The first documented descriptions of massage dating back to about 3,000 BC were discovered in China. Chinese Taoist priests practiced ‘Qi Gong’ – meditative movement revealing and cultivating the vital life force. Traditional Chinese medicine is based on the principle that every illness, ailment or discomfort in the body is due to an imbalance of ‘Qi’. In about 1,000 BC Japanese monks began to study Buddhism in China. They witnessed the healing methods of traditional Chinese medicine and took them back to Japan. In Japan the practice of medicine mostly consisted of diagnosis and treatment with massage-type methods. The Japanese not only adopted the Chinese style, but also began to enhance it by introducing new combinations, eventually reaching a unique Japanese form called Shiatsu. Shiatsu is a Japanese word derived from ‘shi’ meaning finger and ‘atsu’ meaning pressure. It is a technique similar to that used in acupuncture but without needles and with extra movements involved.