He begins to move around the massage bench with a constant, intricate sequence of steps reminiscent of a one-person waltz: This so-called “flying” serves the endurance and concentration of the massager. A treatment lasts for two hours and is accompanied by chants – or if you like – prayers for the well-being of the massaged. Another important element is the so-called “backstroke”. According to its principle, every stroke movement already has its counter-movement in itself – just as every wave also already carries the backflow of water in itself. An experience that is intensified when the masseurs work in pairs, i.e. four-handed. In other words: If the ocean had hands, they would be Margarethe and Christoph Bundschu’s. A Hawaiian massage, performed by well-trained people, is more than a massage. It was designed as a healing ritual that would be supportive at turning points in life – entering the adult world, pregnancy, before battles. It does not leave the massaged in the passive part. Your goal is to get him to “go with it” internally, so that he can rediscover and activate his body’s own powers. This idea corresponds to the teachings of the ancient Hawaiian “Kahunas”. These “masters”, shamans and priests, worked for a long time only in secret. “Until 15 years ago, their activities were officially forbidden in Hawaii,” says Christoph Bundschu, “the missionaries did a great job there.” The Bundschus’ teacher was a Kahuna: Kahu Abraham Kawari lived on the island of Kawai’i, but also spent a lot of time abroad and in the “main land,” as the Hawaiians call the U.S. mainland. He was a modern-day kahuna who gave lectures and workshops, “coached” managers, and was sometimes called in as a security consultant to the Hawaii Police Department – and was not held in equal esteem by all native Kawaiians. He gives, he sells too much “secret” knowledge of the Kahunas to the whites, the strangers. Kahu Abraham Kawai’i’s widow “Ho’okahi” has Austrian and Ukrainian ancestors. She continues her husband’s work teaching Hawaiian temple massage. ln distinction to “Lomi Lomi Nui”, the variant “for home use” she calls it “Romi”. It is not the masseur who heals. The massaged person heals himself. “Romi” helps him to find his balance again, to understand his body in harmony with nature again.