Massage Taipei
Mike Fowler
The masseuse handed me a cup of water and asked me to remove everything from my pockets and to place my belongings in the basket below the familiar massage table that had a hole for the head on one end.
The woman began by massaging peppermint oil on the back of my neck and on my lower back and then draped a large yellow cloth over me. She started massaging me (with her hands) all over, beginning with my back, and then arms and then legs and the feet.
Pretty soon, I heard a timer and the knives got put away. The woman massaged me some more like a cool down. Finally, she started slapping me all over my body as if tenderizing me. And with one final slap I knew the massage was over. I drank a little tea, paid my money and left having had a new experience.
Hi Klaaske! ?
It was definitely an experience! And,thankfully, it really did help my hiking pains, plus it seemed to help the headache I had. Who knew that getting blows to the back of the head would cure a migraine. hahaha ?
I once had a massage in Taipei, quite good, but what stood out was that the masseuse was blind. It seems that that is a widespread career direction for blind women in Taiwan. Knives were never offered.
Ouch indeed! Did it at least feel good afterwards? Next time, try the knife massage instead. ? And if you want to experience a massage where they put you in all kinds of strange positions, come to Thailand. I never knew I could bend like a pretzel.
Even though it was a little painful, at the end of the massage my feet felt very refreshed! It was a good break from walking around so I even recovered my energy. If you happen to be walking around Taipei and need a break, get a foot massage in Taiwan!
Two days before my appointment, I was told by a staff member at the Ancient Art of Knife Therapy Education Center in Taipei to take a shower in the morning before my massage, washing only from my heart to my toes using warm water and crude salt for 15 minutes. This would help soften stiff muscles and enable the knife massage to hit deeper spots of the body.
The massage, which is a millennium-old Chinese tradition called dao liao, utilizes two steel knives in order to produce positive and negative ions, just like the Chinese concept of yin and yang, or two opposing forces that make a person balanced. Yin is negative and feminine energy, while yang means positive and masculine energy.
The second one was squatting while also holding the sticks 30 times. These exercises were supposed to open the qi or energy doors that enable the energy to get out of and enter the body during the knife massage later. It also helped balance my bones and internal organs.
My assigned therapist had me lie on my stomach and covered my body with a blanket. So far, not different with any other massage I had in the past. With soothing music on the background, the therapist then pummeled the knives down my entire body. It was surprisingly relaxing. My body felt warmer as the massage went on, especially my neck and back, and I eventually snoozed.
When I regained consciousness, my eyes, wrist and back felt much lighter. My neck felt less strained. Weight has been taken away from my body. I felt like a reborn baby, as Mei-Fang put it. Was it worth the $50 USD? Absolutely.
*Please note: Light Program Red House used to be called Light Project Ximending. They are now in a different location in Ximending than the one I visited and describe below. The new address is No.13, Lane 10, Chengdu Road, which is right beside the historic Red House in Ximending.
In December 2017, Olivia opened Light Project, taking her yi jing and knife massage practice to the next level. She wanted to open her shop in popular Ximending district, where many travelers bed down in Taipei. She feels the service is a great antidote to the pains and hassles that come with travel.
She begins on my back and shoulder blades, expertly avoiding my spine and working down to my buttocks, legs, and feet. The pummeling begins soft then increases in intensity, but never to the point of pain. Rather the opposite; it is incredibly relaxing, and I can see why it puts many to sleep.
When the pummeling stops and I sit up, my entire body feels warm, tingling, and vibrant, like every square inch of my skin is pulsating with energy. My mind is clear and body feels like it is floating on a cloud. The knives have untangled both my physical tensions and mental stress.
Excellent report. I am very interested to contact Olivia in March when I come to Taiwan for a week. Eager to learn also about the I Ching and how to divine for other people, something I really want to learn now. Thank you very much, Nick and Olivia!
He started maneuvering my neck, shoulders and head, performing qua sha and all kind of chiropractic moves. Cracked my neck in two different ways and pulled my arms into such fashion that it was tortuous but good. I did not have to speak. He was reading my body like I do.
Wu Sifu is a Qi Gong master who not only works on the muscles, tissues, but also the bones. He does not use brute strength. He uses his qi to put the body alignment back in place. He uses his knowledge of the meridians and acupuncture points to assist in healing. He knew what he was doing. It was not a massage. It was heavy duty physical therapy with a strong dose of reality.
Because he did not break me, because he really knew what he was doing, and because Chinese medicine is simply amazing, I am here to tell you that I was loosened and felt so much better afterwards. I was a puppet with tangled strings before I saw him. Afterwards, I could walk, turn and I felt I was nimble again. AMAZING.
This is why the story deserves a post without many pictures. I wish I could bring Wu Sifu back home with me to NY. I LOVE this amazing medicine. My hat is off to all my peeps at PCOM for your dedication to this medicine! Love and peace to all.
Knife massage looks like a form of torture, but those who practise it believe it draws out negative energy and can help cure ailments. In Taiwan, interest in getting pummelled by cleavers in the name of good health is growing. Jamie Fullerton travels to Taipei to sample this cutting-edge wellness trend.
Hsiao had agreed to enlighten me about the ancient art of knife massage, which she is helping to revive in Taiwan. Wearing a lab coat and pristine matching gloves, she explains that the practice, dao liao, could originate as far back as 2500 years ago on mainland China.
For decades it was a niche treatment in Taipei, mainly practised in private rather than in spas and clinics, as it is now. Fifteen years ago, Hsiao, who was working as a holistic therapist and teacher, was introduced to dao liao by a student of hers. She soon went all in.
In the villa garden Hsiao attempts to top up her own chi levels by doing a handstand then dexterously spreading her legs, which she says is one of the quickest ways to juice up. On her instruction I hold out my open hand in front of her, but again say that I feel nothing mystical. Undaunted, she leads me upstairs for my knife massage.
After the foot massages they led us to another room upstairs for our full massages. I picked my sandalwood scented oil and let him go at it all over my back, and shoulders. As the minutes passed and the pressure slowly devolved into something I would have expected from an elderly person, we were released; rather, I was woken up sparing everyone anymore of my snoring. Nadia was reluctant to leave, she enjoyed her treatment so much.
We dressed ourselves in silence, her in the afterglow of her treatment, and I in the defiant determination to not be massaged into submission. Such contrasting experiences despite having been next to each other entire time.
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