Thursday, June 14, 2007

Rub It In


There is a liniment from the Chinese apothecary called dit da jow. This is a vile-smelling, alcohol-based, Coca-Cola-colored concoction with bits of grit floating in it. It is applied to bruises, sometimes used as an antiseptic, though one is supposed to avoid putting it on cuts, and is designed to help injuries heal faster.

It is full of ground-up or burned herbs, and tends to get better with age. Ideally, one mixes up a batch of it, bottles it, and sticks it in the dark for several years before use.

In kung-fu circles, this is usually just called jow.

In silat circles, there is a similar ointment, Balur Tjimande, and while similar to jow, instead of being completely alcohol-based, has coconut oil added, which means it is solid at room temperature. It liquifies at about ninety-degrees F., so to use it from a bottle, one sticks in into a sink of hot water, or pops it into the microwave oven for twenty seconds or so.

The advantage of balur is that the oil allows for a more vigorous application.

The most potent of these balurs is supposedly made so by the addition to the herbs and ashes of a pinch of dust from Mas Kahir's tomb, Kahir being the man credited with the founding of the silat art Tjimande (also spelled "Cimande.")

In the case of bruises, one applies the balur and rubs it into the flesh with vigor -- "vigor" here meaning painful ...

I have used this several times in the last few years and it seems to work. Early on, I was skeptical as to its efficacy, having been trained a bit in western medicine. I figured that the main curative was the massage and not the liniment. So when I got what appeared to be two identical bruises on my forearms, I did an unscientific test of sorts:

One bruise got balur, applied thrice daily and massaged in. The other bruise got plain oil, applied and worked in likewise. I tried to use the same pressure and duration on both bruises.

The balur-treated contusion cleared up three days before the oiled one.

Hardly a double-blind, and no, I wasn't running a stop watch or checking with a pressure gauge, but it was good enough for me. I love the placebo-effect. If I only think I feel good? I'll take it.

I've decided to try using this on my right hand's tendonitis, so that I might more quickly resume climbing the rope and working my way to Tarzan status.

The best balurs I have come across were made by Mushtaq Ali al Ansari, a silat teacher of some renown, and by Dan Gambiera and his lovely spouse, using more or less the same recipe. These were done in small batches, and while I think Mushtaq has sold out his supply. Dan might still have a few bottles from his most recent brewing, and you can contact him here,
In case you are interested ...

24 comments:

jaymo said...

If that's not an open door. I have some to offer out as well. I received the recipe that Mushtaq and Todd use and it's a good batch.
"With vigor," yeah, that's the ticket.
Take care,
Jay

Steve Perry said...

Hear the man -- if you can't get it from the link I put up and you want it, give Jay a holler.

Might want to put up an email address, Jay, for anybody interested.

Dan Gambiera said...

Just be sure to rub towards the heart, not away.

Dan Gambiera said...

Just to explain that last note...

Mushtaq's balur includes anticoagulants. They really do break up bruises, including deep ones. No, Bobbe, not Deep Ones. That's the Elder Sign you're thinking of. If you massage towards the extremities the stagnant blood will pool there. We told one of our students. He didn't listen. It looked kind of grisly.

Jay said...

me: ksma.dsm@gmail.com
I have instructions printed on the bottle as well. Rubbing toward the heart is most certainly one!
Thanks,
Jay

Bobbe Edmonds said...

Oh believe me, I know all about Deep Ones, and which way to rub them as well.

Have you bychance tried the Cimande Balur I gave you? It has been sitting for almost a year & should be good and ready by now.

Dan Gambiera said...

Yep. It worked wonderfully. The only thing I wonder about is the odd taste in the back of the mouth after using it. No joke. A few seconds after rubbing the stuff onto the skin there really is a strange flavor.

Steve Perry said...

DMSO?

steve-vh said...

Jay, I was just looking for your ebay listing yesterday for a MMA fighter here at work. I gave him a bit to try and now he wants some. But now he's cheap and balking at the price. I told him I'd sell him my Jow at a much lower price ;-) Since I never use it, having been enlightened about Balur.

