It seems there are more styles of acupuncture than Lunchbox Laboratory has burgers.

TCM, Five Element, Meridian Therapy, Japanese Acupuncture, Tung Shi, Toyohari, the list seems endless. Which is the real acupuncture?
Which method contacts the “true qi?”

By and large ALL acupuncture comes from the principles and theories set forth in the Classic of Difficulties (Nan Jing) and the Compendium of Acupuncture (Jia Yi Jing). These are the sources, the roots of tradition and practice that have spawned the great currents of acupuncture as it is practiced today. While it is easy to fall into a debate about which method is more true, or genuine, or more effective for this or that; it is best to avoid that quagmire. All forms of acupuncture can be of tremendous benefit when practiced by hands that have deeply engaged the tradition.

Acupuncture is traditional medicine. Tradition does not mean blindly swallowing the words of an old book, nor does it mean one takes ancient methods to be a modern truth. Traditional medicine is about having a glimpse of what illuminated those who wrote the old books; it is about grasping an understanding of the process behind our teacher’s methods.

A practitioner being able to follow a disease process and skillfully intervene is far more important than which school of thought one runs through their synapses. It is not that one method is superior to another, but that a practitioner has dug deeper into their current of tradition and can apply it with agility and skill.

Acupuncture has been around long enough that there are books of commentaries on the commentaries. Over the centuries, methods have been created, theories consolidated, knowledge lost, rediscovered and modified to fit the character of the present time. All have their unique way of addressing illness and promoting health. When seeking out an acupuncturist seek not for the “school”, but for the practitioner's depth of encounter with their tradition.