Unknotting difficult cases
With Gunter Neeb: TCM's most engaging presenter
2010 AUSTRALIAN TOUR
SYDNEY: Saturday 29 & Sunday 30 May
MELBOURNE: Saturday 5 & Sunday 6 June
BRISBANE: Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 June
BOOKINGS & INQUIRIES:
Helio Supply Company
ph: 1800 026 161
e-mail: TCM@heliosupply.com.au
What it's about!
Drawing on his own research in China and Wang Qing-Ren’s Yi Lin Gai Cuo from the Qing dynasty (which he fully translated in his book Blood Stasis) Gunter will discuss the implications and treatment of blood stasis, both from the Chinese and conventional perspectives, spiced with a wealth of illuminating case histories. Since any area can be affected by the obstruction of blood, the clinical applications are widespread.
Gunter will also introduce the fascinating topic of the Fire Spirit (Huo Shen) school. Gunter first met Wu Sheng-Yuan, the son of the famous Fire Spirit School protagonist Wu Pei-Heng (“Dr Fu Zi”) in 1994, which sparked his interest in the Fire School. Based on the classics with its principle of restoring yin by tonifying yang, the Fire Spirit School has been extraordinarily successful with those cases that orthodox practitioners had failed to crack. Gunter’s case studies are written with suspense and read like crime stories.
Many of the Fire School followers lived long lives (over 90 years of age), and were, of course, also Daoists. Gunter considers the teachings of the Fire Spirit School the greatest treasure he has come across in the past 20 years. The applications range from treating yin fire during menopause to chronic, knotty cases from any area of medicine.
Blood stasis
Any system – in short, all areas – can be affected by the obstruction of blood, with a wide variety of consequences. Heart disease, diabetes, chronic hepatitis, skin diseases, gynaecological disorders, dementia, low immunity, tumours, rheumatic and arthritic conditions are some of the consequences of long-term decreased blood supply, functional impairment and pathomorphological changes associated with blood stasis. The ancient Chinese medical concept of blood stasis and its modern scientific aspects such as high blood viscosity, reduced blood cell plasticity, diminished blood flow and increased blood cell aggregation often overlap. Blood stasis is an area where Western medicine appears, at first sight, to be more advanced, an appearance due primarily to the presentation of impressively technical measurements. However, technology is only as good as the conceptual principles that guide it. The science of haemorheology is still in its infancy, but it allows diagnosis of the signs of blood stasis by scientific and verifiable means. However, when it comes to treatment, Western medicine is only beginning to approach the sophistication of Chinese medicine. Two hundred years ago Wang Qing-Ren attempted to combine the two medical systems – anatomy and the abstract concepts of Chinese medicine – and in this he committed an error. We can still learn from this and apply both models separately in order to bring about an individualised treatment for the patient and greater therapeutic choice for the practitioner.
Although blood stasis and high blood viscosity are derived from two different sciences, both have a good deal in common: both are the causes and mechanisms for ischemic heart disease, brain disease, geriatric diseases, formation of tumors and many other illnesses. For more than a decade Gunter Neeb has spared no effort to study the classical language, philosophy and Chinese medicine in a systematic and comprehensive way. He is extremely well-read, has a keen spirit of enquiry, and achieved good grades. As a supervisor for his PhD I particularly appreciate his open and sharp mind, which he successfully employs in making comparative analyses between Chinese and Western medicine. He stands at what is just the beginning of an even more profound integration in a field of research which I regards as most important for further progress and success.
– Prof Zhang Bo-Li
The Fire Spirit School
The best way to get a taste for Gunter's presentation of the Huo Shen School's work is by reading two recent articles in The Lantern (links below):
The Fire Spirit School: thoughts and methods (Lantern vol 6:3)
Playing with Fire (Lantern vol 7:1)
