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Voice of the Fox
The Newsletter of the Martial Arts Training Service

MATS Anniversary Seminar
by Jan Moretti
Winter 1998

MATS 6th anniversary seminar (November 6-8) was quite different this year, with a focus on restorative techniques. The seminar began on Friday night with a talk on traditional Chinese medicine. Mark Reese discussed how he became involved in traditional Chinese medicine, and explained that it involved more then just acupuncture. Chinese herbs, diet, and massage also play a part.

Mark first learned about acupuncture from one of the patients at the AIDS Alternative Healthcare Project, where he was an administrator. The patient had such severe diarrhea that he needed constant intravenous fluids to remain hydrated, even as an outpatient. One day, the patient appeared for an appointment without his IV. He'd received acupuncture treatments from Professor Pat Browne and no longer suffered from diarrhea.

What stuck with me most about Mark's talk were little things. One was a folk medicine where you rub a rounded object on the shoulder area. This technique releases trapped blood from the muscles to relieve shoulder pain. Since this area is near the lungs, the technique can also relieve a cold if done when symptoms first start. I've been waiting to try this on my sons, but they haven't cooperated yet.

Needles and pins

I also volunteered to be stuck with a filament. (The word "needle" has too many nasty connotations.) Mark poked one place near my elbow, and I couldn't feel the filament at all. Then he put two filaments into a point on my hand. This was an energy point, and I definitely felt something. Other people said it felt like a mild shock, and I can't think of any better way to describe it. One participant could feel the energy moving between the two filaments. I didn't feel that, but my entire body began to feel warm. When the filaments were removed, I felt cool again.

One of the hardest things for me to grasp is that traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine are two completely different paradigms. Mark pointed out that scientists have had little success in trying to experimentally demonstrate the effectiveness of acupuncture. The scientists want to boil acupuncture down to one quantifiable technique so they can do controlled studies. This doesn't work because the same symptom may have different causes in different people.

The hands-on approach

On Saturday morning we learned how to tape ankles, feet, elbows, wrists, and thumbs. Peter Tuszynski, a physical therapist and trainer, showed us how it was done, and then we practiced on each other. It seemed easy enough when he was there to help out. I had hoped that doing the wrapping would be enough to burn the techniques into my memory, but I was wrong. I wish I'd had the foresight to take notes.

  After taping, we learned Okazaki Long-Life Massage. Again, it looked so simple when John Sensei demonstrated, but by the time I started working with my partner, I'd forgotten the order of the technique. I wish I'd convinced my husband to participate. Like any kata, massage needs practice, and it would be nice to practice at home.

After the massage class, we watched videos and ate pizza. One video from the 1930s or 1940s showed jujitsu students throwing each other on the thinnest of mats (if there really were mats on the ground). I could understand why they needed a restorative massage after a practice like that. I feel grateful for our cushy mats.

Sunday started with kappo class. We learned how to bring back people who were choked out, how to treat headaches, how to stop a bloody nose, and how to treat nausea.

My boys get carsick occasionally, so I figured the last would be a useful technique. I was discouraged to find that, during practice, I was rubbing the wrong place and would only make my partner mad. I'm not sure I'll try it on my boys. The last thing I need is an angry carsick child. I did get to practice the sinus headache technique on my older son. I must have pressed a little too hard, because he claimed that he had almost lost his vision. He did say that the headache went away, but I doubt my services will ever be requested again.

The last class on Sunday was more massage. We reviewed what we had learned on Saturday and finished the first half of the massage kata. I found the whole seminar very interesting and would love to have a refresher course on everything.

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