Lineage arts versus modern standardized curriculum
– Part 3 of 3
Pragmatism ruled in China as it entered the modern age. With vast numbers of people needing health care China made simplified systems of Traditional Chinese medicine. In the ancient period medical knowledge and skills were closely guarded secrets just like martial arts skills. Good doctors could charge well provided there were not too many competitors. To limit competition medical skills and systems were often only taught to boys because a female doctor might carry the medicine to entire new family creating a competing family of doctors. Martial arts skills were also guarded like trade secrets for much the same reason and to prevent thugs from learning them. In the past there were many systems of medicine each with its own lineage, philosophy and special skills. It wasn’t until the 20th century and the face of the modern age and western medicine that the traditional medical arts were taught a little bit more openly. In China, there was a desperate need for the quick training of an army of doctors and a simplified system of medicine was the only practical approach.
The problem is that in the process of simplification many of the fine points, details, unique qualities and skills of the family, clan, and religious systems of medicine held dear had to be sacrificed. Just as China simplified the complex traditional characters to create a much easier to write, read, and teach form, they simplified the medical systems and created a single style where once there had been many. In the case of the written characters the subtle meaning and history of many words was lost. Likewise, in the field of martial arts, a new system of dramatic performance routines was created that enabled wide sport participation but lost the deadly fighting skills of the old styles. Each of these represented a diminishment when compared to the complexity, beauty, and depth of the original forms.
The old martial arts master’s that I met in the 1990s still preserved not only their extraordinary martial arts skills but also their unique systems of complementary medicine. Not every martial artist was an expert acupuncturist, herbalist, and Tui Na practitioner. But some of them were, and they were the healthiest and most able in their old age. They had learned their skills in the time-honored long apprenticeship method. And it showed. My experience of these practitioners and those who were graduates of the recently created government schools was vastly different.
Long careful apprenticeships were simply too slow to meet the needs of the vast population in China and a pragmatic approach of simplifying the larger Tui Na systems of the old masters into compact form that could be easily taught was undertaken. In Tui Na sequences of strokes done in a pattern were created and taught. Getting one of these treatments can be wonderful. Especially when compared to not being treated. The downside of the modern treatments taught at many schools is that that they are a sort of one size fits all, production line massage. Regardless of what conditions or needs a patient might have every single patient gets the same exact massage. We do this move 3 times, then the next move 5 times, followed 3 times, etc. Even if the patient really needs one technique to be done 108 times to fix their condition or make dramatic and permanent change all they are going to get is 3, 5, 3 strokes and on we go through the cookie cutter massage.
In contrast, my most skillful teachers had already diagnosed every patient by watching them walk into the office, sit down, and say hello. When they treated patients, they would work on specific problems and fix them. When they gave a treatment, they balanced the Qi flow in your body in the same way an acupuncturist does, by encouraging increased flow in some meridians, sedating the flow of Qi other meridians, moving stagnant blood, and unlocking blocked Qi. These treatments went far beyond the “relaxing massage” concept and were real medical treatments designed to treat specific muscular skeletal issues and improve the general health of the body and organs.
Tui Na techniques require skill to perform correctly. Some of the most useful and beneficial techniques such as rolling require a significant amount of practice. Many if not most of them require the body method of a martial to be done correctly. This is one reason it is incredibly valuable for a massage therapist to learn even a little martial art. Having a great body method helps one master the Tui Na techniques. Feeling a master apply the techniques and watching them treat is how you acquire the knowledge. Long practice is how you acquire the skill.
Martial artists have two specialties in the Tui Na field. For martial artists being able to treat the types of injuries you get when sparring or fighting is incredibly helpful. One specialty is poultices and lineaments for traumatology. Poultices are a mixture of herbs that are dried and finely ground, mixed with water and placed over an injury. Herbal poultices to treat cuts, bruises, broken bones, dislocated joints and torn tendons, and reduce swelling are some of the best formulas.
The old formulas were closely guarded secrets and involved many different herbs. The newer formulas are simpler and do not use all the same herbs. When I took the formulas from my teachers to local herbalists. They looked at them and immediately exclaimed “Where did you get this formula? This must have been from a very old man!” Few stock all the old herbs to make these formulas. Having used them many times I find them to be incredibly helpful. Like poultices, lineaments are liquids made with medicinal herbs in them. Lineaments could be used to replace water in making poultices increasing the power of the poultice.
One of my teachers, an American, told me how he gained the best formulas for bone knitting. His source was the famous Grandmaster Liao of Monkey Style Kung Fu, in Taiwan. He kept his formulas written in a tiny book always hidden in a small bag around his neck. None of his local students and assistants had any of the formulas. When he wanted his formulas filled, he had one trusted herbalist he went to, who always ground his formulas so finely no one could figure out the herbs in them. He only gave my American teacher the formulas because he knew he would return home to the USA and not compete with him by treating patients in Taiwan. The American’s high level of expertise in martial arts and winning a full contact tournament in Taiwan was what opened the door to meeting the Monkey Style Grandmaster. This old Monkey style Kung Fu master lived to 100 years old, had four wives, who all lived until their 90’s, and made his living as one of the best Tui Na practitioners in a country famous for them.
The second specialty of martial arts master’s Tui Na skills would be Jie Gu or bone setting. Bone setting refers both to aligning and treating actual fractures and to realigning dislocated bones or joints. A real master of these skills has many of the skills we commonly associate with chiropractors and Osteopaths. The bone setting skills were one of the highest levels of treatment skills. Learning these skills gradually and carefully over time was part of the traditional multi-year apprenticeship. A skilled bonesetter would realign, and massage broken bones into the proper position and apply poultices combined with lineaments before wrapping and splinting or casting. This was how broken bones were treated in the old days. If you could find a skilled healer! With access to the correct herbs! My experience is that both the internal formulas and external poultices and lineaments are an incredibly effective complement to western medicine and speed healing and reduce pain.
All of my teachers stressed the fact that it was Qi that made the treatment work or not. The manual skills delivered the Qi focused by the intention and concentration of the practitioner. But it was the Qi of the patient moving, being assisted in moving by the Qi of the practitioner that made a treatment last. If the patients Qi did not change the treatments lasting effect would be diminished or nonexistent. If the patient’s Qi could be moved in the correct direction and assisted to rebalance itself then a treatment could have lasting beneficial impact. The trick was that to do this the practitioner needs to have strong healthy Qi themselves and in fact to have stronger, healthier Qi than the patient. Like a small person trying to push a larger person and getting exhausted while making no progress a person with weak Qi trying to treat a person with strong Qi will become exhausted and achieve little therapeutically. As a result of this thinking most Tui Na practitioners find practicing martial arts or qigong systems essential. Almost all martial arts have systems of Qigong that are part of the innermost heart of the art. The martial artists relied upon Qigong to strengthen their bodies to easily resist the strongest blows. With extremely strong Qi they could easily treat many patients effectively and not become exhausted.
