Shiatsu is not just a poke in the spine
He has got one of those shiatsu dogs
Joked the man in the craft exhibition in Arundel. Usually when one mentions the word shiatsu the joke goes the other way: Shiatsu? That is a small dog isn’t it?
But it goes to show that the word shiatsu is out there, people are concious of something called shiatsu but do they know what it is? Apart from a brief mention in an episode of the Sopranos it does not crop up much on TV unlike acupuncture or osteopathy and chiropractic. I did see it mentioned in a daily newspaper but the review was less than glowing.
My first exposure to the word was when my Wife bought a machine calling itself a shiatsu massager. You see a lot of these machines and chairs advertised if you Google for shiatsu. A set of kneading rollers attached to an electric motor is not shiatsu but the word has been picked up as a marketing tool to give these devices extra kudos.
Related to these machines are the massage therapists advertising shiatsu technique. We have one coming into the office. I haven’t received a treatment from her but the advertising does seem to use the word rather casually. Again it seems that simply adopting a technique of pressing or holding points can support the claim that shiatsu is being given.
This post is coming from my own worries about how shiatsu is being advertised, marketed and regulated. From my current point of view there does seem to be a lack of any push to reclaim shiatsu as the therapy that it really is. What is the best way to promote true shiatsu? Should it be left to organisations like the Shiatsu Society?
It would be a shame to think that I might waste three years of study to be usurped by a portable device rhythmically poking a client in the back.
Tony Brown @ July 26, 2007
Ah now, I have an issue with “true shiatsu”. I’m sure there are Namikoshi practitioners who think Masunaga is new age junk. And what about people who combine shiatsu and reiki? At which point does it stop being shiatsu?
Personally I like that shiatsu isn’t regulated. I don’t think it could be regulated to the extent that people could not for instance offer “shiatsu-style massage” or say that their massage “incorporates elements of shiatsu” — and if you can’t stop that then what exactly is the point of regulation? As far as I can tell the only way you could protect the word shiatsu to that extent is if it was a trademark — and it’s not trademarkable.
FWIW The Canadian Shiatsu Society trademarked the word “shiatsupractor” so that only their members may use it. It works, after a fashion.
Oh, and if you think the shiatsu chairs are funny you should try setting up a practice in Bath and getting it noticed on Google!
I think the issue here is education. People in general do not know what shiatsu is. If Joe Public buys a shiatsu massager for £40 then he’s got what he paid for — he hasn’t been ripped off. Sure, you or I might feel irked that a shiatsu massager “isn’t shiatsu”, but so what? It’s not like we’d buy one.
I can’t decide whether the same goes for a massage therapist advertising shiatsu-style massage. Someone who specifically wanted a shiatsu might feel cheated, but for them to feel cheated they’d actually need to know what a shiatsu is — and if they knew what one was then wouldn’t they figure they weren’t going to get one before any money changed hands?
My instinct is to put myself in the massage therapist’s shoes. So maybe their training is in Swedish massage, but they did a shiatsu foundation course and incorporated some of what they learned in their massage. In that case it’s the truth — their massage does incorporate “shiatsu technique”. And you know, so long as they’re not consciously out to mislead people then I can’t see they’re doing anything wrong.