Acupuncture Points and Meridians

Flash Mavi concentrates on the athletic and competitive asepects of martial arts. However, when you learn Taiji or Qi Gong you should still know a little about meridians and acupuncture points. Modern Taiji and external Qi Gong don't really require this kind of knowledge, but as it is kinda genaral knowledge in those areas, and essential for traditional Taiji and internal Qi Gong, you should defenitely have some TCM knowledge. If you seek more detailed information about Meridians and Acupuncture Points, I suggest you search on wikipedia or TCM specialized resources. Find more taiji lessons at taiji main.

Description: Acupuncture Points and Meridians

• Meridians - Jing Luo
  According to TCM, (traditional Chinese medicine) the Qi, (vital energy of the body) circulates through the body through specific interconnected channels which are called meridians. (jing luo) The existance of those meridians could not yet be proofen by western scientists. In TCM it is believed that the interruption, blockage or redirection of the energy flow through those meridians can lead to physical or emotional illnesses. There are lots of meridians going though the body and some of them are thought to have a dirrect influce on your organs.
  The most important ones are the meridians for:
  The Lungs, Pericardium, Heart, Large Intestine, Triple Warmer, Small Indestine, Kidneys, Spleen, Liver, Stomach, Bladder, Gall Bladder.
• If the Lung Meridian for example suffers a blockage, according to TCM this can lead to a malfunction of your Lung. And a malfunction of your Lung can also lead to arm problems, becasue the Lung Meridian runs from the shoulder through the arm to the hand. Meridians run though acupuncture points. You can imagine the accupuncture points like bus stops of the energy flow lines. In TCM, blockages like the one mentioned above are treated with acupuncture, accupressure, etc. To prevent a bad energy flow in the first place, traditional Tiaji and internal Qi Gong exercises are supposed to help.
• Modern Taiji on the other hand is only though to be for competition and is very athletic. (actually unhealthy for the joints) (involves acrobatic jumps and techniques similar to rhytmic gymnastics)
• External Qi Gong is ment to be a result of an improved energy flow from internal Qi Gong exercises. But that's not 100% true. Shaolin monks practice both, internal and external Qi Gong. But internal Qi Gong exercises are not always necessary for external Qi Gong demonstrations. During my years of training at a wushu instutute in China I also kept an eye on Qi Gong training methods and for a limited time I practices them myself.
  All you need in order to break bricks:
  a) Harden your bones / muscles
  b) Kill your nerves
  c) Use the right techniqe (where concentration and coordination is very important)
  And what improves your concentration is meditation. But it's not focused energy what will actually break the bricks.

Locations: Acupuncture Points and Meridians

• Here are the most important Meridians and Accupuncture Points. Of course there are hundreds more. The ones listed here are the ones used in some Flash Mavi lessons. If you need more detailed info, please search for TCM specialized resources.
  
  
  
• Meridians
  • Bladder Meridian (from the eyes thought the frontside of the head to the back and then to the toes)
  • Conception Vessel Meridian (from the Hui Yin up the stomach and the chest to the mouth - straight line)
  • Gall Bladder Meridian (from the outside of the eyes up to over the ears, down behind the ears, up to the forehead, to the backside of the neck, down to the toes - inside the body)
  • Governing Vessel Meridian (goes from the Hui Yin up on the backside of your spine, though the Bai Hui to the top of your forehead) The Conception Vessel Meridian goes up on the frontside of your body while the Governing Vessel Meridian goes up on the backside.
  • Heart Meridian (from the axilla through the arm to the little finger)
  • Kidney Meridian (from the middle of the foot sole up the leg, through the upper body, to the inner end of the colar bone)
  • Large Indestine Meridian (from the pointer up on the frontside of the arm to the shoulder, to the spine and then back to the shoulder and then up to the side of the nose)
  • Liver Meridian (starts in the right big toe and goes to the ankle and then goes from the ankle of the left foot through the leg to the Liver.
  • Lung Meridian (one inch up to the colar bone, down the frontside of the arm and then to the thumb)
  • Pericardium Meridian (from the outside of the chest muscle through the arm to the middle of the palm)
  • Small Indestine (from the small finger up the arm to the shoulder. In the shoulder blade and then up the neck.
    To the ear, then to the sheek bone and back to the ear.
  • Speen Meridian (from the big toe up the leg to the the outside of the chest muscle)
  • Stomach Meridian (from the eye down to the chin bone and up to the forehead again. Then down to the neck and through the body and to the 2nd biggest toe.
  • Triple Heater Meridian. (from the ring finger up to the shoulder and from behind the ears to the outside of the eye)
    
    
    
• Accupuncture Points
  • Dan Tian - Center of the body - Two fingers above the belly button
  • Bai Hui - Acupuncture point on the top of the head - One hundred Meridians run through the Bai Hui. Bai means "one hundred" in Chinese.
  • Hui Yin - Point between constrictor and genital.
  • Lao Gong - Middle of the palm. (between middle finger and pointer bone)
  • Shang Yang - Acupuncture Point 1 or 2 mm from the nail of the pointer.
  • Yin Tang - Acupuncture Point between your eyes and your forehead.
  • Tai Yang - Acupuncture Point one finger width from the outside of the eye.
  • Xi Yan - Xi = Knee, Yan = Eye

Trainer advice: Acupuncture Points and Meridians

• If you practice external Qi Gong, you can do internal Qi Gong exercises and Taiji exercises to improve your coordination, concentration and breathing technique. It is not necessary to believe in the energy flow to be able to apply extrnal Qi Gong techniques.
• This is only a sketchy article. If you find any grave mistakes, please report them.

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