Today a client of mine told me about an interesting converstion she had with someone she knows relatively well. The client, whom we'll call Susie, has been receiving Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy on a regular basis for 5 or 6 years. She gets barefoot massage about once every other week, and it is very helpful in her pain management of an injury sustained at work.
This friend, "Larry," insisted that there was no such thing as "ashiatsu" and maintained that Susie was really getting Shiatsu treatments. No amount of arguing could convinve Larry that Susie was really getting Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy. Since it wasn't listed in his shiatsu book that he showed her, in his mind, it didn't exist.
Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy is relatively new, at least in terms of how long traditional shiatsu has been around. Ruthie Hardee has been teaching our form of Ashiatsu since 1995, a mere 12 years. In comparison to the thousands of years shiatsu has been performed in India, Thailand and Asia, it's not been long.
Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy is, however, growing rapidly in popularity in the United States. So for clients such as Susie, they're happy with their form of Ashiatsu, no matter what it's called.
http://www.ashiatsuworkshops.com/ has information on classes.
