More Pichest ...1st Annual Chiang Mai Japanese/Greek Festival...Shaolin Tendon Massage

My departure date is approaching and I am ready as ever to get home and start integrating this experience into life back home. A feeling has developed over the last week that I have reached a peak and accomplished what I wanted in coming to Thailand. I feel incredibly fortunate and blessed to have been able to have this experience.

So what has been going on the last week?

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Things are in a state of transition at Pichest's. Jason, who has been Pichest's main assistant the last 5 months or so, had his last week this week. He is headed back to Tennessee to teach and practice Thai Massage at a retreat center in TN.

I feel really fortunate to have been here during Jason's run. His ability to articulate specific instruction in more detail (ie...in English) made it much easier to understand Pichest's vision of Thai Massage. And his massage work is at such a high level of expertise that to get to work with him, well I feel just plain lucky.

We got together at a rooftop bar in Chiang Mai for his going away party...







If you are in TN and want to receive some really special Thai Massage work
Jason's contact info is tamsabai@hotmail.com.

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In Jason's absence the roll of assistant has been handed to Noji. Noji has been with Pichest for the last few months and has been doing massage in Japan for the last year and a half or so. His style is completely opposite of Jason's but no less extraordinary. What I have learned by watching him is the potential for seemless flow (which I am far from at this point). When Noji is working, you don't even realize he has picked up your leg, stretched it, and set it back down...you just feel ease, lightness and energy flow...

One of the core principles of Pichest's style of Thai Massage is to go straight to the source of the problem, straight to the block, and move it out...Create openings in the energy lines and then move the stale energy out of the body. To do this properly you need to create softness and sensing skills in the palms so that (as the giver of the massage) you are able to find the blocks while encouraging the receiver (by your touch) to release and let go...It requires a state of total relaxation on the givers part (for any tension will immediately be felt by the receiver and interrupt the process)...this delicate balance of softness and strength is something Noji has already got figured out...









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One of the more powerful moments I experienced during the week was being witness to Pichest working on Yoshi (a Massage Therapist from Japan). I was sitting with Pichest discussing the ability to read people's bodies and assess how deep to work...(how much can the receiver take both physically and emotionally).

Yoshi came up and politely asked if he could interrupt. He explained it was his last day, and that in three weeks he has yet to have Pichest do any work on him. he wanted to know what it felt like to have Pichest work on him. Pichest looked at me as if to say, 'what do you think is the right way to respond?'...I looked at him blankly and waited for him to act.

He instructed Yoshi to practice on him first. After taking a really deep breath and getting centered, Yoshi went in on Pichest back. It appeared that being invited to work on Pichest was incredibly humbling for him and a special moment. Within minutes Pichest was gently barking out to Yoshi to relax his shoulder, to release his thumb and to move from the weight of gravity...'relax the body..too much tension...not like that...too much tension...relax the bodeeeee'

Pichest jumped up and had Yoshi sit in a cross legged seat. It seems that the whole time Pichest was receiving the massage he was mapping out where Yoshi was blocked. What happened next was beautiful. Pichest went right in on him and within 2 or 3 minutes had Yoshi on another planet. I got the feeling he learned more in that three minutes that in three weeks...just look at the look on Pichest's face...it tells so much..notice the focus on his face...notice his awareness is completely in his hands...his mind and his heart are in his hands receiving information and removing the blocks...amazing...








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Here are some shots from lunch time...just hanging out and enjoying moments with some good friends...









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At the end of the week the group from Pichest's decide to meet up on Saturday night for what would become the first Annual Chiang Mai Greek Japanese Festival. The Greeks would provide the Ouzo, Feta, Raki and the 'Halara' while the Japanese would bring the Sushi, Sake (actually this didn't happen as the Sake was too expensive) and the 'Domo Domo!'

Things started out slow as our festival consisted of one Greek girl (Thea...sorry for spelling errors..) and one Japanese girl (Miko...again..sorry..)...



...but by 9pm all had arrived and it was on. The First Annual Greek Japanese Festival was a huge success. Midway through the night we moved to a local Reggae bar for Mojitos and a mellow mood...I look forward to next years festival...











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Last, and so far from least, Kun Anon and the painful Art of Shaolin Tendon Massage. What is Shaolin Tendon Massage? Born from the Shaolin tradition of Kung Fu, it is a deeply intense massage of the tendons, structural realignment of the bones, and unhumanely strong pressure on the accupressure points (based on Chinese Medicine energy lines) to promote health.

What it is really is an exorcism for any deeply held tension and all I can recommend is that if you ever receive it...breath as deeply and often as you possibly can. I have my 5th session next week.

Today Kun Anon was on the rooftop of my building (his office is there) and I was able to get a picture with him... and he did some imprompt due work on my hands... (he is almost 60 years old by the way)...





He then let me sit in on a session to observe and learn some technique. It was the first time I saw the massage from this vantage point, and I am just glad that I didn't see this first or I might have never gone in for a session myself...I will say...it is the most efficient and effective bodywork I have ever received...it is just painful as all hell...







The thing is, the massage is directly on the tendon, so he has to move in on the tendon before the muscles have a chance to react and tense up...so the movements have to be percise, extremely fast and incredibly strong...he has been training in Shaolin Kung Fu for 35 years...he is friggin fast...and I have never actually witnessed this kind of strength in person. At one point I was asking him about muscle strength versus energetic (chi) strenghth...he held out his arm, filled the arm with energy (chi) and invited me to hit it as hard as I could...which I did...and I think I caught him laughing at me...it was like hitting steal...crazy...





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So I leave next Friday. I can't believe it... I will check in again as I get to California for my decompression (or maybe once more next week)...should be an interesting transition back to the states...I can't wait.

Much much love and many blessings...

Kevin