History of Taoist Erotic Massage

The major method of sex education used by Sexological Bodyworkers in 2003 was Taoist Erotic Massage. The teaching was centered on helping the receiver stay present during sexual arousal; this was done through breathing and creative genital stimulation. Over the years, however, the methodology of Taoist Erotic Massage grew into what we now call Erotic Massage Dancing. In this course, you will learn how to offer both Taoist Erotic Massage and Erotic Massage Dancing sessions.

The following is an excerpt from Joseph Kramer’s dissertation, A Social History of the First Ten Years of Taoist Erotic Massage.

TAOIST EROTIC MASSAGE: A DESCRIPTION

“Sex is really only touch, the closest of all touch. And it’s touch we’re afraid of.” 
D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1983, p. 38).

I developed this erotic structure between 1982 and 1992 as a way for gay men to connect sexually in a safe and ecstatic manner in the era of AIDS. The erotic massage was called Taoist because the intent of the touching was not merely to stimulate erotic energy, but also to circulate it throughout the body without ejaculation. From 1982 to 1985, I began to explore the possibilities of this massage with clients in one-on-one sessions. In 1986, I founded the Body Electric School and began offering trainings in Taoist Erotic Massage, first in Oakland, and then in cities throughout North America and Europe.

A Taoist Erotic Massage is a sexual experience that involves breathing and genital touching that often produces transformative altered states in those receiving it. Certainly, all erotic massage involves sexually arousing stimulation through touch. The erotic massage most people are familiar with is the “hand job,” which, for men, has ejaculation as its goal. Some erotic touch has been used therapeutically to help men and women become more comfortable with the placement of their attention on their bodies and on the bodies of their partners. Sensate focus, a method of therapeutic touch foundational to most sex therapies, teaches givers and receivers of touch to be intensely conscious during their interactions (Montagu, 1971; Hartman and Fithian, 1972; Masters and Johnson, 1982; Kennedy and Dean, 1986). Many friends and lovers use massage as a physical ritual or structure in which they can express their affection and love (Lacroix, 1994; Stubbs, 1989, 1999a, 1999b, 2000). 

What constitutes a Taoist Erotic Massage of a man? The Taoist approach to men’s sexuality focuses on energy circulation and semen retention for strength and healthy living. Therefore, the word “Taoist” was chosen to indicate that the intent of the activity is not merely to stimulate erotic energy, but also to circulate it throughout the body without ejaculation (Chang, 1977; Chia, 1984; Chang, 1986). This form of massage involves a fast, rhythmic breath simultaneous to the genital stimulation. Participants in a TEM often experience ecstatic states and transformational moments. (See Chapters Three, Six, and Seven.)

Thousands of folks worldwide have been introduced to this erotic choreography in a one-on-one experience with a lover, a friend, or a professional masseur. Thousands of others first experienced this massage in the context of a class. The structure allowed for variations each time one gave or received a TEM. Even the structures of classes teaching TEM changed constantly. Below I offer a description of the central elements that I included in one-on-one sessions. Then I will describe a TEM as it was taught in a class situation.

Individual Sessions

My sessions always began with a verbal contract between my client and me about what was going to happen during the session and what was not going to happen. Even with clients whom I massaged dozens of times, I still requested their input each session: “Tell me about your body today. What do you want to happen during the next ninety minutes?” I then spoke my intentions and strategies for that particular session.

To a man I was touching for the first time, I explained the dynamics of a TEM. I introduced him to the breathing rhythms we would be using. I made sure that he breathed with all the effort on the inhale and then relaxed on the exhale. I then had my client practice the Big Draw, a twenty-second clenching of the musculature of his entire body while he held his breath. I told him that toward the end of the session I would guide him in doing this draw and then wrap him in sheets for about ten minutes while he focused on the sensations within his body. I counseled the client that the period leading up to the Big Draw was an excellent time to reflect on changes he might wish to make in his life. I asked him if he had any words or intentions he wished me to remind him of at that time. The majority of first time clients requested no words. Many of my regular clients wished me to speak to them of issues that were significant in their lives. I ended the information-giving segment of the preparation by telling the new client that the goal of his massage was not ejaculation but a “full-body orgasm.” At that time, I explained the term “full-body orgasm” in Taoist terms as intense sexual energy circulating within and around the body. Now I explain it as a feeling state involving both interest-excitement and enjoyment-joy. (See Tomkins’ affect theory in Chapter Three.) Furthermore, I explained that the session was not about connecting with me; the goal of the session was for him to go deep within himself, and to savor that experience.

After this “educational” preparation for the massage, I invited my client to do a few minutes of stretching with me. The more relaxed the man was before he got on the massage table, the deeper his experience would be. Most of the stretches I chose helped relax the muscles of the neck and shoulders where men carry a lot of tension. After the man undressed, he lay face down on my massage table. For the next forty-five minutes, I gave him a deep, nonsexual oil massage on the entire back of his body.

Then, after he turned over, I guided him in rhythmic breathing during the whole massage on front of the body. At all times, at least one of my hands was stroking and caressing this man’s genitals. The other hand massaged the front of the body, manipulating muscles with an emphasis on the middle of the chest, the heart center. I massaged the heart as the symbolic location of the man’s affective connections. My goal during this part of the massage was to generate enormous amounts of sexual excitement in the genitals. This sexual excitement was then circulated throughout the man’s body both by my massage and by his fast breathing. Taoists consider the genitals to be “generators” of “erotic energy,” or ching chi (Chang, 1977; Chia, 1984; Chang, 1986). 

During the next half hour, I used over thirty different genital massage strokes to keep the man’s attention in present time. (These strokes will be detailed in Chapter Six.) If the man had instructed me in what he wished to be reminded of as the erotic charge built in his body, I spoke his sentiments to him as I massaged him. I then guided him through the Big Draw. I allowed him sufficient time to savor the deep states of bliss and joy that followed the clenching. The session ended with the client and I speaking about our experiences.