I myself see oriental medicine very simply as QI. If I start to get technical, there is no end to it, and I think it goes into Eastern philosophy, which can make it even more difficult. If you are interested in Oriental medicine, there are plenty of specialist books on the subject. The yin-yang theory divides all things into yin and yang and expresses the correlation between them, and the five-element theory also divides all things into five categories and expresses their correlative and conflicting relationships. These two theories are the basis. The basis of these two theories is QI. This is the fundamental principle that all things are made up of QI.

First, a brief explanation of the yin-yang theory.

Taiji diagram representing the theory of yin and yang

I take it to mean that all things are made up of Qi, and that they never stop flowing and changing. The moment Yin reaches its peak, Yang is born and at the same time Yin gradually weakens, while Yang gradually increases and at the moment of its peak, Yin is born. All things in the universe, including life, are constantly changing. To say that things are always the same, that is, that they do not change, is the same as saying that they are 'dead'.

Next, I will explain the theory of the five elements, adding an example.

Click to enlarge an engendering-restraining chart above.

The solid arrows represent symbiosis, while the dashed arrows represent conquer. The colours also have meanings: blue, red, yellow, white and black are associated with each of the five elements. Some of the legends are marked with (+/-) or (-), indicating that what is marked has a positive, negative or negative effect, depending on its degree. The drawing is part of the Five Elements, but I hope you can understand how accurately these Five Elements represent the relationship between illness and the body in real life.

For example, let's say you feel strong anger. The attribute of anger is liver. Anger causes the liver Qi to rise. Too much anger causes the face to turn blue-black. Blue is the liver. At the same time as the liver Qi rises, the liver is connected to the eyes, so the eyes (pupils) open and become bloodshot. Also, tears are produced when angry, which is noticeable in children. This is because tears are an attribute of the liver. Muscles are also an asset of the liver, so abnormal liver Qi causes the muscles to overreact, resulting in trembling. You may also call out loudly to the other person.

The heart Qi is activated because it affects the next heart Qi in a symbiotic relationship, and as it controls the blood pulse (blood flow), the blood pressure rises and the blood vessels rise to the surface. （This is also why the eyes become bloodshot.)

At the same time, the Spleen is suppressed due to the opposing relationship, resulting in a loss of appetite. Basically, the affinity works in suppression, so it is normal to lose appetite. This is the same as the autonomic sympathetic nervous system, which is strongly activated by strong anger (stress), so the human behaviour is Fight or Fright. The sympathetic nervous system therefore does not direct blood flow to the internal organs for digestion, but to the muscles for movement. As a result, the internal organs do not move while the sympathetic nervous system is strongly engaged, so you do not feel hungry. (The sympathetic nervous system was not known about 2,000 years ago, but people must have discovered this through observation and other means. This is the greatness of Oriental medicine, which has passed it down to the present day).

To suppress the Liver, which is over-activated by strong anger, we use the Lungs (the conquering relationship) and the Heart (the draining relationship), which can suppress the Liver. In the conflicting relationship, eating white-coloured food, consuming spicy food (such as chili peppers) and wailing can suppress the Liver. As a draining, good combination of these two can bring the liver, which is mad with anger, into moderation.

After suppressing the Liver, take a moderate amount of sour food to nourish the sore Liver, and a diet with dark green-coloured foodstuffs. As the degree of damage to the meridians differs from person to person, it is only possible to say 'moderate amounts'. It is impossible for me to give a definite figure, such as '00 grams', which is the best for the individual.

Incidentally, if you feel strong anger too often, or if strong anger is sustained for a long time, your heart will continue to be affected abnormally, resulting in high blood pressure and, in severe cases, cardiovascular diseases such as cerebral haemorrhage and myocardial infarction.

You know this from experience when you feel strong anger, you lose your appetite, and that wailing and laughing can make you lose your anger completely. (Recently, neuroscience has also shown that wailing is a very efficient way to eliminate stress in the brain.) When you feel too much anger, you naturally cry because the liver is associated with tears. When it comes to colours, recent studies have shown that blue LED light calms people's emotions. Blue is linked to the liver, or anger, so exposure to a certain amount of blue works towards suppressing (i.e. calming down) feelings of anger.

In practice, it is difficult to regulate meridians that are over-active or damaged by diet and emotions alone. This is why acupuncture and Chinese medicine exist. Controlling diet and emotions is for normal curing.

