Extraordinary Vessels

This text makes available the information a student or practitioner needs to add important and powerful treatments to their repertoire. The authors have assembled theoretical explanations and treatment systems based on the use of the eight extraordinary vessels. The information comes from highly successful Oriental scholars and practitioners. The reasoning and research from which these treatment systems are derived is detailed, beginning with the classical descriptions of these vessels as the oceans of qi and blood. Descriptions of the eight trajectories include starting points, pathways, variant pathways, and branches. Eleven full-page body charts illuminate the text and more than 50 tables summarize the trajectories, the meeting points, and the areas of diagnostic correspondence. Classical extra meridian treatments are set out, with treatment styles that are detailed in step-by-step presentations. Fascinating systems that have been only partially or superficially reported in the West are fully explained. These systems include plus-minus needling, the Chinese system of body zones, the use of bipolar metals, magnets, and electrically pulsed magnets. Sample treatments, illustrations of correspondence and reflex areas, treatment tables, and diagrams provide practical support. There is a major treatment list for the eight master-coupled points, with thousands of indications for the points from Japanese, Chinese, English, and German texts. Organized by body area or specific condition, this reference permits the practitioner to see how the various indications relate to one another and form groups. A final section describes the authors' experience in combining extraordinary vessel and magnetic treatments with element/stem diagnosis, scar treatment, and zone therapy.