I have to agree with Sparafucil...Acupuncture just doesn't seem to really have any medical qualities to it...Its all in the head of the people

If someone is not open to new ideas or concepts or even proven methods then it doesn't matter how much you try to convince them otherwise, you can talk until you are literally blue in the face, But they will not change their minds.

As part of my Martial arts training, when I was younger, I studied Chi Kung and have to say that it was one of the most amazing things that I have seen being practised and also experienced.

From what I've read, heard and seen for myself, Chi Kung relies on the cultivating of the bodies inner energy, Chi (its known by other words too, Ki, or Qi, I think).

Its possible to practise exercises that help to cultivate and harness this energy and move it around the body, One of the most simple exercises is to stand in whats known as the "horse stance", like in Karate, and extend your arms outwards in front of you.

You should clench your hands into fists, then unclench and extend your fingers as wide as possible, whislt your doing this unclenching and clenching, you must breathe deeply from the very bottom of your lungs, so you clench and breathe in, then unclench and breathe out.

Just trying to hold the horse stance is very difficult as your thigh muslces will begin to "burn", initially and you may even "quake" or shake a little bit.

Do this for 10 minutes at a time, 5 times a day.

After a while you will feel the "chi" coursing through you and your finger tips will begin to almost glow with heat.

This exercise is one of the basic ones, that I was taught initially, and helps improve Posture, breathing and helps improve overall wellbeing in a person.

Its not BS and at some people might consider it Mystical, but its very beneficial and can even be a form of meditation for some people.

They say that if you train in Chi Kung long enough, that you can eventually move this energy around your body and make parts of your body impervious to damage.

I've seen this myself, in Chinatown Festival In London back in the late 80's, A gentleman, called Master Ting, was demonstrating Chi Kung techniques and how it could be used to make the body unable to take damage, the guy literally had a car drive over his head, a stone slab was placed on his chest and head and smashed with a sledgehammer, He "washed" his face with broken glass out of a large wok, and in what was a jaw dropping feat he had to guys pushed two 6 foot wooden shaft, razor sharp steel tipped spears onto his throat and he literally walked forward until the shafts bent and broke.

He had even taken one of these spears and pushed the end through a 2 inch pine board to show that it was real.

It was pretty bloody amazing and one of the best martial art demonstrations I have ever seen.

In this video below, see the same feat performed by a different guy, the last 4:30 of the video is what you wanna see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOICL...eature=related

The video is a little long winded, but you get the idea of this amazing power that doing Chi Kung can cultivate in your body.

Acupunture and Acupressure work on the same principles, that Meridians or points in the body can be massaged to change the flow of Chi within the body, afterall its a known fact the Brain uses electrical signals and both these chinese arts rely on manipulating the electrical signals within the body, and changing or altering their path within the body.

Both arts have been around for several thousand years too, a lot longer than western medicine I should imagine.

Absolutely spot on, and what I was trying to explain. People are so stuck on Western Medicine, that they are completely blind to what's been around for thousands of years.

Not too impressive.


I have seen a show talking about a blind guy who can draw images. He has never seen anything before and he draws anything and everything with stunning detail. Even can draw 3D objects just fine.


Then, those monks, there is a white guy from Europe somewhere that can do the same thing. He has already set a lot of freezing temp challenge things. He even did one were frost bite had set in after he finished and he was able to get ride of it.



There is also a lot of people who see sounds. Each sound has its own color or something retarded like that.

There are a few more but can't really remember.
Oh, there was this one math dude who did math super fast. That was super awesome. He could even make an algorithm on the fly to do his calculations.


There are tons of "superhumans" and "super mutants" around the world. I don't think that they are all that super, as I think that they are a lot more common then we think.

Trying to put this diplomatically; I think that when looking at Eastern medicine, it often isn't very helpful to listen to the reasons people think something works. If something works, it works, but not always because of the reasons people have thought for thousands of years.

TBH, there is a lot of western medicine that works by the same method as eastern. The thing which eastern does a lot better is tap into the human mind.

The brain controls the body, and an unhealthy mind creates an unhealthy body. You cannot disassociate and expect things to work out well. A reduction in stress and the correct state of mind will lead to a heathier body. The reverse is also true...exercise and general health have strong effects on your mental state as well.

Now do I believe in a Qi? Do I think crazy spirit things are at work? No...but to write off the interlock between mind and body is a huge mistake.

Do I think acupuncture works because of some odd spiritual thing? no....it is probably a combo of the mental relaxation, placebo, plus the stimulation which comes from proper needle application.

I have been acupunctured through a couple muscles which were knotted up and it did seem to relax them over time. The needles do create a bit more stimulation to areas.

It is a little odd to me to see people lumping in things which are quite different...like massage? How can you not say there is a benefit? Chiropractors are another really sore spot for people. They probably should be as they do not have it regulated enough and results are so mixed. I actually have a chiropractor that does make a huge difference. I believe it works by creating a better balance...basically if there is an injury on one side, they stretch that muscle and create an opposite tension on the other side.