Greek Shaolin Cultural Organization
少林希腊文化組织

A dynamic start for the Greek Shaolin Cultural Organization right after the Spring Festival celebration. As the Chinese chronoscope suggests, this new year will have as a general character prosperity and generosity. So, for the first time in Northern Greece, there was a Fundamental Training on Healing Massage [Chin.: tuīná liáofǎ 推拿疗法], Tui Na Liao Fa, that belongs to the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and is a complete system that strengthens self-healing. Training was carried out by "True Path" in Thessaloniki, a Center that belongs to EPOS, under the supervision of its master Vasilopoulos Ioannis and addressed exclusively to advanced students of the Shaolin Rou Quan art of the Center, who had a special opportunity to experience the immediate results of an ancient art in the unaltered way that was transmitted by the EPOS founder Master Stavridis Iordanis.

The Fundamental Training in Tui Na Liao Fa aimed to teach in detail all the main techniques of this Chinese art that include different types of massage and pressure of soft tissues and acupuncture points, as well as manipulations for the alignment of the musculoskeletal system, mainly with practical application with focus on the theory and diagnosis of Chinese medicine. The participants took a step-by-step program of wellness, rehabilitation and stimulation through finger pressure, thaws, trembling and a host of other imaginative manipulations that have been developed in its long-term application by the particularly skillful hands of the Chinese.

The training included:

• Introduction to Tui Na Liao Fa

• Classification of different techniques and handling:

- Push techniques - Roller techniques
- Pressure Techniques - Shaking Techniques
- Draw techniques - Vibration techniques
- Lift techniques

• Soft tissues

• Applying the techniques throughout the body

• Diagnosis based on body signs

• Tui Na Liao Fa techniques throughout the body

• Diagnosis through the palpation of the meridians

• Techniques for mobilizing the limb joints

The Greek Shaolin Cultural Organization, which aims to spread the Chinese culture and Shaolin arts, passes the message that every student of the Centers that belong to it, has the opportunity to access innumerable treasures, giving the opportunity for a better and more quality life. How Kung Fu is not only limited to the martial arts but also to many more that everyone has the opportunity to get acquainted with. Said Mr. Vasilopoulos after the end of the training.

Generally

Tui Na Liao Fa is a TCM treatment and is under the guise of the core theory of TCM and current scientific data. It deals with rehabilitation, musculoskeletal problems, internal diseases and health in general. Like the whole TCM, Tui Na Liao Fa today is largely influenced by Western medicine. It seems that today in the medical field of China, Tui Na Liao Fa comes to fill the gap of the science of rehabilitation, retaining many elements of tradition. During treatment, therapists carry out manipulations and healing techniques at points or areas of the body. Therapists use fingertips [Chin: diǎnxué 点穴], hands [shǒu fǎ 手法] or seldom their legs and various healing tools to make manipulations. In the history of Tui Na Liao Fa there are reported about 100 different manipulations, as well as several different faculties. Many of these manipulations are similar and have a different name or are made from a combination of manipulations.

History

Tui Na Liao Fa that literally means, pressure and grip, dates back to the Shang Dynasty [Chin Shāngcháo 商 朝 | 1766 ~ 1122 BC] of China. Oracle bones indicate that Tui Na Liao Fa was used to treat children's diseases and digestive disorders in adults. In 600 Tui Na was included in the Imperial Medical Academy as a separate section. Tui Na has flourished all over China until the Qing dynasty [Chin:Qingcháo 清朝 | 1644 ~ 1912] where it is abolished along with other Chinese cultural arts. After the Communist Revolution, Tui Na was restored along with other traditional medical arts and was included in the creation of the current system of traditional medicine schools. Today, Tui Na is taught as a separate but equitable field of study at the great traditional Chinese medical colleges. The doctors of Tui Na Liao Fa receive the same demanding training as acupuncturists and botanists and enjoy the same level of professional respect.