ICE Workshop: ICE 2009

Yes, we are alive ¡!

July was an unforgettable experience. For the first time in history –well, in recent history at least- practitioners of different schools of thought and practice of Oriental Medicine went together with the explicit goal of exchange ideas and experiences in a framework of complete freedom.
We, the attendants, had the occasion of reviewing some basic concepts, like yi and its several possible significances, or taking another look to some aspects of the Lingshu, or hearing about potential ways to integrate Western concepts and ideas in the practice of acupuncture without renouncing to the most classical statements about this art. We also explored new ways to understand and use polarity, and had the opportunity to remember the bright and inspiring works of Dr. Manaka

So we had a lot of theory. But, and this was also original, we devoid a good amount of time to practice. The idea of this first workshop was that any presented theory must have a practical aspect. Any of the more or less beautiful theory exposed there was afterwards checked in practice. What is the use of being able to recite line after line of ‘the classics’ if we cannot use them in our daily practice?

We practice and practice. And for many of us, this was the most enjoyable part: the practice ambience was absolutely open and friendly, definitely non-jugdamental. Anyone of us was offering his/hers knowledge, experience, ideas and methods, and the result were a mutual enrichment, from the technical standpoint, of course, but also form a human and personal point of view.

Of course, this first meeting was also imperfect. We have ample margin to improve, and that is what we intend to do for next year, starting with what the attendants were king enough to signal to us. Also, this 2010 we will try to celebrate the meeting in a beautiful place outside Barcelona, where after the more ‘technical’ sessions we can enjoy the nature (including a not-so-natural swimming pool), have our meals together and favorise both a holyday time and a free, informal exchange of ideas (see www.canbenetvives.org for details about the place)

Just to whet your appetite, we are including some links where you can see and remember some of the presentations we had, as well as the paper where we exposed the core of the ICE workshops idea. We hope we will see you again in 2010, and if you were not here at that time, we wish to encourage you to share with us this unique experience.

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Introducing: ICE Workshop
This is what we said, back there in 2009...

"You are already aware of the purpose of this meeting: we want to launch an open working space where we can learn, exchange experiences, and put some order in our own therapeutic experiences, all in an ambience of equality, openness and convivality.

Respect for the classics and drive to innovate will be the directing line in the process of integrating different standpoints and techniques, communicating among ourselves and expanding our fields from any perspective: intellectual, technical and personal.

Accordingly, the workshop will have a structure based upon practice and communication. With lectures reduced to a minimum to give ample way to the practice and an emphasis on open discussion on the results of these practices, we are also adopting the form of symposium round tables for some of the subjects and introducing several techniques of body/mind management to integrate the practice."

Timetable/Schedule

July, 3, Friday
9,00: Arrival, registration

9,30: Presentation of the workshop and general guidelines of development. Self-introduction of the participants (name, precedence, therapies/styles practised, etc.)

10,00: Lecture 1: Dr. Manaka’s methodology expansion.
Manaka’s extended method (S. Birch)
Testing procedures with polarity agents (S. Birch)
Discussion and practice design (all)

10,30: Tea/ coffe break

11,00: Practice on Lecture 1

12,30: Discussion on practice on Lecture 1. Conclusions (if any)

13,00: Lunch break

15,00: Round table 1: Subject: colours in TEAM: Acupuncture (general), Manaka, TYH (diagnosis), Herbs, Environment. Presentations, discussion and practice design
Panel : S. Birch, Susan Pfeifer

16,00: Practice on Round table 1

17,30: Discussion on practice on Round table 1. Conclusions (if any)

18,00: Tea/ coffee break

18,30: Body conscience & management techniques: Qigong, Yiquan, Taijiquan. Brief presentation, establishment of goals, practice. (Miquel Cabrer)

20,00: Closing up

July, 4, Saturday
9,00: Body work/ management

10,00: Lecture 2: Integration. Bridging between/combining/differentiating/choosing between Manaka’s Yin-yang channel balancing therapy and Meridian Therapy (including Toyohari) (S. Birch)
Discussion and practice design (all)

10,30: Tea/ coffee break

11,00: Practice on Lecture 2

12,30: Discussion on practice on Lecture 2. Conclusions (if any)

13,00: Lunch break

15,00: Round table 2: Subject: Integration. Coordinating different acupuncture styles. Coordinating acupuncture with Chinese herbs. Coordinating TEAM with other therapies (flower essences, homeopathy, Western medicine, etc.). Presentations, discussion and practice design
Panel: S. Birch, M. Rodríguez, Susan Pfeifer, F. Miralles, Others.

16,00: Practice on Round table 1

17,30: Discussion on practice on Round table 2. Conclusions (if any)

18,00: Tea/ coffee break

18,30: Round table 3: Subject: Miscellaneous. Presentation on two subjects of interest, with posterior discussion:
Lunar phases and its influence on diagnosis and treatment (Burt Wintjes).
Deqi and Qizhi. Historical appearance and evolution and practical aspects in the craft of acupuncture (E. Moreno, PhD)

20,00: Closing up

July, 5, Sunday
9,00: Body work/ management

10,00: Round table 4: Subject: role of mind/shen in TEAM. Concentration, mental focus, awareness in acupuncture, different ways to encourage mind/shen expansion, awareness, settlement. Implications, practical ideas, possible techniques
Panel: S. Birch, M. Cabrer, F. Miralles, M. Rodríguez, Others
Discussion and practice design (all)

11,30: Tea/ coffee break

11,30: Practice on Round table 4

13,00: Discussion on practice on Round table 4. Conclusions (if any).

13,30: Formal closing of the workshop.

