Classical acupuncture is a comprehensive, highly sophisticated, stand-alone practice using all 68 acupuncture channels. It differs from modern acupuncture which focuses on selected points on only 12 of the channels.

During the 1600 years spanning the 5th century BCE to about the 12th century CE, Chinese masters used all the channels of acupuncture. They had a complete tool kit; acupuncture was able to address anything. 

The acupuncture channels fall into two broad categories, the twelve Primary Channels, responsible for maintaining the moment to moment functioning of the internal organs and the fifty-six Complement Channels responsible for protecting the internal organs by diverting illness away from them.

The Complement channels are divided into four groups:

1. The 12 Sinew Channels defend the body and also enable it to move. They treat chronic and acute injury, concussion, pain, stiffness, skin conditions, mood disorders, burns and more.
2. The 16 Luo Channels treat emotional, psychological, and psychiatric disorders including suicidal tendencies, psychosomatic pain, some musculoskeletal conditions, blood and heart diseases and blood cancers.
3. The 12 Divergent Channels treat chronic musculoskeletal conditions and chronic degenerative diseases known in western parlance as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lupus, carpal tunnel syndrome, frozen shoulder, gynecological conditions including endometriosis, infertility, fibroids and cysts, gastrointestinal issues such as reflux, Crohn’s, irritable bowel, respiratory conditions including asthma, allergies, sensory organ and skin diseases including eczema, insomnia, hypertension, chronic headaches, teeth issues, cystitis, anxiety, fibromyalgia, cancer, etc.
4. The 8 Extraordinary Channels treat illnesses that originated in childhood, psychological issues that originated in childhood, long term food intolerances and other allergies that originated in childhood, moderation of birth defects and psychological issues resulting from birth trauma, infertility, cancers, geriatric conditions, childhood and infant illnesses, bonding and over-bonding issues, deep trauma, PTSD, gait imbalances, hormonal disorders, seizures, strokes, the quest to find purpose and meaning, orientating toward one’s vocation, the feeling of being directionless in life, etc.

In addition there are six cutaneous regions that treat burns, sunburn, skin irritations and very superficial pain, and two bisecting channels that treat urogenital and reproductive health. 

Modern acupuncture, known as TCM, uses collections of points on 12 Primary Channels. While able to significantly relieve symptoms, these channels cannot give the practitioner access to the root cause or location of chronic illness because they cannot reach the level of the constitution. This is why many people report that they tried acupuncture and found that it didn’t work for them. As the process of restoring the use of all the channels of acupuncture progresses in the profession, more and more acupuncture patients are experiencing the remarkable results that are possible. 

On my website, we offer teachings and publications to the public and to practitioners of all forms of acupuncture, helping to vastly extend the range of illnesses they are able to treat. Increasing numbers of practitioners in the profession are now able to:

• Arrest and reverse the course of chronic degenerative diseases, auto-immune diseases and other seemingly intractable illnesses.
• Entice the root cause of a disease to a location from which it can be accessed for treatment.

This is in addition to the benefits broadly enjoyed by acupuncture:

• Increased energy levels, less tiredness, a greater feeling of vitality through increasing the flow of energy.
• Increased strength and integrity of the body.
• Increased immunity.
• Pain relief.
• Health maintenance.
• Relaxation and invigoration of the mind, body and spirit.

Where Does Classical Acupuncture Knowledge Come From?

Classical Acupuncture is acupuncture as it was described in the original texts, dating back to about the fifth century BCE. At first the practices were the purview of shamans as they treated the channels using their intention; needles came later. The information was held only in the oral tradition and not written down until the Han Dynasty (2nd Century BCE to 2nd century CE) when the book the Nei Jing, The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic appeared—the original acupuncture text. Acupuncture must refer back to this original text if it is to be acupuncture and not an approximation or invention. The Nei Jing comprises two sub-books, the Su Wen, The Simple Questions and the Ling Shu, The Spiritual Pivot. These are astonishing books, giving maps for all the many channels, pulse diagnosis instruction, medical theory, explanation of the course of diseases, and needling techniques.

The earliest surviving version of these two books dates from the Song Dynasty (12th century), one thousand years after they were written. Since books were hand-copied and subject to centuries of editing, by the time of the Song Dynasty the original text had lost much of its content. In addition, political forces in during the Song worked to excise the majority of the channels. As a result, the texts are often considered arcane, impenetrable, contradictory and confusing. So much of what was written about the complement channels is missing that it is often impossible to create treatment strategies from the texts. The only reliable source of the complete versions of these books is therefore an unbroken oral tradition, a tradition in which a strict code of learning and apprenticeship resulted in comprehensive learning and understanding of the complete practice of Chinese medicine. My teacher, Master Jeffrey Yuen traces his lineage back 88 generations, back to the time of the original Nei Jing. As the chief primary source on an international level, he holds a mind-bending amount of information that no longer appears explicitly in the existing Classical texts. His gift has been the direct transmission of this material with an unbridled generosity. It’s impossible to overstate his contribution. Without him the ability to understand how these channels work and to construct treatments to reverse the course of chronic degenerative diseases using the complement channels would be absent today.

Master Yuen had his own acupuncture school in New York from 1997 to 2011. It was housed within and owned by the Swedish Institute on 26th Street in Manhattan. I graduated from that school and later taught there for many years. In 2009 the Institute was purchased by a venture capitalist firm who soon found the acupuncture arm of the school to be unprofitable compared to the rest of the school. In what was a huge blow to Chinese medicine, they closed the acupuncture school in 2011, and with it, they stopped the flow of graduates trained by Master Yuen in person.

Since the mid-2000’s it has been my task to document my understanding of the acupuncture and pulse diagnosis portions of my teacher’s vast teachings, to develop linear step-by-step protocols for their use (Master Yuen’s teachings are intentionally not linear or step-by-step), and to disseminate that method.

The goal of this site is to play a key part in the return of acupuncture to its natural and original form as it was practiced in the Han Dynasty: full of certainty, crystalline effectiveness, and above all, as a heart-centered practice. We invite you to join us on this site, to learn more about these marvelously effective methods. The community we’ve created is unusually wonderful. Most of my students elect to treat patients using the channels and are routinely stunned by their effectiveness. I am often stunned myself by what is possible with this complete acupuncture, even after years of practice and teaching. All acupuncturists are welcome here. A huge welcome to you.

Ann