What are Meridians/Channels?

[Guest guest]

Hi All, & Jimmy,

 

Jimmy Symmonds wrote an apparently innocuous, if not " stupid "

question: " What are Meridians/Channels? "

 

Practitioners who do NOT treat animals may wonder about Jimmy's

professional background! Is he for real? I assure them that Jimmy

is no dunce, and no novice in his field! Hey, he works in one of the

greatest seats of learning in the world - Oxford.

 

Jimmy continued:

> This has huge practical implications especially for those using

> acupuncture/herbal medicine on non-humans – we have based most of

> our field (veterinary acupuncture and herbal medicine) on the early

> western texts that emphasised an “energetics” aspect. We have just

> adopted and transposed the human literature out there. I can see

> the Chinese have a different conceptual model of health/disease.

> But do we all agree on the basic structures involved? Is there

> agreement on the nature of meridians? Jimmy

 

I agree with Jimmy. The problem for us [vets] is that:

 

(a) There are VERY few old texts in Chinese on animal

acupuncture/herbalism relative to human AP/herbalism. For

example there seem to be NO old texts on AP in dogs/cats or

primates.

 

(b) The few available Chinese texts [or their translations] on AP in

domestic animals [horse, ox, sheep, pig, elephant, camel and

goat] are crude, disjointed, contradictory and utterly confusing. No

Channels are described - only isolated acupoints whose names,

locations and uses differ not only BETWEEN species, but also

WITHIN a given species. Also, many of the AP techniques

[bleeding, fire needles, scarring moxa, etc] are totally unacceptable

in western, animal-welfare-minded society.

 

© Although I am not familiar with the Chinese texts on animal

herbalism, I suspect that the problems are the same as in AP.

 

And now to the dilemma. How can one make a Channel Dx, Five-

Element Dx, Six-Level Dx, etc, if the Channels & pathways (and

their implied relationships to Five Elements, Six Levels, etc) are

not recognised?

 

How can one use the Command Points [shu-Mu, Yuan-Luo,

Element Pts [Mother-Son-Grandfather], Xi, Hour, and Influential

Points, if THEY are not recognised?

 

How does one use Herbs active on the LV, HT or SP Channel etc,

if those Channels are not recognised?

 

But, Yehuda, here is where the heretics shine [and not with the

flames of their immolation!]. Pioneering AP vets [Milin in Paris,

Kothbauer in Austria, Westermayer in Germany] decided to use

human transposition in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

 

Then came Nixon's visit to China in 1972. That opened the

floodgates for great interest in AP not only in USA, but in Europe

also.

 

Grady Young, Marvin Cain and David Jaggar founded IVAS [intnl

Vet AP Soc] in 1974, and other pioneers like Shelly Altman [and

several non-vets] supported their endeavours to spread the word,

and train colleagues in their methods.

 

The rest is history. Today, every state in the developed world has

its Vet AP Soc, most affiliated formally, or informally, with IVAS.

And many new recruits are applying for IVAS-approved training

each year.

 

But we (vets) have real problems:

 

(1) TCVM Shu points in horses have a DIFFERENT SEQUENCE

along the spine than those from direct transposition from human

charts [even allowing for the difference between 18 ribs v 12 ribs]

 

(2) Dominique Giniaux, IMO the greatest expert in equine

osteopathy in the world, has written a little book, " What the Horses

have told Me " [a translation from his original book, in French].

Having treated tens of thousands of horses (with great success),

Dominique has documented the paravertebral REFLEX (diagnostic)

points. Some of his points agree with the locations of the TCVM

Shu points, others with the transposition points, and some with

neither system.

 

(3) Are Thoresen, a Norwegian Vet, has treated huge numbers of

horses with a unique 1 or 2 needle method using mainly the Ting

(Jing-Well) points in horses. Are found these points by his unique

method of pulse Dx (HIS temporal pulse).

 

The medial-to-lateral sequence of their locations at the hoof-hair

junction of the equine digit correspond with the medial-to-lateral

sequence of the human Channels at the wrist and ankles.

 

I can verify [having seen Are work, and having used " his " locations

for the terminal points] that his method can be amazingly effective

in horses. Other expert horse vets, including Dominique, Marvin

Cain & Emiel van den Bosch (and many others), agree that Are's

locations for the Ting Points are accurate for Dx and Tx use in their

experience.

 

So where can we go from here? In spite of disagreements on point

locations, Channels, etc, several different methods and concepts

are proving to be of great clinical value in vet AP practice. The

heretics [wizards and witches] are winning, even if they disagree

amongst themselves on some aspects of their craft.

 

Which brings me to a question on this and other lists: " What is

Medicine " - is it an Art, Science, or both. IMO, it is MUCH more an

Art than a Science, an art that leaves gret scope for creativity,

ingenuity, and (most importantly), Yi/the Intention to heal and the

CONVICTION that healing WILL happen - the most basic attribute

of the Magician/Shaman.

 

So, back to Jimmy's question: " What are Meridians/Channels? "

and how should vets use TCM herbs if the infrastructure does not

exist.

 

And a final question: How is it that horses respond very well to

CHM Formulas at doses that are only a fraction of those that one

would expect in relation to human doses/kg bodyweight. The few

[western] vets that are experienced in CHM in horses all seem to

agree on that point - small herbal doses are often very effective in

horses.

 

As far as I know, these colleagues use herbs in the same way [and

with the same TCM reasoning] as practitioners of TCM in humans.

There are some exceptions. For example, Bohe-Menthae Hb and

Mahuang-Ephedrae Hb are not used because thay would show on

dope tests at the race-track.

 

So, fellow professionals in human practice, " What are

Meridians/Channels? " , and what is their importance, if any, in

medicine.

Best regards,

 

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