Navigating through the sea of medicine

During my trip in Shanghai last winter, Prof. Cheng Chang-xun asked me to participate in the compilation committee for the English Edition of his  “Pharmacology of Chinese Materia Medica” . This is a key text published under the National“Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” Innovative Textbooks for Higher Education in Chinese Medicine Industry. This means that this textbook will be officially used as a University guide in the Chinese Materia Medica and Pharmacology Majors. It will be published through the  China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine .   Today the main compilation team convened at the Jinan University to meet each other, discuss the contents and divide the workload.   This is the commemorating photo: And this is the official certificate appointing me member of the Editorial Board:

During my Beijing days, Prof. Chen Jia-xu was my Master’s Degree supervisor (2004-2008). Chen is perhaps one of the most famous Chinese Diagnosticians, with a stellar career in the world of Chinese medicine over the last 10-15 years. He was recently awarded a Changjiang Scholar, and he has a long list of key publications, grants and recognitions.   I first met Prof. Chen in November 2002, during my  Master’s Degree  application at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. At the BUCM, before a candidate is accepted to enroll, they should first obtain a signed document from a professor, affirming their willingness to supervise their research.   Of course, this is not an easy task, because all of the famous professors are really hard to approach, they have next-to-unrealistic standards, and the competition among potential candidates is fierce.  Also, in 2002 I didn’t speak any Chinese, and of course, the most famous and experienced professors did not speak any E...

As acupuncturists, we all wish to provide quality treatment and patient satisfaction, and each time a patient praises our healing abilities it reaffirms our belief that we are doing something right. However, what makes a patient happy is not always our level of competence in meridian diagnosis, but also various interpersonal and esoteric skills that some tend to identify and cultivate better than others. In this article, I will speak about the patient-doctor connections as described in the classical theories of Chinese acupuncture. According to the early Confucian traditions, when doctors exercise compassion and benevolence, they can become not only successful healers but also restore faith in the medical field. This is why a doctor-scholar should embark upon a meticulous study of the classics, and as Chen Shi Gong advised: “learn the contents by heart and understand them with the eyes”. The Confucian ideas about benevolence, compassion and seeking deeper understanding, were also evide...

How do you leave your mark on the ever-growing western TCM world? How do you distinguish yourself from the so many other acupuncturists that seem to know every technique and Asian healing approach under the sun?  In the late 90's I was one of the few lucky people to have been benefited from the collaboration between Middlesex University and the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. So lucky that upon graduation, I received a dual degree:  a Degree in Medicine from the Beijing TCM University, and a Bachelor's of Science from Middlesex. This enabled me to have access in both the Chinese medical world, and also the western TCM world.  However, that's only part of the point.  Back in those days, the TCM literature available to us westerners was so limited, that it only filled a couple of shelves in the basement of the Dillons Bookshop (later Waterstones) on Gower Street. Those who had access to the Wellcome Institute Library on the nearby Euston Rd, could access a lar...

It is a common theory in all the Chinese internal styles that the qi of the dantian must reach the tips of the fingers, although, how this is accomplished may differ majorly among different arts. The purpose is to make the strikes felt deep within the opponent’s body without damaging your hands. The training of such a skill, besides the internal cultivation practices, usually involves some form of punching or hitting to strengthen the ligaments of the hands, and also to make the hits (and touch) soft, powerful and precise, able to reach deep inside. Crossing over to healing, such a skill is also very important, because in your tuina you need to protect the health of your hands from harm, and in acupuncture also ensure that you have the correct kind of energy that reaches deep inside the patient’s body to activate the points and channels. The best tuina manuals usually offer some Neigong exercises designed to cultivate the right skill. Most of them include rigorous meditation while the ...