Mandl / Bel / Sasaki The Essence of Shiatsu

The Masters View
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-3-99114-131-0
Verlag: BACOPA
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 350 Seiten

Shiatsu is relatively young compared to other traditional healing systems: less than 100 years old, Shiatsu has developed rapidly and spread just as quickly. From a conglomerate of different roots, a trunk with many branches and even more blossoms has emerged in a short period of time. But what is the essence of Shiatsu? What principles is it based on? What is the role of Ki? What is the role of the meridians? How central is the hara? And what distinguishes a good practitioner?  This book project is dedicated to searching for answers: leading global Shiatsu experts with decades of experience have their say. Their perspectives on fundamental questions about Shiatsu will contribute to a deeper understanding of the essential aspects of our art.

Mike, born 02. 06. 1969 in Steyr/Austria into a family of health professionals, quickly realized that the highest form of healing art is the one that prevents sickness from ocurring at all. He has been living and practicing TCM and shiatsu for the past 30 years in Vienna. He is the director of the largest and most successful shiatsu institute in Europe which has had a close working relationship with medical institutions since 1993 - a true trailblazer for the integration of east and west. Mike Mandl is a sought-after and popular lecturer in the whole of Europe, with a far-reaching international network. It qualified him perfectly for the position of Director of the triennial European Shiatsu Congress, which he transformed into the biggest shiatsu related event world wide. About two months of every year he is offering his post graduate programs in German or English, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Finland being countries he is visiting the most. Not infrequently he can be found in Asia in the pursuit of authentic knowledge and the roots of Daoism, since, in his own words: 'Every form of medicine requires a spiritual component.' Mike is the father of three children, and a passionate gardener and snowboarder.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mandl, Mike

Bel, Ivan

Sasaki, Kazunori

Whieldon, Alice

Vandenabeele, Philippe

Kawada, Yuichi

McAlister, Chris

Nelissen, Tomas

Calisar, Tzvika

Rappenecker, Wilfried

Vlaarkamp, Joyce

Mamychshvili, Mihael

Odoul, Michel

Mihai, Viorel

Inhaltsverzeichnis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

Ivan Bel
Focus on the essentials, get rid of the unnecessary

Kazunori Sasaki Sensei
In the depths of existence

Alice Whieldon
Recognising what really is

Philippe Vandenabeele
Guiding the intention of the heart through the hands

Yuichi Kawada
Authority over your own health

Chris McAlister
In the service of transformation

Tomas Nelissen
In harmony with our inner truth

Tzvika Calisar

From the bottom of my heart

Wilfried Rappenecker
Communication for freedom and new paths

Joyce Vlaarkamp
The unity of giving and taking

Mihael Mamychshvili
In deep connection

Mike Mandl
The marriage of Yin and Yang

Michel Odoul
The cries of the body are messages from the soul

Viorel Mihai
The historical background of Shiatsu

Leseproben

What is THE ESSENCE OF SHIATSU?

This is probably the most complicated question here, because it immediately sends us back to other questions, and we risk talking in a vacuum. So, let’s ask ourselves: what ‘essence of Shiatsu’ are we talking about? Is it technical, conceptual, historical, religious, or is it about what this art brings to those who receive a session? When we try to describe Shiatsu, it is important to know where we stand, otherwise we may blur the clear message essential for an explanation of what Shiatsu is.

Let’s start with the roots of Shiatsu, its historical essence. Without going back too far, and concentrating just on Shiatsu, its appearance is beginning to be increasingly known thanks to the research carried out by the ‘History of Shiatsu’ online group, of which I am the founder.

Before 1928, the word Shiatsu (??) was never printed and therefore simply did not exist. That year a certain Kazuma Fukunaga (????) who was an Anmashi (???, specialist in Anma), published ‘Chikara oyo ryoho’ (??? ??, Power Therapy) printed at the author’s own expense. It includes an appendix entitled ‘Shiatsuho’ (???, Shiatsu Method), which represents the very first appearance of the term ‘Shiatsu’. This book has now disappeared and only one copy remains, held in the Japanese parliamentary library.

In 1925, a catalogue of popular health techniques – known as the ‘Red Book’ (???, Akaihon), because of the colour of its cover – was first published. It continues to this day, with almost 2,000 updated editions, and in 1929 its editor, Takichi Tsukuda, (?????) opened a new section entitled ‘Shiatsu’. So, the name of this technique slowly began to spread amongst the public, and was of particular interest to the Anmashi, who were looking for ways to boost their reputation.

In light of the burgeoning success of the term, gradually replacing the appellation Ampuku-ho (???, pressure technique – derived from Anma massage), a new book entitled ‘Shiatsu ryoho’ (????, Shiatsu Therapy) was published by Kaisen Tanokura (?????) in 1931. He introduced an element of Western science, principally anatomy, as the basis of Shiatsu.
Not to be outdone, this idea was taken up by Fukunaga, who changed his penname to Tenpeki Tamai (????). In 1939, he published ‘Shiatsu ho’ (???, Shiatsu method), which met with some success. In the introduction to this book, Tenpeki Tamai states that he has been practising Shiatsu for 20 years.
If we accept this statement, it means that Shiatsu was truly ‘born’ around 1919, and in 2019 some countries celebrated the centenary of the birth of Shiatsu. In any case, after his second book, the term Shiatsu became accepted as the name of a new form of manual and therapeutic technique. This is the essence of the term ‘Shiatsu’, which can be simply translated as ‘finger pressure’.

