Chongkol Setthakorn is a small, smiling man, and though you wouldn't know it by looking at him, he carries a lot of power in his little hands. Just ask someone who has experienced the unique style of massage that Setthakorn has brought to America from his native Thailand

Currently a visiting instructor at the International Professional School of Bodywork (IPSB) here in San Diego, Setthakorn offers a massage technique that many are calling an active form of "double yoga." Employing the principles of yoga and acupressure. This powerful massage technique is meant to induce deep relaxation and increased energy flow through the body.

The technique that Setthakorn practices and teaches is a part of the medical tradition of Thailand. Its origins go back to the days of the Buddha, when a doctor acquainted with the spiritual figure began treating his clients with a slow, stretching kind of massage. According to popular lore, instruction of the technique was then handed down orally from generation to generation until at last it was written on palm leaves and regarded as a sacred text.

The spiritual atmosphere surrounding the practice remains intact today. Before each session, the practitioner folds his hands and prays for help from the universe and from the father of Thai massage, Jivaka Komarabhacca. This preliminary meditation also serves to quiet the mind and focus energy on the task at hand. The practitioner then rubs his hands together to induce heat and begins applying pressure to the recipient's feet, eventually moving upward to the head.

In watching the technique, one gets the sense that "massage" is somewhat of a misnomer. Unlike the scooping and continuous strokes of Swedish massage, the Thai method uses mainly point pressure and muscle stretching. And it is not just the hands that are used to free tension stored in the recipient's body, but the feet and elbows as well.

Some have called it "yoga for lazy people"
Some have called it "yoga for lazy people," says one American student. "Instead of doing yoga they do it for you." 1t is also some times referred to as "medical massage" going back to its origin as a traditional medical technique. Experts say the method is suitable for building flexibility and healing long term injuries.

Setthakorn himself refers to Thai massage as a form of play. When children are young their mothers play with them physically, he says, stretching and bending and interacting in a playful manner. In this way they share their love and kindness towards each other. Thai massage is an extension of this will to play and share with others in a physical but platonic way. And when the massage is over, says Setthakorn, both the giver and the receiver should feel refreshed, happy, and energetic.

The stretching at times looks intense and uncomfortable. but Setthakorn assures us it is measured carefully against the capacity of the recipient. Some are more limber than others, but the technique does not inflict pain. Asked how he is able to control the amount of stretching. Setthakorn says he simply "feels how much the client can take."

This reliance upon "feeling" is inherent in Thai massage. Almost totally ignorant of the western science of anatomy, Thai practitioners have learned the craft largely through feeling and intuition. Even in the more enlightened modern society, the teachings of Thai manipulative medicine are completely without regard to anatomical references

The practice is tied to the theory that the body Consists of some 72,000 energy lines, called SEN, roughly equivalent to the meridians of Chinese acupuncture. Diagrams of the SEN show the relationship between the energy points and their potential effects.

Chongkol Setthakorn teaches a unique Thailand massage technique passed down from generation to generation.

Setthakorn came to the United States at the request of Dr.Richard Gold, an IPSB board member who met the Thai attorney turned massage instructor on a visit to Thailand two years ago. Much impressed with his first visit, Gold returned to Thailand to film a video of the unique massage technique and then invited Chongkol to bring his expertise to the West where Thai massage is virtually unknown. Gold also likens Thai massage to yoga, commenting that "It is designed to deepen the yoga stretches of asana. It's very, very active, but you get into a meditative state....It's a yoga that works a massage."

Gold plans to apply the Western influence of anatomy to the Thai massage teachings in order to make it more comprehensible to Western students.

Chongkol began teaching at the Old Medicine Hospital in Chiang Mai. Thailand. in 1985. He began with one student every couple of months, but soon saw a sharp escalation of business in In the six years since. Chongkol has taught more than 1.500 students from 42 countries, many of them Western tourists who stumbled upon Chiang Mai and decided to extend their visits in order to learn Thai massage. Others came to Thailand specifically to learn the technique after hearing about Chongkol, who is proficient in English and one of only a few certified instructors in Thailand.

Setthakorn will be teaching at IPSB through June, and will then return to Thailand.