ACTCM student Brenda Hatley on the U.S. Wushu Team

A student at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine has won a spot on the U.S. Wushu team. Her name is Brenda Hatley and you can read all about her at this website.

The U.S. Wushu Team is not super well-funded, so if you can please make a donation so that Brenda can go compete at the Wushu World Games in Turkey this fall!

There is a lot of cross-over between the worlds of martial art and Chinese medicine. Both developed from the same philosophical framework of Yin and Yang, the five phases, bagua, and so on. Many famous martial arts masters were also Chinese medicine doctors. Two that come to mind are Wong Fei Hung and Wang Ziping.

Wong Fei Hung has been portrayed extensively in film and television but is most famous in the U.S. from the Once Upon a time in China film series starring Jet Li. The movies are a lot of fun to geek out to if you are a fan of both martial arts and Chinese medicine - Wong is seen doing martial arts heroics and saving lives with acupuncture. There is even a scene where he educates Western doctors in acupuncture.

Wang Ziping (1881-1973) of Cangzhou in Hebei province, and was an expert in several martial arts including bajiquan, piguaquan and xingyiquan. He was also an expert bone-setter and traumatologist. You can learn more about him at this website. His daughter Wang Jurong also became a well-known martial artist, and his granddaughters are also continuing the family tradition.

My martial arts teacher, Dr. Alex Feng, is also a Chinese medicine doctor, and was my original inspiration for going into the Chinese medicine field. Tom Bisio and Frank Butler are both martial artists with successful Chinese medicine practices, and Tom Bisio wrote a popular book on how to treat martial arts and other sports injuries using Chinese medicine. The list goes on and on.

As a practical matter, knowledge of the body and how it moves is essential in both martial arts and medicine. Observation, timing and sensitivity are all skills that are strengthened and reinforced by cross-training in martial arts and Chinese medicine. If you're studying one, consider studying the other as well.

Mao Zedong's Gold Needle Treatment

Watch this video in full-screen HD on youtube

Apparently Mao Zedong was treated for some kind of eye condition with golden needles. The tour guide mentions "jin zhen (something something)" - the jin zhen is 金针, but all that means is that the needles used were made from or more likely coated with gold. The second part of the phrase probably describes what was being done with the needles. If anyone knows what she's talking about please let me know!

I took this video at some kind of "Chinese medicine center" which was way out in the middle of nowhere near the Ming Tombs, north of Beijing. I had exactly the experience of Acupuncture Carl - you can read his comment following Bob Flaw's post here. They wouldn't write me a prescription but said I should spend 350rmb for some pills, which is like US$50. No thanks! I never pay retail for herbs if I can help it.

Case Study: My Shoulder

This isn't actually a full-length case study, considering that I didn't really have to do much to fix the problem. Basically, I went to Kenpo study on Monday night and somehow threw out my shoulder. By the time I got home, it was really painful and nearly impossible for me to move my arm behind me and away from my body. I was too lazy to needle myself, so I opted to use an herbal medicated plaster instead.

That first night I used 701 Plaster, which I found in the past to be very useful for pains related to bone structure and joints. I woke up the next morning with it still kind of sore, and proceeded to go about my day at the office. By the end of the day my shoulder hadn't improved much in terms of range of motion or pain sensitivity, so I tried Wu Yang Plaster instead.

I placed a piece of that sticky herbalicious magic on my shoulder directly over the site of pain, and when I woke up this morning it was so much better. I put on a fresh patch after my shower and have continued to wear it all day. Right now I don't feel any shoulder pain at all with normal movement, and only minimally when I try to throw a forceful lock-out punch in the air. Even stretching my arm out and clasping my hands behind my back doesn't produce any pain. Yay!

The interesting thing is that I currently have 5 - count 'em 5! - patients who all have this same type of shoulder pain. They all developed the pain from doing different things, with two of them from doing nothing at all and suspecting it's from sleeping funny. I wonder if shoulder pain can be contagious? All I know is, everyone is going to be prescribed Wu Yang Plaster this week.

Herbal Remedies for your Gym Bag

Our poor neglected blog is coming back! Take a look at this article featuring Tom Bisio and Frank Butler's Zheng Gu Tui Na physical medicine: Herbal Remedies for your Gym Bag.

Fat Turtle Herb Company carries most of the products mentioned in the article, so give us a buzz at orders@fatturtleherbs.com or 310-691-5226 if you want to try these in the clinic or for yourself.

Nini and I will be attending the Zheng Gu Tui Na seminar in San Diego in a few weeks. This is excellent stuff to know and will be immediately useful in practice. I actually met Tom Bisio when I was working at Kamwo - he seems like a nice guy.

