Gwa Sah Massage

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to my landlord that I had a headache...he became very concerned and every time he's seen me since, he has given me suggestions on how to get rid of my headache (which was only that ONE day). He wanted to take me to relax in hot springs, but I didn't feel comfortable doing that with him. Once he suggested a massage, I thought it was a great idea. He told me that his friend's mother does massage and it's walking distance from my house. So, we planned a day to go, and he took me so that he could translate. He told me that it would be a hot stone massage. I was sooo psyched. I've always wanted a hot stone massage. I was ready for bliss.
When we arrived at the ladies house, she sat me down and gave me a 3-page paper about the massage process. It was translated in English, obviously by an online translator. I could not understand most of it, so I just glanced quickly. She opened a book and showed me pictures of a person with scratches on his back. My landlord told me that my back might be black and it might hurt a little. I figured that residue from the stones will make it black, and usually massages can hurt a little. I was still really excited. Then he told me that I would be able to shower, but for three days my back would be black or red (I figured he was mixing up his English words). She led me to the massage room, which wasn't like others I have been to. There was no relaxing music, no dimmed lights, no candle or incense. Just a room with a bed, and a bookshelf full of Buddha statues (like my stepmom's cemetery of angels in the grandfather clock!) I changed into the robe, and layed on the table. She began a fast massage, moving over my muscles in a firm, but fast motion. Everything was good so far. Then began the beating. She took out something that felt like a broken off piece of hard plastic...perhaps from a child's toy. My head was in the hole of the bed, so I could not see what was going on. This is probably a good thing. It felt like she was scraping my skin off my spine. It was extremely painful. My landlord had told me that the scraping will let the bad "chi" out of my body. As she moved the object down my spine, I felt a strange sensation in my legs. Sort of cold, and refreshing. After abusing my spine, she worked on the left and right sides, respectively. This didn't hurt as much as the spine, until she got onto the far sides, where the skin is more sensitive. I winced in pain, but survived the beating thus far. After my back was entirely striped of skin, or so it felt, she began to prepare something that sounded like a machine...then a smooth, hot, round object was whirling over my back giving me the most euphoric feeling after such a hard beating. I glanced toward the table when she returned the object and I saw that it was a wooden ball with an electrical cord. Where can I buy one? It felt wonderful. After the heat, I got another 5 minute massage all over my back. After working on my back, she repeated the entire process on my buttocks. She was pushing so hard, that I had to have her stop. I felt like a baseball bat was striking my cheeks. She asked where it hurt and told me through actions that it was painful because I had something wrong with my legs. Since it hurt, she continued to push harder and harder to try and ease the pain. Oxymoron? It was the pressure that was hurting. My bottom was just FINE before I came in for the massage. She would alternate between cheeks until it did not hurt when she applied pressure. Maybe I had knots in the muscles that I didn't know about. Then it was back to the scrape abuse. She spent most of the time scraping, and the rest going between massage and heat. After about 30 minutes, she had me sit up so I could work on my neck. This was the worst part of the entire experience. She got the scraping tool out and went to town on my neck and shoulders. I clenched in pain and realized I wanted to punch the lady for putting me in so much pain. I thought of all the words I wanted to scream at her. But I remained quiet as I squeezed my eyes and fists trying to endure the pain. As I glanced over my shoulder I saw the culprit that was causing the pain...a small, porcelain, Chinese tea cup. THIS is what was beating the tar out of me. Wow. I could not believe it. Who in the world would think of using a tea cup to scrape your back to heal the negative chi? This is an actual massage technique. I am still trying to find information on Gwa Sah in English. I will have some Taiwanese English teachers help me find something online tomorrow. I would like more information on this. Perhaps some answers as to why I endured this pain.
The entire 45 minutes was considered a "trial run" to see if I liked it. I was charged 300 NT, which is approximately 10 US dollars. If I return for the abusive massage, it will be 300 NT, and if I go only for the relaxing and heat massage, it will be 500 NT. I will never get the Gwa Sah massage again. As you can see in the pictures, I was left looking like a beaten housewife. I would love to get a massage, as long as that stupid little cup isn't allowed in the room.