In the UK and around the world, various forms of acupuncture are practiced, including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Five Element Acupuncture, Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM), Stems and Branches, Electroacupuncture, and dry needling. Each type has its own methods for diagnosing and treating illnesses, as well as unique needle techniques and ways of interacting with clients. There are thousands of acupuncture practitioners in the UK, each with their own personal views, experiences, philosophies, and levels of integrity. Therefore, clients interested in acupuncture should understand the different types and their distinctions to choose the one that best suits their needs and treatment goals.

 

A challenge to this is understanding the complex history of how acupuncture and Chinese Medicine were introduced to the West. Many people mistakenly believe that acupuncture and 'Chinese' Medicine have an unbroken tradition spanning thousands of years. However, due to the close ties between Chinese Medicine, culture, and politics, acupuncture has significantly changed over time in response to evolving medical perspectives. Essentially, it's appealing for practitioners and nations to market their medicine as an ancient, unaltered tradition, but in reality, it has been shaped by centuries of internal debates, controversies, and adaptations.

As for Five Element Acupuncture, it is widely known that Professor J.R. Worsley brought it to the West after his experiences in Japan and Korea. The lineage holders of this particular style of acupuncture can be traced back to Honma Shohaku (1904-1962) and Yanagiya Sorei (1906-1959), however who Worsley's actual teachers are remains to be a mystery, as well as whether or not his teachings are a true representation of this lineage. The major draw regarding Five Element Acupuncture is that it is a system that supposedly migrated into Korea and Japan before the cultural revolution of China; a time where Chinese Medicine was forced to alter its philosophy and integrate with Western allopathic medicine as a way of appearing as a product of a united China that was technologically advanced and up-to-date. I have yet to find the academic material that traces the relationship between pre-cultural revolution acupuncture and its migration into Korea and Japan, however Japanese acupuncture from this lineage has been well documented by writers such as Stephen Birch, who continues to teach Japanese Acupuncture in New York. Somewhat furthermore, as acupuncture and Chinese Medicine is an oral tradition, some historians and practitioners also doubt the integrity of the classical literature upon which Chinese Medicine draws its philosophy and technique from as it could have easily been re-written during China's first attempt to standardise the medicine during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

As a passionate advocator for transparency and authenticity within my own acupuncture practise and journey of a practitioner, I am constantly studying and reflecting as part of my process of personal development. In this time I have come to find that Five Element Acupuncture is a sophisticated and beautiful system of medicine that it is a partial aspect of the Chinese Medicine system as a whole. It
greatly emphasises the importance of the human spirit in the process of expeirencing the authentic self and achieving personal destiny. I would argue that health, without the wholesome orientation of the spirit, is just living, and that Five Element Acupuncture is particularly beneficial for those suffering from a such a reductionist and materially dominanted society.

For those seriously interested in learning more about the journey of Chinese Medicine throughout history I can recommend the following reading:

Heiner Fruehauf's Introduction to Liu Lihong's book Classical Chinese Medicine
In The Footsteps of the Yellow Emperor: Tracing the History of Traditional Acupuncture - Peter Eckman, M.D., Ph.D., M.Ac.
Chinese Medicine in Contemporary China - Volker Scheid, Ph.D. FBAcC, FRCHM
The Making of Modern Chinese Medicine, 1850 - 1960 - Birdie Andrews, Ph.D.