The book on ASTR was published in 2007 for advanced professional manual therapists.
It is currently available in Japan and only at J.CARE in North America.
ASTR is a manual therapy technique invented by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Fujio Matsumoto and shiatsu therapist Masakazu Kutsunugi in their daily clinical practice.
It is a combination technique between Trigger Point Therapy, Myofascial Release, and stretching.
The body and its function are evaluated using motion/static palpation. By applying external pressure to “hook” the specific spots on a soft tissue (muscle, myofascia, ligament, tendon, tendon sheath), a practitioner mobilizes the adjacent joints, while still maintaining the hook position, and moves (active /assistive /passive /resisted) them in the right direction. This allows the practitioner to target and focus on stretching the most restrictive part of the soft tissue effectively and quickly.
ASTR is an easy-to-learn technique which does not rely solely on a therapist’s sensitive fingertips for monitoring. While observing a patient’s body response during ASTR, therapists can safely and quickly treat pain.
