When the product-testing period expired for the Hawaiian Lomi Chair™, its distributors nearly had to wrestle the chair from the arms of the CitySports Northwest magazine office Manager! This incredible chair is the first of its kind that is specifically designed to offer real therapeutic aide for pain caused by sports injuries. The Hawaiian Lomi Massage Chair's™ internal mechanisms replicate specific kneading, tapping, rolling and vibrating motions that provide an individually customizable deep-tissue massage for the complete body or isolated areas including hamstrings, gluteus muscles, calves and feet. Lomi-style massage originated in Hawaii and was first practiced by village experts called kahuna and passed down from generation to generation within the family. Unlike traditional massage techniques that are applied with the fingers and hands, Lomi is a deep-tissue massage that uses the blunt pressure of the palms, fists, elbows, knees and feet. The Hawaiian Lomi Chair™ was designed under the supervision of Benson Medina, the grandson and student of Emilyl Ka'ahunui, a Hawaiian lomi kahuna. Medina and his family wanted to ensure that the experience of a Lomi massage was accurately duplicated by the technology used in the chair. Across town, Portland’s Hawaiian Lomi Group is honing the design and features of its Hawaiian Lomi Chair™. Arguably the Mercedes-Benz of the massage chair contingent, the recliner retails for about $3,000 and re-creates the movements and patterns of the Hawaiian lomi massage, an ancient technique that uses the blunt pressure from the palms, fists, elbows, knees and feet to deliver a deep tissue massage. One crack at the chair proves that this is not your grandfather’s Barcalounger. A variety of rollers simultaneously kneads, pushes and pulls different parts of the body. They can be customized for each member of the household. “Are there midgets in this chair?” a first-time user asks, pleasantly alarmed by the power of the lomi chair’s rollers, which have more than 40 functions. "That’s about as many as the chair will get," says Lomi Group designer Tim Loveday. “What you have to be careful of is failure rate. That’s why we stay away from the bells and whistles that a lot of manufacturers add,” Loveday says. His parents launched the company after learning of the benefits of lomi massage from Hawaiian friends. Interestingly, lomi massage was banned by the Hawaiian government in the late 1800s because the missionaries considered it heathenish. It wasn’t legalized again until the 1970s, when elders who had protected the secrets of the massage practice were finally able to openly pass down the tradition. In a move to make the chairs as attractive as they are effective (the lomi chair is frequently prescribed by physicians for conditions from garden-variety tension to multiple sclerosis) the company has recently brought designers on staff. “Our goal is to make our chairs as comfortable as a La-Z-Boy and attractive enough to be in your living room,” says Loveday, who hasn’t lost sight of what separates the man chairs from the boy chairs.

Seeing is believing! See what these golf pros have to say about the Hawaiian Lomi Chair. >> See Video More than words, it is our commitment to quality and customer service that we put first. Try our massage chairs FREE for 10 days. >> Read more "Since I started using the chair, I have little or no pain and can do things I haven't been able to do in years...." >> Read more