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Consider this the before and after picture. My role model is the director of the massage school, seen here in natural-dyed Thai silk. She's 60 years old, so in two years I can look just like her...
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I was in Ayuttaya for ten days to attend a Thai massage school, 50+hours of instruction and a two-hour hands-on exam. Each morning I took my borrowed bicycle to a nearby temple (Wat Caw' Kaeow, but you won't find it on any map), then to the Ayuttaya train station for breakfast of fried rice or pad Thai. I'm the only one who took advantage of the opportunity to pay for a one-hour massage ($3/hour) before class--well worth it. Felt great and helped me remember the previous day's instruction. Class from 10 am to 4 pm with an hour for a lunch of noodles at the shop next door. After class, I joined my German classmates to see old temple ruins, or explored on my trusty bicycle.
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My nine classmates were young Germans, age 15 to 18, so it was linguistically fascinating. The Thai instructors knew no German and minimal English, so they relied beautifully on tangible demonstrations. Here the one standing is the instructor, showing Johanna in yellow what it should feel like as she practices on Yanina.
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Here you see a good demonstration of the sen lines--kind of like meridians, or energy lines. They are the safe areas to push with really firm massage. Causes that "good kind of pain"; the real massage therapists say cheerfully, "Thaep, mai?", meaning, "Hurts, eh?"
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Below you see Konstantin and Tim with another instructor. This is a great aspect of traditional Thai massage, sometimes described as "passive yoga".
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One history says this version of Thai massage was developed for Siddhartha, the Buddha himself, by his personal physician. Our school's description says it's not so simple, and was probably developed over centuries. In any case, it's pretty well defined by now, with a rich and ancient past.
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