Japanese Acupuncture Federation (the Wuwu study group )
1. Presentation: why a Japanese Acupuncture Federation (JAF)
2. Purpose
3. Working method
3.1. Workshops
3.2. Discussion of texts and ideas
3.3. Gatherings
3.4. Exchange of texts, notes, ideas and information
1. Presentation: why a Japanese Acupuncture Federation (JAF)Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM) in its different versions and styles has been present in the West for more than 30 years. Since the mid 1980s it has been represented mostly by TCM in Europe. Since the late 1990s, Japanese acupuncture approaches have been slowly spreading around Europe, mostly through the work of Stephen Birch who has taught in many European countries. But it is still in the minority with groups of interested people spread out over a large geographical area.
Additionally, step by step some more inquisitive individuals have been going deeper and deeper into its roots from different standpoints: History, language, clinical techniques, etc. The main scholars going this way are already well known by the majority of serious TEAM students and practitioners, names like Unschuld, Chace, Birch, or Bensky being already familiar to them. The problem is that the majority of these scholars tend to remain in their sometimes restricted field of expertise, so there are not many opportunities for the common student/practitioner to really benefit from the core of their expertise.
There is also another difficulty. Full scholars tend not to be clinicians, whilst scholar-clinicians are usually too busy running their practice to go deep into the roots of TEAM. (I dare to add that many of the high quality persons in the field tend to be rather individualistic).
For these and other reasons, the fact is that the practitioner of different styles of TEAM very seldom has the opportunity to share his/hers experiences, to deepen his study and knowledge and to check his/hers real progress, just to mention only a few of the restrictions related with the current situation. What we have in Europe (and the West in general) is a lot of practitioners, many of them educated in more than one TEAM style, with a lot to share, but who are, by and large, isolated or closely orbiting his/hers own clinic, teacher or school.
This is the kind of ground on which this JAF (or Wuwu study group) will be sown. The basic idea is to set up a working, open space where persons of all fields of expertise around TEAM could participate, cross-pollinate and flourish.
We do not intend to constitute another association, not at least in the more common meaning of the term. We propose to create a vessel where TEAM might have a place to coordinate, flourish and improve, taking advantage not only of the Eastern concepts and techniques, but also incorporating the technology, structure and analytical mind of the West.
The purpose is ambitious and the means cannot be more meager, so, we propose to start with a first step. We will start low and simple, bringing together people and systems closer to our spirit. We will start with a focus on Japanese forms of TEAM, especially Japanese acupuncture methods such as Meridian Therapy, Manaka’s Yin-Yang Channel Balancing system, Toyohari, Shonishin, remaining open to any other style or idea around TEAM sufficiently rooted on the spirit of respect and progress; ‘respect to the classics and drive to progress’ should be our motto. We also need to gather around adequate people to help with this. Here we have Stephen Birch, scholar, clinician, teacher, and possibly one of the more able people able to agglutinate this sort of undefined vessel. Manaka himself formed an association in Japan called the ‘Shinkyu Topology Gakkai – the Acupuncture and Moxibustion Topology Association. This association was characterized by openness to ideas, a critical and practical approach to interpreting the classics and bringing together modern ideas. In a way we are proposing the foundation of a European equivalent to this.
2. PurposeWe plan to set up an open, dynamic, working space where practitioners (and students) of Meridian Therapy, Manaka’s Yin-Yang Channel Balancing, Toyohari and other classically-based acupuncture systems have the opportunity of share their experiences and ideas, check their progress, and improve both their clinical skills and their theoretical knowledge about TEAM.
3. Working method.There are several means which can be employed to achieve this purpose; initially these would be:
3.1. Workshops (ICE Workshop)3.2. Lectures/ seminars3.3. Texts/ ideas discussion3.4. Gatherings (ICE Workshop & plus)3.5. Texts, notes and information exchanges3.1. Workshops (ICE Workshop)They are intended as a focused exchange and practice space. They will usually be organized around a specific subject, and composed of lectures, discussion and a lot of practice, directed by an expert, but with an atmosphere of free, horizontal, exchange among the participants . The motto of the workshops will be ‘openness, sincerity, equality and practice’. They will be held both at local and international levels, and a possible structure is:
1. Lecture by the workshop director giving focus to the subject
2. Other short presentations on the same subject, to be done by willing participants
3. Open discussion
4. Establish a working plan for the workshop
5. Practice about the subject, following the guidelines of point 4. This is intended to be the core of the whole workshop
6. Discussion and experience sharing about 5
7. Closure by the workshop director
3.2. Lectures and seminarsWe plan to set up some seminars where distinguished lecturers will expound their views on different aspects of TEAM, like history, development, textual analyses for a deeper understanding, practical interpretations of ideas and methods, application of different diagnostic methods for the same ideas, application of different treatment methods for the same ideas, relationships with science, scientific methodology, etc.
Those lectures and seminars could be called independently, but also could be either part of a workshop (3.1) or of a gathering (3.4)
3.3. Discussion of texts and ideasThe main drive after the whole idea is to exchange and share, to check the validity of our individually developed ideas and methods, so we will promote local meetings where, to give focus to the exchange, some texts will be proposed for analysis and discussion. In a second phase, the conclusions of the local groups could then be posted in a web site, or shared in any other convenient way.
3.4. GatheringsBesides the highly focused workshops, we will organize longer gatherings, such as a minimum of 3 days, where we could not only focus upon specific TEAM subjects, but also hear and discuss about other aspects of Eastern culture, and practice Qigong, Yiquan, Taijiquan, etc., as well as talking, singing, laughing, and generally speaking, enjoying ourselves.
3.5. Exchange of texts, notes and information among the membersMany TEAM practitioners have much to share and are willing to do so. We will create the space for a free exchange of ideas, probably thorough establishing a virtual forum where, away from the ‘formal’ discussion on proposed texts (3.3), anyone could hang hers/his ideas, experiences, suggestions or news, or simply ask for help from peers when in doubt. This exchange shall also be a part of the gatherings (3.4)
I have worked on this proposal with a group of people in Barcelona including Miguel Angel Cabrer Mir. I have discussed this idea with Stephen Birch who is very interested and supportive and I’m now looking for other like-minded people to work with so that we can develop more concrete plans for this study group. The term ‘wuwu’ is one that Stephen uses when he teaches IP cords, he has called the holding of the small finger at the black clip and the thumb at the red clip ‘the wuwu technique’. On clarification he explained that wuwu can be seen as the Chinese term ‘wu wu’ [五無 ] meaning the ‘five emptinesses’. This can be seen as a symbol of the open empty hand, and has several other layers of implications and meanings.I hope you are willing to join me on this venture!!!
Manuel Rodriguez
Barcelona, Spain
