Where it all started
From left to right: Prof. Henry Seishiro Okazaki, Prof. Joe Holck, and Prof. Sig Kufferath.
Meleana Tomooka, LMT
My training in deep tissue massage, started in my childhood. I first learned by walking on my mother’s back. When I grew older and stronger, I learned to use my hands, elbows, and forearms. It wasn’t easy, and I can’t say that I enjoyed doing massages. At the time, it was another chore. I eventually learned to enjoy giving massages because it made mom feel better. I especially enjoyed receiving them.
My father is Joe Holck, he was my teacher. My Sensei, who believed in “passing on the tradition”. Dad learned massage in the 1940’s, by his instructors of Jujitsu and Judo, Professors Henry Seishiro Okazaki & Sig Kufferrath in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Prof. Okazaki was an expert of Health Sciences & was a physical therapist. He taught Japanese Restoration Massage to his martial arts students called, Seifukujitsu. To have this knowledge and skill, proved to be very practical. The students were able to help each other recover from rigorous practices and injuries from their martial arts training.
Prof. Kufferath, was the professor’s lead instructor and with his dedication, Seifukujitsu is still being taught and practiced today.
My father may well have been an influence for one of his students in particular, who was the President of Dad’s martial arts organization for over 10 years, Shihan David Parker. Shihan Parker became a Seifukujitsu practitioner when he retired from the University of Arizona. He was certified by Prof. Kufferath’s high ranking black belts. Hence, created a full circle through the generations of the “passing on the tradition”. Not just within my family, but through these prominant martial arts teachers too! Is this not short of AMAZING?!
Professor Okazaki’s style of massage is incredible. It’s slightly different from modern deep tissue techniques in that it incorporates Hawaiian lomi-lomi, Chinese medicine, Shiatsu and also, what I believe may have been acupressure. The “acupressure” technique seemed to focus on releasing muscle tension. Which is similar to trigger point therapy. At least in the way I was taught. This is naming only a few of the ancient healing methods of Seifuku. I must add that Dad was also taught joint manipulation. I don’t remember him teaching this to others, but he did teach me. It’s almost as though the professor practiced much like a chiropractor. In any case, the Professor used these modalities to literally restructure patients that had kyphoscoliosis or elephantiasis, and other structural ailments. It’s possible that the professor may have done his own version of structural integration. I’ve seen the original before and after photographs that the Professor took of his patients. He was a phenomenal healer. All of his successes of his physical therapy sessions were hands on techniques and a lot of “massage”. The photographs are proof of this and truly inspiring.
Today, due to both of these professors, the martial artists of Danzan Ryu Jujitsu, continue to learn Seifukujitsu. If not in the same capacity as the Professors had taught it, it’s at least introduced. Dad, like many of their students, dedicated his life to the martial arts and massage practices. My father continued to pass on their traditions and their teachings. I am grateful for his lessons and will continue to practice this modality in the way the professors taught him and that he passed on to me.
To dive a “tiny bit” deeper into the connection of Seifukujitsu and the Hawaiian culture. Professor Okazaki was a teenager when he left Japan and arrived in Hawaii. He studied the Hawaiian martial art of Lua and Hawaiian healing art of Lomi-Lomi. He combined these to his Asian studies and developed Danzan Ryu Jujitsu AND Seifukujitsu. He incorporated the Hawaiian spirit of mana, of which he already taught in the form of “Ki”. Ki is the Japanese version also known as “Chi” or “Qi” in Chinese or Prana in Indian. It’s often described as the energy of life itself. An electromagnetic light energy that flows through everything in creation. In the Asian culture, ki, chi and prana are located just below the navel of the abdomen but is the same energy as mana. Mana is taught more generally as being all around us and flows through us. If you’ve seen the movie, “Avatar”, then you already understand the “light force”. The movie gives a nice visual of how the light force flows and connects to all life. The humanoid species, Na’vi, honored the sacred and connect with the spirit of Eywa. The Spirit of Eywa is what “mana” is to many cultures. This is the “connection” Prof. Okazaki enveloped in his arts to share with ALL cultures. He combined his knowledge, his teachings with his Japanese heritage and the Hawaiian culture. With and in “good mana”, he taught his arts to all ethnicities and the “spirit” of his teachings moved throughout the Islands, to the mainland and other countries. According to my parents, the professor embraced everything about Hawaii; it’s people, its culture, and its mana, the Spirit of Aloha and how it should be shared with ALL people.
When the professor passed away, his son, Hachiro Okazaki gave my father the professors clinical photo albums. When I was a child, looking through those old photographs, I was fascinated with the different shapes and configurations that the human bodies were able to form. These photographs are evidence that “manual manipulation”, with two hands, can structurally change the human figure. Professor Okazaki made remarkable changes for his patients. Not just structurally, but physically, mentally, emotionally and functionally. He changed their lives!
My father was 11 years old when he started his martial arts training with Professor Okazaki. The professor made an impact in Dad’s life. So much that, Dad felt it would be good to raise his children in the martial arts. Before my parents met, my mom was already studying Aikido and Hakko Ryu Jujitsu. So, being a “martial arts” family was bound to happen anyways. My family taught martial arts for over 50 plus years. It was our life! It’s how we served the community. Mom and Dad believed that children are our future, and they were dedicated to teaching them. Teaching them self-discipline, respect, to be harmonious in one’s family, to become good citizens of our community and our country. These are the esoteric principles taught by Prof. Okazaki. Through all the years, with these disciplines and principles, we learned about ourselves, about people, health and the intricacies of the human body. Prof. Okazaki’s willingness to share his knowledge, made a huge and positive impact on not just my family, but to so many lives and more than he or my father will ever know.
So where did it all start? I now realize that my life in the Martial arts is “Where It All Started”. If it wasn’t for my martial arts training from the tutelage of the professors and my family, I may not have known anything about massage, what it has to offer and how influential it is to the lives of many.
Mahalo nui loa, Prof. Okazaki and Prof. Kufferath . (Thank you very much)
Also, to my dad, Me ke aloha pumehana . Mahalo no kou a’o ‘ana mai ia’u.
(My deepest love and affection. Thank you for teaching me)