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
Interview with Elaine Liechti: the lady of Glasgow
Elaine Liechti has been a Shiatsu practitioner and teacher since 1983, and has been teaching in Scotland since 1986. Don’t be fooled by her small stature and soft hands, because her whole career is a testament to her character as a Scottish woman and one-time Aikido...
The True Japanese Makkō-hō
In the world of Shiatsu, everyone performs stretches while naming the meridians being stretched. These exercises are called Makkō-hō and are often attributed to Shizuto Masunaga. In this in-depth article, Stéphane Cuypers follows the principle of “don’t believe what...
A Milestone: The 2025 ESF Symposium in Brussels
On February 22, 2025, history was made in Brussels. For the very first time, representatives of Shiatsu associations from all over Europe and key players from countries in which such associations don't exist yet gathered together. Hosted by the European Shiatsu...
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...
Workshops to come
Austria – 19-21 Sept. 25: 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...
Austria – 24-26 Oct. 25: Master Class in Vienna – 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...
France – 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...
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.
