Every man and his dog knows about the martial arts these days. To the layman the martial arts are a system designed to basically hurt people, but what many people don’t know, including a shocking number of martial artists, is that the martial arts were conceived originally alongside complementary healing systems.
The origins of the martial and healing arts are the same. They both evolved from the need for humans to defend themselves and to heal after an attack. Historically martial arts teach a healing art alongside the defensive arts in order to make the martial artist a more rounded individual and to give them a better understanding of the whole or way of martial arts.
The Philosophy Of The Healing/Martial Arts
The combining of the healing and defensive arts are integral to the philosophy of most of the martial arts that exist today, although this fact is lost on many martial arts practitioners, mainly because the healing arts and their link to the martial arts are just not taught in very many dojos anymore. These days especially, emphasis is placed almost entirely on the fighting arts and the physical techniques within them. In most dojos practice becomes about attacking opponents in some way, despite the fact that historically the martial arts were not about attacking people. Historically speaking, the highest goal of the martial arts was “Tatakawa zushite katsu”, or “to win without fighting”. The martial arts were used defensively and then the healing arts were used to help either yourself or your attacker. The ultimate goal however, would be the healing of any situation that might cause violence before any violence took place.
In this way being able to heal your attacker has important philosophical ramifications; your attacker is less likely to attack you again if you heal them or show them kindness whether it be before or after an attack. Also in this way it is important not to hold grudges. As Funakoshi said “karate ni sente nashi”(there is no first strike in karate). If you can heal a conflict before it causes violence then that is the best outcome.
In Eastern philosophy martial arts would be considered the Yin (dark) part of the Tao (whole) and the healing arts would be the Yang (light). Thus in order to be a complete martial artist you need to understand both the defensive and healing arts in order to be able to grasp the whole or bigger picture. This is also the “do” or way of the martial arts implied by the name “karate-do”.
We can therefore see the importance of the healing arts and their intricate relationship with the martial arts. To fully understand the martial arts we also need to understand the healing arts. This fact will become clearer as we go on to talk about the two healing methods I am most familiar with and how they can be used to improve your martial arts.
Shiatsu
The first healing art I want talk about is Shiatsu, an internationally known method of healing that was founded in Japan in the early 1900’s by Tokujiro Namikoshi. Shiatsu comes from the words “shi” which means the thumbs and fingers and “atsu”, meaning pressure.
Basic shiatsu is a completely safe and natural method of physiotherapy. Using the thumbs, fingers and palms of the hand, pressure is applied to various parts of the body by stroking and pressing. It relaxes the nervous system and can help improve health by stimulating the body’s recuperative powers.
To perform Shiatsu on someone it is necessary to have them lay down on a massage table or matted area so that they are laid out flat. You then apply pressure using your fingers, thumbs, and/or palms in a continuous rhythmic sequence.
The whole body is generally covered throughout the session, though if there is a particular problem area like the back, then you would concentrate your efforts there, applying pressure with the finger pads rather than the whole palm like most forms of massage.
The basics of Shiatsu can be picked up quite quickly once you have tried it a few times and a basic all over massage can have a good effect on whoever you are doing it to. In order to learn how to target more specific areas of the body and how to manipulate them however, then it is a good idea to take a course in the art so you can be taught by a professional. Failing that, find a good book or DVD on the subject like the ones I have included at the end of this article. Below you can watch a short video that will give you some idea of how Shiatsu is performed.
Kuatsu
Kuatsu is slightly more relevant to us as martial arts because it is a system of recovery and resuscitation that is used to treat people after they have been attacked in specific areas (as in atemi-jitsu). Kuatsu is closely linked with Jujitsu and is something I had to learn in order to pass my 1st Dan grading in Jujitsu. The same regions on the body the lethal techniques are applied are exactly the same as where the healing takes place.
Kuatsu teaches us how to revive someone after they have been strangled or choked out, how to realign bones after they have been dislocated such as finger bones, the nose bone or the shoulder after it has been dislocated from its socket. A very simple technique that I have used many times is one which treats that most common of training injuries, the bloody nose. To treat a bleeding nose, have the person lie down flat and then, lifting each of their feet in turn, firmly slap the sole of the foot with your hand. This will stop the bleeding.
If you have choked or strangled someone out then you can bring them round by simply massaging the sides of their neck until they are revived again, or you can simply move both of their arms around in circles, which helps stimulate the respiratory system again.
