Comparing Shiatsu & Acupuncture an Interview with the late Dianna Cheong Jamie Hamilton MRSS(T), Lic. Ac. Background I interviewed Dianna in January 2013 in as part of a dissertation exploring the similarities and differences between Shiatsu and Acupuncture. This transcript has been edited for readability and length, whilst aiming to preserve the flavour of the interaction.. The original interview and dissertation can be downloaded from www.eastwestcollege.co.uk. The material here elucidates her most recent thinking and, had she lived, some of it would have been presented in the workshop she planned to give, Heart Cultivation in Chinese Medicine, at the Shiatsu Society conference in 2013. JH: How long have you been in practice? DC: I ve been practising Shiatsu for 20 years and Acupuncture for 7 years. JH: For you what are the special attributes and benefits of Shiatsu? DC: As a Shiatsu practitioner I d say the main benefit is the self-cultivation, which creates a base of emptiness, to start something, and to come from a place where then a myriad of things can happen. The other thing for me is the connection aspect. Firstly the self-cultivation requires me to connect to myself. This opens an avenue of connection with my patient which allows healing to take place. This benefits the patient who is then in the optimum position to feel the connection and for us to make that space together. As a Shiatsu practitioner, my background and my continuing study of the Classics makes the connection with myself through self-cultivation to the pre-heaven, to something bigger than myself. This is what allows change and transformation and enables healing, whereas a more cerebral perspective tends to see the body as post-heaven, more material and less open to exchange. JH: What are the special attributes and benefits of Acupuncture? DC: I suppose the difference... well I d say that really they work in very similar ways,
but maybe in Shiatsu the Qi projection that requires a connection with something bigger than oneself, is more apparent because one is touching the body - but then I always touch the body during Acupuncture, so for me they are the same! The Classics say there is a difference between taking and not taking a substance, but less difference between bodywork techniques such as Shiatsu and Acupuncture and, speaking as an Herbalist as well as a bodyworker, this accords with my experience. Maybe the benefits of Acupuncture are more at the acute level - but I also know that Shiatsu works in acute situations too. I d say the difference may be more apparent from the receiver s perspective than from mine. In fact I sometimes think that Shiatsu offers greater benefits for healing and transformation than does Acupuncture. But on a placebo level, on a mind level... and I use that word not flippantly... but on a mind level, as in the biology of belief, I would say that they may get greater benefit from Acupuncture because Acupuncture has a stronger brand... they know that they are going to have needles, which are perceived as being slightly more clinical so they feel that it has a kind of weight. But if you understand the mechanism of Qi, then it is clear that both Shiatsu and Acupuncture can bring long-term benefits. Unfortunately, and astonishingly, not all Acupuncturists have a background in understanding Qi and in this case there may be less long-term benefit. The Classics consider that medicine which doesn t have a long term view is inferior medicine. Shiatsu has it naturally... we see the body long term and sometimes I don t think that Acupuncture does because it s a very material world that it s taught in. The patient benefits from my studies and experience, but perhaps they gain even more from the strong image/reputation/brand which Acupuncture enjoys. JH: In your experience which therapy is more effective, and for which conditions: Shiatsu, Acupuncture or combined? DC: Simply to treat signs and symptoms is a rather inferior way of working. According to the Classics, you are attempting to bring your patient back into health but what does this mean? The more they are in harmony with nature, the more they are in health. The less in harmony, the less healthy. So, the more even they are, the more likely they are to live out their allocated time - which is a big thing in the Classics. As a practitioner, therefore, I must ask How best can I assist this person to live their allocated time?
