The Michigan Daily-Weekend etc.-February 13, 1992-Page,3 'II I jj) . r 6 b'f t F Bozacks a jinglin'! by Forrest Green 11l The locker room is the first place where, fresh from the gym, we rel- ish the aftermath of determined physical exertion. Our hearts pound forcefully and our skin, flushed with the healthy state of circula- tion, seems to glow with vigor. That inevitable feeling of fatigue is temporarily delayed by the enhanced flow of blood through those over- worked muscles. Your exercising brings you back to a healthy and uncomplicated ground zero. The aloofness of your mundane existence has been forgot- ten for the refreshing totality of mind and body you feel now. Smell that? Mmmm. The rewards of em- bracing your physicality at length are great, aren't they? After a stren- uous bout with yourself, the strained body staring back at you from the mirror will remind you exactly of who and what you are. Your tired muscles are only properly greeted by the gaudy bow- els of the University's two health facilities - the Central and North Campus Recreation Buildings' locker rooms. My first experience in the C.C.R.B.'s locker room was a wry and perplexing one. Who decided that it should be painted that way? And once I'd locked my street clothes away by depositing a return- able quarter into a locker, where the hell would I keep the key for the time being? The locker room of the N.C.R.B., comfortably nestled behind Bursley residence hall, has been the source of many fascinating stories, being smaller and much more remote than its Central Campus counterpart. The first story I'd heard about it was during my freshman year. An athletic type of guy from my house at Bursley - I'll call him Biff - was complaining to me about a re- I'' T'F a q ".r T Sp , ' S f 1! i !} David Bay, Bio. department photographer, takes it all off. DOUG KANTE/iv The exotic art of rolfing Are you s ufferingfrom stress and tension? Ancient massage techniques help you kick back and relax by Alexandra Beller You're walking through negative ten degree wind and you feel it stinging your forehead. You're sitting at your desk at three a.m. typing a Sociology paper and you gasp at the pain shooting from the middle of your back. Did you ever wonder how climate and tension and other vague stresses culminate in physical pain? If you haven't, you've probably at least wondered how to get rid of them. The answer is fairly obvious - massage. Some techniques, however, deviate from the mainstream. Shiatsu, reflexology, ampuku, rolfing and Swedish massage are some ways to relieve yourself of pain and stress. They combine, in varying proportions, the theories of Oriental healing techniques and modern Western medicine. Swedish massage is what your friends are probably talking about when they ask, "Will you give me a massage?" It is the "standard" backrub where the masseuse, who often uses oil, pushes and pulls the ma- jor muscles of the back, legs, arms and neck. It reduces the overall sensation of tension by softening up mus- cles and relieving major spasms. Shiatsu and reflexology both rely on the theory that various body parts and organs correlate to "pressure points" in other body parts. Shiatsu, which literally means "finger pressure," relies on applied pressure to specific points (or tsubos) all over the body. These tsubos are arranged along fourteen paths 0 (or meridian lines), each correlating to a different or- gan. For example, the lung meridian extends from the middle of the pectoral muscle, down each arm and into the thumbs. By applying pressure to the specific spots along the arm, problems such as asthma, coughs and congestion can be relieved. Reflexology relies on the same concept but all fourteen meridians are located in the feet. In other words, for every problem in the human body, there exists a spot on the foot which, when pressed, will relieve the pain. Both shiatsu and reflexology are often somewhat painful in their application, but veterans of the techniques have fondly dubbed it "good pain" because the aftereffects are usually unbelievably successful and long lasting. Not only do they relieve major tension and pain, but minor illnesses and injuries can often be healed or diagnosed. Problems such as sinus pain, cramps, digestive problems and even sexual disorders can be relieved by repeated treatments. Ampuku, often included in a shiatsu treatment, is pressure applied to different areas of the stomach. The midsection of the body is considered to be the energy center of the physical and spiritual being. Through massage, energy imbalances (which relate to fatigue, depression and weakness in the immune system) can be corrected. Rolfing is another massage technique which relies on the concept of "stored emotions and stresses." Rolfers believe that problems and events in our lives which we are unable to fully deal with are stored in the muscle tissue, changing the shape of the body and often causing chronic pain. Rolfing requires repeated sessions and uses extremely deep, but somewhat generalized tissue massage. In the sessions, emotions (especially from childhood) are dealt with and often the patient's most deeply buried feelings of pain and anger are released. Over the course of therapy, rolfers claim that the shape of the body is noticeably changed as the "weight" of past experiences is lifted. The sessions are usually very emotional, but are therapeutic for both body and soul. If you're interested in experiencing one of these healing techniques, there are many people practicing both on campus and in the Ann Arbor area. There are also books (Ohashi's Shiatsu for beginners) which can help you learn the art of massage yourself. cent experience of his own. Biff had walked into the locker room after a long, tiring workout to find another man sitting there, mas- turbating, and rather oblivious to their intimate surroundings. Biff stared in shock for a moment.+ "Enjoying the show?" the man asked him, continuing his exertion.+ Needless to say, Biff quickly left the locker room. The locker room can be an excit- ing and provocative place in its usu- ally primal, sometimes burlesque atmosphere. It challenges you, long after you've already pushed yourself to your limits. Early this September, two of my roommates, Taurus and Heed, made a jaunt up to North Campus for a workout with our friend Kamran. It was intended to be a recollection of old times (they'd spent their previ- ous year together at Bursley), but instead became an ordeal of night- marish proportions. As Heed gives his account, still fresh in his mind, "There was old naked men walkin' around, bozacks a' hangin'! No shame at all! We"rej just tryin' to chill and these guy; are walkin' around the sauna na ed - no shame at all, no towels or nothin'!" Heed continued, "It was almost on purpose. The young dudes ho... weren't wrinkled as a prune were covered. But the old guys were just bozacks a' jinglin'! Kam was likes 'I'm not down with the bozacks '. 2 Like Taurus, Heed and Kam real~ ized, the fervent motivation of our~x body-shaping frenzies find an awk- ward dissolution in the locker room. The refuge of privacy that g" required for these sensitive Mo=u' ments of recuperation is ofteW-4 shattered by the gruesome reality $f1 our public health facilities. A clash of biological time peri?., ods? A simple conflict of post- workout health regimens? Whatever the cause for the fellas' annoyance, one thing's for sure. Such extremes of the carnal and obscene can't come much more easily,or glaringly than in the locker roon, _ , Han Lee's Taekwon Do Center 3 994-0400 I I Learn to Set Definite Positive Powerful m