Tui-Na History
The roots of Tui-Na were developed long before acupuncture, using manual stimulation of affected areas to bring about pain relief. Primitive man instinctively knew that by rubbing painful areas on the body, discomfort would be lessened. With the discovery and evolution of acupuncture meridian theory, Chinese massage therapy also evolved, first known as An Mo (pushing & kneading) in ancient times. By the Ming Dynasty, the technical and theoretical level had risen dramatically, and the new science of manual therapy was renamed "Tui-Na" (pushing & grasping).
Tui-Na has always had a close relationship to Chinese martial arts, as traumatic injuries (such as dislocations, sprains, fractures, etc.) are commonplace in any combative training environment, and the most readily available treatment tools were right at the fingertips of the school's headmaster. Most of history's most famous Chinese martial artists were also exceptional physicians, most notably Sil Lum Hung Kuen's Wong, Fei-hung, who oversaw the Po Chi Lam clinic in Futshan. Cantonese martial artists developed a special traumatological science known as "Dit Da" in the Cantonese dialect. Dit Da medicine generally combines the best herbal formulas (commonly referred to under the blanket term of "Dit Da Jow" by foreigners) for traumatic injuries along with Tui-Na manipulations for treatment.
Professor Yu, Da-fang is acknowledged as the father of Modern Orthodox Tui-Na. Professor Yu was the first to establish a separate Tui-Na department at a major TCM university, gaining fame throughout China from his home base in Shanghai. He took three major systems of Tui-Na and combined them into one, further systematizing and refining them through his years of practice. His research allowed him to verify the effectiveness of the ancient techniques and refine others, giving him unprecedented prowess as a healer and an instructor. Upon Professor Yu's emigration to the USA, his poweful reputation preceded him, and all of the major acupuncture schools in southern California sought him out as part of their faculty.
Throughout his many years as a professor and a physician, Dr. Yu taught many thousands of students, yet in keeping with traditional Chinese culture, he only took two disciples: one Chinese and one Korean (Dr. Jae-Man Kim). Dr. Kim soon surpassed the Chinese disciple, having learned to speak fluent Mandarin and distinguishing himself as a dedicated and fast learner. The Yu family took him in as their own, allowing him to live under their roof and serve out his discipleship in the most traditional manner. Like his master, Dr. Kim is also highly sought after as a Tui-Na instructor for all of the major oriental medicine schools in southern California, and he frequently is invited to lecture and travel to give seminars. His practice in Burbank operates at overflow capacity, and he now heads the World Tui-Na Association. Following Professor Yu's untimely passing, the Yu family recognized Dr. Jae-Man Kim as the sole heir to Professor Yu, Da-fang's lineage teachings. Recently, Dr. Kim has also obtained his doctorate from the prestigious Beijing TCM University under the supervision of one of Professor Yang, Jia-san's disciples.
Following a spiral fracture injury to his ankle, Sifu Mark Cheng was fortunate enough to receive treatment from Dr. Kim upon the referral of Mestre' TJ Desch. Sifu Cheng and Dr. Kim developed a close relationship because of their mutual love of martial arts, and Dr. Kim brought about a speedy recovery for Sifu Cheng. As time progressed, Sifu Cheng became part of the Kim family, and he was accepted as disciple candidate and intern to serve directly under Dr. Kim's tutelage with the approval of Professor Yu's widow, Dr. Rong Nan Wan.
Tui-Na is a special treatment technique of oriental medicine that cures various diseases by applying hand technique to certain parts or points of a patient’s body. This technique treats a wide variety of ailments without using any devices or drugs other than the doctor’s hands. There are recorded histories of using this tradition technique for over two thousand years.
Until the late Ch’ing dynasty, Tui-Na was a secret treatment which was used exclusively within the palace to treat the royal families. In 1949, after the communist government was established in China, various medical colleges, among them most prominently the University of Chinese Medicine in Shanghai, started teaching this technique and soon a large number of Chinese doctors started practicing it. In the USA, Professor Da-Fang Yu, the former professor of the TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) at the University of Chinese Medicine in Shanghai, is also known as the father of Tui-Na. He and his highly prized student named Professor Jae Man Kim started teaching and practicing the orthodox Tui-Na at the Dongkook Royal University for over a decade.
Doctor’s precise diagnosis is very important to treat a patients disease better. There are three important factors : first, to find out the cause of the disease; second to find out where in the patient’s body is the disease lodged; third to find out in what progressive sate the disease is. These diagnostic steps are the most important phases of treatment, which have to be mastered for a complete cure. As one of the three prime treatment methods in Oriental medicine, Tui-Na does not stop at the traditional diagnostic techniques. On the contrary, it never hesitates using the modern medical resources, like biopsy, X-ray, MRI, and other diagnostic techniques to find out the causes and the pathological states of the disease. Once those factors are found, he applies the most appropriate hand technique to the patient’s body to return the pathological state to a normal state and thereby fundamentally curing the disease.
Further information can be found at Tui-Na