Asian Massage - Acupressure ( tuī ná )

Tui Na is indeed a part of traditional Chinese Medical practice and as such must utilize the Five Directions of Diagnosis to be effective in rendering treatment. Of the five main diagnostic directions; Asking, Looking, Feeling, Listening and Smelling, only the first three apply strongly to Tui Na therapy as a treatment modality. The patient must be questioned thoroughly in terms of his perspectives of how and when the syndrome first arose, the practitioner must utilize visual diagnostic skills to determine any physical imbalance and/or possible joint subluxation, and the practitioner must gently probe the injured/painful area to determine the nature of the imbalance of subluxation should one indeed exist. The final two directions of diagnosis apply primarily to internal imbalance and Tui Na deals almost exclusively with physical/structural imbalance only.

Tui Na is a comprehensive system of therapeutic massage and passive/active joint restoration. The system, includes categories of general massage, massage therapy, trigger release, strain/counter strain, soft circular manipulation, angular maneuvers, moxibustion and cupping techniques.

The traditional Tui-Na school of thought is composed of eight main massage techniques as follows. It should be noted however, that once the main techniques are understood they are combined in myriad ways to get different results depending on the individual syndrome to be treated. The classic texts of Tui Na from the old school proclaim that: "Techniques are techniques, but the hands are the law." Meaning that methods should be adjusted as necessary based on individual needs.