This video, called “Style Of The deonThai METHOD™,” is the 2^nd video in a series of 7 videos. Watch this video and find out about the different styles of Thai Yoga Massage. Deon and his long time friend and fellow Thai Massage teacher, Shama Kern, talk about the style of the deonThai METHOD™ and how that style developed.  

Please leave us some comments and let us know your thoughts. Look for the next segments to be posted in future weeks.

For your convenience, video’s entire transcript is inserted at the bottom of this post.

Here is a link to the series Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDkjwIKKqL2v6WNj_3HShDzsM-1a6j0XN

Watch all of our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/DeonThaiYoga

To learn more about the deonThai METHOD and SCHOOL of Thai Yoga Massage:

http://www.deonthaiyoga.com

Video Transcript

– Hi, this is Deon de Wet. I just got back a trip to Thailand where I visited with my friend and longtime fellow teacher, Shama Kern. We talked about the differences between the deonThai method of Thai yoga therapy and other styles of Thai massage. Watch this video and find out.

– You have your own style, so how would you define your style of what you do. I mean, is there any influence from any particular Thai massage style or is it your creation, or what is the deonThai method, exactly?

– Well, that could be a very long answer. So I’m going to try and keep it as concise as possible. Let’s see, the first influence for me, I would say, is in the world of traditional Thai massage. And it’s a little bit of a regional difference in Thailand, and the northern, the people in the north of Thailand, the lifestyle, the attitude, everything is a little more laid-back, a little bit more relaxed, and it shows in the style that they practice. The Thai massage is more movement involved, and is more actual time to breathe and the way that the practitioners work, they also use a lot more parts of their body. It’s not as rigid or formal as it could sometimes be in the south where they tend to focus mostly on using thumbs and hands and the arms. My style is much more the villager or the folkstyle, considered, in the world of Thai massage. It’s also, can involve more, of this applied, assisted yoga, stretches and things like that. Which leads me to the second big reason, and beginnings of me really refining my style, is because the style of yoga that I practiced and became a teacher in is very much alignment-based. So, it’s very important, there, how you actually hold your joints, body, in space, as you do the exercises, any exercise, for that matter. And so I tend to emphasize a lot, in my trainings, and in my method, since the client is being passive, he or she is not gonna be really responsible for keeping this alignment of the different parts of the body, so as the practitioner, you have to take responsibility for that. And you have to understand, where is the best position for the shoulder, before you start pulling back on the elbow, for example. Because this could really tweak somebody’s shoulder, if it’s already a little unstable. Whereas pulling back this way, is a whole different thing, and is a lot more modern, it’s a lot safer. So, those would be the two main distinctions, I would say.

– Would you describe yourself as a traditionalist, or are you more on the creative side? You know, so many people say, “It’s traditional “Thai massage,” now is that something you subscribe to, that it has to be traditional, or do you feel that you really created something that reflects you, and your experience, your development, and so, in other words, are you willing to modify and change, improve things, or are you trying to stick to a traditional system? What’s your view on that?

– Well, I used to have a lot of concern about that. Because there were these two different ends of the spectrum. But what has really changed for me, which has made me calm down about this whole thing, is that traditional Thai massage really is very creative. And if you spend enough time here in Thailand, going to different kinds of healers, and different regions, and different types of people, you see that they’re all doing something different than the next guy. And it varies by region, and it varies by individual practitioner. And the ones that are really good, are doing something that emphasizes the aspect of the work that they are really good in. So, it’s, as a living tradition, authentic Thai massage is very creative, and it keeps evolving, and changing based on the practitioner and his background.

– That’s actually, I really like how you describe that. So basically, what you’re saying is, you can’t really separate the creative aspect from the traditional aspect, and the traditional aspect is not like some immovable thing that’s written in stone, but the tradition is part of a culture, but the creativity’s built in. I think that’s what I hear you say.

– Exactly.

– I mean, I totally agree with that, because sometimes people say, “Oh, which tradition “are you from, which style are you practicing?” Well, the truth is, there is no one tradition of Thai massage in Thailand, there is no one big guru, and then there is like this cyclic succession. Like in India, there is a lot of that, the one big guru, then it passes on the knowledge to the next guy, and he becomes the guru and so on. This doesn’t exist in Thai massage.

– No, and if you understand Thai people, you would realize that it is probably the most untraditional thing you could possibly do. To say this is the standardized system now. Even though it’s been done, it’s likely a little bit, by the actual government in Thailand, because it’s become so popular now, they have a standardized sequence or system that they are trying to, sort of, use as a way of teaching all of the many new practitioners, Thai people that are interested in this. But even those people understand that the whole point of it, the whole traditional aspect in Thailand, is that things are done, never that serious, or that formal actually, ever, in any part of life.

– Thanks for watching this video. Right now, if you see a subscribe button on your screen, click it and subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also find the address in the text that accompanies this video. That address is www.youtube.com/c/DeonThaiYoga