Gua Sha Day – Bruce Bentley – 29th March 2020

Course Description

The aim of this course is to inform the practitioner with a thorough – going knowledge and diagnostic skills that will allow to perform gua sha with skill and the appropriate method and practice. Safe practice diagnosis, the subtleties of practice, contraindications and a host of different practices will be meticulously taught.

During this day we explore the methods and applications of gua sha, otherwise known as ‘spooning’. By drawing a smooth edged instrument across the skin where an injury or imbalance resides, a distinctive reddening of the skin, known as “sha” can be observed. This is ‘colouration’ is a positive response and brings immediate and lasting benefits by reducing inflammation, coldness, tightness and pain from both the superficial and deeper levels of the body. Typically gua sha is very effective for treating all forms of injury, as well as heat syndromes, dizziness, chills and aches. In short, it has been said: “if there is illness, gua sha treats it; if there is no illness, it strengthens our bodies”. Recent research has shown that gua sha treatment is also successful in treating mastitis

In addition, if there is therapy that is a perfect compliment to cupping, then it is gua sha. For example, many cupping treatments are advanced by first being able to perform gua sha throughout the face, the scalp, along the occipital line and the neck (the latter being the case if cups prove difficult to administer). Gua sha can also be employed as a form of diagnosis, to find out where the energy is stuck, before cups are applied to those sites.

For more detailed information about the structure and content of the course please visit Bruce’s website.

Entry Requirements

ICOM and Bruce (Health Traditions) welcome all therapists (who have completed level 4 of Anatomy and Physiology and have professional insurance) to attend – including Acupuncturists, all variety of Massage Therapists, Naturopaths, Herbalists, Osteopaths, Physiotherapists, Chiropractors and GPs. 

Please, before booking the course make sure you meet the entry requirements and send proof of qualifications and insurance policy to [email protected] (please note that a £20 administration fee will be charged if the course is booked and the participant does not meet the entry requirements).

Pregnant women can attend but not to be practised on.

• 6.5 CPD hours.
• Schedule:
  • Sunday 29th March 2020 from 9:30 am to 5:30pm
• Cost: £140
• Venue: East Grinstead Sports Club, Saint Hill Rd, East Grinstead RH19 4JU.
• Email: [email protected]

Cancellation policy: Refunds for cancellations between two months and 3 weeks before course commencement will incur a 15% administration fee. Full refunds of booking fees (minus an admin fee) can only be made if we have received notification at least 21 days before the event. If you cancel and give us notice of between 14 and 20 days we will refund you 50% of the fees. Unfortunately we cannot give any refunds for cancellations given with less than 14 days’ notice.

Tutor – Bruce Bentley

REGISTRATION

Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

LICENSURE

Registered Practitioner of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine – Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Australia

MEMBERSHIP

Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association – Accreditation in Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine and Tuina

2017 – PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENTS

Editorial advisor for World Health Organization (WHO) Traditional, Complimentary and Alternative Division

EDUCATION

• Bachelor of Health Sciences (Chinese Herbal Medicine)  Victoria University, Victoria, Australia (2000)
• Masters Degree in Health Studies Latrobe University, Victoria  (1996)
• Bachelor of Arts (Honors Degree) in Sociology of Health and Illness – Latrobe University  (1992)
• Post-Graduate Diploma of Clinical Nutrition – International  Academy of Nutrition, Australia (1984)
• Medical Sciences – Phillip Institute of Technology (1982 -1984)
• Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and Philosophy) Latrobe University  (1982)
• Diploma of Acupuncture – Australian Acupuncture College (1981)
• Chinese Doctor’s Acupuncture Programme (5 years)
•   The Chinese Acupuncture Hospital, Taiwan, ROC (1976 – 81)
• Chinese Language Studies (Mandarin) – Taiwan National University, Taiwan, ROC (1976 – 81)

EDUCATION TRAINING QUALIFICATION

Train the Trainer Certificate – Hawthorn Institute of Technology

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Australia

Director and Principal Instructor – Health Traditions Pty Ltd. (1994 – Present ). Subjects: Master Class in Traditional East-West Cupping, Modern Cupping Therapy, Traditional Thai Massage, Chinese Herbs  & Injury Workshops, Gua Sha Day, Tuina/Chinese massage, Burmese massage.

