The action of holding something in a cupped shape; also a traditional medical treatment where glass or bamboo cups are applied to the skin to improve blood flow and heal pain.
From cup plus the present participle suffix '-ing'. The medical practice comes from ancient Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Greek medicine dating back thousands of years.
Cupping was so trusted in ancient medicine that Hippocrates described it in detail, and it appears in Egyptian papyri—modern athletes like Michael Phelps brought it back to attention, showing how ancient wisdom keeps cycling through healthcare.
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