Now, what is the conceptual essence of Shiatsu? The answer is more complex than you might think, as there are many concepts underlying the technique. Throughout its history over the centuries, Japan has developed many popular healing methods. In the beginning, health was restored by chasing away the evil spirits that disturbed the balance of the body and psyche, a task that was devolved to the Jugonshi (???, specialists in bewitchment). Here we see the shamanic roots of Oriental medicine, and this subject was studied for a long time in the early schools of Japanese medicine, alongside the introduction of acupuncture, moxibustion, massage, dietetics, and physical exercise. Over time, this idea of dealing with good or evil spirits disappeared and the focus shifted to natural cycles: the changing seasons, opposing and complementary forces, the different stages of human life, and the influence of environment, occupation, food and emotions on the state of health.

This is medicine based on the observation of symptoms, seeking to understand their causes and effects. From these observations, ancient medicines and Shiatsu today, I have been able to list seven major concepts:(1)

1.The microcosm reflects the macrocosm. The infinitely large is reflected in the infinitely small.

2.The environment affects the individual. A person living in the mountains will not be the same as a sailor who spends his time on the water.

3.Everything is in movement; nothing is ever the same thing twice. The only constant is the fact that everything is always changing, a principle that is common to both Buddhism and Taoism.

4.The movement is cyclic but, as nothing is ever the same, there is constant evolution. This gives rise to a spiral movement, like our sun moving around the centre of our galaxy. Today we know that the blood in our veins, the water in our sinks, the sap in our trees, and all other fluids circulate in spiral movements.

5.Disease does not arise spontaneously, only accidents do. An illness is always the result of a more or less lengthy process that has a root, a cause. It is this underlying cause that needs to be treated as much as the symptoms.

6.The body generally heals itself. If not, it needs a helping hand (Shiatsu) or some active ingredients to boost its self-healing powers (e.g. plant molecules). The practitioner is not the healer. He or she is simply an external aid who stimulates this natural principle.

7.Finally, the best medicine is often the simplest. Indeed, it may come as a surprise that the simple act of applying finger pressure to a body will enable it to find its way back to good health. All you have to do is try it out and you’ll realise just how effective it is.

Tokujiro Namikoshi (?? ???, 1905–2000), who played a major role in the development and recognition of Shiatsu in Japan, sums it all up with his famous slogan: ????????????????? (?????) ‘Shiatsu no kokoro haha no gokoro, oseba inochi no izumi waku (hahaha)’ (translation: ‘The heart of Shiatsu is like the heart of a mother; if we push we make the springs of life gush forth, hahaha’). In this sentence we find several fundamental concepts: that Shiatsu is practised with empathy and love; that the practitioner does not heal but activates the forces of self-healing; and that joy arises from/accompanies this process. In the last chapter of his 1939 book, Tenpeki Tamai said that to be a good practitioner you had to recite the Heart Sutra every day, to improve yourself as a therapist and to develop a sense of compassion.

We can now try to define the essence of the technique itself. There are at least a hundred different styles of Shiatsu. Although the approach or conception of the treatment varies from one style to another, there are certain common principles, specifically finger pressure. This is ‘perpendicular, continuous and stable’ pressure, and these terms are also ratified in the Japanese Ministry of Health’s definition of Shiatsu. This means that whatever part of the body is being touched, the pressure will always be applied perpendicularly to the anatomical surface of the body and directed towards its centre. For example, on the head, where each pressure is perpendicular to the surface then its direction will be towards the centre of the skull. The term ‘continuous pressure’ means that the pressure is applied in a continuous progression, without jerks, and it can be maintained for varying lengths of time, depending on the desired effect. Incidentally, all styles of Shiatsu agree that pressure is applied in three stages:

1.Placing your finger in contact with the person. This is the pressure point
(? tsubo) contact phase.

2.Appling pressure until the tissues resist, without using muscular force, but by moving the body’s centre of gravity.

3.Releasing the pressure by withdrawing the body weight.

Lastly, the notion of ‘stable pressure’ means that the pressure does not slide on the surface as it does in massage. The finger or fingers are held in a fixed position, which is not as easy as you might think, but then again that’s what the Shiatsu technique is all about. The reason for this is understandable as Shiatsu is practised through clothes rather than against the skin. Clothes slide easily, so it’s logical that the pressure should be stable. There are, of course, other reasons behind this choice, particularly that of allowing the tissues to feel the pressure without being disturbed, which consequently allows the nervous system to relax.

Can we talk further about the conceptual essence of Shiatsu? Clearly, yes. Shiatsu is first and foremost a manual therapy, which implies that we don’t use wooden, metal or stone tools, as in Guasha (??) for example. It is the work of one body with another. Moreover, the hand and fingers are very widely used to perform the essential part of the Shiatsu technique, even if its historical roots of Anma (? ?) resurface here and therein the use of the elbow, knee or forearm in certain styles. The psycho-emotional dimension is also very present in Shiatsu. Firstly, because it involves a relationship between two people that can last over time. Secondly, because it is a therapeutic relationship in which the person receiving the treatment can put down their burdens, their...

Über Autor(innen)

Mike, born 02. 06. 1969 in Steyr/Austria into a family of health professionals, quickly realized that the highest form of healing art is the one that prevents sickness from ocurring at all. He has been living and practicing TCM and shiatsu for the past 30 years in Vienna. He is the director of the largest and most successful shiatsu institute in Europe which has had a close working relationship with medical institutions since 1993 – a true trailblazer for the integration of east and west. Mike Mandl is a sought-after and popular lecturer in the whole of Europe, with a far-reaching international network. It qualified him perfectly for the position of Director of the triennial European Shiatsu Congress, which he transformed into the biggest shiatsu related event world wide. About two months of every year he is offering his post graduate programs in German or English, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Finland being countries he is visiting the most. Not infrequently he can be found in Asia in the pursuit of authentic knowledge and the roots of Daoism, since, in his own words: "Every form of medicine requires a spiritual component." Mike is the father of three children, and a passionate gardener and snowboarder.