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...
Ivan Bel
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...
Interview with Wilfried Rappenecker: a european vision for Shiatsu
Wilfried Rappenecker is one of the giants of European Shiatsu. His name is closely associated with German and Swiss Shiatsu, as well as with the enormous "Atlas of Shiatsu", now in its 4th edition. A doctor by profession, he decided to leave everything to do nothing...
Interview : Manabu Watanabe, founder of Shyuyou Shiatsu
Manabu Watanabe is one of those people who can speak in depth about the martial arts. For over 10 years, he was the disciple and assistant of Minoru Akuzawa, the extraordinary founder of Aunkai. Anyone who has ever seen Akuzawa Sensei perform his movements knows what...
The points that chase away Dampness
With climate change and the chronic drought now taking hold in Europe, this is perhaps a family of points that will tend to be used less and less. Spring and autumn are two seasons when it rains, but you can fall victim to dampness in a cold, poorly ventilated room,...
Interview Mihael Mamychshvili: from Georgia to Everything Shiatsu, a dedicated life
In the world of Shiatsu there are the personalities who practice Shiatsu on a daily basis and make it known, and those who highlight these same people through the media. Mihael Mamychshvili does both. For years he has been developing Shiatsu and his own method, and he...
Biography: Dr Haruchiki Hirata 平田内蔵吉 (1901-1945)
With the collaboration of Billy Ristuccia Dr. Haruchiki Hirata is not well known among Shiatsu practitioners, except by a handful who are interested in the history of Shiatsu. He was not one of the pioneers of Shiatsu, but rather one of the great influencers of these...
Interview Leisa Bellmore: update on her Shiatsu research
When I met Leisa Bellmore at the European Shiatsu Science Congress in London in 2017, she was presenting her first study. For the past 6 years, she has been continuing her studies on sleep disorders using a simple self-shiatsu protocol. By changing the target...