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The Point- Volume IV Issue II

Being Pushed Around by Franco Garritano

"Practicing push-hands gives us a chance to put Taoist philosophical principles to work .beyond dealing with them . as intellectual concepts, to incorporating them into our being." --Herman Kauz

Eastern philosophies are unique in that they often develop physical systems to help the individual learn the philosophical concepts they present. Over many centuries, Taoism has developed exercise systems to help human beings instill Taoist principles, such as softness, into our awareness. The tai chi forms and its two-person exercise-push-hands-can help us internalize these Taoist writings. These tools are invaluable as we try to go beyond the limitations rational and abstract thinking can provide. Push-hands is unique because one interacts with the unpredictable, dynamic nature of another individual. Herman Kauz is regarded by many in the martial arts community as having the highest skill of push hands in this country, and he teaches it right here at PCOM.

Push-hands (t'ui shou) is part of Tai Chi Chuan, a fighting system translated as Supreme Ultimate Fist. In push-hands, opponents face each other, and using the very minimum of strength, attempt to disturb each others balance. To avoid being pushed without resorting to resistance, we have to move our body (ego and emotions) out of the way. Push hands training can teach you to avoid an opponents attack and using his/her strength to counterattack. However to be used as a fighting system it takes many years to develop. Moreover in Herman Kauz's style fighting is not the primary objective. More immediately his focus is on self development.

Herman Kauz has been teaching martial arts since 1952. After studying various martial arts, he mastered Judo and Karate winning many competitions. A search for a more meditative art led him to study Tai Chi with Cheng Man-Ching and become one of his senior students. For over 30 years now Herman has focused on primarily Tai Chi (form and pushhands) He is also the author of several books, including The Martial Spirit, A Path to Liberation, The Tai Chi Handbook, and Push Hands. Some of these books are in the PCOM library.

Herman has mentioned that he has seen development carry over to other areas of his life. In an interview I asked him how specifically has Tai Chi and Push hands affected other areas of his life. He mentioned that he has noticed a greater flexibility in his attitudes and reactions. Decades of responding to a push by trying to let go and not resist have contributed to that softer approach. He is now convinced that push hands offers an individual an opportunity for an endless possibility of growth. As a weekly patient of acupuncture at the clinic for several years, he is also certain that push hands will help a practitioner develop his or her sensitivity. The fine palpatory skills needed, such as pulse taking and inserting needles can only benefit from such a practice.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 to 1:30 , Herman Kauz teaches push hands for FREE at the college (paid for by PCOM). Look in the lounge for more information, including room numbers.

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Chinese Astrology As Your Friends

Horse - Horses are loyal, stand by their friends and are sincerely interested in their welfare. They demand as much from their friends as they do of themselves. Horses are good listeners and will sit patiently while a friend expounds their troubles. But the Horse has only practical advice to offer, and either you do as he says or you don't ask advice again. Horses cannot accept lazy mindedness in other; they will throw themselves into helping someone who knows what he/she wants and turns their back on people who let life wash over them.

Goat - Goats are pleasant company and often know how to make people laugh. They make grippingly interesting small talk. Goats are empathetic and will sit through sob story after sob story. They take a vivid interest in improving society and preserving beauty. They are eager to please and to make others happy; sharing is no problem for the Goat who will prove generous to a fault so long as he/she benefits from sufficient stability and love. They never forget anyone's birthday.

Monkey - As friends, Monkeys are both loyal and devoted, yet as lovers they can be flighty and faithless. Sometimes they gossip, meddle and pry, yet at others a safecracker can't get them to spill so much as one bean. Monkeys are notoriously generous, especially when it comes to spending money on others. They can't resist watching your eyes light up when they give you a present or find you a special treat or locate just the right holiday spot for you. Challenge a Monkey to please you and he will lead you into some rich temptations.

Rooster - The main virtue in the Rooster character is loyalty: they make devoted friends. They always speak well of their pals and make allowances for foibles and faults. Roosters never break promises and are always true to their work. When Roosters love and admire someone, they will move mountains to keep them happy, advance their personal causes and provide a willing shoulder for the loved one to cry one.

Dog - Getting to know a Dog is not always easy. Dogs are very often impenetrably shy. Except for the occasional terse, caustic remark, for which they are well known and even feared, when confronted by strangers, Dogs tend to keep their own counsel. Once you know them, they may hold forth for hours, outlining past and future campaigns, providing justifications for attitudes or behavior- as they are moralists and live for fighting injustices in the world. But if they haven't met you before and don't know your political views Dogs see no reason to bound into your lap. At first meeting they rarely try to be charming, communicative or warm.

