Acupuncture Point Massage [Feb - Apr 2016]

With the launch of SkillsFuture, I started looking through the list of courses which are being covered by it. One of the courses provider is PA. Only a small percentage of courses by PA are covered by SkillsFuture. The rest of the courses are not. But I noticed there are several interesting courses being offered by PA, and the course fees are not as exorbitant as the private providers.

I made a list of courses which I would like to sign up for. One of it is the Acupuncture Point Massage, which are held in several community center. It cost $110 (without PA membership) or $98 (with PA membership). The center which starts the earliest and which is convenient to me in terms of time and location is at Bishan CC.

There have a free introduction course on the 15 Feb which I signed up for it. And it is followed by the 6 formal classes which run from 7.30pm to 9.30pm every Monday.

The trainer is TCM doctor Mr. Liu.

The course I signed up for is actually part 2 of the Acupuncture Point Massage. There is no per-requisite to Part 1 or Part 2. 

The first method we learnt is Gua Sha (刮痧) . It is a method of using a special comb-like tool to rub against our skin to stimulate blood circulation in that area. 

The second method we learnt is Ai Jiu (艾灸). It involves using a herbal stick to warm different parts of our body. As the herbal stick has smoke generated, we had the activity outdoors.

The last 3 lessons cover the different veins that link to our body 5 main organs (心肝脾肺肾). There are many applications of massaging the different veins for health purpose.

In our last lesson, we had a group photo below. 

The entire 7 lessons are interesting. It offers a perspective into Traditional Chinese Medicine. One of the most memorable period is when the teacher directly show each of us the veins and apply pressure to it.

One of the main takeaway from the course is the importance of having a healthy body, especially to have more regular exercise. There are several healthy practices such as not having heavy meals at night, sleeping early and watching our diet.

I'm not continuing with Part 1 of the course as I find myself not incline towards the study of medicine.