by Eric Brand Last week, I had the opportunity to translate a class on acupuncture for Dr. Shi Xue-Min. Dr. Shi is the head of the Tianjin TCM Hospital, one of China’s most advanced clinical and research institutions. In fact, the acupuncture depar… more »

by Eric Brand Many of our readers are familiar with the work of Philippe Sionneau. Philippe's books on Dui Yao (herbal combining) and Pao Zhi (herbal processing) are the best English-language sources on their respective topics, and his seven volume… more »

by Bob Flaws As some of you may know, I'm on Facebook. Every day I try to post some useful formulas, outcomes of research, and/or quotes from both premodern and contemporary Chinese doctors. Yesterday, a bunch of us had a really good discussion about… more »

by Bob Flaws I am a big fan of integrated Chinese-Western medicine 中西医结合. Routinely, studies in China show that, in the treatment of serious disease, the combination of Western and Chinese medicines gets better resu… more »

by Shawn Kirby L.Ac. Noted chef and raconteur Anthony Bourdain once made the comment that, “it takes a special person to do the very basic things correctly.” And while Tony was talking about haute cuisine, the same holds true in our profession, whic… more »

I did a seminar in Columbus Ohio with Marilyn Allen a couple of weekends ago and one of the practitioners in the room was a veterinarian who had a great marketing idea. Look up the website for the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS) a… more »

by Eric Brand Most acupuncturists are familiar with the Tong Ren, a bronze acupuncture statue that was used in China’s Imperial medical school from the Song dynasty until the dawn of the modern era. However, as I mentioned in a previous blog, the im… more »

by Honora Wolfe As a new practitioner, you face several marketing problems. Below is a discussion of the first one of them that I can think of. I've come up with several solutions [or partial solutions] and the beginning of a marketing plan to help y… more »

by Shawn Kirby L.Ac. My wife and I went to see Julie & Julia last weekend. Following the movie, as we split a baby brie and a bottle of wine in honor of one of our culinary heroes, we got into a discussion about how weird people have become rega… more »

by Eric Brand Chuan Niu Xi is a commonly confused medicinal in Chinese medicine. The name Niu Xi generally refers to Huai Niu Xi (Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix), which is distinguished from Chuan Niu Xi (Cyathulae Radix). Huai Niu Xi is rarely confu… more »

by Bob Flaws During the last 5-6 years, I have done a lot of translating for books on the Chinese medical treatment of Western medical diseases in general and on diabetes, cardiology, and psychiatry in particular. In the course of that research, read… more »

by Bob Flaws Teaching is its own profession, and the main job of a teacher is to communicate a certain body of information to students as clearly and as efficaciously as possible. Regardless of a teacher's other qualifications, if they cannot communi… more »

by Eric Brand Herbal pharmacy has long been an interest of mine. During my initial study of Chinese medicine at an acupuncture school in California, I spent three years filling formulas at a Chinatown-style herbal pharmacy. The boss was like a gran… more »

by Eric Brand Wu Wei Zi exists in two main varieties. The “southern” form is known as Nan Wu Wei Zi (Fructus Schisandrae Sphenantherae) and the “northern” form is known as Bei Wu Wei Zi (Fructus Schisandrae Chinensis). Traditionally, the Wu Wei Zi f… more »

by Shawn Kirby L.Ac. Friends, do you ever see patients complaining of migraines, chronic head and neck pain and low back pain? Do you sometimes find that these problems are difficult to treat, leaving you feeling down in the dumps? Well folks, have… more »

by Bob Flaws Honora just came into my office saying that she's found three more companies making unauthorized free digital downloads of one or more of our books available on-line. So she's filling out all the paperwork to have their Web hosts and Goo… more »

by Bob Flaws So I come back from an eight-day retreat and what do I find? Some gonif (Yiddish for a clever thief) in the Ukraine is selling a CD on line which contains 100 titles on acupuncture and Chinese medicine, the vast majority of which are Blu… more »

by Eric Brand One of the greatest challenges for new Chinese medicine students lies in understanding the subtle nuances in action of the various medicinals. This challenge is all the more difficult because different books preserve the technical dist… more »