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
Neck and stiffness in Shiatsu
In Shiatsu, many people complain about neck pain and stiffness and it is a treatment that is studied quite early in the Shiatsushi curriculum. However, the reality is far more complex than what is usually taught in school, because the neck is very complex and the...
Clean Language in Bodywork – part 2
In the first part, we discussed the roots, foundations and principles of Clean Language, a communication method used in therapy and coaching. Instead of using complex, technical language or metaphors, it involves simple, gentle questioning about how we feel and what...
Clean Language in Bodywork – part 1
When I take some time to be still, for example during meditation or before falling asleep, that's when it starts: A buzzing goes through my head, like a swarm of bees is flying through or a choir of crickets is giving a summer concert. This noise often doesn’t stop...
Do you know my mother? Shiatsu for people with complex disabilities
About fifteen years ago, I received a special gift. The director of a workshop for disabled people called me to ask if I would be willing to give two and a half hours of Shiatsu treatment per week at her facility. The colleague who had previously performed this task...
Interview with Rolland Boudet, pioneer of Shiatsu in France
He was one of the first members of the French Federation of Traditional Shiatsu. Rolland Boudet is a master of both martial arts and Shiatsu. In 2000, he founded the Shiatsu Academies of Marseille, Toulouse, Cannes and Bordeaux, accredited by the Japan Shiatsu...
Shiatsu in times of turbulence
It was in times of trouble that many of us took up our pursuit of Shiatsu and its many magical avenues of connection. Perhaps we were ill, even chronically. We were maybe burnt out on our early career path and looking for a fresh perspective. Perhaps we were trying to...
Workshops to come
Poland: Anpuku & Qineizang in Warsaw -11-13th of September 26
Abdominal massage is one of the most important techniques for massage therapists and practitioners of all schools, styles or techniques to study. Why? Because the abdomen is the body’s central area. It is the point from which most bodily processes originate and...
An intensive week to explore Emotions and Psychological Disorders – 5-11 July 2026
When touch becomes a language for the mind. More and more clients are coming to clinics with chronic stress, anxiety, sleep disorders, irritability, hypersensitivity, difficulty concentrating, or emotional shock. And very often, ‘classic’ shiatsu is no longer...
Switzerland: Workshop for all levels on the principles and concepts of Shiatsu – October 16–18, 2026
After a few years of practice—or even longer—we develop habits that can keep us stuck in a “comfort zone,” and it’s easy to think that we “know” everything and that we’ve “got it all figured out.” It’s even harder to challenge ourselves and keep learning. Inevitably,...
Latest news from the world of Shiatsu
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Learn Ryōhō Shiatsu
Ryōhō Shiatsu is a group of Shiatsu practitioners and teachers influenced by the martial arts branch of Shiatsu, the two founders being long-time 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 Ryōhō Shiatsu, simply go to one of its schools.
