ShinKyu University

10/06/2026

09/18/2026

How much of what you understand about a patient actually comes through your hands?

A while back, I sat down with Michael Max on the Qiological Podcast for Episode 310, “Navigating Destiny: A Personal Journey Into Japanese Acupuncture.” It's not a new episode, but the conversation still holds up. The questions we explored then are the same ones practitioners are still asking: what can your hands tell you that theory and protocol cannot, and how can moxa work with the body’s own healing? Listen here: https://qiological.com/podcast/navigating-destiny-a-personal-journey-into-japanese-acupuncture-maya-suzuki/

My path in Japan shaped the way I practice and teach. The years I spent apprenticing, studying, and learning through hands-on experience showed me how much confidence grows through guidance and real clinical practice. That experience is why I built ShinKyu University’s mentorship: to help practitioners develop that same connection between what they know and what they feel.

Become a ShinKyu University student and book an interview: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

09/14/2026

Do you feel completely confident using Japanese acupuncture in clinic after taking a workshop or course? If not, you can book a mentorship interview with me here: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

Become a ShinKyu University student and book an interview: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

One of the hardest parts of learning Japanese acupuncture is realizing that understanding a technique in class and actually trusting yourself with a patient are two very different things.

You can leave a workshop feeling excited and inspired, then walk into clinic on Monday and suddenly start second-guessing everything. Am I really feeling what I think I’m feeling? Am I interpreting this correctly?

I see this all the time because Japanese acupuncture is incredibly tactile.

When I was learning acupuncture in Japan, I had the benefit of apprenticeship.

That experience is a big reason mentorship is such an important part of ShinKyu University.

If you’ve been studying Japanese acupuncture but still feel unsure when it’s time to use it with real patients, book a mentorship interview with me here: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

09/12/2026

Do workshops teach you everything you need to know to use Japanese acupuncture in your clinic?

No.

Become a ShinKyu University student and book an interview: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

Workshops are valuable. They introduce a method, a teacher, or a possibility. They open the door, demonstrate what is possible, and give you a reference point.

But a workshop does not, by itself, teach you how to make that work your own in everyday clinical practice.

The deeper learning develops day by day within mentorship: practicing the foundations with real patients, noticing changes in tissue and treatment response, reassessing, making mistakes, bringing specific questions to your teachers, and receiving correction over time.

Mentorship keeps your hands learning after the workshop: and after the teacher is no longer present. It helps you continue observing, questioning, and refining until the medicine becomes something you can genuinely use in your own clinic.

If you want to keep developing beyond the workshop, book an interview to explore becoming a ShinKyu University student: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

09/11/2026

Do you have to choose between studying independently and learning with a mentor?

No. Books, videos, and demonstrations can give you valuable ways into Japanese acupuncture. If you want guidance as your practice develops, you can become a ShinKyu University student by booking an interview here: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

Independent study is valuable. It helps you understand ideas, see sequences, and build a framework for practice.

But hands-on sensitivity develops differently. You may understand lighter palpation or a treatment change intellectually and still need time to recognize it reliably in living clinical situations.

Mentorship gives you space to practice, compare what you feel, receive correction, and gradually develop judgment. It doesn’t mean independent study is inadequate; it gives what you learn a place to become more precise.

The goal is not collecting techniques, but becoming more attentive and responsive in treatment.

08/30/2026

“What if everyone else knows more than I do?”

That question keeps more practitioners out of mentorship than you might expect, especially when they are interested in Japanese acupuncture but still feel new to the work.

If that thought sounds familiar, you can book an interview for ShinKyu University here and talk with me about where you are in your practice: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

You do not need to arrive as the most experienced person in the room. What matters much more is that you are willing to practice, ask questions and receive feedback.

There will always be someone who knows something you don’t know. That is true in every stage of clinical practice. The goal of mentorship is not to remove that reality. It is to help you become more comfortable learning within it.

You are not there to prove that you already belong. You are there to develop the skills that brought you to mentorship in the first place.

08/29/2026

Japanese acupuncture is not simply another collection of techniques to add to your toolbox. The deeper shift happens when it begins changing how you observe, palpate and respond to the person on the table.

If you want to develop those hands-on skills with guidance, you can book an interview for ShinKyu University here: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

You can understand a concept intellectually and still need time for your hands to catch up. Someone can explain what lighter palpation feels like or show you exactly how a technique is performed, but your own sensitivity develops through repetition and feedback.

The more you practice, the more you begin noticing things that were easy to miss before. You feel smaller changes. You become more thoughtful about how much stimulation you use. You begin reassessing instead of assuming the treatment needs more.

Eventually, it becomes less about remembering a Japanese technique and more about developing a different relationship with the patient’s body.

That is the part of this medicine I find so powerful.

08/28/2026

You can know a great deal about acupuncture and still feel uncertain when a patient presents in a way you weren’t expecting. That uncertainty does not always mean you need another point prescription or another technique to memorize.

If you want to develop the clinical judgment behind Japanese acupuncture, you can book an interview for ShinKyu University here: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

One of the shifts that happens as you go deeper into this medicine is that you begin paying closer attention to what the patient is showing you throughout treatment. Palpation informs the treatment, but so does the change you feel after an intervention. The amount of stimulation matters. The patient’s sensitivity matters. The way the body responds matters.

Instead of feeling like you have to find the perfect answer before you begin, you learn how to make a thoughtful choice, observe what happens and adjust from there.

That kind of confidence comes from practicing clinical decision-making repeatedly, not simply collecting more information.

*Picture credit to my amazing students Urszula and Heather

08/27/2026

You don’t need to be “advanced enough” to join mentorship. If Japanese acupuncture has been catching your attention but you keep thinking you should know more before you explore it seriously, that belief may be keeping you from the very support that would help you grow.

If you’re curious about ShinKyu University, you can book an interview here and talk with me about where you are in your practice and what you want to develop: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking

Mentorship isn’t designed for practitioners who already have everything figured out. It gives you a place to build your skills with guidance, ask the questions that come up in clinic and begin developing the hands-on sensitivity that can be difficult to learn from courses and demonstrations alone.

You don’t have to arrive already confident in Japanese acupuncture. You simply need to be willing to learn, practice and receive feedback as you develop.

Sometimes being ready doesn’t feel like confidence. Sometimes it just feels like curiosity that keeps asking you to go a little deeper.

08/26/2026

You don’t need to be “advanced enough” to join mentorship.

If you’re curious about Japanese acupuncture but still building confidence, you’re welcome here. Mentorship is designed to meet you where you are and help you develop your skills with guidance, practice, and encouragement.

You don’t have to know everything before you begin. You just need a willingness to learn.

Book an interview to see if ShinKyu University is the right fit for you: https://shinkyuuni.org/booking