推 Tui "to push or press into"
拿 Na "to grasp or take hold of"
(Pronounced: tway na)
What is Tui na Massage?
I want to share my personal story of how Tui Na helped heal my body and alter my path towards the internal martial arts and therapeutic healing.
I began studying karate and other hard-style martial arts when I was a boy as a means to protect and defend myself. I trained with great intensity but, by the time I was in my twenties, the years of hard training and sparring (and the stress and adrenaline which go with it) already began to take its toll. I developed serious hip and knee problems and decreasing flexibility. Then the early warning signs of serious internal disorders began to emerge, including high blood pressure, hypertension, and digestive and urinary tract problems. Most of all, I began suffering chronic back problems.
When I first arrived in Taiwan, I continued to practice hard styles. Training there was fierce and often brutal - to the point of semi-full contact without padding. Then it happened: I was severely injured in an intense sparring match with one of the instructors, dislocating several vertebrae in my already weakened back. I was unable to train; I could barely sleep before the pain forced me out of bed. Not long after, I almost died from a urinary tract disorder that left me hospitalized. Here I was, a young man, racked with pain, my body seemingly falling apart. This was a great turning point in my life as a martial artist. It set me on a painful journey of recovery fraught with frustrations and obstacles. I tried numerous western treatment modalities like Chiropractics, physiotherapy, electro-stimulation and massage therapy. When I didn't get the results hoped for, I began to explore more traditional Chinese medical practices.
This is when I met Master Huang, a Qigong Tui Na master of great skill. Huang Shifu was a stocky, soft-spoken, unassuming Taiwanese with a great glow of energy and vitality about him. Within a few moments he had zeroed in on the problem areas in my body. With gentle, precise probing and body manipulations, muscles and deep tissues that had been knotted and clenched in my back for over 2 years hiccupped and then relaxed. I felt a huge release of energy in my body as tension and energetic blockages - that no other form of massage or therapy I tried could touch - began to dissolve away. The immense joy I felt at being healed was only equalled by my surprise at it only requiring one treatment. This was real Gong Fu!
Later, he taught me that while my body appeared strong my Qi was weak and out of balance. I had lived long enough in the martial arts world to know that Qi referred to our internal life energy, but to witness this master use it to heal me was something magically new. He opened my eyes to the power of energetic healing. He also taught me Qigong and longevity practices to not only strengthen my back but boost my internal energy reserves. Finally, he introduced me to Tai Chi as one of the most profound practices of self-healing and self-cultivation. I am forever indebted to Master Huang for his shining example of Tui Na mastery.
Travis Crombie,
Certified Chinese Tui Na Massage Therapist
Tui Na is a traditional massage therapy used in China for centuries.
Much more than just a system of massage, it works with the joints, soft tissues and energy meridians of the body in a holistic, non-invasive manner to help maintain health and ward off disease. Tui Na is a comprehensive method, based on the principles of Traditional Chinese medicine, for penetrating to the roots of disease and watering the life-giving energies which regulate the body system as a whole. Here are just a few of the benefits of this form of massage:
1. Balancing the Body's Energy. A healthy body is in a harmonious energetic equilibrium. Disease manifests when we are in a state of excess or deficiency. By working on the meridians we can help return the body to its natural, balanced state.
2. Regulating the Internal Organs. Tui Na massage gently stimulates and/or soothes the internal organs to help them function more effectively and protect against long term disfunction.
3. Clearing Energy Blockages. Many diseases are a result of Qi stagnation and blood stasis. Tui Na massage can help release blockages in the energy and circulatory system to restore and improve healthy energetic flow.
4. Repairing Tissues and Organs. Tuina massage can help repair damaged or dislocated tissues and organs, restoring them to proper function.
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