Lecturer: Masters Degree program in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Department of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney. (2014 -15)

Lecturer in Cupping, Tuina and Gua Sha, Chinese Medicine Department, Victoria University (2006 – 2008)

Senior Lecturer: Australian School of Therapeutic Massage (1988 – 2004). Subject: Acupressure and Tuina.

Lecturer: Chinese Medicine Department, Victoria University (2002 -2004). Subjects: Tuina, Cupping and Gua Sha.

Lecturer and Member of the Board of Directors – Australian Shiatsu College (1987 – 1993). Subjects: Oriental Medical History and Philosophy, Oriental Medical Theory and Practice, Acupuncture point locations & Tuina

Lecturer and Course Co-coordinator – The Society of Clinical Masseurs (1989 – 1992)

Lecturer: National College of Traditional Medicine (1987 – 1994). Subject: Acupressure

Lecturer: Australian College of Natural Medicine (1989 – 1994). Subjects: Sociology of Health and Illness, Medical Anthropology

Tutor: Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences (Physiotherapy Dept.). Subject: Medical Sociology (1986)

Lecturer: Australian Acupuncture College (1981-82). Subject: Clinical applications of Acupuncture

International

Cupping Workshops London, England (1998)

United States of America (2008 and 2013)

Canada 2017

2016 Teaching at the Teguru Hospital, Tanzania, Africa, for Africa Integrated Medicine (AIM)

Cupping Workshops, Vancouver, Canada (2017)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Private Practice – Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine (1981 –  )
• Full apprenticeship with the Venerable Thap Thang in the Buddhist Forest monk medical tradition (2002 –
• Principal Research Worker – 12 month Research Project titled ‘Folk Medical Practices Within the Vietnamese Community’ funded by the Department of Human Services, Government of Victoria, Australia (2004).
• Assistant to Professor Wang Zhao – Pu, Director of the Institute of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China. Professor Wang came to Australia for 12 months to treat children with sequelae of cerebral birth injury (1990)

CONFERENCES

Invited Presenter – TCM Kongress Rothenburg, Germany (2017)

Invited Presenter – Australian Acupuncture and Chinese medicine Conference – Presented by the Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association  (2015)

Invited Presenter – Australian Massage Therapy Conference – presented by the Australian Association Of Massage Therapy, Adelaide, South Australia (May, 2015)

Invited Presenter – Australian Massage Therapy Conference – presented by the Australian Association Of Massage Therapy, Adelaide, South Australia (2008)

Invited Presenter– Australian Acupuncture and Chinese medicine Conference – Presented by the Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association (2007)

Invited Speaker – Australian Massage Therapy Conference (2002)

Key Speaker – New Zealand Medical Acupuncture Conference (1999)

Key speaker – Annual Conference presented by the Australian College of Herbal Studies (1991)

CUPPING EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

Study at hospitals and clinics in acupuncture Chinese herbal medicine and cupping. Taiwan (1976 – 81).

“Cupping as Therapeutic Technology” – Thesis title for Master of Arts Degree in Health Studies. Latrobe University, Melbourne, Australia.

Invited to study cupping at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China. Course presented by specialist cupping practitioners. Also travelled around China for 3 months studying with specialists in cupping, including study at the Tibetan Medicine Hospital, Lhasa, Tibet, and the Uighur Traditional Medicine Hospital, Urumqi, Xinjiang Provence (1997).

Studied cupping at the Australian Institute of Sport. Canberra, Australia (1998).

Welcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London, England. Spent three weeks conducting archival research (1998).

Department of History of Medicine, Rome University. Italy.

Spent one week conducting archival research. (1998)

Two months travelling throughout Europe and North Africa conducting field research. Countries visited were Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey (1998).

