Academy of Oriental Medicine

What is Acupuncture (Zhenjiu針灸)?

Zhen 針 means ‘needle’ and jiu 灸 ‘moxibustion’. As a whole, the name ‘zhenjiu 針灸’ indicates a clinical method that uses tiny, filiform needles as well as ‘moxa’ (the herb ‘Artemisia Vulgaris Sinensis’). 

Acupuncture is one of the  many methods of therapy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and it is, perhaps, the most well known in the Western world.

There is enough historical evidence to prove that rudimental forms of it already existed 6000 years ago. According to historical records, the first acupuncture needles ever used were made of stone. A Chinese legend recalls the famous doctor, Yu Fu used this kind of needles successfully to treat many diseases.

According to archaeological excavations, the first metallic (bronze) needles appeared in the 16th-18th century BC during the Shang and Chou dynasties. In the following centuries, with the discovery of other metals, needles quality varied accordingly. Nowadays, needles are made of stainless steel and are carefully sterilised, unless  one-use disposable needles are used. 

Acupuncture needles are inserted into a selected ‘point’ of the skin and are manipulated according to the diagnostic findings. There are over 365 ‘points’, but every year, thanks to the research of dedicated Chinese scholars, new ones are added. Each ‘point’ has also a name, which describes either its anatomical location or its functional action. 

The word ‘point’ refers to the tiny location of insertion of the needle and not the structure of the anatomical area where it is found. This, in fact, is more similar to a small cavity set deeply under the skin surface that to a point. 

Points, grouped according to common functions and properties, are found along more or less orderly lines called ‘channels’ or ‘meridians’. This arrangement was made possible thanks to the experience of the forefathers of Traditional Chinese Medicine -Acupuncture. They proved that all points belonging to a specific ‘meridian’ had therapeutic effects on a specific organ (Zang Fu 臟腑). or body substances and, ultimately on the balance of the whole body-mind and spirit. 

According to the theory of Acupuncture, there are 12 main channels and various ‘collaterals’. They can be thought of as a network of rivers and their affluents, of water reservoirs and seas, and of underground and overground brooks and streams all connected with each other. Thus, ultimately, they all affect each other. Qi 氣 ‘life’ (translated by many as ‘energy’) flows through them and around them providing the vitality all material forms need in order to be animated.

How is classical Acupuncture practised?

Before embarking on treatment, the acupuncturist relies on the investigation of the root(s),  the mechanism(s) and  the signs of a disease.

For the acupuncturist, symptoms are nothing else but the tears of  ‘a baby crying for help’. Why dry up the tears, instead of  attempting to know why the baby cries?  Likewise, why treat a symptom without asking being concerned with the structure giving rise to it (root)  and deal with it accordingly?

Acupuncturists, by relying on the four diagnostic pillars (look, hear/smell, ask, palpate) do just that:

1. assess the location(s) and nature(s) of the disease(s): external-internal, hot-cold, excess-deficiency, Yin-Yang
2. uncover its underlying root, the mechanism(s) and the level(s) of its manifestation(s)
3. individuate the patterns(s) resulting from the imbalance and, only then
4. formulate the principle(s) of treatment,
5. selecting the meridians and the acupuncture points needed
6. before applying therapy by needling. 

When a symptom is particularly acute, it is possible to apply acupuncture to relieve its severity, without however neglecting to intervene also on its root in order to redress the imbalance that caused it in the first place.

Our programmes

Our programmes are divided into four main groups:

1. 3 year + Bachelor level undergraduate training in Chinese Medicine/ Acupuncture
2. Short-Postgraduate theoretical & practical training to go deeper into the subject matter
3. Practice & Skill training, designed to provide additional hand-on maestry
4. Long-Postgraduate 2 year + long course in another Chinese Medicine specialisation i.e. Chinese Medicine Pharmacology, Chinese Medicine Nutrition, Tuina body work etc.

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