The massage was also widely spread among the population of Indonesia. It was used in the form of a general or local effect and included kneading, pressing, rubbing and stroking techniques.

Already in the 6th century BC, in ancient China, there were medical gymnastic schools for the training of doctors, where massage was taught as one of the disciplines.

Hieroglyphic inscriptions on sarcophagi and pyramids, and ancient papyri, indicate that 4000 years BC. e. The ancient Assyrians, Persians, and Egyptians used massage for therapeutic and health purposes.

A clear mention of massage can be traced in the writings of Hippocrates (460-377 BC):
“In many things, the physician must be experienced, and no less so in massage, for massage can bind a joint that is too loose and soften a joint that is too tight. Rubbing causes contraction or relaxation of the tissues, leads to fullness or emaciation, soft, gentle and moderate rubbing thickens the tissues, and dry and frequent rubbing tightens them.”

In the countries of the East, the outstanding scientist Avicenna (Ibn Sina) in his works “The Canon of Medicine” and “The Book of Healing” described a strengthening, relaxing, preparatory, restorative massage. In India and China, massage was performed by priests.

Massage has been known since ancient times. In China, it is described as 3000 years before Christ, and in India 700 years. The Romans used massage after fights to destroy bruises and traumatic edema on the body. In Greece, since the time of Hippocrates, massage has been regarded as a remedy that truly and well helps with many diseases.

The disciples of Hippocrates point out that massage serves as a temporary remedy for destroying effusions and thickenings in the tissues. In the first centuries of Christianity, massage was abandoned, it was even expelled, they looked at it as a remnant of paganism. Only 300 years ago, the works of doctors on massage began to appear again, in which its healing properties were indicated for many sufferings of the joints, paralysis, and other diseases.

The first who seriously studied the influence of massage and body movements on the human body and spirit was the Swedish doctor Peter Heinrich Ling, born in 1776. Ling, the son of a priest, was preparing to continue his father's activities. After completing a course at the University of Uppsala, he left for Europe, accompanying his noble compatriot.

On the way, Ling fell ill, according to the description, with rheumatism, for which he was treated by many famous doctors, but did not receive a cure. In Copenhagen, Ling met two French emigrants and took fencing lessons from them. Fencing eased his rheumatic pains, after which he devoted himself entirely to the study of gymnastics, carefully and comprehensively familiarizing himself with anatomy and physiology, and wrote a gymnastics textbook.

Further, through long labours, Ling opened the Central Royal Institute of Gymnastics in Stockholm, which exists to this day. Day after day, people in need of treatment gather within its walls, school-age children to practice pedagogical gymnastics, and students to study gymnastics.

Ling mainly studied the question of the theory of movements, while massage owes its development to Dr. Metzger from Germany. He, by his personal, highly successful work on the sick, made the whole of Europe talk about himself and gained many followers in the person of outstanding doctors.

Centuries passed, and in the middle of the 19th century, thanks to the work and experience of many scientists, doctors, clinicians, massage received scientific justification as a method of treatment and healing of the body. And in our dynamic time, massage treatment has taken a strong position in medicine, many outstanding doctors in different parts of the world are engaged in it.