or How can this person be helped live for the longest time with the best quality possible? This demands that we view the person over time, in long time. So we look at the person from their Root rather than at their signs and symptoms. Sometimes, if you are simply attempting to clear the initial manifestations (the signs and symptoms), you may actually reduce their time. If you only look for the signs and symptoms you may never be clear about where you are going, but identifying the Root brings clarity to the treatment aims. With Shiatsu we are conscious of working with something bigger than signs and symptoms - whether we understand this or not! We are only ever bringing life into the body. Shiatsu practitioners can overwork the body, pushing a person s engine a bit too much, which also can reduce their time, but it s a little bit less, than what Acupuncture can do. Acupuncturists, who may perceive what they do as being more clinical, may potentially do more harm than a Shiatsu practitioner. JH: In Acupuncture the concept of De Qi is well known. What is your view of any equivalent in Shiatsu? DC: Sometimes it is not so useful to mix up two different models there is the danger of watering down both systems. De Qi - mmm JH: Do you think of it, De Qi, when you practise? DC: Not really. I think of Qi projection, which isn t the same as De Qi. Sometimes when I m locating a point I ll feel first, then I manipulate the point, without the needle, and sometimes at the same time. I used to use guide tubes a lot, and now sometimes I do and sometimes I don t, but when I don t it combines further, so for instance, if I m doing Spleen 9, I feel for it, I connect with the point first, and still while my thumb s in there I ll just insert the needle so I ll almost do the two at the same time... so is it the De Qi... or is it pressing points? To me it is just the same. JH: What difference would you say is occurring with Acupuncture stimulation versus Shiatsu stimulation? DC: I think there is a difference. If you re just attempting to activate a point, led by a symptom, then Acupuncture can be ok for that. If you are attempting something bigger then the potential of Shiatsu is much greater. The Kyo-Jitsu dynamic represents an interaction and what you are attempting to do with Shiatsu is to guide the person into that interaction. As an Acupuncturist you can work with an isolated point - you put a needle into the knee and both practitioner and receiver relate to that point with mind and body. But with Shiatsu there s a two-handed connection,
there s a circuit and so sometimes there s a process going on. Kyo and Jitsu describe a process, something happening between the two points. In Acupuncture Excess and Deficiency can exist independently of each other and there s no process going on. That is something that is unique to Shiatsu rather than Acupuncture. Having said that, when I do a point prescription, I still connect with the points and connect them with each other. Perhaps the real difference is a cutting to the chase thing with Acupuncture. Whereas with Shiatsu it s more like peeling an onion going deeper, layer by layer. Shiatsu practitioners often start studying Acupuncture thinking that they are going to know more about the body, and that they are going to be able to do more with the body, but the more I studied Acupuncture, the more I realized the power of Shiatsu. According to the Classics, practitioners were supposed to study all three arts bodywork (anmo or tui-na), Acupuncture and herbs. Younger practitioners, with their greater energy, would do more bodywork, and as they age, would start to distance themselves from the body and use needles instead. As wisdom developed further, then herbs would be used. It is rare to find young herbalists! We as Shiatsu practitioners are less bound by this progression because we allow the Qi to flow through us, requiring less expenditure of energy compared to the hard physical work involved in the Chinese art of tui-na. That is one of the reasons I studied Acupuncture - because I was getting older (I m now in my fifties). I wasn t sure that I would want to be working on the floor in ten years time, so, bearing in mind the teachings from the Classics, I learned another tool so as to conserve my energy and to use the wisdom arising from age. So that was why I retrained - because Acupuncture uses less energy! JH: So what do you think is really going on when the needle goes in through the skin? DC: I d say the same answer as for Shiatsu, i.e. that I m guiding someone to connect with their own energy, to respond and to rise to it. I m applying the tool, but it s the connection which determines how effective it is. So, if you don t connect with someone s heart, you can apply the needles, experience the arrival of De Qi, and still they can go away not feeling as if anything much has happened. For me as a Shiatsu practitioner I feel as though I am guiding someone around their body, and if they meet me at certain points then something can happen. Both parties are responsible. It s just as the Classics say: you conduct yourself in a virtuous
manner, and you ask of the person of their virtue. This means that you meet them in a place where you connect back with heaven, which means that they have a healing response. And how clear you are with your intention, is how clearly that they meet you. I suppose it is also true that needles can give a very clear indication. JH: Do you think that it s because the needles are sharp and small that it is more definite? DC: No I think that it s because it actually punctures the body... that s what it s doing... it s physically puncturing the body. JH: That s great thank you.