Dr. Xu Jun Ming of Monterey Park, Die Da Expert

Hey this is Jonah and two days ago I too got a treatment at the hands (literally) of Dr. Xu Jun Ming. Nini previously posted about how we found Dr. Xu and her treatment. Tuesday we were back for a follow-up and I got to thinking about the strained muscle in my back that was bothering me.

Usually pain doesn't stick too closely to me, but this muscle strain wasn't going away for two to three weeks, and thoughts of mortality began creeping in (does this mean I'm "old"? If I had been doing yoga every morning would it not have happened?). So I took the 3 pm appointment.

We all went into the treatment room and Dr. Xu turned to face me.

"So, what's your problem?"

I described it to him - a nagging soreness to the left of my spine in the midback region, difficulty twisting, some sacral pain. After about one minute of questions, he had me lie down and started palpation. Does it hurt here? How about here? More here? Or here?

"Mm," he said. "Muscles problem."

Then the treatment: 20 minutes of continuous intense tui na with hands like iron. Following that, 4-5 stationary cups left on for about 10 minutes - I'm not sure, I dozed off. Then finished with electroacupuncture directly into the affected muscle - six needles in all, all hooked up to leads, pulsing strongly and regularly and making the muscle jump for another 20-30 minutes.

"Is it too strong?"

"Well, it's hard to tell. It feels pretty strong, but it's okay."

"Sometimes it feels strong in the beginning, and then not so bad." He left the room.

The electroacupuncture felt like six strong dwarves punching me in unison. For half an hour. It didn't stop feeling strong, but it wasn't excruciatingly painful either. Afterwards I felt very sore, but good.

The next day, Wednesday, I felt even more sore. Even after graduating from an acupuncture program, I had the same treasonous thoughts most patients have: "my god, what did he do to me? I'm worse than before!"

Oh ye of little faith. Today I feel great. The muscle is noticeably looser, the pain is nearly gone. Go get acupuncture for all your aches and pains. Do it now, don't be afraid.

Case Study: More of My Foot

Remember my foot injury about six months ago? It's mostly healed now; I would say about 90% healed, but every now and then it gets kind of funky. So I decided to find a good die da doctor to help me out.

A search on the Chinese yellow pages under 跌打 led me to 許俊明，醫師 Xu Jun Ming, PhD, LAc. Yesterday, he took a look at my foot and said, "needles are not going to help this." He proceeded to tui na the heck out of my ankle in a two-inch square space, producing a pain which I wasn't even aware could possibly exist before. He then moved on to a one-inch square space on the inside arch of my foot, complete with this popping thing he did similar to snapping his fingers, except that my foot was wedged in-between.

After about 30 minutes of solid tendon work, he grabbed my foot with two hands and manipulated the joint back into place, sending a shock of blinding pain followed by a sensation that can only be described as the best my foot has felt in months. I asked him what he thought was causing the problem, and he said that my joint was slightly dislocated. Had I gone to get imaging, he suspects that they would not be able to find anything wrong with it because nothing is fractured or severed and the joint is not grievously dislocated. According to him, it was ever so slightly off, and when he popped it back into proper alignment, I believed every word he said.

He finished with a hand-made herbal plaster that he mixed up in the treatment room next door as I waited, and came back with two patches that he placed over the spots he had done tui na to. He expertly bandaged my foot into middle position with some gauze, and I was told to stay off of it for the next two days.

I'll be going back to see him on Tuesday, and will let you know how it goes! In the meantime, if you need a recommendation for a good TCM traumatologist and physical medicine specialist, try this guy:

John Jun Ming Xu, PhD, LAc
617 S. Atlantic Blvd. #C
Monterey Park, CA 91754

Call for an appointment: 626-300-8986

"I Don't Believe In Acupuncture"

Beach Community Acupuncture has a good piece today on people who think you have to "believe in acupuncture" for it to work. In my opinion, you do have to believe in acupuncture for it to work, just as you have to believe in any other medical treatment for it to work. In the dominant scientific-technological paradigm of the 21st century, most of us are brought up with a specific set of unquestionable beliefs. In fact, to question some of these beliefs is considered completely unexplainable and therefore "crazy."

For instance, everyone "knows" that when taking antibiotics, you have to take the full course, or utter mayhem will ensue.

Everyone "knows" that slipped disks, pinched nerves, muscle strains and other physical abnormalities are the cause of back pain, not an associated symptom (except this guy, I guess).

