The Confucius Institute held an interactive demonstration of different types of Chinese massages on May 3. The event was held in Royce Hall and was led by Felix Fan, one of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Chinese instructors, Mei Reeder, the director of the Confucius Institute and other members of the Confucius institute.

“This was our first time holding an event like this and I’m glad people enjoyed it,” Reeder said. “It’s a good way to relax and another way for us to help get this culture out there.”

The event consisted of several slides being shown explaining and showing different types of techniques and methods for performing Chinese massages and how they can help relax specific areas. For example, the Grasping technique is a snakebite motion used on the neck and shoulders for 5 minutes at a time. It is ideal after sitting at your computer for long periods of times because it helps you relax your neck and shoulders. The Rolling method utilizes the forearms and wrist; shoulders and arms should be relaxed. The movement is smooth and rhythmic, helping relax the muscles. The pushing method is to press tightly but smoothly with the palm. These along with other methods were demonstrated and if you so wished, it could be shown to you.

Another thing that was discussed was the Acupoints and how to find them. There were 8 main points that were focused on in the presentation, how to find them and what each point can help alleviate if massaged correctly. The 8 main points are: Lie que, useful for helping with headaches, He Gu, helpful in dealing with toothaches and sore throats, Nei Guan, used to help deal with motion sickness, Zu San Li, which helps alleviate stomach aches, Yang Lin Quan, helpful for relieving muscle ache, Zhi Gou, which is for lower back pain, Wei Zhong, used for waste pain, and Ashi. All the points were shown, as well as the different methods of finding each point on our bodies.

As helpful as these methods are, it is wise to be smart with them. If you are injured or injure yourself doing some of these, it is wise to wait at least 24 hours after your injury to try these massage methods.

“We just wanted to have a session to help people learn this,” Fan said. “My only hope is that everyone was able to understand.”