Japanese Acupuncture, Methods
In the Chinese approach, the patient must feel the chi. In the Japanese approach; it’s the practitioner that must feel the chi.
Japanese Acupuncture, Treatment
The Treatment goals of the Kiiko Style are two fold:
• The treatment of the root, or underlying condition
• The alleviation of symptoms, or the branch expression of this underlying root imbalance
Japanese Acupuncture, Diagnosis
“Every Phenomena that occurs in the body is observable through palpation.”
Diagnosis in the Japanese approach, and in the Kiiko style in particular, is based on palpation. Areas of the body called reflection zones are evaluated for pressure pain, tension, tightness, tissue density, and temperature. These reflection zones are found across the entire body and relate to, or reflect, the health of different body systems, all of which include physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual aspects. When particular reflection zones are found to be reactive, this indicates the need for treatment.
Though contemporary Chinese acupuncture, or TCM, is the most commonly practiced style of acupuncture in the world today, numerous other styles exist. They equate heavily with the unique cultural aspects of the location of origin. Hence, Chinese acupuncture looks and feels very different than Japanese acupuncture, and both are very different from South East Asian styles, as well as Korean Acupuncture. Even within different countries, there are variations in method and technique from region to region. Further subtle variations exist among different schools of thought, as well as among different teachers of a particular style of acupuncture.
Fine Tuning the Immune System
Historically in China, each town and village would have an acupuncturist that provided services to the local population. Each person living in the area would pay a monthly fee to their acupuncturist. Interestingly, the only time that people would not pay is when they got sick. This is quite a different perspective on healthcare, and lead to the development of a medical system that places great emphasis on prevention of disease, as well as the treatment of chronic and acute conditions.
