Then he taught her to practise qi gong (which literally means 'energy exercise') herself, in which breathing and posture are most important. By placing our bodies in the correct posture, Mak says, our muscles and organs will be relaxed, allowing breathing to become smooth. Oxygen circulation is improved, reaching our nerves, joints and organs, making them stronger, he says. A year after adopting qi gong practices, Mahony returned to her American doctors in Boston. 'They were flabbergasted at how I had managed to confound such a debilitating illness and triumph with the aid of something as simple as qi gong,' she wrote in her book, Indispensable Qi Gong For People On The Go.

Mak likes to cultivate an air of mystery about his treatment. He says the massage is a lost secret remedy, the practice of which was only permitted on Chinese emperors in ancient times.

Even so, Mak is happy to discuss his powers. He administers the massage in sessions lasting 45 minutes and costing $350. 'Through the massage, I direct the person's internal accumulated useful energy to the area of injury or weakness to heal,' he says.

The walls of his Causeway Bay clinic are plastered with newspaper interviews and he's every inch the snappy dresser in his Armani shirt, a far cry from the traditional, low-key, Chinese medicine practitioners of old. His crowded rooms speak for themselves, regularly packed with patients ranging from Middle Eastern princes, he claims, to foreign ambassadors, celebrities, office workers and even Western medicine doctors.

Jean Francois Bednarek, 42, a French banker, came to see Mak after Western doctors failed to relieve his bone problems. 'I was in pain and couldn't walk,' he says. 'This was very effective, even after just one visit I had no more pain.'

Mak says he once treated a woman for muscle problems caused by working too much at her computer. Western doctors had said her muscles had 'died' and that surgery was required. Mak says he used qi gong massage to stimulate her acupoints and revive her muscles. Seven days later, she returned to her doctor, who pronounced her cured and no longer needing surgery.

Mak believes in the unlimited healing powers of his massage to cure all kinds of problems, from frozen shoulders and insomnia to asthma and rheumatism. Mak - who has no formal Western medical training - doesn't need X-rays, using his hands instead to feel acupoints where he says all health problems are reflected.

Mak acquired his knowledge from two teachers: a monk and a herbalist. His path to qi gong began as a small boy in Mongkok, when he met a long-haired monk aged in his 70s. He had a vast knowledge of tai chi, martial arts, qi gong and therapeutic massage. The old man treated people for free, his patients giving him peanuts, fruit and sweets in return. 'He asked me to help him grind the herbs and gave me peanuts and fruit,' recalls Mak, adding that because he was poor, he was glad of the food. Over the next 10 years, Mak learned everything the old man could teach him. But when the lad was 17, the monk told him he was leaving for his old home in north China. 'I didn't know what he meant,' recalls Mak. 'I thought he was only returning back home. Later, I was told he had died.'

Anxious to continue his apprenticeship, Mak was introduced by his grandmother to Pang Hong, a herbalist on Cheung Chau whom he describes as 'strange'. Pang agreed to teach him if he could 'put up with the hardships'. Every day at 4am, Mak trudged up the island's foggy hills with Pang to pick herbs, hoe in hand and lugging a basket. He worked hard, often enduring discomfort as part of his lessons, which sometimes involved licking herbs to determine whether or not they were toxic. If he was unlucky, his tongue would swell and he would have to brew a special tea to get rid of the poison.

At the age of 25, Mak took the plunge and became a Chinese medicine practitioner, opening a grocery store on Cheung Chau and treating people for free in a back room. 'People didn't trust me because I was so young, so I cured them for free to attract patients,' he says. It worked: his reputation spread and soon people from all over Hong Kong came to see him.

In 1991, he transferred his clinic to a small room in Wan Chai and was so busy that four years later, he was able to upgrade again, this time to the current 1,300-square-foot clinic in Causeway Bay.

There has been change on the home front, too. In 1997, success enabled him to swap the 300-sq-ft flat he shared with his wife and three children on Cheung Chau for 700 sq ft in Taikoo Shing. With the change of location came a change of image.

'I used to wear a white T-shirt and China-made cloth shoes,' he recalls. 'But many people looked down on me and I felt insulted.' So he started to dress smartly and commanded more respect. These days, it's Armani shirts and a full appointment book, with up to 60 patients a day and an income of $70,000 to $90,000 a month.

Now that he's a wealthy man, what is more important - making money or helping people? He is shocked at the question and pauses before answering: 'Some people offer $3,000 to $5,000 for me to massage them for two hours, but I usually refuse. It is meaningless, I don't like it. I prefer using the same time to heal more people.' That, he says, is where the satisfaction lies, and it is priceless.

Contact Mak Chung-man at 2893 7533.

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