The History of Massage

HEALTH / MASSAGE Robert Calvert's History of Massage is a groundbreaking and innovative contribution to bodywork culture. I enthusiastically recommend it to all practitioners. --Robert K. King, Founder and president, Chicago School of Massage Therapy Robert Calvert provides a unique, exhaustive, and invaluable study of massage. The History of Massage should be required reading for every student of massage therapy. --D. Van D'Elia, Director, Onondaga School of Therapeutic Massage A pioneering contribution from one of the pivotal figures in the contemporary massage movement. This volume stands as the foundation upon which the past chronology of massage will be interpreted and its future identity as a profession will be built. --David Palmer, President, TouchPro Institute of Chair Massage The History of Massage is an example of outstanding research and scholarship. Massage is often referred to as a trade and an industry; it will not be a profession until massage therapists learn the history of what they do. Robert Calvert has made it possible for massage to be a profession in the full sense of the word. --Albert Schatz, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Temple University Editor, Journal of Spiritual Bodywork From the people of ancient Greece to the tribes of the Pacific Ocean and the Americas, massage has been a significant element in medicine, midwifery, folk healing, and athletics. Yet the rich presence of healing touch is rarely present in the telling of human history. Now Robert Noah Calvert, founder and president of Massage Magazine, offers the first comprehensive history of massage, one that spans the globe in its exhaustive exploration of the important role of touch therapy in the life of the world's people. With rich use of anecdote, historical reference, and illustration the author details the cross-cultural applications of massage, the development of anatomical knowledge and attendant massage technologies, the origin of movement cure systems and their relationship to massage, and the emerging trends of massage in the twenty-first century. Teachers will find The History of Massage an important educational resource for perspective on the massage profession's development and critical background for discussion of current issues in the field. For practitioners of touch therapies, The History of Massage provides the first comprehensive analysis of the cultural practices and historical currents that coalesced into contemporary massage and the trends that continue to influence its direction into the future. Massage therapists, educators, and somatic practitioners of all kinds will want to have this important reference book in their libraries. ROBERT NOAH CALVERT, founder and president of Massage Magazine, has been a leader in the field of massage for more than twenty years. Author of the International Massage and Bodywork Resource Guide, his work has appeared in numerous publications including Body, Mind, & Spirit magazine and the Journal of Higher Education.