Techniques · Specimen catalog
Massage Techniques: A Complete Guide to the World of Somatic Healing
Every technique, as a specimen
Browse massage and bodywork techniques by lineage, depth, intent, and caution profile. Each card promises a full record: present-tense practice, a typed provenance plate, a sourced caution ledger, and doors into the rest of the atlas.
Pilot release — 13 recordsLast checked: Jul 2026 · cautions review 6 mo · provenance 12 mo
Lineage language is editorial policy — “associated with,” never ownership. The policy is set once, at History Plate I, and reused verbatim on every record.Read the policy at Plate I →
All 13 published records shownSORTED BY RECORD ID
Swedish massageMD-TECH·SWE-001Codified by J. G. Mezger within 19th-century European manual medicine; the “Swedish” name is a documented misfiling.The entry-level table system: gliding, kneading, percussion, and friction in a full-body sequence.DEPTHLight–moderateMBLEX-MAPPEDHIST CONF · HIGHEffleurageMD-TECH·EFF-002First described under its French name in Mezger’s 19th-century stroke vocabulary; practiced within nearly every table session today.Long gliding strokes that open, connect, and close table work — the session’s connective tissue.DEPTHLightMBLEX-MAPPEDHIST CONF · HIGHPétrissageMD-TECH·PET-003First described under its French name in Mezger’s 19th-century stroke vocabulary; the working middle of most table sessions.Kneading, lifting, and wringing of muscle bellies — the vocabulary’s working middle.DEPTHModerateMBLEX-MAPPEDHIST CONF · HIGHTapotementMD-TECH·TAP-004First described under its French name in Mezger’s 19th-century stroke vocabulary; the percussion family of the table session.Rhythmic percussion — hacking, cupping, tapping — usually closing a region or a session.DEPTHLight–moderateMBLEX-MAPPEDHIST CONF · HIGHFrictionMD-TECH·FRI-005First described in classical rubbing cultures by historians’ reading and codified by Mezger — the continuity chain is an interpretation.Small, specific, deeper rubbing — cross-fiber or circular — on particular tissue, not whole regions.DEPTHModerate–deepMBLEX-MAPPEDHIST CONF · MODERATEReflexologyMD-TECH·REF-006Developed within early 20th-century American zone therapy; associated with — but not documented as — ancient Egyptian practice.Systematic thumb-and-finger pressure to mapped zones of the feet and hands.DEPTHLight–moderateMBLEX-MAPPEDHIST CONF · MODERATEAbhyangaMD-TECH·ABH-007Developed within Ayurvedic therapeutic frameworks; practiced within a living lineage recorded as lineage, not evidence.Warm-oil whole-body sequence within Ayurveda’s framework — generous medium, rhythmic long strokes.DEPTHLight–moderateBEYOND EXAM SCOPEHIST CONF · MODERATEAnmaMD-TECH·ANM-008Developed within East Asian manual medicine and codified in Edo-period Japan; associated with meridian frameworks.The Japanese organization of Chinese anmo — kneading and pressing, clothed and dry, the root shiatsu grew from.DEPTHModerateBEYOND EXAM SCOPEHIST CONF · MODERATEShiatsuMD-TECH·SHI-009Developed within 20th-century Japanese practice; associated with East Asian meridian frameworks.Rhythmic finger and palm pressure along channels, typically clothed, on a mat.DEPTHModerateMBLEX-MAPPEDHIST CONF · HIGHTui naMD-TECH·TUI-010Developed within Chinese medical practice and codified in imperial-era texts; practiced within TCM institutions today.The manual-therapy arm of Chinese medicine — push-grasp technique, clothed, often clinically framed.DEPTHModerateBEYOND EXAM SCOPEHIST CONF · MODERATEThai massageMD-TECH·THA-011Practiced within Thai tradition and carved into the Wat Pho record; its origin narratives carry low source confidence.Mat-based compression and assisted stretching along sen lines — sometimes called “assisted yoga.”DEPTHModerateBEYOND EXAM SCOPEHIST CONF · LOWDeep tissueMD-TECH·DPT-012Developed within 20th-century North American clinical practice; no single codifier is documented.Slow, specific work into deeper muscle layers — a menu label as much as a method, defined here carefully.DEPTHModerate–deepMBLEX-MAPPEDHIST CONF · MODERATELymphatic drainageMD-TECH·LYM-013Developed within 1930s European clinical practice and codified by Emil and Estrid Vodder.Very light, directional, rhythmic skin-stretch technique — clinical lymphedema work requires dedicated training.DEPTHVery lightBEYOND EXAM SCOPEHIST CONF · HIGH
FAMILY NOTES · REAL LINEAGE GROUPINGS WITH AN EDITORIAL POINT
Families are pages; categories are facets
FAMILY NOTEThe Swedish familyWhy “Swedish massage” is misfiled under Ling’s flag when the stroke vocabulary is Mezger’s — the misnomer note from History Plate VI, cited on every member record.5 MEMBER RECORDS · ONE HISTORY DOORFAMILY NOTEOil-massage traditionsWhere abhyanga sits among oil-based traditions without collapsing distinct systems into one — the anti-flattening note ratified at History Plate III.1 MEMBER RECORDS · ONE HISTORY DOORFAMILY NOTEMeridian-based frameworksHow the atlas describes meridian frameworks: as frameworks, in their own vocabulary, neither endorsed nor debunked — the framework note ratified at History Plate IV.4 MEMBER RECORDS · ONE HISTORY DOOR
No state pages on this wing. Techniques are not licensed state by state; whether a technique sits inside your scope of practice is. Scope and training questions route to the Licensing Atlas and the CE hub. Nothing on this wing is medical advice, and no record implies clinical efficacy from lineage.
About this catalog
Most massage practiced in the United States today draws on a small set of technique families: the Swedish stroke vocabulary and the deep, clinical work built on it; lymphatic and circulatory methods; and East and South Asian systems practiced in their own frameworks. This catalog records each technique as a sourced specimen — what it is, how it is practiced today, where it comes from, and what cautions the profession documents.
13 technique records · 3 family notes · pilot release · last checked Jul 2026 · cautions review every 6 months · provenance every 12 months
Where this wing leadsDOORS DESCRIBE — THEY DO NOT ADVERTISE
HISTORYLIVE→ The profession across timeEvery provenance plate on this wing doors back to its era here.MBLEXLIVE→ Exam technique domainWhere MBLEx-mapped records connect to exam preparation.LIBRARYPLANNED→ Resource Library shelvesTexts and references behind this catalog’s source register.