Back Stepping Massage

Some people call it back walking, backstepping massage and in Traditional Chinese therapy, its call “Cai bei” or 踩背 literally means back stepping. There is even a term called 'ashiatsu" meaning foot pressure in Japanese language. 

Usually in a properly equipped treatment room, a metal balancing bar is installed on the ceiling so that the masseur can balance herself. The ceiling bar also helps to support her weight especially if the customer's weight is lighter or the customer prefers a lighter pressure. This is also a form of safety for the masseur so that she can hold on to the bar and maintain her balance when she perform the back stepping massage.

While the customer lies face down on the massage bed, our therapist steps on the customer’s back supporting herself with a metal bar fixed on the ceiling. She uses her bare feet to step on the various meridians of the body with a large towel covering the back. 

The therapist using this massage technique uses the soles or heels and together with the body weight press on the back part of the customer's body. As the masseur uses their soles to press on the customer's body, the pressure can be applied to a large area of the body and can reach a deep tissue massage effect for the customer. 

She uses rhythmic back and forth presses or kneading on the body's meridian points and this can make the body parts that are being massaged feel warm. This enables the blood flow to be more effective and stimulate the “qi” in the body helping us burn fats and relieve fatigue. 

Some customers may prefer this method of hard massage as regular massage may not reach their preferred depth. By using this massage technique, the therapist is able to deep massage the muscles that regular massage may not be able to reach in certain areas of the body. 

This traditional method of “tui na” massage is applied by walking along the various meridians of the body as the therapist walks or steps on the customer’s back. 

However, this may not be suitable for people with spinal or bone injuries as the body weight of the therapist is on the customer’s back.