Reginald Andrew Lassalle, better known as Rex Lassalle was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1945. He attended Belmont Boys Intermediate School and St. Mary's College,[1] Port of Spain. He is a former lieutenant in the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment who, together with Raffique Shah led a mutiny by the Regiment on April 21, 1970 (see Black Power Revolution).
Lassalle attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst from January 1965 to December 1966. After returning to Trinidad he served as a second lieutenant and then a lieutenant. Following the mutiny he was charged with over fifty offenses including treason and mutiny. Although he was never actually tried for treason he was court martialed in March 1971 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. He appealed, won the appeal, and was eventually set free after an appeal by the State to the Privy Council and was freed on July 27, 1972. In total he served 27 months in prison.
He was strongly influenced by his parents during childhood and particularly their intuitive insights into nature and animals.[2] The impact of this is reflected in his 1999 book on 9 Star Ki or Chinese astrology, Lassalle's in-depth personal treatment of the subject. His grounding in 9 Star Ki came through Michio Kushi[3] the well known macrobiotics educator. He went on to study Osteopathy at the College of Osteopaths in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England and qualified in 1974.[4] Another profound influence on his work at this time was that of Dr. Major Bertrand DeJarnette[4][5] the renowned American engineer, inventor, osteopath and chiropractor. He then studied acupuncture and homeopathy under Professor Malcolm Stemp[6] of Newton Abbott, Devon the accomplished British homeopath.[7]
Around this time (late 1970s) he became involved with martial arts and studied under Kanetsuka Sensei [1] of the British Aikido Federation and also Chiba Sensei[8] where he picked up many techniques concerning the breath which he then applied, along with his knowledge of accupuncture, to develop his own style of Shiatsu. He founded a school of shiatsu in the mid 1980's called Hara Shiatsu International and trained the first generation of Shiatsu teachers in the UK.[9]
Lassalle was strongly influenced by Buddhist philosophy especially that of the Tibetan and Zen traditions[10] and this would reflect itself in his approach to health, well being, nutrition and also to his particular style of 9 Star Ki astrology. In recent years his work has been in providing services to the Spa industry during the course of which (2009) he wrote a book on spa massage. He continues to develop new methods in this area.[11]