The field of Psychoneuro Immunology (PNI) addresses this influence of emotions and the body, especially the immune system, in Western medicine. Oriental medicine has been pointing this out for 2000 years, and only in the last 20 years or so has it begun to study the correlation. For this reason, Western medicine is still not very aware of the relationship between the emotions and the body.

Many things that cannot be explained in Western medicine can be done in Oriental medicine. Moreover, the logic from an oriental medical perspective is often quite satisfactory.

The following are the meanings of some of the words I often mention during treatment.

Qi stagnation

Qi stagnation is a condition in which bioenergy (also called chi, prana, aura or waves) does not flow properly and is blocked. If it is flowing without problems, a person is in good health. However, the flow can be blocked by stress, injury, environmental factors and emotions.

Pain caused by Qi stagnation is characterized by a distending pain (a feeling of tension), and the location of the pain often shifts. Because Qi is a moving force, the location of the pain also moves.

I often use an analogy with a water pipe: when it becomes blocked, water naturally does not flow out of the tap as it should. In the same way, things that should be flowing are not, so the body becomes tired, and strange dull aches, night-time pains, headaches, etc. can occur. The term 'pre-symptomatic', which is often heard on TV these days, refers to a state in which the water pipes have started to clog but the body does not yet feel or have any symptoms of illness at all. If the blockage progresses and becomes more severe, or if it becomes completely blocked, symptoms of illness will appear, and the symptoms will be felt as pain or discomfort.

In this case, depending on the degree and location of the blockage, the area may swell. It is as if a blocked water pipe expands. Many people are seen to mistakenly believe that this puffing up is because they have 'gained weight'. If this blockage is removed and the original flow of water (energy flow) is restored, the body's discomfort will naturally disappear and the swollen areas will gradually disappear.

If you feel unwell, there is a high number of Qi stagnation and it is also strong.

Blood stasis

In Oriental medicine, blood flows because Qi flows. The blood flows to nourish the Qi. Therefore, blood stagnation can occur either when the blood does not flow due to Qi stagnation or when the Qi is not nourished due to malnutrition, etc. The flow of Qi can be easily disrupted not only by diet and environment, but also by emotional movements. Stress overload and poor stress relief are the most common causes of blood stasis.

Pain caused by blood stasis is characterized by night pain, dull aches and fixed pains. The painful area does not move as in pain caused by Qi stagnation.

Why does the blood come from outside the blood vessels? It is said often. Blood vessels are frequently described as being like rubber hoses, and the elasticity of the vessels certainly fits this description. However, actual blood vessels are full of holes. The fact is that white blood cells, macrophages and other cells are constantly moving out of those holes.

If there is no Qi flows, there is blood stagnation. Then, uncirculated blood that has seeped out of the blood vessels accumulates in the gaps between the tissues (the actual human body is not tightly packed with anything), especially under the skin. This is blood stasis. Western medicine says that blood stasis is caused by acupuncture needles breaking through the blood vessels, as there is a meshwork of capillaries running directly under the skin. If that argument is correct, then acupuncture needles anywhere in the body should cause bleeding. In reality, however, this is not the same. Bleeding only occurs where there is a real blood stasis.

And when the blood stasis is removed from the body by acupuncture, pain and paralysis actually become easier. This can only be understood by those who have experienced it, but it is a fact.

For the therapist, the fact that the blood has been released from the acupuncture site is an indication of how bad the patient's condition was, and at the same time it is evidence that the she/he was able to find the exact location where the blood was accumulating.

Apart from this kind of blood coming from just under the skin, lower blood, menstrual blood and nosebleed are also considered as blood stasis. In other words, all bleeding from non-vascular sources can be said to be blood stasis. Constipation is also basically considered to be caused by it.

Oriental medicine considers blood stagnation to be the cause of tumours (cancer) if it is left untreated for a long time.

When the blood stasis freshly formed, the color is very pale in colour or transparent. It becomes darker and darker depending on the age of the blood stasis, the size of the Qi stagnation and the amount of pain in the meridians. On the photo page you can see photos of sludge blood from my body and from patients. In some cases, the blood looks like water. The photos are included with the patient's permission.

Acupuncture points and meridians

These are the bioenergetic channels that flow in and out of the human body. Think of meridians as underground water channels, and acupuncture points as places where the underground water gushes to the surface.