Bobbe Edmonds said...

>"DMSO?"<

Probably SMTP with an HTTP protocol.

Steve, you can't just throw an anagram out there and not qualify it. It's...Unprofessional.

That taste is common, although the Indonesians say they don't notice it at all...Just us palefaces. When I mentioned it to Bam, he looked at me and asked if I was stupid enough to actually DRINK it. I replied that I was indeed that stupid, but that's not what happened this time. Also, all the other Americans who went last year noticed the same thing. But since the recipe is a secret, I have no idea what goes into that stuff. I only know that it works.

Dan Gambiera said...

Jay, where is your balur advertised on ebay? Haven't seen it or anything like it while searching.

Jay said...

Steve (V-H)-
I have an eBay listing for the Balur?
Hey, Mushtaq told me what to ask for the stuff. It does take some time to make and it's not that easy.
have the guy shoot me an email.
I suppose Todd just gives his away? ;-)

Steve Perry said...

Sorry, Kid, I keep forgetting you are but an egg not ready to grok stuff yet.

DMSO -- Dimethyl Sulfoxide is a solvent used in making paper. Very volitile and able to penetrate skin easily. Some years ago, folks discovered it could be used as an anti-inflammatory, among other things.

Put you finger in it, and in a couple seconds, you can taste it.
Kind of garlicky.

Mix it with something, you can absorb it, so it's useful -- and dangerous.

Back the day, you mixed DMSO and LSD -- you need me to define that one, too? -- put it in a squirt gun and then sent folks on a trip ...

Steve Perry said...

Plus, I was being a little facetious -- if you had DMSO in any quantity in your balur, chances are it would make you sick, if it didn't kill you ...

Steve Perry said...

Aaannnd ...

Better I clarify that last bit: The DMSO wouldn't make you sick, you can drink the stuff, rub it on, no problem. But what it might carry with it from the balur would be not-so-good systemically.

Dan Gambiera said...

It was an odd herbal taste, not the garlicky oniony DMSO flavor. Puts me in mind of a warehouse accident that came into the ER when I worked there many years ago. DMSO + fertilizer :-O The doctors had no idea what to do, so they turfed him to the University of Washington where he died horribly a little while later.

Actually, it turned out the DMSO is bad for you. The reason it relieves pain is that it destroys myelin.

Jay, actually I end up giving more away than I do selling. Part of the licensing deal with Mushtaq was that Mushtaq and Guru Plinck got a free lifetime supply. Besides it makes a great base for a curry sauce! Note to everyone: For the love of Cthulhu don't use it to cook with!!!

Jay said...

Todd-
If and when you do sell it, what's your rate as I don't want to under cut you.
Also, I was told in a firm voice not to use it as a sexual aid or on open wounds.
Love Cthulu?

Steve Perry said...

Hey, hey! We do martial arts here, no marital arts!
Next thing you guy are gonna be trying to hawk dildos and blow-up dolls. Ix-nay!

Anonymous said...

When I was a machinist apprentice during my misspent youth, I learned that the CURE FOR EVERYTHING is WD-40. (External use only!)

Steve Perry said...

Duct tape, for when it moves and it shouldn't; WD-40, for when it doesn't move, and it should.

Things you seldom hear a southerner say: You cain't fix that with duct tape.

Famous Last Words of southerners:

Here, hold my beer, lemme show you something ...

Anonymous said...

I am looking ot purchase some good balur oil. Please contact me at waylee@hawaii.rr.com.

Thanks,

Wayne

Anonymous said...

I am looking for sources of good balur oil. Please email me at waylee@hawaii.rr.com

Thanks,

Wayne

Anonymous said...

I am interested in Balur. I have just started Cimande and forearm and shin conditioning; and jow is inferior and sometimes toxic. Thank you very much!

Kind Regards,

Taoist Tornado vvscoloredstones@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Still have any Balur available? Thanks

Taoist Tornado
Vvscoloredstones@gmail.com