Tomezo Hoshino was born In Atsugui, Japan in 1910 to a long line of acupuncture therapists. When he was 16 years old he had a near fatal head-on collision while riding his motorcycle to work. The accident gave him a severe head concussion which left him blind for 2 years. During this time he enrolled in the Hama Massage School for the blind and learned how to read braille. It was during this time that he developed an acute sense of touch in his hands that would later become the foundation of the Hoshino therapy technique. His sight eventually returned but he was left with excruciating migraine headaches. He sought treatment through all kinds of doctors, drugs, and therapies but only received temporary relief at best. Finally he met an acupuncturist in Japan who taught him how to massage certain acupressure points on his head and neck. Consequently, he cured himself of the headaches. The acupuncturist remarked on how gifted hands Tomezo had, and encouraged him to continue studying acupressure medicine. Hoshino enrolled into the Tokyo School of Acupuncture and graduated in 1939.
One day Tomezo Hoshino developed bursitis in his shoulder and tendinitis in his forearm. He was frustrated with the inconsistent results and superstitious theories of traditional oriental medicine. He wanted to know why sometimes it worked and other times it was ineffective. He was determined to develop a new technique that was result oriented, predictable, and accountable. He went up to the mountains and vowed not to come down until he figured out the “science of acupressure”. For 2 months he worked on himself and finally he figured out the cure for his bursitis and tendinitis. Through the keen sense of touch he had developed reading braille and practicing acupressure massage while blind, he was able to combine the wisdom of acupuncture meridian theory with the accuracy of western anatomical study and kinesiology. He discovered that the secret to the healing power of acupressure was the precise stimulation of the right combination of certain pressure points with the appropriate dosage, depth, and duration. He called it “digital precision.” With this revelation he came down from the mountain and Hoshino Therapy was born. “Nothing Surpasses the Hands,” Hoshino would go on to say for the rest of his life. He was convinced that there was no better tool than a sensitive, well trained, and clinically experienced hand to evaluate and pinpoint the location and origin of soft tissue, joint, nerve inflammation, and dysfunction. Subsequently, all of Hoshino’s students were made to practice with blindfolds so as to develop the sensitivity of touch. “Let your hands be your eyes”, he would say. It takes at least 10 years of daily clinical practice on every kind of cases and clients of all ages and stages of disease to master Hoshino’s technique and to gain the experience needed to achieve his standard of excellence and efficacy.
Hoshino immigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina where he became extraordinarily successful, gaining notoriety for the effectiveness of his technique. He treated many famous celebrities of his generation like “Evita” Peron, First lady of Argentina, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, actors such as Gary Cooper, Tyrone Powers, Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Rubinstein, the ”Polish-American piano virtuoso”, whose career was almost finished due to arthritis in his hands. Professor Hoshino worked on him for 2 months, teaching him how to stretch his fingers and hands. Arthur went on to play piano for the rest of his days.
Professor Hoshino established an institute for Hoshino Therapy which was officially recognized by the Argentina Association of Kinesiology as an approved therapeutic technique in 1986. In 1969 Hoshino opened the Institute for Treatment of Arthritis and Allied Disorders in Deerfield Beach, Florida where he started training students in Hoshino Therapy and documented hundreds of successfully treated cases of arthrosis and osteoarthritis under the observation of Doctors Hospital in Plantation, Florida. In 1973 the Hoshino Therapy Clinic of Miami, FL was established with two of his star pupils Bodhi F. Kocica and Richard Zukowski with the endorsement of Dr.Charles Kalstone and Dr.James Stuzin. The clinic was a family business for over 35 years with Director Bodhi Kocica, LMT, his wife Dashi Chu Kocica, Acupuncture Physician, and their son Patrick Kocica, LMT. Bodhi Kocica trained under Professor Hoshino for over 20 years and his son Patrick has been studying and practicing Hoshino therapy almost as soon as he could walk. Tomezo Hoshino passed away in 2000 at the age of 91 but his legacy continues through the third generation of Hoshino therapists trained by Bodhi and Patrick Kocica, including Janet Harazda, Jennifer Roche, and Susanna Vazquez.