Acupuncture and the Martial Arts

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Acupuncture and the Martial Arts

The martial arts connection to medicine is very weak unless we dive into specific religious notions of medicine and health. That view has long made me a polarizing teacher, some people love me, some hate me.  As my regular readers are aware, connections between theater, religion and martial arts were severed at the beginning of the 20th Century. Because of this, few people can actually see the religious connections between medicine and martial arts.  What we got, almost by a historical fluke, was the valorization of the martial arts school connected to the herbalist and the bone-setter.  This connection is certainly real.  The connections between ways of training the body and massage techniques (bodywork, tuina, etc) are strong in practice.  That is why the Daoyin for bodyworkers program has been successful.  But for this connection to be meaningful, the language has to be correct.  Otherwise it just becomes laying theory on top of practice; an unnecessary burden. 

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Winning Links

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Two quick links for your enjoyment.

The League of Extraordinary Dancers is a hot new series.  Younger men may not realize just how revolutionary this is, but in my day dance wasn't very cool for men.  It has been a long fight to bring great male dancers up to the superhero status they deserve, but I think we are winning.

Some people in the U.S. Military seem to really understand the role the military has in shaping all of American society, and they are taking acupuncture very seriously.  This is going to be great for business!