Pig - Pig is a charmer. S/he knows how to appeal to people of all sorts. They make friends easily and are rapidly adopted as a crony by all. They cling to the idea that everybody is beautiful and good. Pigs prefer to face each day with a non-judgmental frame of mind. They please without trying. The average Piggy uses honest praise wisely. He/she knows how to make everyone he/she likes feel more special than anyone else. Everyone wants to be the pig's best friend.

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Highlights of the LHC Report by Karen Rohrbaugh

The long awaited Little Hoover Commission (LHC) Report is out. It consists of hundreds of pages of discussion, analysis and reports about the scope of practice of Oriental Medicine, educational requirements, exam requirements, the protection of the public and more. The executive summary as well as the text can be found at www.lhc.ca.gov .

The following are the Commission's recommendations to the Governor and the California legislature that I thought would be of most interest to you. Keep in mind that these are only recommendations, they are not laws YET.

•  Acupuncturists are primary care providers within the context of traditional Oriental Medicine , and are responsible for referring patients to primary care practitioners of Western Medicine when appropriate.

•  Licensed practitioners who want to order biomedical laboratory tests should be required to complete specific continuing educational requirements and take a supplemental exam.

•  Practitioners interested in mastering both Eastern and Western methods should continue to seek licensure under both systems. (This means you should pursue an MD, ND or DO degree in addition to your LAc.)

•  Create a separate category of licensure for professionals who provide only acupuncture and not the array of traditional Oriental therapies. These people who work predominantly in addiction therapy. (I presume this would mean no herbs and maybe more.)

•  The new 3,000 hour educational requirement is adequate to prepare entry-level practitioners and to protect the public safety. (There is a constituency that has tried to get the requirements raised to 4,000 hours to create an entry level doctorate to be on par with Western medical professionals.) The Commission decided that since they are not expanding the scope of the profession, there is no need to increase the educational requirements.

•  Western science courses should be taken at colleges and universities that are accredited to grant degrees in those areas.

•  Patient safety should be emphasized more than it is currently. More CEU classes should be offered on this subject and the State should require testing over material related to patient safety. In addition, the California Acupuncture Board should develop a patient safety strategy.

•  The California State Exam will be maintained and will not be replaced by the National Board Exam as the requirement to practice Oriental Medicine in California .

•  An internship program should be devised to further practical skills of the profession. (This is an experience beyond what we currently get while in school. I believe it would take place after graduating and before taking the State exam.)

•  There needs to be more attention/awareness to drug-herb interactions, herb purity and potency, accurate labeling and reporting of adverse affects.

What does this mean for us as future acupuncturists? At this point, we can only speculate. It does appear that the Commission is recommending that our focus be limited to Oriental Medicine. The field is so broad that in many ways it would not be terribly limiting. On the other hand, would it prohibit some of the tools that many of us have been taught or exposed to such as allergy elimination techniques, applied kinesiology, trigger points and orthopedic treatments that go outside of the traditional way in which the medicine was practiced?

Most of us will have graduated by the time most if any of the recommendations are implemented. Future students may have a very different educational experience. They may be required to take their Western science classes at SDSU, UCSD, USD or elsewhere. Perhaps they will be required to study the classics, learn to speak and read Chinese, etc. to meet the 3,000 hour requirements as well as to stay focused on only Oriental Medicine theory and practice. We may find the focus of the profession to be very different. You may want to consider enrolling in that Shang Han Lun elective and take some Chinese Language classes in anticipation of the change.

I definitely have more questions than answers. If you would like to delve deeper into the subject, check out the blog at www.chineseherbacademy.org where you will find further analysis and discussion and don't forget to check out the website above to review the report for yourself.

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Holistic Horror Therapy by Mitch Harris

Have you ever left a horror movie and noticed you were oddly disappointed? The acting seemed adequate, there were bits of foreboding supernatural control, a condemning and eerie atmosphere, even a fair amount of visceral leakage -but still you left feeling strangely unsatisfied. Fortunately, with a new and groundbreaking therapy, the joy of feeling fear can be experienced in a safe yet unsettling environment for your health concerns. That's right. Now you no longer have to rely on Hollywood or random trips to Detroit to provide you with that healthy dose of terror your energetic meridians crave.

The effects of fear have been well documented in classic Chinese medical texts, but the focus is on how they bring states of imbalance into the body. For example, in their book The Seven Emotions , C. Larre & E. Rochat de la Vallee, quote the Su wen, chapter 39: "When there is fear, kong , the qi descends. the essences withdraw: withdrawing, the upper heater closes; closing, the qi leaves; leaving, the lower heater is swollen. This is how the qi does not circulate". The authors interpret this spooky passage to mean there is a severing of the axis between the Kidney and Heart in the lower and upper burners. When the essence begins to withdraw, the qi then falls. This in turn can lead the bodily liquids downward and into your pants. That's no glowing advertisement for the benefits of fright. But if we look closely, we can find that in small doses of fright prescribed by a certified health professional can be used as a tool to revitalize our meridian circulation and warm our hearts instead of our pants.

