Ryōhō Shiatsu
ALL ABOUT SHIATSU: NEWS, BLOG, NEWSLETTER, COURSES
This site is entirely free and reports on everything that’s happening in the world of Shiatsu. With over 13,000 readers in 6 languages (French, English, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese), we offer in-depth articles, interviews, biographies and point studies. You’ll find a blog, a podcast, directories of practitioners and schools, a newsletter, courses, everything you need to know about Shiatsu.
What is Shiatsu?
When people feel pain or discomfort, they instinctively touch the painful area in order to relieve themselves. This instinctive gesture was developed into an art form in Asia through massage and digitopression. Subsequently, Chinese medicine demonstrated the interaction between meridian energy and the physical body. Created in Japan, Shiatsu (which means “finger pressure”) is the combination of these two approaches, instinctive and theoretical, technical and energetic. This manual technique was recognised as one of the most worthy of interest by the European Commission in 1997. It has also been an official medicine in Japan since 1964.
Latest articles
Book: The Spirit of Shiatsu
Ivan Bel is one of a new generation of Shiatsu practitioners who are working hard on many levels to bring this noble art to new heights of professionalism and public visibility. One of the many assets Ivan brings to this creative endeavour is his experience as a...
Terésa Hadland interview: Shiatsu at core
A leading Shiatsu teacher, Terésa Hadland has been criss-crossing Europe and even the world for over forty years, sometimes in the company of her partner Bill Palmer and sometimes on her own, to pass on their vision of 'Movement Shiatsu'. Sparkling, full of...
Bone Is More Than a Curious Organ
In Shiatsu, we don't often talk about bones. And yet they are the foundations of our body, the solid, tangible base on which our muscles are articulated and our organs housed. What's more, the large bones also produce blood cells and are themselves irrigated at the...
Book review: “Another self” by Cindy Engel
Let's be honest: this book is not a Shiatsu book. Instead, the author, Dr Cindy Engel, is an original combination of biology researcher and manual therapist (shiatsu, Thai massage, fasciatherapy and also Qigong teacher) in England. She published articles in scientific...
The Hirata Zones and Shiatsu
While many Shiatsu practitioners like to use meridians and moxibustion to support their treatment, few are familiar with Dr Hirata's zones and Ontake method of using moxas with pieces of bamboo. We've already written about the life of Dr Hirata on this blog, a genius...
How to meet left-handedness in Shiatsu
When you're right-handed, it's hard to put yourself in the shoes, or rather the movements, of a left-handed person. The world around them is essentially adapted to right-handed people, which requires constant adaptation to their environment. As a student and teacher...
Workshops to come
19-21 Sept. 2025 – Shiatsu Summit in Vienna: chronic fatigue, burnout & depression
This year, the Vienna Shiatsu Summit, which is becoming one of the highlights of the European Shiatsu world, will be dedicated to chronic fatigue, burnout and depression. These three themes are a must for all shiatsushi, as these disorders are literally invading our...
24-26 October 2025: Master Class in Vienna (Austria) – Shiatsu and martial arts
Why talk about martial arts and shiatsu at the same time? Oriental healing techniques developed in parallel with martial arts. One could even say that the two are the other side of the same coin. Intense training and injuries of varying degrees of severity led martial...
Lembrun Summer Intensive Course – July 6 to 12, 2025: Digestive System Disorders, Advanced Organ Anatomy, and Nutrition
The world of the abdomen and its digestive system is perhaps the most complex and fascinating area to study. Organs, viscera, nervous system, microbiome, hormones, energy center… everything interconnects, begins, and ends in the belly. Every Shiatsu session calls for...
Anpuku Workshop with Ivan Bel in London – 7 & 8th, June 2025
Anpuku is an ancient Japanese abdominal massage technique integral to the practice of Shiatsu and traditional Japanese medicine. The term "Anpuku" translates to "peaceful abdomen" or "calming the abdomen." This is one of the manual traditions that most influenced the...
Latest news from the world of Shiatsu
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Learn Ryōhō Shiatsu
Ryōhō Shiatsu is a style of Shiatsu which originated in the martial arts branch, the two founders being long-standing martial arts practitioners. Its study integrates all the dimensions of shiatsu, namely :
- Mechanical shiatsu (relaxation and osteo-articular mobilisation)
- Energetic shiatsu (meridians, families and combinations of points)
- Therapeutic shiatsu (pathologies, pulse taking, oriental diagnosis)
- Personal development (self-shiatsu, feeling work, meditation, qi gong, etc.)
- Western medicine (anatomy, physiology, ethics, hygiene, pathology)
- Oriental medicine (theories, energetic physiology, visceral psychology, moxibustion)
To study this style, all you have to do is go to one of its schools.
