Danzan Ryu Restorative Therapy (DZRRT)
The American Judo and Jujitsu Federation (AJJF) formalized the teachings of Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The program evolved from Okazaki Restorative Massage (ORM) to the current Danzan Ryu Restorative Therapy (DZRRT). The governing branch of the AJJF that administers this program is the Danzan Ryu Seifukujitsu Institute (DZRSI).
In 1906, Henry Okazaki left Japan as a 16-year-old teenager and arrived in Honolulu on the island of Oahu of the Trust Territory of Hawaii. He began working on the Ewa plantation as a cane cutter. He did not like the work as he was not a robust man and it is said that his health was in decline since leaving Japan. In 1909 he decided to move to Hilo, HI. It was here that he met Tanaka Sensei and began training 6 days a week at the Shinyukai Dojo in Hilo. He began recovering and it is said that he developed a body of iron. This event changed his life forever and he decided to devote his life to the study of martial arts.
In the 1920’s, Sensei Okazaki, later Professor Okazaki, organized and developed his own martial curriculum into a hybrid art known today as Kodenkan Danzan Ryu (DZR) Jujitsu. His system is based on the two intertwined curriculums, martial arts, and healing arts. The Hawaiian system of Lua (combat) and Lomi Lomi (massage) influenced him on a deep level. The latter resulted in his unique Asian/Polynesian/Hawaiian therapeutic modality known today as Danzan Ryu Restorative Therapy. The result of combining martial and healing into a curriculum was the beginning of DZR in the Trust Territories of Hawaii.
Traditionally, martial arts instructors learned to be healers out of necessity as they were often first at the scene of injuries. With time, their training broadened to include therapies and treatments for many different types of ailments. Modern-day practitioners of the Danzan Ryu arts are fast becoming the bodyworkers of choice for more than just warriors-in-training.
The AJJF uses the term Seifukujitsu (say-foo-koo-jitsu) to describe their system of healing. The treatment employs the use of fingers, palms, forearms, and elbows in an exacting kata (form) that traces many of the body’s muscle channels recognized in Asian and Polynesian healing practices. The therapy increases the range of motion in the joints and assists circulation while stimulating several “Long Life” points taught by Professor Okazaki.
Students of the Danzan Ryu Healing Arts begin the study of DZRRT by learning the “Long-Life”* restoration bodywork kata. The benefits of its application are shared by both the giver and receiver. Danzan Ryu Seifukujitsu therapists use their energetic intention by being completely “in the moment”. This serves to help balance the recipient’s Ki.
Click here to learn more about Danzan Ryu Seifukujitsu training!
*Long-Life is the term coined by Professor S. Kufferath