Cupping Research in Vietnam ((2002 and 2005).

Cupping research in Cambodia (2003).

Cupping research in Romania (2010)

Cupping research in Greece (three months during 2013 and 2014)

Cupping research in Tanzania, Africa (2016)

Cupping research in Mexico (2017)

BOOK PUBLICATIONS

Cupping‘s Folk Heritage: people and practice

Chapter contribution to Ilkay Chirali’s book on Cupping Therapy 3rd Ed. (Churchill Livingstone).

JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS

The Naked Flame; and other hot topics (Part Two). The Lantern: A journal for practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine. Vol. 14 No.4, September 2017

The Naked Flame; and other hot topics (Part One). The Lantern: A journal for practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine. Vol. 14 No.3, September 2017

Encounters with Cupping and Shamanism in Tanzania. The Lantern: A journal for practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine. Vol. 14 No.2, May 2017

Vietnamese Herbal Steam Therapies. The Lantern: A journal for practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine. Vol. 13 No.1, January 2016

The Thai Herbal Sauna. The Lantern: A journal for practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine. Vol.12 No.3 September 2015

A Cupping Mark is Not a Bruise. The Lantern: A journal for practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine. May 2015. Also published in the Australian Massage Therapy Association Journal

Gua Sha and  the Buddhist Forest Monk Medical Tradition. The Lantern: A journal for practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine. Vol. 12 No.2 May 2015

Mending the Fascia with Modern Cupping.The Lantern: A journal for practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine. Vol.10 No.3 May 2013

Explorations of Cupping in Greece. The Lantern: A journal for practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine. Vol.10 No.1 May 2013. Also translated into Greek and published in Akademia: a a journal of ancient Greek and Chinese Medicine. 2015. Athens.

Cupping Deficiency. The Lantern: A journal for practitioners of traditional Chinese Medicine. Vol.8 No.2 May 2011

Designing a Healthy Practice with Feng Shui with Suhana Lim. The Lantern: a journal of traditional Chinese medicine. Vol.  5 – 1 2008

Gua Sha: smoothly scraping out the sha. The Lantern: a journal of traditional Chinese medicine. Vol. 4 -2 2008. Also translated into French and published in the Journal De Medicine Traditionelle Chinoise , Paris, France.

The Subtle Cup; an interview with Bruce Bentley. Interview conducted by Steven Clavey. The Lantern: a journal of traditional Chinese medicine. Vol. 4 -1 2007. Also translated into French and published in the Journal De Medicine Traditionelle Chinoise, Paris, France.

Folk Medical Practices in the Vietnamese Community. 180 page report for Western Region Health Centre. (2004).

Vietnamese Folk Medicine: Applications and Safe Practices”. Abridged published report: Western Region Health Centre. (2004).

Ancient Burmese Massage. The Australian Massage Therapy Journal. (1993) Vol. 6 -1).

The Traditional Thai Herbal Sauna. The Australian Massage Therapy Journal. (1992) Vol. 5 -1

Traditional Indian Massage.The Australian Massage Therapy Journal. (1990) Vol. 3 -2

Chinese Herbal Medicine: external use for sports and related injuries. The Australian Massage Therapy Journal. (1990) Vol. 2 -5

Chinese Medicine: History and Philosophy – an interview with Bruce Bentley. Interview conducted by Robyn Spear. Radiation from Space (1990) issue 4.

Barefoot Shiatsu: it’s Spirit and Development . The Australian Massage Therapy Journal. (1989) Vol. 2 -1

The Technique of Acu-Point Percussion Therapy. The Australian Massage Therapy Journal. (1989) Vol. 1-4

Report on Acu-Point Percussion Therapy. The Australian Massage Therapy Journal. (1989) Vol. 1 -2.

“What is Qi?”. The Australian Massage Therapy Journal. (1989) Vol. 1 -1.

Text and images by Bruce Bentley.