Japanese Acupuncture

[Guest guest]

> Chinese Medicine , " Dr. Holmes Keikobad "

> <acuheal@e...> wrote:

>> located by palpation

> > and

> > the degree to which a reflex is released.

> >

>

 

On rereading this post, I think I see the source. Was this from Kiiko

Matsumoto? She

studies with Nagano sensei who IIRC is blind.

 

Always good to name the source, or particular association, in talking about

Japanese

acupuncture techniques. Saying " Japanese acupuncture " is a bit like saying

" bodywork " or " chiropractic " -- there are more than a hundred practitioner's

associations, each with a different set of techniques. For example, there is an

association (Zen Nihon Shiraku Gakkai or something like that) devoted entirely

to

bloodletting techniques. A lot of acupuncturists take seminars from different

associations, so there is a lot of overlap and mixing techniques.

 

So from my point of view, when someone talks about " Japanese acupuncture " , or

" the

Japanese style " (as if there was only one), it is meaningless. Japanese

acupuncture is a

convenient marketing handle for people who use weak-stim methods, because that

is

what has come over to the West. But talking to people who studied with

Takenouchi

sensei, for example, with his " long needle " methods (DEEP insertion) or reading

Hiromi Matsumoto's excellent series of articles in NAJOM (in one he treats

lateral

cervical spine problems by deep insertion in the front of the neck) will give

you a taste

of the other side of the story. Ask Japanese acupuncturists what Japanese

acupuncture is, and you won't get the same answer from any two of them -- unless

it

is that there is no such thing.

 

But it can still be kind of frustrating to deal with -- I routinely get calls

from people

who previously had " Japanese Acupuncture " and they even have a diagnosis, like

" Triple Warmer Flowing Backwards " or some such thing. All I can say is, " Well,

you got

me there, but I have dedicated myself to studying Japanese Keiraku Chiryo for

over a

decade, so maybe I can help in some way. "

 

Look at Skya Abbate's book, for example: she routinely refers to " the Japanese

style "

and says things like inner thigh compression is the first examination Japanese

style

practitioners will perform -- her book was the first I've heard of it. Maybe I

need to

get out more.

 

Anyway, I'm ranting, and don't want to come off as snotty -- just airing a pet

peeve.

If you study with someone who teaches " Japanese acupuncture " and you want to

tell

us about it, by all means do but please tell us who taught you and if possible

who

taught them.

 

</RANT>

 

 

robert hayden

http://jabinet.net