Basic Kuatsu is not too hard to learn and I would recommend that all martial artists learn it, mainly because it helps to know how to treat the various injuries that often happen during training. Before you treat anyone though, you must get their permission first (though obviously not if they are out cold), especially before you start to manipulate joints and bones. Once you have their permission you continue with the treatment before taking the person to hospital. The quicker a person is treated after the injury the better it will be for them. Sometimes you have to wait a long time before being seen by a doctor at a hospital, by which time the injury has worsened and become very painful. Treating an injury straight away reduces pain and any chance of long term damage.
If you wish to learn Kuatsu then find someone who already knows it and get them to teach you, since this is the best way to learn it. Failing that, find a good book on the subject, though you may find it difficult to get such resources for there aren’t many out there, given the little known nature of the techniques.
The Benefits Of Learning A Healing Art
As far as the martial arts go, delving into the healing arts can have many benefits for you as a martial artist. Giving and receiving shiatsu can have a great impact on the martial artist’s ability to train, recover, heal and perform movements. All styles of shiatsu have the aim of balancing the human body – whether that be through improving energy flow along meridians or through the releasing and aligning of the muscles and body. Thus receiving shiatsu can make training easier.
Shiatsu improves the range of motion of the body and makes it possible for techniques to be performed with less resistance (by releasing tension within the muscles and improving relaxation). This can lead (with regular training) to improved progress and technique for the martial artist.
Shiatsu also enables the body to cope better with the demands of training. It improves recovery time from strenuous training sessions and can also speed up recovery from injuries. Shiatsu is best suited to treating chronic injuries and not acute (or fresh) injuries – for the first few days after an injury has occurred standard first aid is more effective in treating the problem. Shiatsu can then be used to assist the longer term healing and rehabilitation of the injury. For example a sprained ankle is best treated with rest and relaxation for the first few days to a week after being injured. Shiatsu can then be used to help restore mobility and function.
Also, by performing both Shiatsu and Kuatsu one learns which areas are more vulnerable to pressure point attack. As one gets better at the practices, the painful and more incapacitating points are easier to identify and locate on a person. This means that they can be better targeted by attacks. This demonstrates the importance of training in both the healing arts and martial arts – you can learn to identify and locate the vulnerable points on a person but without diligent training, you are unlikely to be able to strike (or seize, tear or squeeze) the points in a combat situation with any accuracy, power or force.
Training in Shiatsu and Kuatsu teaches the practitioner several things that are useful for self-defence also. The most important of these is how to read the body. For example, the way an attacker carries their body or holds themselves can reveal information that can be used against them. A raised left shoulder might indicate a tightness on that side of the body, in the neck or back for instance, and could reveal that the attacker would be more vulnerable to an attack directed at that side of the body (the tension in the area would slow down their response and add to the pain caused by targeting that area, thereby increasing the effectiveness of an attack.) In this way a good understanding of the healing arts can lead to better strategy in a combat situation.
Actually having Shiatsu performed on you can have very beneficial health effects such as improved relaxation through stress reduction, which as we seen in a previous article is very important for good martial arts performance. A Shiatsu session soon after training is hard to beat in terms of reliving the tension and aching muscles gained through hard training.
Shiatsu can also improve your mental focus in much the same way that meditation does, by relaxing the mind and body and clearing the mind of extraneous thoughts and worries. Again, good mental focus is essential to good martial arts performance.
Learn To Heal As Well As Attack
I hope you can now see the importance of healing arts such as Shiatsu and Kuatsu in helping you improve as a martial artist. This aspect of the martial arts has largely been lost or ignored in recent years, something I think is a great shame considering everything there is to be gained by introducing such practices into training. Especially these days, when everyone seems to be doing strangulation and locking techniques (as in BJJ, MMA etc) it would be a very good idea to at least learn the basics of Kuatsu and learn how to deal with the inevitable injuries that will occur during such training.
It is my opinion that many people have little interest in being able to heal an opponent these days. People are only interested in attacking other people and causing as much damage as possible. The healing arts to most (if awareness of them is even there in the first place) are just another aspect of traditional training that has fallen out of favour and has little or no relevance in today’s environment. I therefore hope that this article has changed your mind and shown you how relevant the healing arts still are to us as martial artists.
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Further Resources
A scientific interpretation of kuatsu, or, The Japanese method of restoring life
Shiatsu Theory and Practice: A comprehensive text for the student and professional
Zen Shiatsu: How to Harmonize Yin and Yang for Better Health
Essential Anatomy: For Healing and Martial Arts
