What acupuncture is (and what it isn't)
A working definition, the current evidence, the known mechanisms, and the three mistakes that sink beginners.
How it starts
You are going to learn to insert a metal object into another person's body. It is worth starting by knowing exactly what you are doing, why it works as far as it does, and where the edges of the map lie. This lesson doesn't teach any technique: it teaches you to speak accurately about what you are going to do over the next three courses.
The rest of the lesson opens with Acupuntura I.
In this lesson you will learn
- Give a definition of acupuncture that holds up both in the treatment room and in a conversation with a physician.
- Name the physiological mechanisms we know of today, and their limits.
- State precisely what the evidence says about efficacy, without overstating or understating it.
- Understand why the traditional model remains useful even though it isn't anatomy.
- Recognize the three mistakes that hold back most beginners.
What is inside
- 1A definition that holds up
- 2What happens when the needle goes in
- 3What the evidence says, precisely
- 4Two languages, one patient
- 5The three beginner mistakes
- 6What comes next
One of the 26 lessons in
Acupuntura IFoundations
“Learn the language before the vocabulary.”
The groundwork: how Chinese medicine thinks, Yin-Yang, the Five Phases, the vital substances, the organs, the channel system, diagnosis, and safe needling practice. By the end you will be able to read a case history in the language of Chinese medicine and locate points with anatomical precision.
By the end of the course, you will know how to
- Explain Yin-Yang and Wu Xing without falling back on empty metaphors.
- Distinguish Qi, Blood, Essence (Jing), Shen, and Body Fluids, along with their basic pathologies.
- Describe the functions of the twelve organs according to TCM.
- Locate any point using proportional cun and bony landmarks.
- Build a diagnosis using the Eight Principles.
- Handle the needle safely and recognize De Qi.
What you will study
Module 1 · 4 lessons
Starting point
What acupuncture really is, how Chinese medicine reasons and which tools you have in your hands.
- What acupuncture is (and what it isn't)You are here
- How Chinese medicine thinks
- History and classical texts
- Your toolkit: Atlas, 3D Map, and Ryodoraku
Module 2 · 2 lessons
Yin and Yang
The most powerful and most misused analytical tool in all of Chinese medicine.
- Yin-Yang: the four laws
- Yin-Yang applied to the body and the clinic
Module 3 · 2 lessons
The Five Phases
Wu Xing: correspondences, cycles and the treatment rules that follow from them.
- Wu Xing: the five families
- Sheng, Ke, Cheng, and Wu: the four cycles
Module 4 · 3 lessons
The vital substances
Qi, Blood, Essence, Mind and Body Fluids: the material the body works with.
- Qi: types and functions
- Blood, Essence, Shen, and Fluids
- How they support one another
Module 5 · 4 lessons
The organs (Zang-Fu)
The twelve organs aren't viscera: they're functional systems. Here you learn each one.
- Heart and Lung
- Spleen, Liver, and Kidney
- The six Fu organs
- Zang-Fu relationships and the curious organs
Module 6 · 3 lessons
The channel system
The network everything flows through: architecture, timing and measurement.
- Architecture of the Jing Luo
- Circulation and the organ clock
- The cun and locating points
Module 7 · 4 lessons
Causes and diagnosis
Where illness comes from and how to read it in the patient.
- Causes of disease
- The Eight Principles
- Observation and tongue diagnosis
- Pulse, inquiry, and palpation
Module 8 · 4 lessons
The needle in hand
Safe practice: technique, risks and the sister techniques.
- Needling technique and De Qi
- Safety, accidents, and contraindications
- Moxibustion, cupping, and bloodletting
- Final exam · Acupuncture I
Requirements
None. You start from zero.
How it works
Acupuncture Pathway
Save with a bundle
Acupuncture Pathway I-III
All three acupuncture courses, saving you €80, plus three years of Atlas Pro.
You save $80 compared with buying the courses separately
3 years of Atlas Pro included
Valued at $237 free
Already have Atlas Pro? Nothing is overwritten: 3 years is added on top of whatever you have left.
Complete Training
All five courses, saving you €180, plus five years of Atlas Pro and the game included.
You save $180 compared with buying the courses separately
5 years of Atlas Pro included
Valued at $395 free
Already have Atlas Pro? Nothing is overwritten: 5 years is added on top of whatever you have left.
Read “What acupuncture is (and what it isn't)” today
This lesson and the rest of the course: 26 lessons, 7 hours, quizzes and exercises. You pay once and it is yours for life, with one year of Atlas Pro as a gift (if you already have it, it adds to the time you have left).
Acupuntura I
One-time payment