What Is Chinese An Mo Massage? | Anmo

An Mo Massage, Anmo, An-mo, An Qiao or Qiao Mo, which means press-rub/knead (An Mo) or press-step (An Qiao), is the predecessor of Chinese Tuina (Tui Na) Massage.

The term Anmo was the common name for massage therapy in China before the name Tuina became recorded in literature during the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644 CE).

Before that, the term “An Mo” was used in the Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic (Huang Di Nei Jing), written in the period 475 – 221 BC, which is considered the first comprehensive medical text of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Note that sometimes An Mo and Tui Na are seen as dissimilar massage modalities, where the difference is specifically defined as An Mo being a Press and Rub/Knead massage and Tui Na being a Push/Press and Grab/Pull massage.

Additionally it’s said that An Mo is always a full body massage in contrast to Tuina, which can be a targeted therapeutic massage only treating certain areas of the body.

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