Although many massage therapy businesses use the word "restorative" in their names or business slogans, the term "restorative massage therapy" more specifically refers to the form of deep tissue massage developed by professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki. Restorative massage therapy is a combination of massage techniques and traditions including Japanese, Hawaiian, Chinese and Western massage. According to the American Judo and Jujitsu Foundation in Saugus, California, Okazaki invented the Danzan Ryu Jitsu system to include an effective self-defense system and a complete system of resuscitation, massage and healing arts.
History of Restorative Massage Therapy
In the 1920s, Okazaki came to Hawaii from Japan and began to develop a jujitsu system that included both self-defense techniques and associated massage techniques to restore or heal the body. Both components rely heavily on the concept of qi, or body energy, as a primary force. Jujitsu students of Okazaki were required to master both of these techniques as part of their training and to use their own qi, or energetic intention, to bring balance to the qi of their patients.
Conditions Treated
Jaya R. Carl of the Shanti Jujitsu Dojo in San Jose, California, suggests that while the intent of restorative massage therapy is to help the body heal itself, it can also treat migraine headaches, muscular aches and pains and injury rehabilitation. However, because restorative massage therapy is based on the Oriental concept of body energy and how blockages of the energetic pathways are the cause of illness and disease, less focus is placed on listing medical conditions and more focus is placed on relieving energy blockages.
Training for Practitioners
It is possible for students to seek training in the healing portion only of Okazaki's system. However, the massage and healing arts portion of the program is primarily intended to complement and work in conjunction with the jujitsu portion of the system. It is intended to train students to help people return to a normal state of health, particularly after their participation in the practice of martial arts. This massage is based heavily upon the 1,500-year-old Chinese healing system known as seifukujitsu and involves many of its classic traditions.
Restorative Massage Therapy Techniques
The actual techniques required for restorative massage therapy include the ability to perceive qi energy in your own body and that of patients. Physical intervention includes the use of the therapist's fingers, palms, forearms and elbows in specific routines, or katas. Because more than 90 percent of the massage work is done with the elbow, restorative massage is also occasionally referred to as the "famous elbow" or "golden elbow" technique. Therapists are also trained in taking the joints through a normal range of motion.
Where to Find Restorative Massage Therapists
The ideal location to experience restorative massage therapy would be at Okazaki's own bodywork practice, the Nikko Sanitorium of Restoration Massage in Honolulu, Hawaii, which is run by his son, Hachiro. Other locations can be found by contacting any Danzan Ryu Jujitsu dojos in your area for a list of practitioners who have completed restorative massage therapy training at their location. Several Danzan Ryu locations are throughout the United States.
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