Our culture shows a high degree of interest in the qi moving effects of fear. Horror films are among some of the most successful movies ever made; children's fairytales are riddled with disturbing images; reality TV showcases families being buried chin deep with rats; Nascar is the fastest growing sport in America; and the success of theme parks hinges on the idea of an open-air trolley car that joyfully pretends malfunction at distressing speeds onto a cheering crowd below. It seems today's notion of fear is quite different than the classic Chinese medical version. Maybe the fear discussed in the Su wen is based on the catastrophic levels of fright that would occur in those times like war, famine, and major psychological trauma. In our society those issues remain, but modern technology is used to exploit and control contained levels of fear that were impossible to consider in the past. In smaller doses the Kidney-Heart axis does not seem severed by fright but actually stimulated by it as the upper and lower jiaos become jolted with qi that rises to the Heart, like a defibrillator on mild stimulation. The problem is not the healthy effects of a dose of fear on a stagnant being, but our cultures lack of any prescribed general overview of its use. America is hysterical with the joy and terror of fear, with no sign of being able to get perspective on the situation.

That is where Holistic Horror Therapy comes in. We bring together the benefits of being frightened within a worldview that understands the bigger picture. Imagine a patient whose qi is so blocked that only a good fake finger-lopping gag could get through their stagnation. Should we deny them this healing opportunity and instead let them randomly scare themselves via the local news? That is why I have recently joined with other experts in the field of frightology to open up a new center of Holistic Horror. We are located at 6661/2 Ambulatory Ave in Chula Vista . We have an array of fake medieval weaponry, plastic limbs, phony blood of different coagulations, an elite mask collection (extra stock of the Bush family) including state of the art bald caps with various skin diseases. We have the West coast's largest collection of fake boils and teratomas, failed elementary school science experiments, synthetic eyeballs encased in jelly, and the ever-popular back hair applicator. If that's not enough we recently acquired the presence of a lawyer, loan officer, and an AMA representative for your on site horror needs.

Fright is natural. Fear is fun. What can explain the odd joy we feel on Halloween when we attempt to scare one another - and reward the person who shocks us with candy? Now it's time to seek a treatment that organizes this unique emotion before we scare ourselves into the Su wen's haunting observations. At Holistic Horror we know when your veins have filled with just enough fresh fear to leave you feeling revitalized yet jittery - carefully scaring your whole being, not just your symptoms. By taking a lesson from our modern cultural behaviors and applying ancient medicinal wisdom, we have created a new and effective therapy to scare the masses into a state of health. If you don't feel nauseous when you leave our clinic, we'll give you your money back. That's our pledge to you.

Happy frighting from the staff at Holistic Horror-

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Time for Change by J. Ildesa

Change of time, changing of the seasons/leaves, new baseball world champions breaking curses. We send a class of fresh graduates out into the world and welcome a new batch of healers-to-be with open arms. Fall is a transitional time. I sit down to write this article having just cast my vote for our "new" president not an hour ago, and hope and pride fill my heart. Regardless of the outcome, these emotions predominate because I see people are showing interest and getting involved in the process. This too is my wish for us students at Pacific College .

Ryan and our outgoing officers have done a wonderful job the last year stoking the fires of involvement with the Healing Arts Festival, guest lecturers, Vietnam Veteran Standown, recycling program, etc. Erin, Michelle, David, Emily, Ryan and myself will do our best to build on this foundation. Activities on the agenda this year include guest speakers, student/faculty talent show, cultural festival, winter holiday/Chinese New Year(astrological sign dressup) party, karaoke & skate nights.

My vision of PCOM is that of a family. The faculty and admin are our aunts/uncles/mentors. We are not a western medical or law school that has its students competing for grades and future job/internship placements. We are different. Our school should be a haven where each individual's talents/gifts can be cultivated and made manifest. Each student has something special to add to our medicine's legacy. We are a bridge between east and west, and are the living link to the 21 st century from thousands of years of medicine. We come from small time roots and have grown to 3 campuses nationwide. So much growth in such little time, our epiphysises must hurt.

We are blessed to be at a school many say will be the, "Yale/Harvard" of oriental medicine in the not so distant future.

This fall is a big transitional time. Happily, Symposium is this weekend, and that's our annual reunion for friends and family. It's a time when we can get grounded, bask in the glow of collegial warmth and sip from the living founts of knowledge present. It's an occasion to reconnect and recharge with people who have shaped our lives.

Have fun learning, Peace.

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