[TCM] Meridians Help

[Douglastaiqi at taiqi.com]

The Du points are especially hard... I once had to coach a Chinese 
Master who had to teach a class on location and she was getting 
confused with the Du numbers. The best way to work with it is to 
visualize the points as if they were a picture. Once you can get the 
map in your head its not all that hard. If you rely on the numbers then 
it's really weird.
I'm sure Al won't mind if I plug a Point Location tape I made with 
Huabing Wen. (Al narrates) You can view sections of it at Acuvideo.com  
  It's probably the only of its kind in English or Chinese and I think 
would be helpful for students and teachers.

doug



On Aug 10, 2004, at 1:28 PM, Al Stone wrote:

>
> On Aug 10, 2004, at 11:10 AM, <vickiconfrey at cox.net> wrote:
>
>> I do not have the kind of mind that retains numbers.  Also, when I 
>> read a map, I turn the map around as I turn corners in the car in 
>> order to understand the map. So, when I hear that CV11 is 3 cun 
>> superior to CV8 and you divide 8 cun from CV8 to CV16 in half, and 
>> that half into half again, blah, blah, blah, my brain goes blank.
>
> I get it. Tell you what, the way that I really learned my point 
> location was on a real person. I understand how all these words turn 
> into a sort of mush in your head, but when you're in practice, the key 
> points are easy to find such as Ren 12 being at the midpoint of the 
> naval (ren 8) and the sternal xyphoid function (ren 16). I find those 
> two points, put my fingers on them (using two hands) and then eyeball 
> the midpoint, placing my thumbs on the middle of that line which ends 
> up being Ren 12.
>
> Most of the points that I use on a regular basis are pretty easy to 
> find. I don't often find that one really weird one, what is that, San 
> Jiao 13?
>
> Perhaps a little more practical experience (i.e. practicing with your 
> classmates) will help you be able to know where the points are on the 
> body, as most of them are related to anatomical landmarks.  Don't 
> worry about the name of that boney structure at the top of the lower 
> leg on the side, just know that finding it, then going one cun down 
> and forward is GB 34.  You can learn the name of that bone later.
>
>> Even just remembering that Du9 is in ISS of T7 doesn’t make sense to 
>> me because the Du numbers increase in value as you go up, but the 
>> vertebra numbers go down!
>
> Sucks, doesn't it?  There's actually some kind of pneumonic device for 
> this. It has to do with 2-1-3, 3-2-1... something like that. Perhaps 
> if someone remembers it they can chime in.
>
>> Furthermore, when confronted with a live body, I tend to forget where 
>> I am when I palpate. Was the 7 that I just counted a T-7 or a 
>> Du-7!??! I don’t relate well to or retain numbers.
>
> Yeah, to be honest, I couldn't tell you where all the du points are 
> between Du 4 which is use often, and Du 14 which is use often enough.
>
>> So, do you have a recommendation for a numerically & 
>> geographically-challenged student? The other students in my class 
>> seem to have caught on well.  The teacher is great; in fact, he is 
>> brilliant.  It’s me.
>
> I suggest working on people more and more.  I think that's the best 
> way to get it into your head.
>
> Just my 2 centavos.
>
>> Thanks for any help you or others in the group can offer.
>
> I'm sure that other students can provide additional idea.
>
> --
> Al Stone, L.Ac.
> Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
> -Adlai Stevenson
>
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Douglas Eisenstark
taiqi at taiqi.com