This seven volume (over 11 hours) encyclopaedia of
bodywork gives clear demonstrations of virtually every tissue technique any
therapist will need. Seeing them performed live, in real time, offers an
educational experience that is impossible to achieve in books alone.
* Massage
students wishing to make a transition from relaxation based to
structural work.
* Massage
therapists wishing to expand and take their skills to a higher level.
Many massage training videos just show "strokes" without delving into
the complex issues of soft tissue restrictions, osseous articulations
and strategies for working with the multitude of different issues we
face as therapists. This extensive series is designed to stimulate
creativity and problem solving skills. This valuable resource not only shows countless
strokes and strategies, but will, more importantly, demonstrate the
qualitative art of working with deep tissues to affect profound change.
Note:
ATMS member can earn 35 CPE points with
this DVD
Massage
strokes can be empty gestures if not performed with specific intention
and nurturing touch. This 3 hour section lays the groundwork of deep
tissue work. You will learn:
- Refining
Your Touch and Working Through Superficial Muscles to Contact Deep
Layers of the Body.
- Biomechanics of Working Tissue Deeply with Minimal Effort and Safety.
- How to Properly Use Fingers, Knuckles, the Fist, Forearm, and Elbow
and Save Your Thumbs.
- Different Types of Massage Strokes and Strategies to Lengthen Tissue,
Free Adhesions, and Release Holding Patterns.
- Positioning of Your Client to Increase Effectiveness of Your Work.
- The Side-Lying Position to Dramatically Improve Your Effectiveness.
Disc 2 -
Tools (Forearm), Types of Strokes & Strategies, Body positioning, Side
lying position (1 hr 19 mins)
SECTION II:STRATEGIES
(Discs
3, 4 & 5)
Over 5
hours of goal-oriented strategies for working with every part of the
body. Hundreds of
techniques enabling you to express your creativity by choosing what
works best for you and for your clients. Art Riggs demonstrates how to
grab and stretch the tissue, rather than simply gliding over it.
In
addition you will learn valuable skills of joint mobilization, spinal
mechanics, working with breath, rib mobilization, and extensive innovative side-lying
techniques. Each technique is accompanied by muscle anatomy description.
SECTION III:ADVANCED STRATEGIES FOR COMMON COMPLAINTS AND INJURIES (Discs 6
& 7)
Learning to
work with common injuries and complaints from clients,
not simply routines, but rather treatment options drawn from precise anatomical
knowledge, applying specific intentional strokes with intuition on
the side.
In addition
you will learn PNF stretches, basic rehabilitation suggestions, and
novel methods to work with clients in gravity "off the table" in standing and
seated position.
Disc 6 -
Injuries to Feet and
Ankles, including Sprains, Plantar Fasciitis, Achilles Tendonitis.
Injuries to the Legs: Shin Splints, Knee Pain and Dysfunction.
Piriformis syndrome & Sciatica, Minor Back Pain.
Direct method of Myofascial Release (MFR) was originally
developed by Dr. Ida Rolf and now Michael Stanborough makes it accessible to all
groups of therapists. Michael brings the techniques of MFR into this
series of DVDs, to assist you in expanding your skills as a
professional body-worker.
Art Riggs is one of the most awesome bodywork teachers
in our profession.
He advocates a holistic approach, recommending that we don’t just treat
the site of an injury in a perfunctory way, but instead learn to express
compassion for the psychological aspects of pain. A client in chronic
pain might have lost confidence in the ability of the body to heal
itself. Whether in a wellness massage or a clinical treatment, a
nurturing touch, coupled with
strategies for self-care, can reinvigorate an injured client’s healing
process. Riggs says it it’s the compassionate touch that separates us
from the massage machines that are on the market, adding that you can
tell if a
massage is going to be good with the first two minutes just by the
quality of the therapist’s touch.
The material is advanced, so it’s
recommended for practicing therapists who already have a firm knowledge
of anatomy. The set is sequential, and the information presented builds
with increasing complexity, making it easier to learn.
The demonstrations of strokes using proper biomechanics are truly
brilliant. Riggs discusses which “tools” to use, “moving upstream” from
the fingers to the knuckles, to the forearm and finally to the elbow. He
shows how to do deep work on specific muscles without compromising your
wrists or using your thumbs.
Rather than taking the cookbook approach—offering recipes for various
conditions—Riggs teaches how to focus on what you want to accomplish
with an individual client’s body. He shows how to use precise,
intentional strokes for specific purposes. Applying an Esalen-style
gliding stroke along the direction of the muscle fiber lengthens tissue.
Riggs demonstrates how to grab and stretch the tissue, rather than
simply gliding over it. He also shows joint decompression and
facilitating shortening, as well as a way of applying facilitated
lengthening he calls “anchor and stretch.”
