Seiki Meridian Shiatsu
International
Seiki Meridian Shiatsu
International
Seiki Shiatsu
International Team
Tzvika Calisar
Tzvika Calisar was born in 1962 and has been a shiatsu therapist and teacher from 1985. His clinical research and extensive teaching experience led to the development of the Seiki Meridian Shiatsu method. He is the founder & teacher of the Seiki Meridian Shiatsu International association that has centers all over Europe, North and South America, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.
Calisar studied in Tokyo from 1985 for 2 years at the Namikoshi Shiatsu School and Zen Shiatsu at Iokai center of Master Masunaga. From 1987 until 1990 he was practicing and giving Shiatsu treatments in Kyoto.
Over the next decade he built a network of shiatsu clinics and centers while travelling extensively and giving seminars and workshops throughout Europe.
In 2001-2007 Tzvika returned to Tokyo Japan and was running a Shiatsu school as manager and senior teacher to his Japanese students and further duties included responsibility for the development of the international training curriculum and programs of Shiatsu.
Calisar wrote articles about Shiatsu and Meridian diagnosis that were published in Shiatsu & Oriental magazines around the world and was involved in the writing and translation of few Shiatsu books.
During this decade Calisar became a well-known and highly regarded Shiatsu therapist and instructor in Japan. Simultaneously, he lectured and gave workshops and treatments worldwide at international shiatsu congresses and notable Shiatsu and Chinese medicine schools. His involvement and interaction with shiatsu patients, teachers, therapists and students, in Japan, Israel, England, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland, Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Macedonia, Cyprus, India, Thailand, USA, Canada, Argentina and Chile, gave a unique perspective to his research. From this he has developed unique therapeutic approaches for Shiatsu treatment and training.
Michael was born in 1967 in New Zealand. He entered physiotherapy school but left to go to the University of Auckland where he completed an arts degree in 1990.He has been a shiatsu therapist and teacher for over a decade 12 years. He first studied shiatsu with Nobutaka Kishi.
“I am a Seiki Shiatsu therapist and teacher based in Auckland. I trained in Japan for three years with Tao Shiatsu founder Ryokyu Endo. The first Tao Shiatsu clinic and school in Australasia was established in 1998. I have an Arts degree from the University of Auckland where I tutor part-time in the Continuing Education Department. In 2005 I co-authored The New Shiatsu Method – Helping the Body to Help Itself.
Clinical work and teaching experience have evolved for me into the practice of Seiki Meridian Shiatsu. I have a strong interest in sports health and fitness. I’m especially passionate about using shiatsu, ki exercises, and meridian yoga in preventing injuries and aiding recovery. In 2005 I created a shiatsu form for chair massage. This has grown into a workplace wellness and event massage company that I am currently developing.”
He is passionate about utilising ki exercise, meridian yoga and shiatsu for sports health and fitness, injury prevention and healing recovery. By adapting eastern arts for western environments he created a shiatsu form for chair massage. His workplace wellness and event massage company Best Hands Shiatsu. His passion is taking the art of manual therapy into the environments where people work, relax, and play. Giving massage a social aspect and transparency.
Michael has an Arts degree from the University of Auckland (1990), has trained with Nobutaka Kishi in shiatsu, and studied Iyengar Yoga in India, and Anapanasati Meditation and traditional Thai Massage in Thailand. He tutors part-time in the Continuing Education Department at Auckland University.
Michael Christini
Stephanie Courtenay
Stephanie was born in 1966 in New Zealand and is a Seiki Meridian Shiatsu practitioner and teacher. She specialises in shiatsu for children, for pregnancy care, and women’s health.
After studying commerce at Auckland University she graduated in 1988 and commenced work in a large multinational firm. Realising she was looking for something bigger than numbers with which to understand the world, she headed to Europe, after a spell backpacking in South East Asia. Feeling drawn back to the East, she arrived in Japan in 1990 where she worked for 2 years, attended shiatsu classes with Nobutaka Kishi, and studied the art of traditional Noh mask carving.
After returning to New Zealand in 1993, Stephanie completed 2 years study at the South Pacific College of Natural Therapies and did a short course in Zen Shiatsu, while operating Atlantis & Pacifica, an import business specializing in hand crafted silver jewellery. In 1995, she returned to Japan and studied Tao Shiatsu for three years with Ryokyu Endo. After receiving certification to practice and teach, she established a clinic practice in 1998, and was co-founder and teacher of the first Tao Shiatsu school established in Australasia, in 2000.
Stephanie has continued to practice shiatsu while having three children. With her accumulated experience and on going learning she now works extensively with children, supporting their mums during pregnancy, assisting their birth and aiding their health and development. She has studied homeopathy and herbal medicine and is passionate about cooking and gardening as key ingredients in healthy family life. She currently is involved in running the PMP progamme at her local primary school. Its aim is to use physical movement and coordination to aid classroom learning.
