Qi Based Needling Skills, Integrating Bodywork & Ashi Techniques for Back & Joint Pain

Taught by 25 year China Veteran Andrew Nugent-Head, this Seminar is Module 2 of ATS' collaboration with the Tri State College of Acupuncture to offer a 300 hour post graduate course: Acupuncture in Orthopedics and Rehabilitation. Please visit www.tsca.edu to sign up for the complete program, or contact  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  to register for any individual seminar.

Building upon the Foundation of Qi in Module 1, participants first review the Eight Storing Qi and Developing Sensitivity Exercises, followed by a brief Question and Answer session on previous material. Participants are then introduced to the concept of the Eight Functions of Qi within the context of treating physical injuries and residual pain. This theoretical foundation is critical to achieving complete and lasting results for your patients, whether it be to avoid a potential surgery, recover after one, or treat the pain they live with due to their condition.

Manipulating the Qi within your patient is the very core of classical acupuncture and bodywork. Whether you are gathering the Qi in an area to strengthen a joint, or dispersing a blockage of Qi inhibiting the healing of a muscle, the language of Qi defines the diagnosis, treatment strategy and treatment method. Having this language is the first step, making sure your techniques are Qi based is the next. Participants learn to Tonify and Disperse the Qi with acupuncture from the foundation of Qi covered in Module 1. This integration of Qi based theory and Qi based treatment is central to being a clinically confident practitioner in the field of orthopedics and rehabilitation.

Acupuncture, however, is rarely enough on its own. Treatments of joints and muscles often require bodywork to be fully effective. Integrating bodywork techniques with acupuncture dramatically increases efficacy and recovery time. Learning classic bodywork and bodywork-acupuncture combinations from the Yin Style Bagua medical tradition, participants enter into the 'hands on' approach to physical medicine that once was integral to the field of trauma within Chinese medicine.

In the treatment of physical injuries and pain, the most important of all acupuncture techniques is Ashi needling. Originating in the Nei Jing's Ling Shu靈樞 (Spiritual Pivot), used by Hua Tuo and described in detail by Sun Simiao, Ashi points are the single most important treatment method for treating physical injuries manifesting as pain in the back and limbs. Depending on the situation, patients can see clear improvement within 72 hours of treatment and often be free of pain with just a few sessions. To achieve this level of efficacy, however, involves recognizing the pathways of pain, understanding body mechanics, and being able to differentiate the Yin-Yang aspects of new and old injuries. Andrew Nugent-Head will cover these critical topics as well as demonstrate Ashi needling by itself and as part of a protocol involving multiple needles and bodywork.

All seminars include partnered practice and guided practice time using both needles and bodywork.