deep tissue: zen or biomechanics?

Just attended a facinating course in Deep Tissue Massage, taught by Art Riggs, in San Francisco. It was five days of immersion into complex anatomy and kinesthetic sensitivity to body tissues and it featured two very different teachers. The First teacher was completely Newtonian or biomechanical in his approach. He emphasized physical sensory feedback and information. He would say something like--"sink into the tissue and if you feel pushback stop." He talked about specific muscles and functions of those muscles. The Second teacher was also a local Zen teacher. Both teachers were Rolfers. The Zen Rolfer would sink into tissue and just sort of hang out. He talked about a need for "space" to be present while you were working. The idea of maintaining pressure in a sensitive area and waiting for the myofascial tissue to melt were common to both teachers, but there language and explanations were vastly different. The more Newtonian guy revealed he was envious of the Zen guy's "profound" level of working. For those of us in the class, it gave us permission to do the same work, deep tissue massage, in the manner that would work for us and be authentic for us. Although to work for example the quadratus lumborum muscles in the low back and release them seems like to me it should be the same mechanical process regardless of the practitioner, perhaps this is not so after all. I talked to the Zen guy and said that I was surprised to find out that a Rolfer would be working so much with energy or consciousness and asked him if a lot of Rolfers worked that way. His answer was yes that a lot did and his Rolfing teacher did in fact. I had assumed Rolfing would be a very logical field of endeavor. This was also a rather un-painful class in that the techniques didn't hurt. As there is a popular notion that deep tissue hurts, and in fact many people say they have received "hard" or painful massages, the way this class was taught by these stellar teachers allowed the practitioner to sink into tissue somewhat effortlessly without causing significant pain. Amazing. I myself have received "deep tissue" touch that I really haven't liked. I was also surprised to find both teachers using the word intention quite a bit, saying things like, "it's just your intention" that you are able to reach down and work that muscle which is deep below the the superficial muscles. This too seemed more like something out of the years of classes I had taken in Healing Touch energy work. I had expected that when I ventured into deep tissue it would all be rather mechanical and Newtonian. And I did find that, but that was only half of the picture. It seems as if the public and many practitioners of deep tissue only have half the picture of what deep tissue is and can be. Deep Tissue can be nurturing deep type of work, where the practitioner can sink effortlessly to a deeper level in the muscles and release them, at least in the hands of these great masters of touch that I observed and felt first hand.