THE KOREAN MARTIAL THERAPY
What is it?
The Korean Martial Therapy, also well known by its acronym
KMT, had been recognized for its effectiveness in keeping
warriors in their topmost forms after as well as before
battles. The Korean Martial Therapy, therefore, became
widely used and closely associated with the numerous Korean
martial arts since the 17th century.
A newly developed Korean martial art, combining several old
Korean martial arts and the Japanese Aikido discipline, was
introduced in Korea in the latter part of the 19th century as
Hapkido. Today, Hapkido is one of the most
popular martial arts in Korea, as well as elsewhere around the
world, and has become closely linked to the Korean Martial
Therapy.
Coming to the US
The Korean Martial Therapy made its way into the United
State via Jae Kwon Yun, a master in Korean martial
arts, specializing in Hapkido. He opened a school of
Korean Martial Therapy where he integrated the combative aspect
of Hapkido with the therapeutic aspect of the Korean Martial
Therapy. This, in his opinion, formed a perfectly
balanced modality.
How does it work?
Now that we have covered some of its background history, let
us look at the Korean Martial Therapy itself and its technique
of deep tissue massage as it is
performed in either a sitting position or reclining flat on a
massage table.
The fundamental principle of the Korean Martial Therapy is
to utilize a variety of sinuous movements performed by the
client to promote the therapeutic effects on the body and the
spirit. Traditionally, the Korean Martial Therapy was
facilitated by a trained therapist or a practitioner who guided
the client’s body into the correct movements and
positions. However, the Korean Martial Therapy can also
be accomplished as a self-directed therapy without losing any
of its curative values.
Another crucially important principle of the Korean Martial
Therapy is the notion that the same movements that can lead to
pain, damage, and destruction on the battle field can also be
used to provide healing in a peaceful arena. In other
words, the Korean Martial Therapy works on the premise that
anything that can hurt can also do the opposite; it can
cure. And in fact, many of the pressure points along the
gi meridians used in Korean Martial Therapy for promoting
positive energy and for restoring health are likewise used in
Hapkido as points for promoting negative energy and agony.
Initially having been created for the battlefield to relieve
combatants of their pain and suffering, the Korean Martial
Therapy primarily strives for instant curative results.
And that is in direct opposition to other alternative healing
techniques which aspire for long term effects of weeks or
months or even years into the future.
The Korean Martial Therapy is made up of a varied
combination of techniques and the most frequently used among
them are the conventional massaging strokes, ballistic
stretching, applying deliberate pressure to specific points
along the body, the yin yang therapy and the Korean energy
work. Since the Korean Martial Therapy makes the most of
the body movements used in martial arts, it relieves the
therapist from doing much of the work and it has, therefore,
been favored by many practitioners.
Perhaps the Korean Martial Therapy has not had must use on
the modern-day battle fields as it had in the past, but it
certainly is great for treating the more contemporary
conditions such as repetitive motion syndromes, stress and
muscle strain as well as depression, anxiety, severe
headaches, and sport injuries.
Click here to
take our free 14 day Massage Tips eCourse.
It covers massage oil recipes, massage tips for yourself and
your partner, and more.
|