Japanese Styles of Acupuncture and Meridian Therapy

Shudo Denmei Style with Steven Brown

Dozent: Stephen Brown, L. Ac.

• born Jan. 16, 1954
• in Wakayama, Japan

SPECIALTIES

* East Asian Medical Practitioner with focus on Japanese-style
* translation of Japanese texts on traditional medicine
* writing and editing for professional journal, NAJOM
* teacher/lecturer on acupuncture, moxibustion & shiatsu
* teacher of traditional exercises for health including qigong, taichi, and sotai

Date: 24./25./26.04.2020 (Fr./Sa./So.)

(Fr.: 10:00–18:00, Sa.: 9:00–18:00, So.: 9:00–16:00 )

Entry requirements: 

Basic knowledge of Chinese medicine & acupuncture

Language: English

Location: Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg Campus Rheinbach, Address: Von-Liebig-Straße 20, 53359 Rheinbach, Germany

Cost: 

‚Early-bird‘: registration before 20.12.2019 

690€,  (AGTCM-member & Alumnus of SGTCM: 552€)

Later registration

750€,  (AGTCM-member & Alumnus of SGTCM: 598€)

Course Information:

Introduction:  

Although acupuncture originated in China, it evolved differently in neighboring Asian countries.  Chinese acupuncture today incorporates Western medical concepts and is closely allied with herbal medicine. Japanese acupuncture, on the other hand, developed in close proximity to massage and moxibustion.  Thus the art of touch and skillful location and stimulation of points is of great importance in Japanese styles of acupuncture.  There is great variation in the practice of acupuncture in Japan, but it is distinguished by careful palpation and gentle stimulation. Meridian Therapy is the most popular approach of traditional acupuncture in Japan, and its focus is on regulating qi.  Refined instruments and techniques are utilized to evoke subtle stimulation, without resorting to herbal medicine. The emphasis on palpation and a direct felt sense of the body in Meridian Therapy gives the practitioner immediate feedback on the condition of the patient’s qiand its relationship to illness through yin/yang and five-phase theory.  As a palpation-based approach to acupuncture using very gentle needle techniques, it is especially suited to the treatment of the very young, weak, or sensitive patient. In Japanese acupuncture, and especially Meridian Therapy, the skin is seen as the interface by which information is received and conveyed to the body as a whole.Qiis considered to be more dispersed (yang and changeable) on the body surface. Deeper in the body, qiis more condensed (yin and less malleable). Therefore the ideal is to find a difference or reaction close to the surface where it can be most readily affected. This what enables the acupuncture treatment to be less invasive and free of undesirable side-effects, including pain. In the Shudo style of Meridian Therapy, the main method used is Super-rotation technique (SRT), and the needle is not usually inserted. Connecting to the qi on the surface is enough to change the pulse and other findings and regulate the qi through the whole body. Some deeper and retained needling is also done, but this is a small part of the treatment. When a stronger longer lasting effect is needed, a point receives direct moxibustion in addition to needling, or otherwise an intradermal needle (usually a press tack) is placed. The focus of Meridian Therapy is on treating the root cause of disease, while also effectively addressing the immediate symptoms. Meridian Therapy relies on special hands-on skills developed by the great masters. These include pulse and abdominal diagnosis, palpating deficiency and excess in the channel, and subtle tonification and dispersion techniques. Skilled in practice depends not as much on theories and point prescriptions but more on learning to rely on one’s own feeling of qi and cultivating this sense in one’s life and practice.

Content:

1. Overview of Japanese acupuncture and Meridian Therapy
2. Basic principles and patterns of Meridian Therapy
3. Nanjing & Five Phases in Meridian Therapy
4. Diagnosis in Meridian Therapy –four examinations
5. Pulse diagnosis(six positions)
6. Pulse diagnosis(pulse qualities)
7. History of hara diagnosis & abdominal diagnosis in Meridian Therapy
8. Shudo style abdominal diagnosis
9. Meridian and point palpation
10. Super Rotation Technique and tonification for root treatment
11. Questioning exam and symptomology
12. Patterns of Meridian Therapy
13. Point selection for Pattern (root treatment)
14. Palpation and needling technique for tonification
15. Palpation and needling technique for dispersion
16. Treatment of abdominal points
17. Treatment of back shu points
18. Symptomatic treatment and treatment strategies
19. Moxibustion background and different techniques
20. The practice of direct moxibustion
21. Moxibustion in the Shudo-style