Being a martial artist, self-treatment of body injuries is part of the process. So getting to know your body is crucial in helping to heal bruises, joint pain, sore muscles and the myriad of other conditions that happen during training. One thing that I started to learn about in my training was the manipulation of pressure points to cause pain and control and opponent.

Drawing on the concept of yin and yang, this has a healing component to it of course. I ran across a book early on in my training many years ago at a flea market that elaborated on the concept of acupressure and self-massage. Acupressure is the manipulation of pressure points by using the hands to help promote circulation and healing of many different types of ailments.

The book was by a Dr. Kuan Hin called Chinese Massage and Acupressure. I picked it up and have been using the techniques described in it ever since. Acupressure is a very extensive healing discipline as it involves the Chinese Medical theory or Traditional Chinese Medicine. This is a deep area of knowledge and practice which I am not qualified to go into too deeply, but I highly recommend looking into this area further and doing your own research.

Dr. Hin’s book in particular I recommend as a great place to start as it covers the background of this amazing healing art, how and why it works in theory and is full of practical pictures and applications you can apply right away.  The basis for using this healing art is the regulation of the energy flows that occur throughout the body. This life force energy, or chi as the Chinese call it is life’s fuel and nourishes us.

What I wanted to briefly touch upon in this post is how the average person can use Chinese self-massage (or Inhoa as Dr. Hin calls it in his book) to help preserve and restore one’s own health. I am a firm believer in taking responsibility for our health and I think this a key aspect that can help us do just that. There are 8 total massages or ‘dry baths’ as the Dr. refers to them in his book.

I am including here one of my favorite – The Massage of the Gushing Spring or Yongquan. It is the name given to the first acupoint on the kidney-meridian running from the sole of the foot along the inner side of the leg over the belly to end under the shoulder blade. This point has many uses both preventative and therapeutic that extend far beyond the local area.

For massage purposes, we use the gushing spring to activate the circulation of the blood and prevent vascular disorders including cramps in the calves. This massage is especially good to promote circulation of the blood (especially in the feet) and prevent vascular disorders such as cramps in the calves

After I massage this point I feel a release throughout my foot and a general sense of well-being. I highly recommend also massaging the entire bottom of the foot using an upward pressing motion up from the heel to the balls of the foot to enhance the massage. Here is the illustration from the book:

Here is the illustration from the book:

gushing spring2

 

I also highly recommend for muscle and joint pain our – Warrior Rx Muscle & Joint Pain Relief Sports Rub. I use it almost daily to help me recover from my workouts and martial arts training sessions. Our topical sports rub combined with some daily self-massage will help you feel better, heal faster and get back on your feet much quicker so you can be active again.