Chua K’a massage therapy is a technique developed by Oscar Ichazo. Its aim is to eliminate mental, emotional, and physical stress in the body through the concentrated use of ‘conscious realization’ and physical pressure. It is a three part bodywork holistic healing technique of releasing muscle tension and the cleansing and clearing of the emotions and mind. Chua K’a massage therapy is mainly used as a form of self-massage.

This practice is taught by certified teachers trained in the Arica Institute. Chua K’a is a self-performed profound massage therapy that helps body to develop to its optimal level of realization and sensitivity. The effect of life experience can generate networks of muscle pain and tension which are recollected fears. Tension can be relieved and heat and energy can be conveyed through the manipulation of the tissues. Psychic (emotional and mental) tension is released when physical tension is released.

According to Chua K’a therapy, the body is divided into 27 regions known as zones of karma, with each region connected to specific psychic fear manifestations, whose memory is held in these zones. The fear of death, for instance, can appear as “a feeling of weakness in the knees”; a feeling of revulsion may cause us to clench our jaws; shame can make our cheeks go red; or we may feel carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders.

A full massage of the body’s 27 zones equals to a complete Chua K’a procedure. This is followed by skin rolling, and finally, the use of the k’a stick. In the skin rolling technique, which was set up by Ichazo, the skin and its subcutaneous layers tissues are rolled over the deep structures, elevating the hypodermis and dermis off the deeper fascia. This method has been known to stimulate lymph drainage and blood circulation. These physical aspects of massage therapy are combined with a methodical practice of ‘conscious realization’ through the three-part Chua K’a method that directly applies the circulation of vital energy in the body, starting from the point in the lower stomach (known in martial arts and medicine as tan t’ien).

Chua K’a was first introduced in Chile in the 1960s, by Oscar Ichazo to a group of Chilean students and later on to Americans residing in Arica, Chile. When teaching Chua k’a Ichazo spoke of an ancient tale of Mongolian warriors who were believed to have found a way of curing bodily tension and pain that allowed them to fearlessly come back to battle. The same manner applies to Chua K’a in that the tension and/or pain as well as the concomitant psychic fear would be removed, enabling the person to live and approach life bereft of the constraints of these mental and physical distractions. No record or document exists that mentions or shows the use of Chua K’a before Ichazo.

However, it was thought that Chua Ka was practiced by the Huns who believed it would increase their chances of success in battle. Nowadays, it is sometimes practiced to increase success and clear cellular memory in whatever personal challenges in life one may encounter. Cellular memory is the physical recollection of happenings that were not removed on the mental and emotional levels. These can manifest in the form of past injuries, but by and large, they are merely those dull recurring aches that arise from time to time.

Occasionally, during massage, we can become emotional since massage can set off (and also remove) cellular memory. Some clients experience a sudden act of emotion because an emotion that had been repressed or hidden is now seeking expression because of Chua K’a. The therapist usually does not know what the client is experiencing. After the client releases his emotion, he usually feels a lot better emotionally. The result can be evident in the increased range of motion and movement in the body region that was massaged.

Sometimes, a client may not immediately experience a better range of motion; this may come later on in life. What this means is that a release of cellular memory is usually accompanied by a new response to an experience that has already oftentimes happened in the person’s lifetime.

If a person, for example, once played softball when was as a kid and he got injured in the arm with the ball, the person may not be able to express the pain he was feeling at that moment (perhaps, due to embarrassment or some other reason). He may be unaware that he was carrying that cellular memory all those times until it is released. If a therapist treats that person and if the person cries due to the massage, the next time the person is asked to play softball, he may agree to play even though, previous to the emotional release, he had been refusing to play for years.

Chua K’a means “cleaning the bones” and was practiced by the Huns. When a person has faced a challenge and then decided to energetically hold on to old issues and experiences, those experiences would hold him back psychically mentally, physically, and emotionally and will fail to resolve the challenge the best way possible.

How to Properly Practice Chua Ka

Being a very slow type of massage therapy, Chua Ka can take at least an hour to finish. Although it was believed that the Huns spent several hours ‘cleaning’ every bone in their body, some therapists may recommend that you start from the feet (since each foot has 26 bones, this will take some time,) and work your way up. It is better to take your sweet time than to hurry the therapy.

Chua Ka can also be practiced as a type of ritual. For instance, a person may take a salt bath ahead of time, release a few drops of aromatherapy essential oils into a burner, light some candles then dim or turn off the lights, and then play a CD with some soothing instrumental music.

Relax in the bath and breathe deeply. Do this for at least five minutes. After that, you may ground your energy. If you don’t know how to do that, at least become conscious of the energy field around you. You can visualize a bubble of colored or white surrounding you, ten feet in all directions, and then visualize and a cord appearing at the top of your head that connects you to the infinite heavens and a cord appearing at the bottom of your spine that connects you to the center of the earth.

Now put your hand gently on the bone you have selected for massage. Leave your hand on the bone for awhile and become conscious of the different levels there: the bone and soft tissue.

Slowly and steadily increase pressure. Visualize your hand actually going through your flesh, through many layers of fascia. You may feel as if your hand has plunged into the body and that you are touching the bone’s hard surface if you perform this technique properly and slowly enough.

This part may entail some bit of creativity. In the Chua Ka ritual, when a person gets to the part when he “touches bone,” he may visualize a white light shining from the tips of his fingers. Some therapists consider this to be energy taken from the earth and hauled down through the heavens using the cords mentioned earlier. The person may imagine the white light enwrapping the bone or (if you’re working on the femur or any big bone) a part of the bone and the light is cleansing out all debris on the bone. He can imagine the debris slowly dropping into the ground to be neutralized. Then he conveys love to that body area through this light.

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