When I first began studying Tai Chi, Shiatsu and Macrobiotics in the 70's, there was a
concentrated group of individuals, myself included who had experienced, witnessed or at
least felt the passionate influence of the 60's/early 70's and the Viet Nam war.

Change was imperative. Global Peace was related to the personal peace found within the individual and health of body mind spirit was the single most important tool of transformation.
The WHOLE ISTIC movement was born. From Acupuncture to Zen, students found their
mode of interest, focused on it, stayed with it and became experts in their field. Andrew
Weil, Tony Robins and Gary Zucav are some of the more well- known health
professionals who come to mind. My teachers, Ohashi, Chu, Kushi, Yamamoto, their
students and students of many other proficient teachers are also now highly revered
Practitioners and Instructors who began their prominence as a part of this wave of
influence.
Our community of students attended classes for years without any promise of a state
certification or license. Our teachers had no diplomas yet people flocked to them for
guidance. We learned that while proficiency and experience are the most important tools
in walking the path as a "healer" , diplomas and certifications are secondary useful tools
that can help blend Holistics into "mainstream" mentality.
Times have changed: There is now an even more expansive plethora of healing
modalities to choose from and the general population of practitioners takes more of a
"dabble in this dabble in that" attitude. It is common for practitioners to have an
abundance of diplomas in many fields. I remember Ohashi saying how it took him 30
years(at the time) to get where he was studying shiatsu. He was amazed how California
practitioners listed between 4-8 methods advertised on their business cards. He said: "Oh
my goodness! This person advertising sports, Swedish, Craniosacral, and Deep Tissue
massage must be either be a genius or very old."
The general public is now taking greater response ability for their own healing through
learning more about nutrition, exercise, herbs and any number of mental When I first
began studying Tai Chi, Shiatsu and Macrobiotics in the 70's, there was a concentrated
group of individuals, myself included who had experienced, witnessed or at least felt the
passionate influence of the 60's/early 70's Viet name war. Change was imperative. Global
Peace was related to the personal peace found within the individual and health of body
mind spirit was the single most important tool of transformation.

The WHOLE ISTIC movement was born. From Acupuncture to Zen, students found their
mode of interest, focused on it, stayed with it and became experts in their field. Andrew
Weil, Tony Robins and Gary Zukav are some of the more well-known health
professionals who come to mind. My teachers, Ohashi, Chu, Kushi, Yamamoto, their
students and students of many other proficient teachers are also now highly revered
Practitioners and Instructors who began their prominence as a part of this wave of
influence.
Our community of students attended classes for years without any promise of a state
certification or license. Our teachers had no diplomas yet people flocked to them for
guidance. We learned that while proficiency and experience are the most important tools
in walking the path as a "healer", diplomas and certifications are secondary useful tools
that can help blend Holistics into "mainstream" mentality.

Times have changed: There is now an even more expansive plethora of healing
modalities to choose from and the general population of practitioners takes more of a
"dabble in this dabble in that" attitude. It is common for practitioners to have an
abundance of diplomas in many fields. I remember Ohashi saying how it took him 30
years (at the time) to get where he was studying shiatsu. He was amazed how California
practitioners listed between 4-8 methods advertised on their business cards. He said: "Oh
my goodness! This person advertising Sports, Swedish, Craniosacral, Reiki, Lomi Lomi
and DeepTissue massage must be either be a genius or very old."

The general public is now taking greater response ability for their own healing through
learning more about nutrition, exercise, herbs and any number of mental attitude
philosophies. This expansion has influenced the overall standards of alternative healing
consciousness to increase. AND, while, the general public and most practitioners of the
Healing Arts are more aware of holistic health basics the number of highly proficient
experts is decreasing.

Some of the older masters are gone, many will only be around for another 10-30 years
and the number of people who are willing to focus their studies in one area of expertise
are few. In the past, myself and many other colleagues began with a 3 year shiatsu course
and went on to other schools to continue shiatsu and related studies(well over 3000 hrs
worth) that are now integrated into shiatsu or Asian healing private practices and
educational courses.
It is somewhat rare now to see a student study one modality for such an extended time
period without branching out into many other fields of study.
Over the last 5 years I have witnessed how the number of people in advanced classes of
any particular modality has sharply decreased.
The up side to this trend is that because of an overall increased wholistic consciousness
and the many tools available, people have more options available to them in everyday
general heath situations. The downside is that it may take considerable effort to find a
highly qualified practitioner/teacher who can offer in depth understanding and
recommendations that are based on decades of experience with 1000's of people.

After 29 years of continued studies and practice in Shiatsu and the Asian Healing
principles of Yin /Yang and the 5 elements, I find myself still learning and am grateful I
have focused my attention so specifically. There is so much I would like to share and am
excited about dedicating myself even more deeply to practicing and teaching.
While I will continue teaching classes to people of varying levels of interest, I will be
spending the greater part of my efforts in teaching both beginners (to open them up to the
Asian perspective) and smaller groups of highly motivated people in a private or small
group internship basis-people who have an affinity for my perspective on healing and
who are willing to deepen their learning through a more focused step by step study that
integrates Practical Skills and Intuition.
The three programs of Study will be: Eternal Spring CHI Kung Instructor
Whole Foods Nutritional Counselor (also in distance learning format)
Zen-Touch TM Practitioner/Instructor

Author's Bio: 

Seymour Koblin-NCCAOM Diplomate ABT, HHP, PHD:
Seymour Koblin began his career as a Holistic practitioner and educator in 1978 in New York City. He moved to San Diego in 1987 when he began his role as an instructor and the eventual director and founder of the School of Healing Arts. He is the creator of
Zen-Touch™, a health balancing system that incorporates traditional Asian philosophy and healing methods into a flowing system of bodywork, and assessment/recommendation counseling. Known for his uncanny ability to intuitively understand a person’s most relevant life issues, he guides people to integrate their health with the cycles of nature. Exercise (based on Tai Chi), Nutrition, and Way of Life Recommendations are included in his work.
As an educator Seymour creates an interactive environment where participants experience many different facets of themselves through humor, movement, music, touch, intuition, art and poetry.