Everyone "knows" that HIV causes AIDS, and everyone "knows" that AIDS came to the U.S. accidentally from a guy who was bitten by a monkey in Africa.

For treatment to be successful, patients must accept acupuncturists into their established belief system. That's why all TCM schools in the U.S. require their student interns to wear white coats and take blood pressure readings - we wear a costume to create the association in a patient's mind to the established image of a doctor with the power and authority to heal their sickness. That image is incredibly powerful.

Your self has a natural tendency towards health. The body, mind and spirit are incredible organic systems that work in harmony with the inner and outer world. Medical systems are designed to remind you of that, to nudge you back towards health when you forget your own power. What have you forgotten?

Acupuncture Fire Treatment

Here's a special technique they don't teach you in school.

Book Review: Pulse Diagnosis

Here's another tribute to the Lakeside Master, Li Shi Zhen.

I've been on a book kick recently, and revisiting the Bin Hu Ma Xue, or Pulse Diagnosis book has been the best pick so far. It's so detailed! Reading this book makes me feel like I don't know anything, which is great. Makes me want to learn more.

For those who love charts, the appendix has charts of 32 different pulses (the 27 classic pulses developed by Li Shi Zhen, plus some variations) that describe the depth, strength, width, meaning behind the pulse, and explanation of the disease process for each of them. It also includes the English, Pin Yin, and Chinese characters for the pulses as well as a list of complicated diseases.

I've been using the book as a reference in clinic for the last month, and it's enriched my practice greatly. Did you know that there are seven different types of floating pulses, and five different types of sinking pulses? Based on that information alone, I've been much more observant of the pulse qualities when determining a diagnosis.

The Bin Hu Mai Xue was originally written in verse and is meant to be succinct. It does not describe in great detail what each of the pulses should feel like. For that, I would suggest referencing Bob Flaws' book, The Secret of Chinese Pulse Diagnosis for the standard TCM definitions, or for an extremely comprehensive exploration of the pulse, read Leon Hammer's Chinese Pulse Diagnosis: A Contemporary Approach.

My Foot

I know we promised you all diabetes, all the time for the month of November, but I have to take this rare opportunity to present you with a fresh case study.

My foot.

So, I was sparring in Kenpo class last Wednesday night when the most unfortunate thing happened. My right foot was forward, my left foot behind, and I was gearing up to punch this guy. As I was lunging forward, but before making any contact with my opponent, I heard a loud "SNAP" and I fell to the floor.

This is what happened:





It's amazing all the different colors the body can make!

I believe it's a severe ligament tear, though I haven't gotten the MRI to prove it. It's definitely not a broken bone, and nothing is completely severed as far as I can tell. The night it happened, I was fortunate enough to be near the clinic while it was still open, and Keven Uchida - a wonderful supervisor and orthopedic specialist - took a look at it. I also showed it to three different MD's who agreed that it's probably not broken. So don't worry. I know those of you out there who know me well and are concerned that I'm not taking the proper precautionary measures can rest assured that I'm not self-diagnosing... not entirely, anyway.

But I am self-treating, and it's been great!

Day One:

• 30 minutes on ice immediately after injury
  
• E-stim acupuncture at SI-3 and SI-4 on contralateral for 15 minutes
• Dr. Brady Chin's dit da jow all over top and bottom of foot
• San Huang San plaster made of huang qi, huang lian, da huang, pu gong ying, hong hua, and zhi zi powdered, mixed with just enough green tea to make a thick paste. Wrapped my foot loosely in gauze roll and medical tape overnight
• Five Photos Brand hit pill (these always make my heart a little thumpity, but work like a miracle every time)
  

Day Two:

• Woke up with no swelling and no bruising, but my skin around my foot was red. Removed plaster, and within five minutes my foot started to balloon. Reapplied dit da jow til dry, then another coat of plaster and gauze. The swelling went down immediately
• Needled contralateral hand sensitive points near SI-3, SI-4, LU-10, Luo Zhen, Yao Tong Xue, and SJ-4. Manually stimulated for 20 mins.
• Change of plaster and gauze overnight
• Jin Gu Die Da Pian patent pills for the pain
  

Day Three:

• Definite bruising! All blurple in color
  
• Acupuncture treatment at the clinic with Kumiko Yamamoto (wonderful intern, by the way). E-stim acupuncture with same points on contralateral hand. Additional points without e-stim: ST-36, SP-9, SP-10, LV-8, GB-34, and Yin Tang
• Epsom salt soak
• Plaster and gauze
• Jin Gu Die Da Pian
  

Day Four:

