By Amy Tan | 28 June 2010

I was recently invited to elaborate further about my observations of how structures are different across cultures after posting a comment on the Fascial Connections blog. Though I didn’t have the fortune to be at the International Association of Structural Integrators conference in Denver, I was lucky to meet Monica Caspari immediately after her conference presentation titled, ‘One World, One Work, Many Cultures’. She shared her exciting research with us at a residential workshop in Vancouver. Bringing cultural diversity as another piece of our work adds a new door of inquiry, at the same time provide some answers. But above all, it reminds us to respect our history and celebrate our diversity.

Below is my response.

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Thank you David for inviting me to contribute my observations.

Across cultures and places, difference between body structures observed can be grouped into these categories – structural proportions, spatial orientation / kinesphere with its relation to movement coordination and structural alignments. Asian bodies, compared to Western ones are more petite with overall smaller frame and height. Size differentials are normal within a culture but in my observations, structural proportions set apart the body types between cultures. For example, leg length in relation to the torso. I found in Japanese bodies the torso is longer in proportion to the legs which I have not encountered in European and Malaysian structures (even though they are Asians).

In Malaysia, the bodies tend to not organise upwards as well as in Japan or Germany, based on my experiences. And often during the structural integration process, it is one of the aims to establish this upward orientation to move away from a collapsed orgarnisation towards the ground. Perhaps it can be reasonable to say that Japan and Germany are historically strong countries with foreign dominance while here in Malaysia, has a long history of colonization by other countries. There could be many other acceptable hypothesis and this is just one of the many.

If we applied models of structural typologies such as the internal / external model or the front, back, lateral and midline model, we (including my other colleagues) noticed a similar tendency for the bodies within the same culture. For example, we see often in Japanese women with a turned-in foot posture and gait. Their traditional outfit, the kimono is worn with a very secure obi belt around the waist that imposes a constant upright posture. Also the kimonos are tight around the legs, permitting very small steps or shuffles in the feet while walking. It is easiest to walk with toes pointed in. I have been told that this gait pattern is more prevalent in the countryside than in the cities as more people embrace Western-style sitting chairs in the latter. Traditionally Japanese women sat on the tatami mats with her legs tucked under. Plus it is still considered feminine, girlishly appealing to walk and stand that way.

As Monica Caspari said in her presentation and research titled ‘One World, One Work, Many Cultures’, culture strongly influences on how we move and organise our bodies and therefore we should learn not to put a frame of our own expectation on our client’s body but instead to find the best organisation within their bodies. For me, it is about creating harmony within and also with the environment they live in. An upright and proudly held chest would not fare well in the collective societies of Asia that value group harmony above individuality.

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*I would like to thank Jim Wagner in Tokyo for sharing his insightful observations and knowledge of the Japanese culture and for the memorable conversations.