Zen Shiatsu Tucson

A curious topic, for some time now, has been the use of Masunaga's meridian system. I have been reading many articles past and present about the theory and application of this system, and find much of the discussion to be less about Masunaga's study and discoveries, and more about any given writer's critique and deliniations.

Experiences, comments?

Masunaga was a brilliant clinician and scholar.  He studied voraciously and practiced meticulously.  His meridian extension discoveries seem to have been part of his natural intuitive insight, as well as his development of the Amoeba Lifecycle theory as well as the Kyo/Jitsu Mother/Messenger methods.  In the introduction to one of his works he also mentions having studied in the temples of India.  This led one Thai centric colleague of mine to suggest that a study of the Ayurvedic Nadii System influenced Masunaga's development of the extension system.  Will we ever know for sure?  Remember as you work with extensions, Masuanga was more interested in the phenomenon of energy rather than physical manifestation.  In my own clinical application, I believe the extensions also work at the level of the Extraordinary Vessels, tapping into Source Qi energetics.  cool

Many people train in some form of Masunaga Sensei's shiatsu system. I wanted to post here my video that I have uploaded to Youtube of Masunaga Sensei teaching a seminar in Canada for people who might not have ever seen him in real life.

The video is in 4 parts. Here is part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83RrhMsn2TI

I ran out of edit time in my first part so here is what I was trying to post. Here is my video of Masunaga Sensei teaching in Canada in 4 parts:

Zen Shiatsu Shizuto Masunaga Video (Part 1of4)

Zen Shiatsu Shizuto Masunaga Video (Part 2of4)

Zen Shiatsu Shizuto Masunaga Video (Part 3of4)

Zen Shiatsu Shizuto Masunaga Video (Part 4of4)

While studying in Japan I have had the honor to meet with and train with Susumu Kimura Sensei. He was a lifelong friend and teacher under Masunaga Sensei. Here is a great video of Kimura Sensei speaking:

Susumu Kimura Sensei: You Already Know!

Kris, in Japanese textbooks in Japan it is said that Masunaga Sensei studied an old form of Asian

psychology known as "Toyoshin Rigaku". While involved in this study and research he came across large references to what is known as Keiraku Hansha (meridian reflections) and Zofu Hansha (internal organ reflections). His research lead him to study a number of older arts which teach about these lines on the body which "reflect" the standard 12 internal organ meridians. From this study it is said that Masunaga Sensei developed his own system of "reflections". What everyone now calls "Meridian Extensions". In some of the source arts Masunaga researched the "reflections" are set up according to those particular folk arts a little differently. Example: Sokushindo is a very old system of Japanese foot massage and reflexology. Masunaga Sensei investigated this art and their Hansha (reflections system). In this foot and leg art there is no mention of meridian extensions in the arms and only deals with leg and foot meridian reflections. Masunaga Sensei in these Japanese books I am referring to is said to of studied a number of folk arts to piece back together a larger whole body picture of what the meridian reflection system (Hansha) looked like not only in the legs and feet but also for the other areas of the body.

In western books and articles it seems they leave out mention of the Japanese folk arts Masunaga looked into as he did his research. From what I have researched from physically studying in Japan... It seems Masunaga Sensei did not so much discover the system of meridian extensions but merely put together as a whole from other individual old folk arts that focused on parts of the extensions because their modality only treated sections of the body. (treat the whole body through the mirror of the foot, hand, abdomen, or face) Each of these body areas as you know has their own old modality in Japanese medicine. What is said in Japanese manuscripts is that Masunaga created a whole body Hansha chart rather then a part by part charts.

In Japan I have seen older versions of Masunga's "extensions" chart. It seems that over time he altered his final chart to update it with his own philosophy and study of the Hansha (reflection) system.

(A side note... this is my own personal research while studying with my own teachers directly in Japan). It is a great question. I would like to email Kimura Sensei who is a life long student and teacher under Masunaga Sensei and ask his thoughts on this as well.