Taiwanese odyssey - Last day. Muscle Energy Techniques

“What about its skin, what type of skin does it have?” Victoria and Kelly were keen for me to have a “mos” burger but before committing myself I wanted to know what it was made of. We had been revising the importance of asking questions when assessing a client for musculoskeletal problems so it was fitting I now had my chance to ask some. I asked a student what was in a Mos burger or what sort of skin the animal it was made from might have had. We established it was brown colour although it wasn’t clear whether that was the animal or the burger. "Does it live in the sea?”

“No”.
“Does it live anywhere near water or in water or ever been immersed in water?” The student wasn’t sure. “What does it look like?” She didn’t know how to explain it. “Could she draw one?” She laughed and shook her head. “Ok so can you tell me anything about it?” I wanted to be certain it wasn’t soft bodied with fins or suckers of any kind, lived on or under a rock or had ever had tentacles at any stage of its life cycle. She said it had horns. But wait, snails have horns. Can we just confirm that it doesn’t have a shell or been scooped from a shell or resemble the animal we call a snail but is shelless? Nine days in Taiwan and I had learned that Taiwanese delicacies were an acquired taste.

The Importance of Asking Questions

We had been practicing Muscle Energy Techniques (MET) all morning. After lunch I snapped yet another hand safety sticker and added it to my collection. The staff at Mo Mo's think I am a safety officer sent from head office to check up on them. Knowing this was the last day of the first part of their course, in between practising, the students took a great many photos of me, me with them, me with the skeleton, themselves with the skeleton, and themselves with me and them and the skeleton.

Figuring out MET to hip rotators

Group practising MET to pectorals

A fellow therapist in London very kindly went to a lot of trouble to write out all of the muscle names phonetically and email them to me. My job for next time is to learn them. I have learnt the names for some of the bones.

Patella - bingoo

Femur – goo goo

Tibial tuberosity – gingoo

Fibula - faygoo

You can imagine the fun I had explaining the assessment of patellofemoral problems such as chondromalacia patellae.

As we approached the afternoon break we continued with more MET practice and revised scapula terms. I love the way Victoria pronounces scapula “skapooola”.

The number of photos I have of the course is phenomenal. One student gave me 14 CDRoms containing her own photographs. I have essential oils, one from the 1000 year old Taiwanese tree. I was also given a packet of super heat packs which stay hot for around 20 hours. At teatime I enjoyed some popcorn tea—it has rice crispies in it!

Despite being tired themselves, after class two of the students took me to a lovely vegetarian restaurant where we sat in the dark as waiters plied us will a whole variety of dishes. Everything was small and none of it had ever had legs. My kind of diner. My soup had strange things in it. Things that looked very much like they had been used on a Stephen Speilberg set. I was assured that it was so delicious that even Buddha would eat it. “So you’re sure these are vegetables? The chef hasn’t slipped in some mollusks politely just because he thinks I’m foreign?” I was assured these were only vegetables. I picked one up on my ladle. It looked like an eyeball. “Special nut.” I eyed another. “Special mushroom”. I had tea which was a delicacy. It tasted of parsnips. And then hot vinegar which the waiter told me I should drink very slowly and in small amounts because it was very ‘dense’. It was to clean my palate. I assured him I would be sipping it in very small amounts. I liked it. The other tea tasted just like Bovril but was "Chinese medicine". I probably needed some medicine so I drank that too. It tasted like dandelion and burdock. I liked that too. “Stikkee” said Regina when we parted. “August veree stikkee. Must pack shorts.” Thankfully next trip I will have lighter clothes to bring. 

Back in my hotel room I could hardly stand. Teaching 7 days in a row is no problem when you love your subject and the people learning it, but with the added 2 hours teaching each day and the interpreting, it was very tiring indeed. I knew if I sat down I’d fall asleep. I forced myself to pack, including all the gifts the students had given me. When the alarm went off at 3am I didn’t feel so bad.

As the chauffeur drove me in the dark back to the airport at 4am I reflected on the SWOT analysis I did before leaving London.

Strengths: well, I love the topics I'm teaching and have taught them many times so feel confident in being able to deliver a great course. 

Weaknesses: not speaking Chinese. Fortunately we had Victoria and some of the students could speak a little English.

Opportunities: I'm here to help Victoria's company expand into China so that Chinese therapists can learn sports massage techniques. As everyone knows, it's the largest market in the world.

Threats: problems with travel such as plane delays. Fortunately everything had gone smoothly, the hotel in which I was staying was close to the teaching venue which, now that I've seen it, is great.

Sitting in the airport I looked at the photos on my Blackberry. The first 7 days were over. I checked the student register and all students had attended all 7 days, signing their names in delicate, florid patterns. Well, they say every 1000 mile journey starts with one step. I had been 6000 miles away and the students' skills had improved in leaps and bounds. I can't wait to return in August for the second part of the course.

MET to pecs

MET to quads

The register

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