Study categories
21 classical sets, with the points that play that role
Classical sets
- Forbidden during pregnancy16Points classically prohibited throughout pregnancy. They move Blood in the uterus or bear down forcefully, and several are reserved precisely for childbirth.
- Caution in pregnancy27May be needled with judgment, a gentle technique, and no strong stimulation. This includes the lower abdominal and lumbosacral bands, which are avoided as the pregnancy advances.
- Ryodoraku12The twelve representative points measured by Nakatani's protocol, one per channel, in twenty-four readings. They do not fully coincide with the Yuan-Source points: LI5, SI5, and BL65 differ.
- Yuan-Source Points12The Yuan-Source point of each channel: where the Original Qi of the Kidney surfaces. They are used to diagnose and to tonify the organ in states of deficiency, and they are the palpation points par excellence.
- Luo-Connecting Points12The Luo-Connecting point that links each channel with its interior-exterior pair. They treat the symptoms of the paired channel and imbalances between the two; the three Great Luo also govern entire collateral networks.
- Great Luo3The Great Luo points don't link a channel with its paired channel. Each one governs an entire collateral network: the Great Luo of the Ren Mai waters the abdomen, that of the Du Mai the back, and that of the Spleen the lateral band of the chest. They are separate from the twelve connecting Luo points, which is why the Spleen has a Luo point (SP4) and also a Great Luo (SP21).
- Xi-Cleft points12Cleft point where Qi and Blood accumulate deep in the channel. There is one, and only one, for each regular channel. These are the points for acute pain and sudden-onset conditions, and the Xi-Cleft points of the Yin channels also treat bleeding.
- Xi-Cleft points of the Extraordinary Vessels4The four Xi-Cleft points of the Qiao Mai and the Wei Mai. They are not the Xi-Cleft points of the channel that houses them (GB35, BL59, KI8 and KI9 are only passing through), but the accumulation point of the Extraordinary Vessel itself, and they are used in its acute presentations: spasm and contracture in the Qiao Mai, wandering pain and crises in the Wei Mai.
- Mu points12Front-Mu (Alarm) point, on the front of the trunk, where the Qi of the organ gathers and becomes palpable. Pain or tenderness on pressure guides the diagnosis, and they are paired with the corresponding Back-Shu point.
- Back-Shu points12Back-Shu (Transport) points, on the first line of the Bladder channel: the back door to each organ. They are the points of choice in chronic and deficiency patterns, and they respond very well to moxibustion.
- Five Shu Points60The five points on each channel between the end of the limb and the elbow or knee, where Qi emerges like a spring and grows until it flows into the sea: Jing-Well, Ying-Spring, Shu-Stream, Jing-River and He-Sea. They are the basis of Five Phases (Five Elements) acupuncture.
- Jing-Well12The twelve points at the tips of the fingers and toes, where Qi bursts forth. They are bled in heat emergencies and in loss of consciousness, and they abruptly unblock the channel.
- Lower He-Sea points6The six He-Sea points of the Fu organs, all on the leg: the direct route for treating the organ when the problem is its own and not the channel's. Three of them are not on the channel of their own organ.
- Roé points8Influential Points (Hui, from the character 會): in each one a substance or tissue of the body converges, and they are added to the treatment when the problem affects that tissue, regardless of the channel involved. The eight Hui points of the classical nomenclature (the Bā Huì) are the core. The French-Vietnamese tradition adds the lower He-Sea points of the Fu organs as meeting points, which the Lingshu (Spiritual Pivot) names the same way, “lower meeting.”
- Opening of the Extraordinary Vessels8The eight points that open the Extraordinary Vessels, used in coupled pairs (one on the hand, one on the foot). They reach the body's deep reserves and cover territories that no regular channel reaches on its own.
- Windows of Heaven8Points of the neck and throat described in the Lingshu that regulate the transit of Qi between the body and the head. They are used when rebellious Qi rises or when the head is disconnected from the trunk: emotional blockage, vertigo, sudden loss of voice.
- Tonification Points12The Mother point of each channel according to the generating cycle of the Five Phases (Five Elements). It is needled with tonification when the channel is in deficiency, and it is the one indicated by a low Ryodoraku reading.
- Sedation points12The Child point of each channel according to the generating cycle. It is needled with dispersion (sedation) when the channel is in excess, and it is the one indicated by a high Ryodoraku reading.
- Eight Liao4The four pairs of sacral foramina. They act directly on the uterus, bladder and intestine, and they are the area of choice in urogenital and lumbosacral patterns. Contraindicated during pregnancy.
- The Five Souls5The five points on the second line of the Bladder channel that house each psychic aspect: Shen, Hun, Po, Yi and Zhi. They are the route through the back for treating the emotional once the somatic has already been treated.
- The Four Seas6The reservoirs described in the Lingshu: the Sea of Marrow, the Sea of Qi, the Sea of Blood and the Sea of Food. They are used when what is lacking or in excess is the substance itself, not its circulation.