Shiatsu is a style of bodywork or manipulative therapy developed in Japan. It incorporated techniques from traditional Japanese massage (anma), along with stretching and chiropractic. Shiatsu involves applying pressure along ancient energy pathways (channels, aka meridians) and specific points on the body in order to maintain physical and mental well-being, treat disease, and alleviate discomfort. This therapy is considered holistic because it treats the person and their whole body rather than a specific medical complaint or just a part of the body. All types of acupressure generally focus on the same traditional energy pathways and pressure points (tsubo), but differ in terms of style and technique. Shiatsu, which means to "press with the/a finger", but may be translated as "finger pressure", has been described as needle-free acupuncture or acu-pressure.

I practice and teach a style of shiatsu brought to this country by Shizuko Yamamoto.

I learned it from Richard Hyatt in San Francisco, CA. circa 1974. Richard was Shizuko’s ‘first’ student and the person that convinced her to start teaching. Subsequent to the publication of her book in 1979, it has become known as Barefoot Shiatsu. In the course of my career I mostly dropped the footwork and eventually moved off a futon on the floor and up onto a massage table. This was appreciated by both clients and students, but took some modification. My Tai Ji practice facilitated doing this with respect to proper and efficient body mechanics.

The shiatsu tradition, as Richard taught me, required that we perform 1000 massages before we could charge any money for it. That spirit has inspired me and to this day, and carries forth into this website being dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge for its own sake and the benefit of society and not for monetary gain. Most everything here is free.

The five components of this site and indeed aspects of my career are all in keeping with this spirit, in stark contrast to the commodification of everything, it seems, in contemporary society.