One zone, three hands
Shoulder, hara, back and foot. Each zone is read in three languages that stay separate: the TCM code, the Masunaga extension, and the Namikoshi pressure region.
- 4zones
- 3hands
- 0mixed codes
Study material. It does not diagnose, prescribe, or replace your school or a health professional.
Shoulder
TCM
Girdle codes
LI15, TE14 and SI11 mark the yang shoulder. GB21 descends from the neck into the trapezius. They are numbered points, not whole zones.
Open the zoneMasunaga
Extension, not equivalence
In Zen shiatsu the shoulder may belong to an extended meridian's story. That line does not match LI15 point for point. Study it in its own layer.
Namikoshi
Pressure region
The Namikoshi shoulder tsubo is a contact area, often without a WHO code. The hand covers the girdle; the number comes later, if needed.
Hara
TCM
Abdominal mu
CV12, ST25, LR13 and CV6 are named landmarks. Place them, then listen. Not the other way around.
Open haraMasunaga
Zone map
The Zen hara divides the abdomen into zones tied to extended meridians. A zone is not a mu. Changing maps is an explicit gesture.
Namikoshi
Abdominal contact
The Namikoshi routine treats the abdomen as a field of regular pressure, less dependent on a point number.
Back
TCM
Shu line
The inner Bladder line, one and a half cun from the spine, holds the shu. BL13, BL15, BL18, BL20 and BL23 are the study stops.
Open sheetMasunaga
The back of the story
An extension may continue a meridian across the back with another geometry. Do not lay it on the shu line without saying you changed layers.
Namikoshi
Paravertebral
Pressure along the spine as a region, from top to bottom, before looking for a particular shu.
Foot
TCM
Four landmarks
KI1 on the sole, LR3 between the first and second metatarsals, SP6 above the inner malleolus and BL60 behind the outer one.
Open sheetMasunaga
The foot as the end of an extension
Several extended meridians reach the foot with their own line. Name the system before saying this is LR3.
Namikoshi
Sole and ankle
The sole is worked as a pressure surface. TCM codes are consulted afterwards, on the sheet.