Review / We review dao liao, an ancient Chinese massage therapy using chopping knives to restore energy balance

My spa therapist has weapons on the table.

That’s my initial impression anyway and it turns out I’m wrong on all counts. To begin with, the man calmly laying out two sticks, two rocks and two lethal-looking chopping knives is not your everyday spa therapist but Xavier Garnier, a dao liao practitioner, who is in Hong Kong until July 21 offering this special knife massage at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.

Secondly, the items are essential tools he uses during his sessions, which are designed to restore energy balance, direct the flow of chi, stimulate the circulation and lympathic system, and enhance quality of sleep.

How he means to promote relaxation and well-being through knives is the reason I’m there.

What it involves:

Garnier walks me through the 90-minute treatment, which involves warming up the body through a series of stretches using the wooden sticks, then the knife work begins – what is more formally called dao liao (knife therapy), and the whole thing is wrapped up with guang liao (light therapy), which involves massaging the body with special coral stones.

I’m not particularly in tune with my body. I work out, but it took an evaluation with a fascia fitness expert to realise my body was completely lopsided and off-kilter (review to come soon). I haven’t even tried reiki – which is the modern equivalent of aromatherapy or chromotherapy when it comes to general acceptance. Expecting me to sense the change in my energy balance is a tall order.

“I’m not here to heal you,” says Garnier, who has studied Chinese martial arts, qigong, yijing, traditional Chinese massage and Chinese osteopathy during two decades in China and Taiwan. “This process simply activates your body to engage its autoimmune system. We constantly underestimate our body’s ability to heal itself.”

The philosophy behind it: