Institute of Neijing Research

As acupuncture-physicians our goal should at all times be to engage action efficient needling. How we interact with the five-fold tissue matrix, with the varying divisions and spaces between them, with the circulatory movements of the still and moving vessels all demands precision in action. This is needling technique. And part of that refinement is the selection of the correct tool, whether lightly brushing the skin, separating flesh, or deeply scraping the bone.

These needles, mostly handmade by David White (me!) are to assist my students next week in our 4 day clinical practicum for the INR Clinical Neijing Program in London . They are rough on purpose, but the tips (for the most part) are true to classical description. These ones are non-insertion arrow, millet, and rounded needles used for pressure on the skin structures, mai-vessels, and various spaces of the flesh divisions. Of course we will be needling with insertion needles like mad too.

Our goal will be refinement of the correct pressure at various site of the body, experimenting with different needle tips, thickness, lengths. Tool and technique.

This will naturally be blended with correct diagnostic procedure and identifiers to round out the INR Pathological Assessment to Treatment Homogeneity (PATH) methodology.

Looking forward to it!

On occasion the Neijing just delivers some absolute gems in disease management. The Lingshu Jingjin, or the channel tendons / sinews is one of the most complete and straightforward vertical pathway-to-treatment sections of the entire text. Clear cut descriptions and perfect, no nonsense, needling (mainly revolving around an INR speciality, cuici or fire-quenching needling). However, when the tendinous pathway of the zuyangming - stomach becomes contorted with disease, often resulting in facial paralysis, we are given another option of intervention: cake them in horse fat, force them to have good feed, and slap them silly!

What a magical text.

Letters on letters on letters. And some videos. It was not uncommon for me to receive a single page in a large envelope from Dr. Tai. Musings on needling, disease, core theories, and of course, quotes too. Most times it would include an invitation to Yumcha - where the real instruction would take place.

I remember one time in Sydney, at the then wonderful Marigold restaurant in Chinatown. Tai and I sat talking, he ordered. He would sit there berating me about my association with certain “practitioners” who were “big bellied, small brained”. A knife or chopstick aggressively coming toward my face. Or it would be a needle technique, where a dumpling or piece of pork was the victim. When he had finished his point, the food would be slid across the table for me to consume. I would laugh every time - like I was literally eating his words!

One thing stuck with me recently, as I needle fresh patients in a fresh setting. He’d say “tongxue, roujin” or “move / unblock the blood, (then) soften the tendons”. In Neijing acupuncture, there must be protocol in certain disease presentations that should be abided by, like drainage before restoration. I think this applies to so much in life. I can’t wait for our next Yumcha! ~ D White.

Images:

Daodejing Chapter 2 quote from a letter.
Tai’s hands needling Jing.
Videos of his practice from 22 years ago and few of my case study texts.
A book on spinal trauma and some of his speciality needling.
Yumcha

Dr Tai would say: “診脈, 經络触診, 刺脈, 刺分 平脈” (zhenmai, jingluochuzhen, cimai, cifen, pingmai). Essentially this means: “palpate the pulse, palpate the jingluo, needle the pulse, needle the divisions, balance the pulse.” This is what ultimately led to me creating the P.A.T.H (Pathological Assessment to Treatment Homogeneity) system within Lingshu acupuncture. Understanding that through assessment of pathological patterning via Mai-vessel and tissue palpation we can quickly treat said vessels and tissues with the right tool and right technique. It is aimed at being a no non-sense approach.

Sometimes he’d just point and harshly direct me: “刺空cikong” or “needle the empty spaces”. It was like a strike with a Keisaku to my back - a “stop mucking around and create space” instruction. I am yet to come across any practitioner with his direct and incredible needling technique.

Image: Dr Tai inspecting a patient with paralysis and needling the 人迎脈 (renyingmai).

2026 will see the INR Clinical Neijing Program dive into the depths of Lingshu pathology through the compass of the jingluo. Here we bring together our understand of physiological models, diagnostic criteria, and needling technique of the Neijing in order to approach the variations of disease that impact our circulatory system.

This of course is a large-scale endeavour as disease patterning in the Neijing can be incredibly complex. My aim is to simplify these complexities through line study, clear and focused clinical criteria, and a fluid open minded approach to the practice of classical acupuncture. We can’t cover it all in the next year, but what we do will form definitive foundations of your practice.

For those not enrolled, this program will be available at a later date for online study. It is forever-changing and I greatly appreciate the trust, patience, and commitment of my current cohort in conjunction with

Over the last few years, when required of me in practice, I have been refining the subtleties and nuances of 三刺 (sanci or “triple needling”). As a continuation to my last post about tissue levels / level-based needling, this unique and versatile technique lies in the very principle of those mysterious, vital, and magnificent empty spaces and divisions. I will be first to admit that I have lazily taught this method in the past, not giving it the respect it deserves - this month and this coming May in London, I will change that.

Sanci is simultaneously connection with levelled pathology and deep set nourishing and life-giving physiology. It has its variations, many with which I have now experimented with, but all that lie within the same principled approach. A true example of “authenticity in practice” in classical Neijing acupuncture, a technique that slows you down and connects with the patient in a very special way.

Five tissue layers and the divisions between them. If I told you that this compromised the majority of pathological identification criteria and treatment intervention in the Neijing, would you believe it?

Pathology, in its many forms, loves to get lodged in spaces. Hard to reach spaces. How we navigate our needle to these spaces is so vital to the health of the surrounding tissue environment, substance interchange, and the directional shift we can enact on that pathology. The knowledge of these spaces (and the structures that create them) became a paramount study in classical times. Fen-divisions (分), in all their variations, became the cornerstone of efficacious needling technique. This in turn led to what I term “level-based needling” and why I I repeat to no end: right tool, right level, right technique.

傷寒 Shanghan extends itself as the catalyst for the majority of illness we see in classical literature. The natural characteristic of cold causing contraction, torsion, adhesion, and obstruction means that it lends itself so easily to the many transformations of yinyang pathology within the circulatory system of the jingluo complexities. Most notably, and as repeated extensively through varying themes in the text, cold damage is the cause of heat disease.

This month and next, Lingshu Labs is focusing on the variety of illnesses related to the pathologically interplay between cold and heat. How it impacts directional physiological movements, creates new pathological ones, and the strategic needling methods required to restore and remove as required.

“A good physician doesn’t use diagnostics to pursue a disease, they use diagnostics to predict and anticipate how disease moves, and intercept it precisely.”

Anticipation is key in all battles, and especially within the subtleties of dealing the wayward movements of xie in the circulatory system. All physicians should ask themselves “what is my desired outcome?” with every stroke of the needle, every gram of a prescription. But beyond that, they should not just dwell on their doing, but that of their patient, and hence the thieving nature of disease. Disease is sneaky, it hides in dark places, it wears the mask of health while simultaneously destroying everything around it.

So talk to your needle! “Why are you here?” “What is your purpose?” Understand this to the utmost minute detail. Then strike. No movement of needle should be wasted - precision in posture, grip, insertion, manipulation, and withdrawal all based on clear cut and well defined diagnostic criteria.

How hard can it be?

I’ve had the privilege of teaching Neijing acupuncture, and specifically researching and lecturing on the Lingshu Guanzhen for over two decades, at university level, through associations, and private seminars. Every pass of the material, every new patient I see, brings another level, another dimension, and a fresh lens of understanding.

This next part of the INR Clinical Neijing Program will take students, old and new, through these techniques in a clear and concise manner. We will decipher the correct link between tool and technique, physician and method, physiology and pathology. I am still a great believer in learning through needling, whether theory or clinic. Technique is still the nucleus and cornerstone of everything I do. The needle is an incredibly powerful conduit.