Ivan Kristiyanov Kyurpanov – Seiki Shiatsu representative and the leader in Bulgaria, has born in 1974. He is living in Sofia – Bulgaria. Graduated from the Vasil Levski National Sports Academy in 2002 – specialty kinesitherapy. Specialized in the Military Hospital, kinesitherapy for endoprosthetics, knee and hip joints, for the period 2011-2012. From 2012-2014 he started treating at the Generali Medical Center as a kinesitherapist. Since 2014 started studying Seiki Shiatsu Meridian with Sensei Tzvika Calisar Since 2014 have been engaged in manual therapy and Seiki Shiatsu. Since 2018 have also worked as a Seiki Shiatsu therapist at Doverie Hospital.
Ivan Kristiyanov Kyurpanov
Marina Ronchi
Marina Ronchi is a Seiki Shiatsu practitioner and instructor based in Brescia, Italy.
Her studies began in 1998 at FIDAB – the Naga-Iki based, Shiatsu Studies Centre in Arzignano (VI). She obtained the four year diploma and began assisting in student training.
In 2004 she enrolled at E. Fermi Institute of Perugia and was awarded the nationally recognized qualification as a massophysiotherapist in 2006.
At the same time she began studies in Tao Shiatsu, participating in seminars both in Italy and Austria with Sensei Tzvika Calisar. This represented a turning point in her shiatsu education. In these workshops, she found the teaching concepts synchronized with direct experience and the new methods resounded deeply with her patients.
When Seiki Meridian Shiatsu was founded in 2008, Marina shifted her practice to it, and started instructor training. In July 2011 she participated in the international conference for Seiki Shiatsu teachers and instructors in Thailand.
Currently Marina is teaching Seiki Shiatsu and assisting Sensei Tzvika Calisar with workshops in Italy. She is the representative for Seiki Meridian Shiatsu Italy.
Nataša Pavela Ambrož
Seiki Shiatsu, representative and assistant of Calisar sensei in Serbia.
Natasha lives in Novi Sad, Serbia, treating Shiatsu at her clinic.
She originally studied Serbian language and literature.
Her journey into Shiatsu began in 2010 in Belgrade.
She studied for two years in Shiatsu-Do school.
Nataša continued her practice in Zen Shiatsu, and in the last few years, Natasha has been studying Seiki Shiatsu with Sensei Calisar, amazed by this approach and it’s effectiveness and spreading awareness of Seiki Meridian Shiatsu in Serbia. She organizes educational programs and workshops promoting Seiki Shiatsu method in Serbia. Natasha is the founder of Serbian first Shiatsu association.
Nataša Pavela Ambrož
Vladimir Mitrović
Vladimir Mitrović
Seiki Meridian Shiatsu representative in Serbia and assistant of Calisar sensei.
Born in 1994 in Belgrade, Serbia. Studied political sciences, and in 2017, started practicing massage therapy and Shiatsu in the same period. Vladimir opened two successful clinics in Belgrade. In the year 2023, he met Calisar Sensei at the Shiatsu Congress in Budapest and started learning from him the method of Seiki Meridian Shiatsu. In 2024, Vladimir started to organize the Seiki Meridian Shiatsu workshops in Serbia along with Nataša Pavela Ambrož.
Guy Amir,
A Seiki Shiatsu therapist and assisting Sensei Calisar.
Guy was born in Israel and has been practicing and teaching bodywork since 1999.
He began with Shiatsu studies and trained in Thai medical massage in Thailand.
He holds a B.A. in Psychology from Derby University and has explored complementary approaches such as Pranic Healing, Bioenergy, ISI Movement, and existential psychotherapy.
From 2017 to 2020, he studied Seiki Meridian Shiatsu with Sensei Calisar and now is assisting him at the Seiki Shiatsu School in Israel.
Guy Amir
Katalin Schmidt
Katalin Schmidt, Seiki Meridian Shiatsu therapist, assistant of Calisar sensei and representative of Seiki Meridiand Shiatsu in Hungary, was born in 1984 in Győr, Hungary.
She started her secondary studies in a health-oriented high school, and after that
she studied musical instrument making and repairing for stringed instruments at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest.
After a while, Katalin traveled to Austria, where she introduced the first time to the world of shiatsu.
When she returned back to Hungary, Katalin came across the International Shiatsu School in Budapest (NSI), where she started learning the basic Zen Shiatsu course.
Katalin enrolled in a 2-year course in 2018.
In the meantime, she has also mastered the techniques of massage, cupping, and moxibustion.
In 2019 She opened her private clinic, and in 2020, Katalin started to assist and teach at NSI in Budapest.
In 2021, She obtained her diploma as a Shiatsu therapist and started to treat shiatsu in her private clinic.
In 2021, her former teacher , Viktor Gulyás, invited Katalin to the Seiki Meridian Shiatsu seminar in Budapest with Calisar sensei and was introduced to this highly effective Shiatsu method.
Since then, Katalin has been practicing Seiki Shiatsu with great dedication.
And started to support, assist, and spread the Seiki Meridian Shiatsu Method in Hungary.