JasonE
12-07-2005, 08:00 PM
With the CST for Health Professionals seminar about to happen on Saturday, I've been talking to many people that have questions on how CST and massage therapy can complement one another. While perusing historical information, I was surprised to find this information about the man commonly known as "The Father of Swedish Massage":
Per Henrik Ling (1776-1839) is credited with developing Swedish massage, but he did not invent it. He learned massage from others and through persistent experimentation put the information together in a workable form.
Ling proposed an integrated program for the treatment of disease using active and passive movements and massage. Legend has it that Ling's interest in these methods was sparked by the gout in his own elbow. He developed a system of massage that used many of the positions and movements of Swedish gymnastics. Combining these strokes with exercises, he healed his diseased elbow. Ling's program was based on the newly discovered knowledge of the circulation of the blood and lymph. (It is interesting to note that the Chinese had been using these methods for centuries.)
While teaching fencing, Ling observed that habitual movements interfered with the development of desired movements. He determined that the development of a skill depended on the mental mastery of habit; therefore he began teaching bodily movements systematically. He developed his medical gymnastics in 1814, but his methods were bitterly opposed by the Swedish medical establishment for almost 20 years. He was not trained in medicine, and his tendency to use poetic and mystic language in his writings on gymnastics was thought to interfere with wider acceptance of his ideas. Current experts in massage would be wise to take note of Ling's experience; it is essential that massage be explained in the medical and scientific terminology of the day.
With the support of influential clients, Ling was granted a license to practice and teach his method, and he established the Royal Gymnastic Central Institute. The primary focus of Ling's system, especially in his later writings, was on gymnastics applied to the treatment of disease. This position was a change from his earlier educational and military gymnastics, which was intended only for healthy people.
In his system, Ling divided movements into active, duplicated, and passive forms. Active movements are performed by the person's own effort and correspond to what commonly is called exercise. Duplicated movements are performed by the person with the cooperation of a gymnast (therapist) and involved active effort by both parties, in which the action of the one was opposed by the other. Duplicated movements correspond to what today is commonly called resistive exercise. Passive movements are performed for the person by the active effort of the gymnast alone. They consist of passive movements of the extremities, what we today call range of motion and stretching. Movement therapy was not separated from massage, and both were considered integral to the system.
Ling taught many physicians from Germany, Austria, Russia, and England, who spread his teachings to their own countries. Ling was recognized by his contemporaries and later followers not so much as a great innovator but as a keen observer who adopted methods only after testing their effectiveness. He combined many techniques into one coherent system. By the time of Ling's death in 1839, his system had achieved worldwide recognition. Ling's teachings endured because he developed a school to continue teaching medical gymnastics, or the Swedish movement cure, as it became known in the United States in the late nineteenth century.
That text is copied directly from pages 15-16 of Mosby's Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage, 3rd edition, by Sandy Fritz.
On further investigation, I learned that Ling's status as "The Father of Swedish Massage" is somewhat erroneous. There's an excellent article here that clarifies his status and points out that Ling was primarily interested in the "gymnastic" approach to healing disease:
Peter Ling is not the "father of Swedish massage," because Swedish massage was not a part of Ling’s Swedish Gymnastic Movements nor the curriculum of the Royal Central Gymnastic Institute founded by Ling in 1813.
http://www.massagemag.com/2002/issue100/history100.htm
Ling was apparently a very accomplished gymnast and a master fencer, which gave him the insight and credibility to successfully promote his approach to healing. I am very happy to have found this information, as my own explorations have been leading towards a similar fusion of movement and massage in the treatment of clients.
Somehow I think Ling would approve of CST and where it is headed. :)
Per Henrik Ling (1776-1839) is credited with developing Swedish massage, but he did not invent it. He learned massage from others and through persistent experimentation put the information together in a workable form.
Ling proposed an integrated program for the treatment of disease using active and passive movements and massage. Legend has it that Ling's interest in these methods was sparked by the gout in his own elbow. He developed a system of massage that used many of the positions and movements of Swedish gymnastics. Combining these strokes with exercises, he healed his diseased elbow. Ling's program was based on the newly discovered knowledge of the circulation of the blood and lymph. (It is interesting to note that the Chinese had been using these methods for centuries.)
While teaching fencing, Ling observed that habitual movements interfered with the development of desired movements. He determined that the development of a skill depended on the mental mastery of habit; therefore he began teaching bodily movements systematically. He developed his medical gymnastics in 1814, but his methods were bitterly opposed by the Swedish medical establishment for almost 20 years. He was not trained in medicine, and his tendency to use poetic and mystic language in his writings on gymnastics was thought to interfere with wider acceptance of his ideas. Current experts in massage would be wise to take note of Ling's experience; it is essential that massage be explained in the medical and scientific terminology of the day.
With the support of influential clients, Ling was granted a license to practice and teach his method, and he established the Royal Gymnastic Central Institute. The primary focus of Ling's system, especially in his later writings, was on gymnastics applied to the treatment of disease. This position was a change from his earlier educational and military gymnastics, which was intended only for healthy people.
In his system, Ling divided movements into active, duplicated, and passive forms. Active movements are performed by the person's own effort and correspond to what commonly is called exercise. Duplicated movements are performed by the person with the cooperation of a gymnast (therapist) and involved active effort by both parties, in which the action of the one was opposed by the other. Duplicated movements correspond to what today is commonly called resistive exercise. Passive movements are performed for the person by the active effort of the gymnast alone. They consist of passive movements of the extremities, what we today call range of motion and stretching. Movement therapy was not separated from massage, and both were considered integral to the system.
Ling taught many physicians from Germany, Austria, Russia, and England, who spread his teachings to their own countries. Ling was recognized by his contemporaries and later followers not so much as a great innovator but as a keen observer who adopted methods only after testing their effectiveness. He combined many techniques into one coherent system. By the time of Ling's death in 1839, his system had achieved worldwide recognition. Ling's teachings endured because he developed a school to continue teaching medical gymnastics, or the Swedish movement cure, as it became known in the United States in the late nineteenth century.
That text is copied directly from pages 15-16 of Mosby's Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage, 3rd edition, by Sandy Fritz.
On further investigation, I learned that Ling's status as "The Father of Swedish Massage" is somewhat erroneous. There's an excellent article here that clarifies his status and points out that Ling was primarily interested in the "gymnastic" approach to healing disease:
Peter Ling is not the "father of Swedish massage," because Swedish massage was not a part of Ling’s Swedish Gymnastic Movements nor the curriculum of the Royal Central Gymnastic Institute founded by Ling in 1813.
http://www.massagemag.com/2002/issue100/history100.htm
Ling was apparently a very accomplished gymnast and a master fencer, which gave him the insight and credibility to successfully promote his approach to healing. I am very happy to have found this information, as my own explorations have been leading towards a similar fusion of movement and massage in the treatment of clients.
Somehow I think Ling would approve of CST and where it is headed. :)