HOW COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) IS CURRENTLY TREATED IN CHINA WITH TCM

Compiled, Translated and Edited by John K. Chen, Pharm.D., PhD., OMD, LAc and Lori Hsu, MTOM, MS.  Editors: Michael Norris, L.Ac., C.H., Debra Nash-Galpern, L.A.c, Donna Chow, L.Ac., DiplOM

With Wuhan on lockdown for more than 10 days, the Chinese government announces a major change in strategy: All patients with confirmed infections are to use Chinese medicine. 2/10/2020

The Medical Treatment Unit of Wuhan’s novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), currently named COVID-19, Prevention and Control Headquarters issued a “Notice Regarding the Agreement to Recommend the Use of Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Pneumonia due to Infection from the Novel Coronavirus”.

The “Notice” emphasizes that all designated medical institutions in Wuhan will ensure that all infected patients take Chinese medicine (Chinese medicine decoction or granules) before midnight (24:00) on February 3, 2020. A collaboration between Western and Chinese medicine is undoubtedly welcoming news, especially now as the results from the front lines in Wuhan have been very promising.

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SHIATSU AND WHAT IT REALLY MEANS

I have been invited by the European Shiatsu Congress to write an article about shiatsu during a rich lifetime of practicing and teaching. Shiatsu is a lot of things if you search for representations. One thing not found in the standard definitions is the relationship between shiatsu and Ki and the awareness of it. You could say that more shiatsu and less Ki are theoretical when learning. Actually, more Ki and less theory are preferable especially when starting.

Ki is a little word which has much to say although it does not speak. Ki is some kind of invisible energy which is seen in its manifestations. Contrary to many understandings Ki is a conscious energy which has no form. We, however, are full of it and we relate it to life; generally ours.

Shiatsu is a whole bunch of actions designed to communicate with situations involving this Ki which has been described in terms of Oriental medicine so that we can actually work with it and become more aware of its remarkable existence. The more we are aware of Ki as an unimaginable core, the better we will feel and the more satisfying will be our shiatsu. The effect this has on the people we teach and treat is huge and often subtle in a way that our clients are not yet aware of.

We love to talk about the intricacies and wonders of Ki. Ki, however, has the biggest mouth but does not talk so that there are enormous numbers of people who know the word, but nothing more. It’s an incredible fact that so many people at large are missing the one thing in life which is there for the taking and it is not being taken. We are talking billions of people. It is therefore unlikely that this situation will change very quickly. Fortunately, we do reach people and they do become aware otherwise I wouldn’t be able to write all this.

If you are already a therapist or teacher or both, then you would not be richly satisfied if you were not humbled by the Ki phenomenon in your own life. Some teachers were on their way to discovering jin-shen-jitsu within their lifetimes. Shizuto Masunaga was one of these. I will try to explain this more clearly in September. The manner in which we work is a therapy for us as we learn about this fascinating journey without the impeding use of a spoken language. This fact implicitly suggests that Ki and Touch were around long before humans attained the ability to speak. That’s about 250,000 years ago according to scientific evidence.

Since we get our Yang Ki from the sun, it’s more than possible that Ki occupies an undefinable role in our known universe and is knowledgeable about things that humans have just started to discover. This must have some meaning because human nature as we see and define it is perhaps not ripe enough to make the small sacrifice for the big discovery dividend. I hope the ESC event will be one of important contributions to the search and discovery of the quality of life and that shiatsu in its true form will positively affect that quality. Come and visit me and my team and we will see what we can do and enjoy together. You may also visit our school on Sunday 30th August for our Open day.

Thank you.

Alan Nash