Many types of massage use fast chopping movements. But in Daoliao, the knife massage, it is done with real knives.
Lying face down on the massage table, I waited anxiously for the session to begin. Meanwhile, the masseuse, Elsa, was warming up her hands, vigorously wielding two impressively large carving knives. Indeed – if you want to give a massage with chopping movements, why not use the tools that chop?
Elza finally started with her hands. She massaged my body, trying to release the tension I expected to feel at the beginning of the procedure. And then the cold steel knives went to work, beginning their almost weightless dance on my back, arms and head. I would never have thought this was done with knives if they didn’t occasionally make a clicking sound when they accidentally touch each other – like a fork on a plate when you put it on the dining room table.
When Elsa asked me to relax for the third time, I finally gave in and closed my eyes. The Tesaki continued to work, restoring the flow of qi energy in my body. By the time the massage was over, I was almost asleep. Strangely enough, many people doze off when their bodies are treated with knives for 70 minutes (although it should be noted that the knives are blunt).
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From the outside, it may seem dangerous, but it is believed that daoliao (which can be translated as “knife therapy”) has physical and emotional healing effects. It is said that Daoliao has been practiced in traditional Chinese medicine for over 2,000 years. Knife therapy specialists say that it was practiced by monks in ancient China. More than a thousand years ago, during the Tang Dynasty, Daoliao massage spread to Japan, and in the 1940s, after the civil war in China, it spread to Taiwan. Nowadays, it is not easy to find specialists who offer knife massage in China and Japan, but in recent years it has experienced a revival in Taiwan. This is related to the fact that people are looking for ways to cope with the stress of modern life.
“The Ancient Knife Massage Training Center in Taipei has been training specialists for nearly four decades. The center has 36 branches, 15 of which have been opened in the past five years. Not only locals, but also citizens from various countries, from Japan to Canada, come here to study. Today, people lie under massage knives in hopes of curing physical ailments, improving sleep quality, and sometimes even easing the pain of a loved one’s heartbreak.
In recent years, “knife therapy” has become increasingly popular in Taiwan. The knives work with “qi gates” or acupuncture points – roughly the same as those used in traditional Chinese medicine, such as acupuncture. But the knives also have their own invisible power, according to daoyao specialists.
Before she started practicing knife massage 15 years ago, Xiao Maefan, the director of the center, provided cosmetic services, taught it, and also performed traditional meridian massage (which is also related to the life energy qi that flows through the meridians – special channels in the body). However, according to her, she felt very tired and drained every night because the “negative energy” of the clients was transferred to her through touch.
“I was making more money then, but I couldn’t sleep,” she says. Once a student told her about a knife massage in which steel blades absorb the client’s negative karma. Today, Xiao says she sees herself as a “ghost hunter,” tracking the actions of clients from past lives and the results of those actions.
“In fact, I feel that the knife massage sometimes becomes a hunt for the ghosts of your past, your past life,” she says.
Before the daolyao begins, clients are offered exercises with “space sticks”. Those who practice daoyao follow a set of rules. For example, if you’re in a bad mood, you shouldn’t do daoyao, otherwise you can “transfer bad energy to the client,” Xiao points out. And in general, swinging two axes when you’re in a bad mood is not the best idea.
To keep their energy clean, all Daolao practitioners follow a vegan diet. Xiao and the rest of her knife massagers wake up no later than five in the morning and do 100 knee bends and headstands, and spend 30 minutes practicing with knives to activate the flow of qi. In general, it’s pretty intense work for the masseuse, but also for the clients.
At the beginning of the session, Elsa had me squatting and stretching with her help for 10 minutes – both of us holding “cosmic sticks” that were supposed to balance our chi. According to Siao, parents bring their children to play with the sticks, hoping it will reduce the stress of their school activities. And businessmen consult her on hiring issues – who to hire and who not to hire.
“Space sticks help to balance your chi, eliminate some negative energy, while knife massage is designed to get rid of karma,” she explains. In our culture, we believe that chi – is in everything, it’s everything. When your energy is balanced, it helps you see things clearly.
Steel knives are for removing bad karma. Perhaps this physical activity caused me to partially fall asleep on the massage table. But in reality, the whole experience gave me more than I expected.
When I signed up for a massage, they asked me to send a recent photo of myself so they could match me with a masseur who matched the energy I was radiating. (Fortunately, a digital photo works well for this). When I arrived, Elsa showed me five meteorite stones that, according to Daolao practitioners, have healing powers for the body, mind, and spirit. She placed her knives between the stones to charge them. And the knives – cold, rectangular, metallic cleavers, like those used to carve meat. They looked like they came from a restaurant kitchen or a horror movie.
Practitioners must learn a lot, study diligently and follow ancient teachings, otherwise the knives can be dangerous, Xiao stresses. But she says no one has been injured in the center’s 40-year history.
“When I first saw the knives, I got scared,” confessed 73-year-old Zhu Meilan, who came for a massage. “And I told the doctor: don’t hit hard, just gently. But then I felt better and asked, ‘Can you make it stronger, it’s too weak!
Here are those knives: big, cold, and… dull. Jiu started getting massages because she was having trouble sleeping. “After a foot massage, I sleep very well,” she revealed. When I was on the cutting board… I’m sorry, on the massage table, Elsa covered my entire body and head with towels. Knives began to work on 10 points where I was told the gates of chi are located. For 70 minutes, two blades quickly and easily fluttered all over my body, from head to toe.
Some clients come to Xiao for advice. She uses a small board with a compass in the center. With its help, clients learn the direction or purpose of their lives. It is a fortune-telling board based on the ancient Chinese “Book of Changes”. “It’s similar to typing a query into Google,” she explains. “If I enter your information [into this board], I know you in the present, you in the past, and you in the future, so I can give you advice very easily.” She tapped her fingers on the board and, after a few minutes of deep reflection, proclaimed that I was “a warrior for justice, like Oprah. She also gave me some general health advice, such as eating more calcium and less ice cream.
Xiao Maifan uses a fortune-telling board to help clients find the right direction in life.
Michael Stanley-Baker, a historian of Chinese medicine and religion at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), says that knife massage looks as impressive as acrobats performing tricks, lying on nails, or climbing stairs made of sabers. In technology, he said, “there is nothing miraculous, it can be learned, but still – it looks exciting”.
“In practice, one can observe a rather vague connection [of knife massage] with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), but it can be attributed more to so-called folk medicine, where everything is based on a mixture of different theories, diagrams and aphorisms – in contrast to TCM, which is based on medical theory,” says Stanley-Baker.
As Syao says, she doesn’t have to convince anyone of the effectiveness of knife therapy, because people will believe it themselves when you help them overcome their illnesses. “They see different specialists, try different types of therapy, and eventually find what works for them,” she says.
As for me, it was not just a massage, but an interesting experience. I left and meteorites were spinning in my head. I thought about how much ice cream I actually eat. But of course I felt relaxed and calm. That day I went to bed early and slept without waking up until the alarm went off in the morning. Then I fell asleep again – for a few more hours.
I’m sorry, but you have not provided any Russian text for translation. Could you please provide the Russian text you would like to have translated into English? The number of deals should remain the same: You can read the original version of this article on the BBC Travel website.