“Stop the Blood” or “Open the Gates” ? A Traditional Thai Massage Technique for tonifying the legs. By Tim Holt CMT, RTT

“Stop the Blood” or “Open the Gates” ?

A Traditional Thai Massage Technique for tonifying the legs.

By Tim Holt CMT, RTT

Most experienced therapists and instructors of Traditional Thai Massage include the inguinal and axillary circulatory restriction in their treatments. This clears stagnation of energy (lom) in the large gates of the pelvis and the small gates of the shoulder / neck area. From a western perspective, it helps the body to clear toxins and bring nutrient rich blood to areas that are receiving bodywork. It is presented in Thailand as “stop the blood”. This use of the English phrase “stop the blood” is really a negative and inaccurate frame for such a positively healing treatment. I have no historical data on when this English phrase was employed, but this is what I originally learned at the Old Medicine Hospital in 1988. Many other teachers in the Chiang Mai area also use this phrase, and it is spreading worldwide. I believe the original Thai intention of this technique would be better served by using a more positive name.

We are temporarily restricting the flow to the extremities, but the intention and effect is to open the gates, move energy, flush tissues and distribute nutrients and oxygen. In essence we are increasing the blood flow to those areas. We are not really “stopping” blood flow. We are encouraging it to go deeper and find new pathways. We are also slowing the heart rate and providing a deep relaxation for the client. It is similar to the use of ice on injuries in western sports massage. Ice creates retrostasis. Blood retreats from the cold stimulus. Once the cold stimulus is removed, there is a surge of circulation back into the affected area, flushing metabolic debris and bringing nutrition to the area. Blood flow is restricted, but healing occurs when the tissues are engorged by fresh blood.

When I present the “stop the blood “ technique in my classes, I normally get a few raised eyebrows and encounter some mild fear about this treatment. I sense that the fear is a reaction to the words themselves, not the technique. If you stop the blood flow to healthy tissue, it will die! This is the mental image students often have when this is initially presented, so I no longer use this phrase. I teach the Old Medicine style as well as Pichest’s techniques, but I introduce them as opening the energetic large gates of the pelvis and the small gates of the shoulders. I present this as a circulatory flush from a western perspective.

This is an open request to the international community of Thai therapists and instruc- tors to reframe these valuable traditional techniques with a more positive and accurate introduction and title. Om Namo !

Thank you !

Tim Holt CMT, Director

East West Massage School

8017 Washington Ave.

Sebastopol, Ca. 95472

707-823-1480

timholt@eastwestmassageschool.com

eastwestmassageschool.com

Massage Therapy as Social Activism Tim Holt, Massage Therapist, Director East West Massage School

Massage Therapy as Social Activism

Tim Holt, CMT NCBTMB

Being a massage therapist is a form of social activism. The act of providing healing massage therapy empowers the recipient to take responsibility for his / her own health and well- being. It empowers the individual to seek healing and provides proprioceptive information about their own body. It uses a time honored form of healing which is most often provided outside of the medical and corporate structure. It is an act which often stands in defiance of the messages we receive from the corporate world, especially the corporate world of health care.

Each time I give a client a bodywork treatment or teach a class to aspiring professional massage therapists, I reflect on the truly radical nature of this process. We live in a time of privatization and elimination of social services. Record numbers of Americans have no health care coverage. According to an article which appeared on Google News on February 5, 2005, half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States are now caused by soaring medical bills. The pharmaceutical companies are spending mega bucks on the development of designer drugs marketed by Wall Street ad agencies instead of finding vaccines for illnesses. We have witnessed American health care become a liability based system operated by insurance companies instead of health care professionals. Insurance companies dictate the standard of treatment and the pharmaceutical companies provide drugs for excessive profits rather than health. We find ourselves in this situation despite the millions of well intentioned and talented health care professionals working today. We find ourselves in this situation despite the helpful and advanced technology of our century. We have built a health care system based on heroic intervention rather than prevention.

In Taoist China it was said that “a good doctor has no patients”. The itinerant physician would come into the village , meet with his patients, and would apply the various modalities of ancient Taoist Chinese medicine. He would assess their health and advise them on self care prior to symptoms becoming pathological. Most of his treatments would include the person’s spiritual, energetic , and physical body. In cases where a patient became ill, it was often seen as the fault of the physician for not assessing and preventing the illness. A definite part of this medical model was a form of “hands on” healing that we would call massage in the American culture. This ancient system was based on a preventative model.

I do not believe that it is helpful to sit in a cloud of incense and long for the past, but a blend of preventative and heroic medicine would be a more cost effective and safer for our culture today. The direct relationship between healer and client is clouded in our health care system by layers of bureaucracy and liability. To provide healing touch as a professional is a very direct, low cost , preventative form of health care . Massage Therapy professionals can be allies of medical health care professionals.

But do we really want to be a part of the health care system as it exists today? Do we really want to struggle to obtain validation by the established medical hierarchy ? Do we really want to participate in the existing insurance system?

Each time I complete a bodywork session or teach therapeutic massage techniques to students of massage, I am thankful for the professional healing intimacy that this work offers. I am thankful for the direct access to my clients. I often consult with other health care providers to better serve my client, but I am not restricted by the overwhelming fear of liability. I challenge those who wish to over regulate massage therapy in the United States to demonstrate sufficient liability to the consumer.

Receiving massage therapy empowers the client to take direct responsibility for their healing. Everyone is empowered by this transaction. Empowerment is a form of activism. Activism is defined as vigorous action in pursuit of a political or social end. Massage therapy is a form of social activism.

Tim Holt, CMT, Director

East West Massage School

8017 Washington Ave.

Sebastopol, Ca. 95472

707-823-1480

eastwestmassageschool.com