Sheng, Ke, Cheng, and Wu: the four cycles
Generation, control, overacting, and counteracting, plus the rules "tonify the mother, sedate the child" that follow from them.
How it starts
After the previous lesson you have five families. Without relationships between them, that is just a filing cabinet. The cycles are what turn the filing cabinet into a model that can predict and decide.
The rest of the lesson opens with Acupuntura I.
In this lesson you will learn
- Draw the generating and controlling cycles from memory.
- Apply the two classical rules: tonify the mother in deficiency, sedate the child in excess.
- Recognize the two pathological cycles, overacting and rebellion, along with their typical patterns.
- Understand where the “mother” and “child” points on each channel come from.
- See the limits of the model: when it helps you decide and when it gets in the way.
What is inside
- 1The four cycles at a glance
- 2Sheng · the generating cycle
- 3Ke · the controlling cycle
- 4When the system breaks down: Cheng and Wu
- 5Where the “mother” and “child” points come from
- 6The limits of the model
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)
- 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 cyclesYou are here
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 “Sheng, Ke, Cheng, and Wu: the four cycles” 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