Acupuncture Styles, Fundamental Concepts, Intro to Categories, Intro to Six Levels

Course Overview

• Instructor: Jason D. Robertson, assisted by Margot Couraud and Kathy Taromina.

• Class structure: Lecture and hands-on sessions, including quizzes and tests.

Acupuncture Styles

• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) school of thought includes:

  • Neijing and Nanjing

  • Non-Chinese styles

  • Modern innovations

• Common acupuncture styles in the US:

  • Five-Element Acupuncture

  • Japanese Acupuncture

  • Korean (SAAM) Acupuncture

  • Neuroacupuncture

Fundamental Concepts

• Yin-Yang: Represents balance between substance (yin) and action (yang); essential for understanding Qi (氣).

• Qi: The smallest functional unit, connecting organs and environment.

• Five Phases: Analyze and categorize Qi dynamics (fire, earth, metal, water, wood).

Channels and Points

• Channels unify organs and disease with treatment; they are involved in life and death decisions according to TCM texts.

• Points are defined by their surrounding structures, categorized by:

  • Location and effective flow concentration.

  • Importance of precise point location.

Measurement System

• Proportional measurements of the body (cun system) crucial for locating acupuncture points accurately:

  • E.g., distance between anterior and posterior hairlines = 12 cun.

• Hand measurements used by practitioners for precision.

Specific Acupuncture Points

• Key points include:

  • LU-5 (Sea Point)

  • LU-7 (Collateral Point)

  • LU-9 (Source Point)

  • LU-10 (Spring Point)

  • LU-11 (Well Point)