Shiatsu Namikoshi Guide : Basic Shiatsu Namikoshi
SHIATSU means “fingers pressure”. It is a manual therapy of Japanese origin. This practice extended all over the world, and concretely in Spain by the JAPANESE SCHOOL OF SHIATSU of SHIGERU ONODA.
TOKUJIRO NAMIKOSHI elaborated a method of education for the application of Shiatsu which was recognized by the Ministries of Health and the Education in Japan.
The Ministry of Health of Japan defines Shiatsu as: “treatment which, applying pressures with thumbs and hand palms on specific points of the body, corrects imbalances, maintains and enhances health, contributes to the healing of specific illnesses (annoyances, pains, stress, nervous upheavals, etc.), therefore activating human body’s capacity of self-healing. IT DOES NOT HAVE ANY SECONDARY EFFECTS”.
When we feel somewhere in our body a weakness, a rigidity, a dullness or any pain, we unconsciously tend to rub or to apply pressure on the affected zone. This instinctive behaviour to correct the imbalance has existed even before medicine was developed.
The Japanese terms TEATE (treatment) and TE OKURE (states which escape totally to control), both include the word “TE” (hand) and suggests the importance given to the hands by ancient therapists.
Western massage and Oriental massage Anma use different methods; however these two manual therapies result from the instinctive use of hands to cure.