In memory of Dr. Manaka Yoshio

The following article can be found in this november issue of the NAJOM (North American Journal of Oriental Medicine), an special issue in Memory of Dr. Manaka Yoshio
[Volume 16, number 47 - november 2009]

"The first ICE Workshop: Barcelona 2009, a Personal Account" by Manuel Rodríguez.

Before studying TCM I was trained as an engineer. As much of my job involved field work in developing and using new materials, I was rather soon stripped of my ‘calculus innocence’, and learned how the reality imposes its laws upon any theories, as well as how old maps are only of limited use when treading new lands.

This report is not about my CV, so I shall only add that after a couple of decades of labs and factories, I decided to study Chinese Medicine, which at the time in Spain meant just TCM. I studied first in Spain and then in Beijing, and was immediately charmed by the internal logic of the system. I was so in love with the discipline that I easily overcame any conceptual holes my engineer mind detected, putting them in the account of my own ignorance. But there was always a buzzing little voice saying things like ‘how can any discipline be the same now that it was 2000 years ago’ or ‘how it happens that most of my ‘why’ questions are always answered in terms of ‘because that is what is said in the Neijing?’ or ‘how it happen that the Shu (transport) points seem to disregard the supposed general flow of the meridians?’. This voice was getting to be a real nuisance, so I left Beijing and started practicing in Barcelona where I live. The usual activity of starting a new business pushed aside any theoretical concerns I had, and most of the questions went into a dormant state.

But, as life went on, I met Stephen Birch, who, while presenting a Shonishin seminar, also took some time to explain a few basics of Japanese acupuncture, mentioning Meridian Therapy and Dr. Manaka’s Yin-Yang balance style, as well as a vision of Qi and Jingmai which deeply resonated with my own –poor- understanding of these concepts. I still remember that seminary as the proverbial ‘wind scattering the clouds to reveal a blue sky’. I felt Stephen’s way of thinking about Qi, Jingmai, etc, was exactly what drove me to study Chinese Medicine to start with, and I wanted to know more and more about it. Following Stephen’s advice, I started my new training, in Manaka style, first in London, and in Toyohari next, in Amsterdam.

So that is how I got exposed to Dr. Manaka’s spirit. Of course I was almost shocked by its pragmatism and scientific rigour, but I was specially appealed by the conceptual synthesis he made between innovation and tradition. It was my first exposure to a materially existent manifestation of the concept of evolving tradition, were any new practitioner add his/hers grain of sand to a towering construct which, with its roots deeply buried in the past, continues growing with the times, a tradition which has no end, no top. I felt liberated, not longer chained to a dusty, immovable ‘tradition’, but part of a living, continuously evolving one.

Good and bad are always mixed in real life. To learn I had to travel abroad, but my training in London and in Amsterdam put me in touch with a lot of people who, like myself, were trained in different styles of acupuncture and who, in their day-to day lives, were actually practicing a personal mixtures of their studies. But they tended to refer to these “mixtures” with some embarrassment, often in conversation only after the couple of after-class beers -such an important part of our study system. I can also say that the “mixers” felt, in the majority, rather insecure, not only about the mix itself, but also about the adequacy of talking about it in this specific moment, usually in any kind of theoretically marked seminar.

The fact was that many practitioners were creating their own mixtures, as well as personally testing new ideas as they naturally arose in a daily, mix-breed practice. This was the impetus for the ICE workshop (ICE = Integration Communication Exchange). We wanted to create an open a space where theories could be tested and contested, where all ideas could be discussed, free of theoretical constraints, and mixed with all this richness derived of the conscious practice. This freedom on thinking, together with the emphasis in practical testing, was, I believe, the nucleus of Dr. Manaka’s medical genius. So, together with a couple of colleagues also inspired by what we knew of Dr. Manaka’s thinking, and supported by his co-author of ‘Chasing the Dragon’s Tail’, we called the first ICE workshop in Barcelona.

And here starts the report. I won’t enter in tiring details about people, subjects, heat waves, etc. I would signal instead that the panels, discussions and practice were as varied as I like to think Dr. Manaka himself would have enjoyed. During three intense days we learned about the role of ritual, about the possibility of use the concept of fascia, how to better train our hands, the role of ‘Yi’, different aspects of polarity, rhythms and colours, the appreciation of the tongue…, a wide variety of subjects were presented and practically tested in an ambience of open exchange, without fearing which theories, teachers or schools we might be questioning. In keeping what we think was part of Dr. Manaka’s way of working, all theories and suggestions were presented with adequate references, either to classical texts or to modern proven research, and attendants were invited to discuss and give their opinions. Theories and suggestions were tested in practice, and we discussed the possible conclusions we might extract from this.

Chaotic sometimes, always friendly and open, funny most of the time, this practical part was something that has never happened before, at least not in the closed containers of the more regulated seminars and schools. The originality, rigour and richness of the presentations and the quality of the practice, the spirit of ‘seeing is believing’ was not only our desired trademark for future ICE workshops, but also constitute our humble tribute and acknowledgment to the clear intelligence, the open spirit, the investigative drive, the genius of a groundbreaker physician, Dr. Manaka Yoshio.

Dr. Manaka was dead in 1989, but his thinking is alive. We plan to continue offering the kind of open space we think is needed for the development of his ideas. We plan to continue celebrating our ICE workshops. We invite absolutely everybody to participate.

Manuel Rodríguez
Studied and practiced chemical engineering, management, Aikido and graphic design before undertaking Chinese Medicine, which he studied in both Spain and in Beijing. Back in Barcelona, he practiced and taught TCM, but after meeting Stephen Birch, changed his focus to the study of Shonishin, the Manaka System, Keiraku Chiryo and Toyohari. In 2008, he published two books on Oriental-style pediatrics. He currently practices, teaches, and writes in Barcelona, Girona and Madrid.

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ICE 2009

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