“I’m really pleased with your work today, you’re all doing really well and have excellent massage skills.” I said, waiting for Victoria to translate our first session following lunch.
“You said this already this morning. You want we tell them again?”
“Yes please,” I said, happy to give praise where praise was due. The therapists were indeed doing well, enthusiastic and hardworking they watched and video’d everything intently, many made copious notes and tiny drawings, then practiced the techniques, playing back their recordings as a reminder. It was super to see them all helping one another, sharing notes as I dotted about to answer questions. Perhaps because the couches are all really low here, the therapists all have great posture so learning to incorporate deep tissue techniques and use their forearms instead of their hands came more easily to them than it seems to when therapists use higher couches. They naturally transferred their bodyweight and applied elbow techniques with relaxed wrists. It was fun to watch them experimenting with 'soft tissue release', one the skills in which they need to be proficient, trying different applicators and treatment positions.
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| Practising soft tissue release on calf and hamstrings |
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| Soft tissue release to erector spinae |
For lunch I tried Korean food. The soup was full of what looked like transparent green and white pieces of tissue but it was seaweed. Victoria was making notes from her bilingual bible, reading about marriage in both English and Chinese. “It says here a woman who get divorced should get married because otherwise there will be too much passion” she exclaimed. We agreed that that would be no good at all. Better get married and put a lid on all this passion.
The train home was packed. Lots of commuters wear face masks against pollution or if they have a cold. So its kind of like being in a carriage full of surgeons or on the set for Holby City or Casualty. But you get used to it. Its Valentine’s Day and the students were happy to finish at 5, rushing off to meet special boyfriends and husbands. I have a choice of three films: (i) something with Charles Bronson made in the late 70s where he’s in a wide car safeguarding a lady with even wider hair, (ii) Garfield, (iii) something with cheerleaders wearing a lot of makeup. The other 87 channels were all full of men with tight hair buns fixed with chopsticks who, brandishing long swords are challenging one another to duels over honor, or women in lycra wobbling on bicycles designed to vibrate fat off your bottom. I tried out the Chinese massage tools one of the therapists had given me as a gift. I still can't find my banana.
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| Chinese massage tools |
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| Soft tissue release to lat dorsi |
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| Soft tissue release to wrist extensors & flexors |
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| Victoria bible |
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| Soft tissue release to quads |
