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Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, I was the only Chinese-American boy in my neighborhood, constantly getting picked on by the other kids. Then in 1977, when I was 14, I saw a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the book Pumping Iron, and it changed my life. I said to myself, “Wow, if I looked like that, I’d never get picked on again!”
Bruce Lee was also popular back then. He was Chinese American too, and he fought people with his fists. So I thought, what better way to protect myself than to build up my muscles, so people would fear me, and I wouldn't have to fight them? I started to train. By the time I was 16, I had gained 40 pounds of muscle, and all the tormenting stopped. In fact I suddenly had new friends—the same guys who used to attack me—full of questions about training. And I never had to fight anyone.
I became a bodybuilder, and won many titles, including Mr. Teenage New York, Mr. New York, and Mr. Empire State. I was ranked nationally and featured on magazine covers.
In 1984 I graduated from Columbia University with a chemistry degree. Initially I planned to go to medical school, but realized that my passion was to work with my hands on people’s bodies. Bodybuilding had given me a good understanding of how the human body worked, and I wanted to make it stronger and better. So I went to New York University Physical Therapy School and in 1987 began working as a conventional physical therapist. But all the time I knew in my core that something was missing.
In 1991, I retired from bodybuilding. In 1996 I started training under Renzo Gracie, a Brazilian jujitsu black belt and no-holds-barred fighter, earning a blue belt. Then, during a competition, I injured my left shoulder so badly I thought it was irreparably damaged. I had standard physical therapy for it, but the results were terrible. My arm remained very weak, and I was in severe pain. I tried ultrasound, electric stimulation, ice packs, and ibuprofen—exactly what doctors recommended and what I myself advised my patients to do—but nothing worked.
Then I met a chiropractor who said, “I can help your shoulder in a few sessions.” Naturally, I laughed. I believed my doctor, who had said I needed surgery. But I let the chiropractor give me two 20-minute treatments. In two days, the shoulder was significantly better.
What the chiropractor did was treat my fascia, using Active Release Techniques, a type of therapy that targets this tissue. And I realized that fascial therapy was the missing link I’d been seeking—not only for myself, but for my practice.
For the next ten years, I studied fascial therapy. I saw dramatic changes in my practice: it now took only one to four weeks, and sometimes less than a single session, to heal my patients. Over the years I’ve modified what I do so it barely resembles what I was originally taught, but my work still follows the basic principle of releasing fascia. Meanwhile, I got my shoulder to 70% of function—but I wanted it to be still better.
Then I met Dr. Guy Voyer, the originator of a series of special stretches that release the fascia. Learning fascial stretching transformed me and my work. I used the stretches for my shoulder, and got it to 95 percent.
I also added stretching to my practice, creating my own stretches and modifying many of the originals. They’ve really boosted my cure rate. All my patients now get a stretch program as homework.
In the vast majority of cases, Ming Manual Therapy is much faster and less risky than standard medical treatment, and it saves thousands of dollars. So before you take those painkillers, or agree to surgery, think about giving it a shot.
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155 West 72d Street, suite 205
New York, NY 10023
212-877-5028
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Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 9–, Friday 9–4, Saturday 10–1 |
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