Arturo Parra

In Spanish, my native language, the verb *tocar* means both to play a musical instrument and to touch—or to massage. I practice both of these professions.
When I was a child, my grandmother used her enveloping hands to heal the various ailments of body and soul in our neighborhood. Her touch was so soothing that my sisters and I would often feign imaginary pains to benefit from her healing art… I also sought to unravel the mystery of her gift by “massaging” my mother’s shoulders and hands, which were knotted from needlework.
As a teenager, I turned to athletics (soccer, race walking, sprinting) and classical guitar. Did you know? Like athletes, musicians suffer many work-related injuries. Long hours of rehearsal, asymmetrical posture, but above all, the concentration that makes them forget their bodies, inflict musculoskeletal injuries that often force them to give up their careers. Once I became a professional guitarist, I followed my grandmother’s example by relieving my tension through Do-In, even though I hadn’t heard of the term yet. Thanks to this, in a fifty-year musical career, I have never developed any injuries—and neither have my students.
My background as an athlete and musician naturally led me to massage therapy. With degrees in Tui Na, Shiatsu, Thai Nuad Naman, chair massage, and Lomi-atsu, I complement my approach with Xing Yi Quan, a martial arts technique an internal practice inspired by Taoist philosophy, Qi Gong, Do-In (self-massage), and Bamboo Walking—a discipline I created based on principles of Bō staff, athletics, and Olympic walking.
For me, massage is like music: a special connection with another person based on rigorous expertise and precise touch, but also on listening to each moment, the grace of movement, resonance, and harmony.