What is Classical Acupuncture?
There are many different traditions of Acupuncture, which you may already know if you regularly receive Acupuncture. Depending on the practitioner, they may be using Japanese Acupuncture, or Tung, Tan, Korean, Five Element traditions of Acupuncture (and many more).
All Acupuncture is fantastic in my opinion (although as an Acupupucturist myself I am extremely bias).
I learned the style of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) when I was training at school, which is the standard of Australian Universities where Chinese Medicine is taught at a tertiary level. And then I discovered Classical Acupuncture as taught by Master Jeffrey Yuen. Master Yuen is the only living tradition knowledge holder of this particular dynasty, and regularly teaches seminars and courses to Acupuncturists today.
When I am referring to classical Acupuncture I'm talking about the way in which Acupuncture was being practiced all the way back in the Han dynasty 202AD-220BC (one of Chinese oldest dynasties); A much fuller, richer complete system of Acupuncture compared to some of the modern abridged styles of Acupuncture taught and practiced today.
Over the past 3 years I have been learning Classical Chinese Medicine with my teacher Ann Cecil Sterman. Ann was a student of Jeffreys for over 20 years and her teaching style is sublime. Ann regularly travels around the world teaching classes on the complement channels of Acupuncture as practiced in Classical Chinese Medicine.
The first time I heard Ann speak about Classical Acupuncture was on the Heavenly Qi Pocast, as she was talking about the diagnostic method of taking pulses. I was instantly intriuged "who is this woman, and how can i learn from her?". Most graduates of TCM will agree that learning how to take pulses at school is pretty dire. I had no confidence in ascertaining what I was actually feeling in the pulse until I started studying with Ann. And considering that pulse taking is the main way in which we gather information about the patient to form a diagnosis, having excellent pulse taking skills is a must!
Ann came to Melbourne in 2022 and taught a 2 day seminar on the Divergent Acupuncture Channels (a very specific and profound set of acupuncture channels in the body). The information was incredible. Her live demonstration treatments were mind blowing. And I happened to be the last person to go up on stage and receive a treatment and it was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.
That experience set me on a trajectory to study with Ann the following year in her 6 month mentorship program, learning all about the ancient philosophy, principles and application of Classical Acupuncture, much of which has unfortunately been lost in modern ways of Acupuncture education.
What is the Difference between "TCM" and Classical Acupuncture?
TCM, or Traditional Chinese Medicine, even though it has the word "traditional" in it, is quite a young method of Chinese Medicine. My understanding of TCM, is that during the Chinese Revolution in China, Mao's communist party wanted to standardise the country's traditional medicine in order to make it an exportable system of health to be shared all around the world. A lot of information was gathered in order to streamline a very ancient medicine in order for it to be teachable to big groups of people, and TCM was created.
In this collecting and standardising of information however, a lot of information and tradition (funnily enough) was removed, and therefore almost all of the complement acupuncture channels are not included at all in TCM.
Now don't get me wrong, TCM is a powerful system, and learning TCM is intense because there is so much information. And I would not have been able to begin learning the much older and more complete system of Classical Medicine, without the foundational base of TCM.
At school learning TCM, you will learn about the primary channels (connected to the organs inside the body), and perhaps the 8 extraordinary channels, but will likely not learn anything about the sinew, luo, or divergent channels. Which is such a shame, becuase without the full set of channels, there are many health conditions that are only being treated with the primary channels, when the primary channels dont really deal well with deep chronic disease and a build up of pathogenic material in the body.
When you start to piece all of the channels together, you have the most beautiful complete system of health residing in a human body, and as a practitioner, you have a complete tool kit with which to meet the emotional needs and physical ails of any living human.
What kinds of health conditions can Classical Acupuncture support that western medicine doesn't know how to support?
I want to give a massive shout out to western Medicine, because there is no way I could offer surgery to my patients. When it comes to emergency medical care, imaging, scans, testing, blood work and diagnostics, Western Medicine is supreme.
When it comes to chronic degenerative illnesses, and long standing emotional imbalances however, I often witness (and hear the lived experience stories) of people simply getting lost in a system of medications and referrals, and that their emotional story and history being completely disregarded.
One of the biggest challenges (from my point of view), is that the more specialised a Western Medicine doctor becomes, the more removed from the rest of the body they are. Over on one side you have the guy that knows all about the heart, and in another corner the guy that knows all about the brain, and in another corner the gal that knows all about the large intestine, keep going until you have all these incredibly smart specialists that only know how one aspect of the body works, and they forget that the body is one unit, seeking to function in harmony, all the parts working together.
Chinese Medicine seeks to look at the whole body as one unit, and find out where the disharmony is occurring, and how to get the whole system flowing together again. This is true no matter what kind of Acupuncture style a practitioner uses in their practice.
We also have the magic of the pulse.
Learning how to feel pulses with Ann has opened up an entire universe of information to be understood about the patient.
What am I feeling for when I feel a patients pulse?
For example, when I am first encountering the pulse of my patient, I feel very lightly into all three positions under my fingers placed on the wrist; feeling for blockages in their most superficial meridians (the sinews). If I feel a blockage it might indicate that this person is experiencing musculoskeletal pain somewhere in their body, or that they are having a difficult time meeting the world energetically.
Then I might press a little deeper and start checking for how well their system is talking amongst itself. Is the energy from their digestion being shared around the body well? Is their adrenal system healthy and strong? Are their lungs open and free, or do they have a blockage around their diaphragm restricting their breathing?
I also feel very deep down at the level of the bone. This is where the very mysterious pulses of the eight extraordinary and divergent channels reside. At this level I might get a hint that this person suffered a great trauma during the first 7-8 years of their life, or I might feel that there body is holding onto a lot of pathological toxicity and it is building up to a point where diseases might start to manifest.
Where can I find a Classical Acupuncturist in Melbourne?
There are a number of practitioners in Melbourne and around Australia returning to the origins of Acupuncture and practicing Classical Chinese Medicine, which is super exciting.
I myself practice out of my home clinic in Newport Melbourne 3015.
I see clients Tuesday-Thursday 10:30am - 8pm
I also consult with people on Mondays over zoom if travelling to Newport is difficult.
If you are curious to try Classical Acupuncture you can get in touch with me, you can also leave a comment on this blog, or click the link below to book in for an appointment.
It is my honour and privilege to be a practitioner of this medicine.
And it is my life-long journey to deepen my knowledge and wisdom, in order to be of the utmost service to whomever comes to me in clinic for care and health rejuvenation.
Thank you for taking the time to read about Classical Acupuncture.
Lots of love,
Karina x