Walking into Chuck Duff’s studio in south Evanston, you might be surprised to learn it’s a classroom. Mats and Thai decorations replace desks and blackboards. Some of Duff’s students are local residents, but many come from all over the country – not to study engineering or sociology, but Thai massage, a technique that has been known to the Western world for only 20 years.

“A lot of people who have had Thai massage don’t want to go back to any other kind,” Duff said. “It’s very therapeutic.”

Thai massage focuses on compression of the energy lines of the body, involves quite a bit of stretching and is usually done on a mat on the floor. It’s often called “lazy man’s yoga” because the client plays a very passive role and lets the therapist stretch and work his body. Duff said Thai massage is especially attractive for athletes, yoga teachers and students, and people who suffer from chronic pain.

“The basic idea is that energy flows through the body.” Duff said. “(What Thai massage) is doing is influencing the flow of energy through the body and allowing it to flow freely so that you can be healthy. Health is the state of the free flow of energy.”

Duff began doing yoga, which is closely related to Thai massage, as a teenager. He founded the school, Thai Bodywork, 537 Custer Ave., in 2001 after working with a yoga teacher who also practiced Thai massage. Thai Bodywork is the only school with a fully developed curriculum in the Chicago area. Few people have heard of Thai massage, but Duff says more interest has developed in the last three to four years.

“A lot of people are interested in this work because it’s a very different philosophy – the idea is that it should be good for the practitioner as well as for the receiver,” Duff said. “In terms of the clientele, they like it because it’s more active and you feel more energized. You don’t feel knocked out, like you might after a regular massage.”

The students come from all walks of life, but whether they’re massage therapists with tired hands or accountants seeking new direction, they start with a weekend-long “level one” training session. Later training sessions become longer – the second requires 40 hours over about five days, and the final session lasts 70 hours over eight to nine days.

Students can start massaging others after the first session, but to reach the “certified practitioner” level, they must complete 120 hours. Duff says he has trained 300 to 400 practitioners so far and that 50 to 60 students are now enrolled in his program.

Each session usually has 10 to 16 people, which Duff said is ideal. The school is adding more classes to accommodate increased demand.

“In the whole country, we have one of the most complete, if not the most complete, curriculums in this field,” Duff said.

Thai massage is also practical because Thai massage therapists can practice for their entire lives. Most traditional massage therapists practice for only three to five years because they frequently hurt their hands.

“I get a lot of massage therapists who are in trouble – their hands hurt and some of them aren’t even out of school.” Duff said. “(Thai massage) is a way for them to save their hands.”

For one of Duff’s most advanced students, Denise Andresen of Lake Forest, massage was a second career and a change in lifestyle. Before she quit practicing law six years ago, she was in the hospital emergency room twice a year for back pain. After starting a yoga routine, her back pain diminished and she decided to try Thai massage. Since then, she has helped her clients and family members experience the same healing effect that Thai massage had on her while continuing to learn new skills.

“Thai (massage) is so complicated,” Andresen said. “There’s so many steps. To be excellent I have to keep training.”

Thai Bodywork assistant instructor Betsy Trapasso discovered Thai massage three years ago on a trip to Thailand. As a psychotherapist, she decided she wanted to use the techniques on her clients and found that the massage helped them relax. She’s also used it on hospice patients, who don’t have to leave their beds to receive the massage.

“It’s more invigorating (than a traditional Swedish massage),” Trapasso said. “It’s a completely different experience.”

Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].