KAUFHAUS THAILAND & NONGLUCK THAI WOOD: December 2016

History of Thai massage

Thai massage has a long history of approximately over 2,500 years. Over this long time, Thai massage changed and was influenced by Chinese, Indian and further Southeast Asian medicine. The most credit for it deserves a legendary physician, Mr. Shivago Komarpa, from northern India. Following the Second World War and particularly during the Vietnam War, Thailand became a popular destination for tourists. These visitors appreciated the massage and helped it spread to America ad Europe. Massage is a big part of Thai medical culture and helps in various situations such as relaxation, blood circulation, dissolving energy blockages, treating dysfunctional organs and loosening stress and tension.

Basics of Thai Massage

It helps a lot to understand the basics of Thai massage and its theoretical foundation to see the impact and usability of wooden massage tools. Thai massage is build on the concept of invisible energy lines which run through our bodies. There are certain parallels given to the yoga philosophy. This philosophy states that we need life energy, in yoga called Prana. This energy we get through the air that we are breathing and our diet.

Prana may be an Indian expression but many old religions and cultures knew a similar concept all over the world. Polynesians, Amerindians, Chinese and European tribes such as in ancient Germany all these cultures believed in an all-pervasive 'organic' energy. Eventually, this made it easier for Westerners as well being easily convinced in the advantages of massage. In Indian belief the Prana is flowing through a network of energy lines through our body. Thai massage focuses on the main lines which include important acupressure points.

Massage tools

Traditionally, the massage is given by using fingers and particularly thumbs along those above mentioned main energy lines. However, the thumb and the fingers are rather elastic and so the grandfather of my wife was looking for a natural material to enforce more pressure. The obvious was quickly found in using rosewood and other hardwood. Massaging of the lines is an exchange with the surrounding environment and it should be done through natural means. This is one of the reasons that we do not want to produce massage tools from metal or even plastic. This would be counterproductive to a natural progress. The wooden massage tools can be used easier for the massage giver and are still very pleasant for the massage receiver. Their application can solve the disturbance of energy flow and five practical treatment for the whole body including internal organs. Therefor, working with the tools on the energy lines can break energy blockades and stimulate the free flow of Prana.

Handheld Massage tools

There are many different kinds of massage tools on the market. We at Nongluk Thai Wood & KHT focus on the distribution of wooden massage tools made from rosewood, Thai monkey puzzle and palm wood. These massage tools come in different sizes. They are for different purposes and our smaller tools can be divided into three different classes.

Prana reflexology tools help the blockades of the flow of prana by stroking by causing pressure over the important energy lines. The most popular are the foot reflexology stick, the cross and the bird. The later two are applied on limbs but can be used for the back as well.

The second category are the facial rollers. They are rather smaller rollers compared with the back rollers. At the moment we produce them from two different materials, Thai monkey puzzle and palmwood. The daily appliance of them can support ant-aging and keep your facial skin really smooth and young.

As you can see from following two macro pictures, it is unfortunately not possible t produce them y using only wood but the portion of used metal is minimal.

The third category of smaller handheld devices are our items for own hand massage. Our family created these items only recently, particularly impressive is their application for people who work longer time on computers. They are applied by kneading them in your palm. They immediately have an impact in the case of cramps and tiredness and help to dissolve Prana blockades in the hands quickly. The three most popular items are the prism, the satellite and the stick with branches.