The teachings culminate in strategies for troubleshooting specific
conditions, like hip replacement, tennis elbow and whiplash. Again,
Riggs does not simply present routines or protocols, but rather
treatment options drawn from precise anatomical knowledge, applying
specific intentional strokes with some intuition on the side.
Deep Tissue Massage is a beautifully produced video set, and the
demonstrations are presented without obstruction.
Riggs’ passion for the
profession really shines through his on-camera presence. He is a great
teacher and he shares an enormous amount of knowledge and wisdom on
these videos.
Review by Thomas Myers
(author of Anatomy Trains) in Massage Magazine
The techniques and principles of Ida Rolf ’s structural integration
Rolfing® have been increasingly available to the advanced massage
therapist via both workshop and published media, but
never in so
complete a form. Although the tapes do not purport to teach structural
integration, Riggs has done an enviable job at exposing and explaining
many of the techniques.
The first two programs are given over to them
entirely, and form the foundation for the subsequent techniques. This
includes the fundamentals of cultivating your touch. Riggs begins with
the observation that you can tell within the first two minutes whether
you are going to get a good massage. Therefore, cultivating your touch
is without doubt the fundamental task of anyone who wants to pay his or
her bills by touching people. This section includes notes unique to
structural fascial work: on lubrication (less, and water based); how to
palpate different levels of tension or restrictions; and practitioner
biomechanics as applied to deeper techniques. Another section reviews
endangerment sites and areas of caution, in order to allow practitioners
to reduce their trepidation around areas of physiological vulnerability.
The largest part of these initial two tapes devotes itself to
the use of tools—the fingertips, the knuckles, the loose fist and the
elbow. This includes several examples of the proper use of each tool
and, very usefully, the improper use, as well. This section is followed
by an extensive introduction to the different kinds of strokes and
client positions used in the rest of the programs.
Having served us well with a thorough introduction, Riggs leads us
through a series of techniques and strategies that wind their way up
through the body from foot to skull, with many helpful explanations and
variations, which ensure that the intent, rather than just the
techniques, is conveyed to the viewer.
The final two programs offer help in troubleshooting injuries and
include good assessment and treatment options for common problems such
as back pain, core stability, rotator-cuff injuries, and ankle-and
knee-injury leftovers. Each section is accompanied by anatomy slides and
helpful discussion, which makes this a multi-dimensional approach,
rather than a linear procession of techniques.
Riggs is to be congratulated for putting together a pleasing and
professional set of programs, which I predict will be strewn on the desk
of many a therapist —being used, rather than up on a shelf gathering
dust.
Testimonials
"...superb teaching tools for the classroom and matchless sources of
clinical massage reference."
Keith Grant, PhD, NCTMB Research Physicist and Director of the
McKinnon Institute Sports & Deep Tissue Program
"Art Riggs has dedicated himself for over a decade to sharing his
knowledge and wisdom of the body. We highly recommend this book and
video for students and health professionals alike..."
Paulette and Richard Bergess, Directors, The San Francisco School of
Massage
"I was about to go away for a four-day workshop this month that was
going to cost me close to $2,100. I had to cancel, but decided to still
treat myself to your series. Well, what a lucky break for me. I cannot
imagine anything I could have learned at that workshop that can compare
with what I am getting from your teachings."
Laura G. (Canada)
“Deep Tissue Myofascial
Release Massage’ has enabled our school to plan a 100 hour curriculum
around its clear progression from the basic skills to clearly defined
strategies.”
Julie Morrison
Director of Massage Western
Career College Pleasant Hill, CA
“The thorough demonstrations
— not only of specific massage techniques, but the subtleties of working
with tissue —show how to work with virtually all soft tissue situations
encountered in a bodywork practice. Art Riggs has
madethis valuable
information accessible for both the relatively new massage therapist and
experienced professionals performing sophisticated clinical therapy.”
Helen James
Masters in Physical Therapy
Stanford University & Professor Emeritus California State University
Fresno, CA
“…so
much more than just
showing strokes. This series has transformed the way that I work. At a
fraction of the price I’d pay at a school, this is an entire bodywork
course that I can study at home. It will be a reference for years to
come”
Justine Jacobs
Massage Therapist
“I wish I had had this
resource 12 years ago when I was in physical therapy school. These
products have dramatically improved the quality of my work and
saved my
body from injury.”
Patrick Hannum
Physical therapist and Rolfer
"Explanations were clear with more than a hint of experience. I was very
pleased with the result, and you should be proud of the product, Art.
One of the main reasons I bought the DVD's for, is to look at treatment
from a different perspective. Even though I was aware of some things,
the DVD reminded me about them, and also stimulated other possibilities.
It keeps me fresh and interested as well. I
will be referring back to them many times in the future."
