PRACTICAL DETAILS
Date: Saturday 12th July 2025
Venue: Online
Time: 17.00 – 20.00 BST Check your timezone here.
Title: Fascia: A System? Exploring Broader Perspectives Beyond the Current Anatomical Concept
With: Dr. Jaap van der Wal & John Sharkey, Clinical Anatomist
A contribution to the nomenclature debate that will be held as part of the Fascia Research Congress in New Orleans, 10 – 14 August 2025.
Note: The replay will be available to all attendees until Sunday, 14th September 2025. After this date, the recording will not be added to the Members’ Area, but will be included in our On Demand video collection at a higher fee — with an exclusive discount for Members.
SUMMARY
Following the recent publication of research discussing the nomenclature of fascia there has been a lot of discussion in the world of fascia on the topic. A debate is planned to occur at the Fascia Research Congress, and this webinar will contribute towards that debate.
The intention is not to reject, disapprove or invalidate the now proposed definition of the fascial system in the framework of the nomenclature discussion to be held in New Orleans, but to make it clear that this definition, as proposed, does not accommodate the understanding of fascia that many practising therapists and osteopaths, amongst others, have of fascia. Jaap van der Wal and John Sharkey move for a more holistic concept that, however, should still be in harmony with the common anatomical definitions. Not an alternative, therefore, but a complementary and holistic concept, especially inspired by the embryological perspective, with the underlying notion that while this concept does include the reductionist anatomical concept, the reverse cannot be the case.
Dr. Jaap van der Wal graduated as a medical doctor in 1973 and brings to the table an impressive background in Anatomy and Embryology lecturing; his specialism is embryology in which he is an international lecturer.
Clinical Anatomist John Sharkey is an international educator, author and authority in the areas of Clinical Anatomy, Exercise Science, human movement and the manual treatment of chronic pain. He runs international dissection courses where the full continuity of the fascia within the context of biotensegrity is demonstrated.
Jaap and John are powerhouses of information and anatomical understanding. Join them for a tour de force presentation on this much-discussed topic.
All participants will receive extra, relevant content supplied by the presenters.
SCHEDULE:
PART I
17.00 – 17.45
- Jaap van der Wal: Fasciae? Anatomical units or architectural units? Not just bones and muscles.
- John Sharkey: A paradigm shift in understanding fascia and human architecture.
17.45 – 18.00
- Break
PART II
18.00 – 18.45
- Jaap van der Wal: The concept of fascia as the innermost dimension or ‘organ (or tissue) of innerness’ and, in passing, to give a new perspective on anatomy from the holistic perspective of the embryo. The body as a fabrica or as ‘fabric’.
18.45 – 19.00
- Break
PART III
19.00 – 19.30
- John Sharkey: The Stochastic Nature of Fascia: Fascia weaves a living responsive fabric that facilitates the emerging integration and organisation (random and deterministic), of all bodily systems. Through stochastic dynamics and mechanotransduction this matrix translates tension and compression into biochemical signals and lived sensory experience. As such, fascia may be understood not only as a physical interface but also as a pre-neural substrate of awareness, an essential medium through which consciousness is shaped and embodied. Connective tissue, with fascia at its core serves as the ubiquitous substrate of biological wholeness enabling communication, coherence, adaptability and emergent consciousness across the spectrum of organismal organization.
19.30 – 20.00
- Discussion and elucidation.
Note: The replay will be available to all attendees until Sunday, 14th September 2025. After this date, the recording will not be added to the Members’ Area, but will be included in our On Demand video collection at a higher fee — with an exclusive discount for Members.
Join The Fascia Hub membership today and enjoy £9 off your event ticket while getting access to our extensive information and video resource. Minimum commitment three months @ £15/per month.
PRESENTERS
Dr. Jaap van der Wal worked until 2012 as senior lecturer (Associate Professor) in Anatomy and Embryology at the University of Maastricht, Holland. He is now retired from university and dedicates himself completely to his project Embryo in Motion training in Phenomenological Embryology and Dynamic Morphology. Since his graduation as a medical doctor (1973) he has become an anatomist-embryologist and specialized primarily in the functional anatomy of the locomotor system. In 1998 he graduated as an MD in this field with a dissertation on a ‘trans-anatomical’ view of human propriocepsis (sense of posture and locomotion). To read more about Jaap van der Wal please visit: https://www.embryo.nl/en/
John Sharkey is an international educator, author and authority in the areas of Clinical Anatomy, Fascia Science, human movement and the manual treatment of chronic pain.
John is a graduate of the University of Dundee, University of Liverpool and University of Chester. He completed undergraduate and post-graduate studies in the areas of exercise physiology, clinical anatomy and holds post-graduate qualifications in education.
John's latest book ‘Understanding Fascia, Tensegrity and Myofascial Trigger Points’ has become one of Human Kinetics' most popular titles, reflecting the growing interest in topics related to fascia science.
John provides unique, full-body dissection courses across the globe and is a popular conference Keynote speaker. John will be chairing a round table discussion on fascia at the upcoming International Fascia Research Congress, in New Orleans, as well as providing a workshop with his colleague Dr Andrzej Pilat of Myofascial induction and a special dissection course with Dr Carla Stecco, Gil Hedley and Gabriel Venne. http://www.johnsharkeyevents.com/
Note: The replay will be available to all attendees until Sunday, 14th September 2025. After this date, the recording will not be added to the Members’ Area, but will be included in our On Demand video collection at a higher fee — with an exclusive discount for Members.
Join The Fascia Hub membership today and enjoy £9 off your event ticket while getting access to our extensive information and video resource. Minimum commitment three months @ £15/per month.