A Vietnamese acupressure technique, Dien Chan, is being given, and taught, by an instructor of 32 years, Hue Loc, pictured left, at no charge at the Vietnamese Cultural Center in West Seattle through Nov. 11. Pictured right is an illustration of facial features with their corresponding organs on the body practioners believe they link to.
Free lessons and treatments will be given by Hue Loc, an expert of Vietnamese "Dien Chan Facial Therapy", at the Vietnamese Cultural Center, 2236 SW Orchard St., West Seattle, through Nov. 11. The public is invited. The instructor lives in Houston and has been touring the Pacific Northwest, volunteering.
His instructor was Bui Quoc Chau, who is featured in the above YouTube. He is considered the developer of this acupressure method and lives in Ho Chi Minh City. They don't use needles like acupuncture, or medication. Practitioners have identified pressure points all over the body that they believe link to other organs. They press with fingers, and use small massage devises and heaters.
Hue Loc said he earned an Oriental Medical Physician Certification and has practiced this for 32 years. The point of learning the method is when you return home after treatment from Hue Loc you can teach you partner or a friend who can continue treatment for you.
Tre Thuy Vo of Olympia said she has suffered from insomnia and feels better after being treated by Hue Loc for three days.
"He touched my face, nose, pressure all over my face, and on my head, back, and whole body, feet and hands," she said.
Dr. William McClung, 86, of Richland, WA., is a (retired) doctor of psychiatry, and a patient of Hue Loc. He acknowledged that his wife, Tammy, a Vietnamese America, is "more down with this type of medical business than I am".
He explained, "Acupressure wasn't accepted as a mode of healing by those in my field. We were not going to recommend it. We're more into talking to people and giving them pills. I met the doctor on Pasco when Tammy was going to the temple there and wanted me to see him. He gave me a few treatments and my shoulder, which was not functioning too well, now I can raise my hands above my head and everything else. It's killed a lot of the pain.
"To me it's a change of attitude from doing the scientific thing and proving it in black and white, to accepting what they do," he said. "I came from more of a logical side and my point was, 'You've got to prove it to me,' and he did. I had to accept it because it's affecting me so I had a change of heart in that respect."
For more information, call Lee Ducly Bui, Director of the Vietnamese Cultural Center, at (206) 779-6875. Classes are 11am-7pm. Again, no charge.
