TAKAYUKI TSUCHIKAWA

Taka has more than 18 years of clinical experience both in Japan and Canada. Before moving to Toronto, he has personally treated over 35,000 patients in rehabilitation rooms at orthopedic medical clinics, Sports SEIKOTSU clinics and acupuncture facilities in Tokyo.

After school, Taka started working as a manual therapist, but he had been struggling to find a genuine mentor for several years. One day he came across a book entitled “ASTR (Active Soft Tissue Release)“ written by Dr. Fujio Matsumoto. The book introduced techniques he had never heard or seen before and so inspired by what he was learning, He decided to work under Dr. Matsumoto, who became Taka’s most influential mentor. Dr. Matsumoto is an orthopedic surgeon and a manual therapist who invented a special technique called ASTR (Active Soft Tissue Release), currently practiced in Japan and only at J.CARE in North America.

In the course of his 4 years at Dr. Matsumoto’s clinic, Taka developed a sound understanding of various types of manual therapy techniques that became Taka’s basic techniques including:

● Trigger Point Therapy
● Positional Release
● Myofascial Release
● ASTR (Active Soft Tissue Release)
● Joint Mobilization
● MET (Muscle Energy Technique)

Since moving to Toronto in 2011, Taka worked as a dedicated therapist for advanced yoga practitioner’s yoga injuries at Ashtanga Yoga Centre of Toronto and Breathe Yoga Studio. Traditional MYSORE style Ashtanga Yoga is one of the most intense types of yoga and it requires strict disciplinary practice every day. He learned what core strength and the limits of flexibility are from the experience of treating their special body structure.

Taka began his own practice in 2014, and launched J.CARE in 2016, to treat and rehabilitate clients from all walks of life. He also travels regularly to Japan to conduct workshops on his original method including ASTR.

As a private sports manual medicine practitioner and sports acupuncturist, he travels with top athletes for international competitions including US Open Tennis, Olympics for quick recovery and their alignment to ensure maximum performance.

Formerly a serious tennis player in Japan, notably in doubles competition at the Japan Junior Nationals U18 in 1998 and Japan University Nationals in 2002.

Taka is no stranger to personal injury. Elbow surgery forced him to give up his tennis career but inspired him to become a therapist to help others struggling with pain. From his own experience, he understands the emotional and physical demands of his clients and provides advice on how to prevent and manage injuries in sports and activities. Happily, Taka is now playing competitive tennis after a 10-year break and also enjoys running, soccer, swimming, Judo and Ashtanga Yoga.