Simple Cupping and Gwa Sa in Pictures

The best known methods of bodywork are the various types of massage, named for the country where it originated, as in "Thai" or for the techniques as in "Amma". Chinses Bodywork is called" Tui Na" (pron: tweena) and is referred to as massage, even though it includes many elements traditionally not included in massage by western (European) standards. Cupping and Gwa Sa are parts of Asian Medicine, and are not specifically thought to be part of massage in North America, as much of the western popular idea of massage is for relaxation. The Oriental definition of massage is larger and is regarded as an integral part of medicine.

The labels of "folk remedies" or "folk wisdom" may be applied dismissively (not scientific) OR as miracle panacea (traditional, must be the best). The procedures are neither, but techniques that do a certain job, and do it well. No lables of mysticism or religion need to be applied here, but have been in the past and continue to be to this day. This book shows the technique, without a religious or political bias.