• More purple and green in color
  
• Epsom salt soak
• Moxabustion all around foot for 30 minutes
• Dit da jow
• Jin Gu Die Da Pian
  

Day Five, Day Six, and Day Seven

• I stopped using the plaster because my foot wasn't swollen; it had effectively kept the swelling to a minimal, and then no swelling at all. The bruising seemed to reach its climax around day six (the pics are from day five), and is now lightening around the edges
  
• Moxabustion 2 times a day over affected area on foot, and on reflective areas on the opposite foot. Also ST-36, SP-10, GB-34, UB-60, KD-1 on affected foot/leg.
• Acupressure on contralateral hand
• Jin Gu Die Da Pian
  

And here I am on day eight! I can move my foot fairly freely in all directions, and wiggle all my toes, but am still unable to put any weight on it. Throughout the week, I've been doing strengthening exercises with all my new-found spare time, flexing and extending through the ball of my foot and ankle. I can stand on it just long enough to pick my other foot off the floor, as long as I'm holding on to something for balance.

There is no swelling, but there's a significant amount of bruising all along the top of my foot, as though I've spilled a bucket of ink on it or something. It's kind of purple, kind of blue, kind of green all in one. It still hurts, but at least I'm sleeping through the night now and can get around on my crutches without it hurting due to movement.

All in all, a steady and fairly speedy recovery. I'm planning on using a tendon soak from here on out, coupled with the moxa, acupuncture and exercises. I'm not taking the pills anymore, since they're really dispersing and moving, and hope to be back on my feet in another week.

If you have any questions about the herbs I used or where to find such wonderful remedies, feel free to contact us!

What's That Smell?

It's called moxa! And it's a critical component of your acupuncture treatment.

If you've ever had an acupuncture treatment, you probably know what to expect: extremely thin, sterile needles inserted into your body at certain points, a gentle distending sensation, and relief from whatever you happen to be suffering from (as Chinese medicine professionals, we know that acupuncture treats almost everything, but not everyone shares our view. Here is a list from the World Health Organization of conditions acupuncture has been proven to treat effectively).

But there is another, equally important method of treatment that Chinese medicine doctors use. Moxa is the burning of dried mugwort leaves (艾叶 Ai Ye in Chinese, artemisia in Latin) on or near acupuncture points. Moxibustion stimulates acupuncture points in much the same way as acupuncture needles.

There are many different forms of moxa. The most common is the use of a moxa roll, seen above. There is also needle moxa, direct moxa, the ever-popular moxa box, and many many other variants. Most people report feeling a pleasant warming sensation. As with any technique involving heat, there is a slight chance of a burn, but in the hands of a licensed acupuncturist that chance drops to nearly zero.

Now, about that smell. Some people enjoy it, while others can barely tolerate it. It smells exactly like what it is: a fragrant dried leaf. Now there are some misguided people who think that it smells similar to marijuana, but it's actually quite different. But just in case your appointment is before work, you might want to ask for a note from your Chinese medicine doctor explaining why you smell the way you do.

Healing and the Mind

This is a clip from "Healing and the Mind", the PBS series from the early 90's, hosted by Bill Moyers. Moyers goes to China and sees first-hand the way qi, or universal life force energy, is utilized for healing and prevention, from daily exercises to in-patient treatments in hospitals. This excellent series is, amazingly, only available on VHS, making it something of a collector's item.

This particular clip bends towards the martial arts aspect of qi. Martial arts and healing are really two sides of the same coin, but that's a topic for a future post. For now, it's enough to say that martial arts and healing both utilize qi to bring about change in the physical body.

Speaking of which...
Yosan alum Yangchu Higgins is hosting a workshop that utilizes EFT methodology to bring about change in your emotional body (which may very well lead to changes in your physical body).

Quantum Workshop: Tapping On What Others Think

Objective:
1) To apply Emotional Freedom Techniques on feelings around “What others think”;
2) To relate primate behavior to individual emotional states;
3) To clear an incident where “what others thought” elicits energetic dissonance;
4) To create a pathway of new possibilities towards others’ thoughts.
Every third Wednesday of the month 7:00-9:30
1313 S. Hudson Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90019, call 323.936.5152
Cost $65

The Fire Shower

After a cold day on the tundra, there's nothing I like better than a warm, refreshing fire shower.

I've never seen this done before, but it's obviously another part of the acupuncturist's toolkit, things that can be done besides sticking needles into the body. We've already had a post about gua sha. In the future we'll cover moxa, cupping, and all the various scraping and tapping tools that acupuncturists use to access the body's meridian system. EFT is an example of a more modern tool which accesses the meridian system.