting for answers and understanding, obviously aside from all revealed through intense study and research. Therefore, he gives all the glory to God. Giving glory to God is the way King uses TKM® to help others and that is how he also teaches others to use it.
Therefore, King says, "TKM®’s source, origin and true creator is God." That is why he gives God all the glory before he even recognizes the accomplishments of any man, including Murai. King believes God had a purpose for Mr. Iino and his daughter, Mary Burmeister, as well as for Haruki Kato, whether they know or acknowledge Him or not.
But, the fact remains that the art which Murai taught is not the same as what Dr. Kato currently teaches, nor will it be the same as what Mary Burmeister taught. Each of their styles and philosophies vary greatly. Dr. Kato has been known to implement other modalities from his school training,
King’s understanding of the method was arrived at through a series of discoveries from the beginning. King said, "he felt his in-depth research and study kept drawing him closer to God in seeking answers. In studying the creation, he came to understand and grow closer to the Creator." The more you search deeper into something God created, you find more evidence pointing to God - if you have eyes to see and a mind to comprehend.
Despite being confronted with multiple challenges over the years, King says, "God has always confirmed to me that He is leading and that I should follow Him. In this journey, he has seen hundreds of people spared from death and thousands of lives changed. But even still, King says, "if God decided to take King in a completely new direction tomorrow, I would not hesitate to leave this practice just as Simon, who was later called Peter, dropped the fish net to answer the call: “Follow Me.”"
Although thousands have been healed (some from medically absolutely incurable diseases or genetic disorders) through his work or teaching of the method and its use, King does not claim to be a healer and says that TKM® is not a healing method. It is just a means to help the body function as God created it to function and heal itself. It is about God’s creation and design working properly. And that, King says, "is the BEST medicine that he can offer!"
King says, "If we want to change or save our lives, then it is important to know how life in our bodies works and to check that knowledge with the congruency of our Creator and His word. That is the point!" In classes and in practice, King welcomes all who come for help or learning, openly, and with loving concern for them!
“It is the Christian way,” he said. “I do not try to convert or save anyone in a class or during treatment sessions, unless they let me know that is what they're seeking, or I feel Holy Spirit prompting me. Even then I allow God to lead me and them. I may do that anytime outside of the work environment, but in the work environment it is when Holy Spirit so leads me.” For ALL my time is to serve the Lord and His people.
When God created the body, He created it perfectly, able to heal itself. Christ healed the sick by touching them, and He said that we can do greater works than these (John 14:12). He wouldn’t have said such a thing if were not true! We are very blessed to understand more of His creation (mankind) and how to help all people according to His design of this temple he placed our spirit in.
King explains, there is only one Healer! TKM is not a healing method and I am not a healer. Christ alone is our healer.
The bio-electromagnetic system, the same one that Murai worked with, governs the well-being of the physical body (temple). When the bio-electromagnetic system works, the body works! When it doesn’t work, then God provides the knowledge to repair it, in the natural. The body already has its capacity to heal, and TKM® is simply a method that encourages the body to heal itself. That is all, and all the glory is God’s for creating such a system.
Notice: The information on this page may be added to or altered as any additional information may be discovered.
All qualifications listed are for informational purposes only. State laws and certification requirements vary from state to state, and country to country. For any additional information please contact the King Institute, LLC.