Massage in some form or another has been practiced since the dawn of human civilization. Physical contact with the goal of comfort, healing, or physical or emotional pain, relieve common to all civilizations and in the history of each of many cultures have developed their own methods different from massage or manual therapy. The first letters of massage in one capacity or therapeutic drugs derived from the ancient civilizations of India and China. Massage is included in the ancient Hindu scriptures doctors from India, Ayurveda, which describes the methods that are still in practice today. Yellow Emperor's Classic of internal medicine or Neijing Huangdi, the basis of traditional Chinese medicine, which dates from the 1st or 2nd century BC, recommended between massage treatments. Apparently, ancient Egyptian tomb paintings representing massage have also been discovered. The classic Greek physician Hippocrates, considered the "father of Western medicine," was a strong advocate of massage as was the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, who benefited from massage daily to treat her chronic headaches.
Practices in 16th century France of massage became more widespread due to its use of the royal court physician Ambroise Pare. In the 1700s a Chinese text in ancient and classical massage called Cong-Fu of the Toa-Tse was translated and published in French. Much of the major basic terminology is still used today in the teaching of massage is of French origin (massage, kneading, friction, etc.).
"Swedish Massage"
The most common and popular form of massage therapy in the West is often referred to as the Swedish massage or classic. Many of the techniques used in classic or Swedish massage are similar or comparable to the techniques developed and used during the 1800s by the Swedish doctor Per Henrik Ling, who incorporated massage into their drug regimen of gymnastics, which also became on the basis of physical therapy. Ling massage techniques borrowed from Chinese, which he learned from his friend Ming, a practitioner of martial arts and traditional Chinese practice of manipulative therapy called Tui Na. In 1813 Ling founded the Kungliga Centralinstitutet Gymnastiska, or the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics Stockholm, a higher education institution for the training of physiotherapists. As the strict classical massage as a separate discipline in itself is concerned, the development and implementation of French words can be credited to the practitioner Dutch Johan Georg Mezger (1838-1909). Mezger compiled the system of massage strokes used classic that is still used today. So what is commonly known today as "Swedish massage was developed by a Dutchman, but his terminology was used and popularized by the Swede Per Henrik Ling.
Today massage therapy is more popular than ever. The varieties of massage practices from around the world are available, offering a wide range of therapies, benefits and experiences. Manual therapies such as traditional East Indian Ayurvedic massage (including the renowned Indian head massage), Shaitsu Japanese, Chinese Tui Nua and popular Thai or Thai Yoga "massage of Thailand are increasingly common in the towns of worldwide, while modern Western styles continue to develop and diversify, incorporating a range of relaxation and wellness treatments with issues of body therapies as well as based medicine. Sports massage, Bowen Technique, Rolfing and manual lymphatic drainage are just some examples of the latter.It seems that in these times of advanced technology and medical science, humanity is still looking to traditional methods that involve natural, manual therapy, these techniques continue to evolve, branch out and specialize to meet the current needs of mankind for touch based care and healing.