Introduction
My name is Hidefumi Otsuka, and I offer Rolfing sessions and brain science courses on nutrition, sleep, and mindfulness in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.
I will be participating in the “Advanced Rolfing” training in Tokyo starting in April 2025. The Advanced Rolfing training is for certified Rolfers who have been providing sessions for three to seven years and have completed 18 credits of continuing training. For your reference, one credit is one day of training.
Ray McCall from the U.S. and Hiroyoshi Tabata from Japan will lead this year’s training. I had been learning from the European Rolfing Association centered in Munich, but this was the first time for me to receive training from the two above mentioned Rolfers. I am expecting to see Rolfing from a different perspective.
Upon successful completion of the training, I will be certified as an Advanced Rolfer. In this column, I would like to introduce the process of receiving the Advanced Rolfing training.
Received 10 Rolfing sessions from Akinori Ito
My “encounter” with Rolfing goes back to December 2013, when I met Akinori Ito, a Rolfer at THE CIRCLE, on December 23. I instantly got interested and started taking 10 Rolfing sessions with him on December 29 in Ebisu.
During the sessions, I intuitively felt that I wanted to become certified in Rolfing and left my job at a pharmaceutical company at the end of June 2024.
Certified Rolfer in Munich – June 2015, started working @ Shibuya.
While traveling around the world, I attended a Rolfing training in Germany, which was held from August 2014. After becoming a certified Rolfer in March 2015, I opened my session room in Shibuya, Tokyo on June 1, 2015.
In 10 years, I had moved 4 times, total of 5 locations: 3 in Sakuragaoka, Shibuya (Cherry Garden for 2 years, Porte Bonheur Sakuragaoka for 2 years, Le Gardenia for 2 years) and 1 in Ebisu (Grace Daikanyama for 3 years and 9 months), and 1 in Tsunashima (2 years).
Along with providing sessions, Rolfers needs to take continuous training. Therefore, besides offering private sessions, I attended continuing training courses in Germany, France, the UK, the US, and Japan.
Suspension of Session Offerings Due to the Corona Disaster
The corona disaster has forced me to interrupt my Rolfing sessions. Funding fee for Advanced Rolfing training ran out, and I had to temporarily suspended my ongoing training.
It was not until July 2024, when I began accepting work on a contract basis, that I was able to raise my funds to attend Advanced Rolfing training. Due to my work schedule, I could not leave Tokyo, thus I had decided to take the Advanced Rolfing training in Japan, instead of taking it overseas (Germany and the U.S.).
I was told that the training will be conducted by members with a rich international background including US and Europe. I hope to learn step-by- step while having fun interacting with other certified Rolfers.