Traditional Thai Massage- Duong's Class

Well I've put together a set of 20 pics to share- from Doung's massage class last October. Wanted to try something with more photos and less text and see how it looked and felt.

One unpleasant surprise with this blog was how the layout appears here. When I'm setting up a blog there is a "preview" tab where I can see what the finished products will look like on the blog page. For example this text I'm writing now appears to the left of the class picture. It is what I thought I would be seeing on the blog. But when I posted the blog- as you can see, the picture is centered and this text appears underneath. This happens in other parts of the blog too and the result is hanging words, split sentences, truncated paragraphs and different sized text. The Catholic school grammar part of me is less than pleased and aesthetically it looks sloppy now. But rather than mess with it forever I'm going to let it ride and try to get it better on the next one. Even with the glitches it is still exciting and very satisfying to be doing this!

I checked Wikipedia and asked Duong about Thai traditional massage.. It's said to have originated over 2500 years ago with Buddhas' physician, but as it's practiced today it's an 1800s blend of many healing traditions from India, China and other SE Asian cultures. The Thais call it nuat phaen boran or ancient manner massage.

Much of it involves deep massage and stretching- many yoga postures, and it works along meridians or "sen" lines which supposedly transfer energy. It is both highly specialized and greatly respected here- and the professional masseuses and masseurs are also held in high regard. As I mentioned in the last blog Duong's class was for three hours, five days a week for ten weeks- 150 hours just to get basic certification! And the training progresses from there.

There is so much press about the sex industry here and "Thai massage parlors" are of course a part of it. In many places what is available behind closed doors or drawn curtains is pretty much up to the person doing the "massage" and the customer- and some of these places openly cater to the tourists. But while the "falang" (foreign) sex tourists get all the attention- "Keep them coming" as they say in the business, the fact is that more than 95% of the sex trade is patronized by Thais and other Asians- they own it, control it, and overwhelmingly support it. Falangs are just convenient window dressing.

But the other side of the massage profession- the one that Duong's class is part of, gets little attention because it isn't sensationalized. No press will ever be given to the hundreds of Thais doing foot massage on the Sunday walking street, doing traditional massage in their homes or working in the many small spas around Chiang Mai.. yet these are the ones most familiar to the majority of average Thais.

There were no falangs, only Thais in Duong's class, mostly women, maybe eight men, and the students' ages ranged from the early twenties and up- one woman may have been in her sixties. A few seemed to be therapists, nurses or other healers but others looked as if they could have been students, employees, or parents. Some, like Duong, had good paying jobs when they were younger, but married, had children, were now recently divorced or separated- and trying to find ways to support themselves and their families. Most, I think, were there because they wanted to learn a skill to help them generate more income- so much of the work in Thailand is low paying, menial or mind-numbing.

But even with the skill, certification, and the good fortune to be able to find employment, most might be able to earn 400-500Bt a day at best. When she was doing foot massage at the walking street on Sundays, Duong might get to do three maybe four massages- either one half hour, one hour or rarely, a two hour Thai massage, in a twelve hour day. She got half of what the customer paid (120Bt/hour) or 60Bt. So a good day might be 4-5 hours of actual work- about 240-300Bt, the equivalent of $8-$10.

A two hour traditional massage usually starts starts at the feet with a lot of attention given to the soles of the foot and toes. The work then progress north, first one leg and then the other- ankles, calves and shins, then the muscles of the upper legs and buttocks (Another reason for being here- you haven't lived until you've had your back and butt kneaded and walked on for ten sinful minutes!). From the back and shoulders the work progresses down the arms- plenty of time on each one, wrists and hands- which also get a lot of attention. Back and neck twists are optional.. I still don't feel comfortable having anyone wrenching my spine first one way and then the other! Finally the neck, head and face get their due- a mixed blessing because I never want these things to end!

The one hour massages focus more on the legs and much less so on the upper body. Unless I knew the masseuse I always opted for the one hour. My legs liked the attention because of running, hiking and biking, and if the person was good then I would return for two hours the next time. This was pre-Duong of course!

During her community class it was interesting to see how the different students adjusted both the focus and strength of their massages for different people. Duong has very strong hands and can really dig with her fingers but with older people she did a lot more stroking. Others used their elbows, forearms and especially their feet to apply more pressure, especially if the person was heavily muscled or stocky. It feels like they are working on just muscles but underlying traditional massage is an awareness of meridians or energy lines flowing through the body- and it is along these lines, clearing knots and blocks as it goes, that the massage progresses.

Sometimes when Duong is working on me I'm not sure if the pain is worth the gain. Moving around the massage area I saw that I wasn't the only one. There were more than a few grunts and grimaces but I never saw anyone actually stop what was being done. The body language was always pretty clear and the students quick to respond. Usually someone would say easier, or harder, or that feels great or "There!"

When I was living in Bangkok I just dropped into a place one time and they assigned an older woman to me. She was very strong and very thorough- "Ouch, ouch, ouch!" but she sang to me- Thai love songs we assume, for the entire hour! I crawled out of there but I was smiling!

And it wasn't only hands and feet that

held my attention. I'm not sure if it

was because of the connections that

were being made, or maybe just the

specialness of the day, but there were

so many beautiful faces- men and women

alike, that I had to keep from staring-

very rude in Thai culture.

Because the area was so "busy"- distracting backgrounds, lots of movement, backlighting that made good exposures difficult (I've yet to get flash to consistently work for me), other things too.. many of the shots didn't take that well.

But some I am so pleased with..

I like this shot of Duong.. carrying a conversation with her friend while doing footwork on the man. When I asked her about it her only comment was "He was very strong."

It was such a wonderful gathering of people- the village elders- many with canes or walkers, the young and out of control, Duong's beautiful massage class, the professionals who did medical checkups, community people who brought food and set up the site, the many others who just came to watch and socialize.

It was more than a fine day..

..it was a Thai blessing.

Two favorites of Duong..

Thai blessings everyone!