Page 111 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

traditional school, his instincts for your well being will be holistic and he will

hand out advice on diet and herbal medicine, never doubting that it will be
followed. This is yet another example of the overlap between jamu and healing.
Generally, older, more experienced pijat masseurs give better massages. But the
most important thing is to develop a good rapport between you and your
masseur, or results may be disappointing. Like doctors, dentists or hairdressers,
you must have faith in the masseur’s abilities. If not, you should find another.
What is the magic formula for diagnosis? Masseurs say they can tell if
something is wrong when an area hurts, the skin turns red or they feel a hard
lump. Most ask clients if they are sick and draw on knowledge built up over
years. Good masseurs have a highly developed sense of touch and identify
peculiarities by comparing their client’s body with the norm. While massage can

relieve and cure numerous aches and pains, it cannot fight fevers such as
malaria.

PRESSURE POINT THERAPY

Pak Herri is a healer who relies primarily on massage, assisted by jamu. Pinching, squeezing,
pressing and ‘knuckle dusting’ are the techniques employed by the team of four experts at his casual
and friendly practice in South Jakarta. A massage will last between 15 to 30 minutes, depending on
the illness and its severity, but patients may have to wait several hours before their treatment even
begins.
The masseur sits beside the patient turned towards the feet and works his way up the pressure
points on the calves, occasionally stretching an arm behind him to include the thigh area. Then he
turns around completely to tackle the buttocks, back and shoulders. The procedure is repeated three
times with varying degrees of intensity. If the client is fit, there is no pain.
According to Pak Herri’s training chart, there are 34 pressure points on the legs, six around the
feet, six over the chest and eleven on the neck and face. The massage focuses on the calves because
they account for nearly half the body’s pressure points: 26 out of 57. The remainder of the treatment