While many people may know the most popular form of Chinese massage techniques, Tuina, but there are other forms that are also effective in treating many of the same infirmities. From Anmo to Zhi Ya massage, each of these different forms has their own merits and can help different clients in varying ways.

Anmo is an ancient form of Chinese massage that has spread quite a distance from its beginnings. Made up of two separate words Anmo literally translates as press (An) rub (Ma). This type of massage is performed by pressing and rubbing the hands across the body. The idea is to work calm and peace into the body through the use of the hands.

Anmo is over 5000 years old making it one of the oldest known massage forms. Anmo migrated from China to Japan by way of Korea around 1500 years ago. Since this time Anmo has influenced the development of various types of massage therapies including Tuina, Shiatsu and Swedish.

Zhi Ya massage is a massage technique based around the tenets of acupressure. Similar in many ways to Tuina it focuses heavily on pressing and pinching directly on the various acupressure points. Zhi Ya focuses on relieving fatigue, healing the body and etc. rather than focusing on prevention.

Shiatsu, which developed from Anmo and Zhi Ya, also focuses on the various pressure points of the body; however, it was developed as a means of prevention rather than focusing so heavily on healing.

Even though these many forms of Chinese massage vary in many of their techniques their overall goal is the same. They all are meant to target both the body and the spirit so that both may be thoroughly healed.

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