Fumiko Maeyama
1. Introduction

The Traditional Acupuncture Medicine seminar by Dr. Masakazu Ikeda and the Women's World Wide Acupuncture Network forum were held together in San Francisco from March 24 through March 26, 2002.

The first seminar by Ikeda sensei was held last year (see report by Yumiko Bamba in July 2001 issue of "Ido No Nippon").  The Women's World Wide Acupuncture Network forum was held for the third year. (See reports by Fumiko Maeyama in June 2000 and June 2001 issues of "Ido No Nippon" for the first and the second forums.)

The International Acupuncture Network and the Women's World Wide Acupuncture Network organized event this year.  71 people (42 women and 29 men) participated, putting the number of participants over the original limit of 60 people.  There were 16 Japanese people residing in the U.S. and 10 people traveled from Japan to participate. 

In recent years the number of acupuncture schools opening is on the rise.  The number of women striving to become an acupuncturist or who are already acupuncturists is also increasing rapidly.  One purpose of the Women's World Wide Acupuncture Network has been to pursue the vision of the ideal acupuncturist for the future while collecting data from different acupuncturists.  In the very early stages of planning, San Francisco was the popular choice for the third Women's World Wide Acupuncture Network forum.  We were very lucky to be able to hold the forum together with the Traditional Medicine Seminar by Dr. Masakazu Ikeda.  The two events were very well received by the participants.

In Japan acupuncture students usually graduate without sufficient training in clinical acupuncture skills.  Treating real patients becomes a huge hurdle for many after passing the national licensing exam.  In the old days many took apprenticeship under a teacher and gradually deepened their understanding of how to treat patients.  After 10 or more years of apprenticeship most acupuncturists would finally start their own practice.  Young acupuncturists today have a more difficult time getting the practice needed to treat real patients with skill and competence.  Many young acupuncturists in Japan find it difficult to improve their skills while working as an employee at an acupuncture clinic.

There is a growing number of acupuncture schools and, of course, an increasing number of new acupuncturists hoping to open their own practice.  It is easy to see that these students will bump into the hard wall of clinical difficulties because of the insufficient training in school and a working environment that does not support advanced training.

It was my strong impression from my trip to the U.S. that many acupuncturists there feel their training is insufficient to treat patients.  At the same time there is more awareness about acupuncture and a growing demand by the public for skilled acupuncturists.  More acupuncturists are coming to a deeper awareness of their responsibilities as professional acupuncturists; consequently they are feeling the need to humbly study the basics.  In the U.S. even after starting their own practice many beginning acupuncturists feel acupuncture is not as effective as they would like because they cannot give effective treatments to help their patients sufficiently.  I have heard that, as a result, some acupuncturists resort to modalities of treatment other than acupuncture.  I suspect that these problems are already taking place in Japan as well.

Many of the participants at both the seminar and the forum this year were in their 30's and 40's in age and had over 10 years of clinical experience.  I felt their genuine enthusiasm about improving their clinical acupuncture skills.


2. Traditional Acupuncture Seminar by Dr. Masakazu Ikeda

I would like to take the freedom of presenting first what impressed me the most here instead of reporting the content of the seminar in the order of lectures, which is probably the proper approach.

As many of you may be aware Ikeda sensei is executing his role in this life as an acupuncturist impeccably: treating patients as an acupuncturist, guiding and training students, and teaching and passing down traditional medicine as a teacher. It is very difficult to study traditional medicine on one's own from scratch.  Which is, I believe, Ikeda sensei's experience of learning.  He strongly wishes to pass on what he has learned to more people and that these people continue to deepen their study and pass on their knowledge to others as well.

Once his lecture begins the room fills with his enthusiasm.  He lectures intuitively incorporating the participants' requests and answering questions as they arise.  His answers to participants' questions are always to their satisfaction.  He shares all of what he has and what he has studied with no hesitation whatsoever in the lecture.  I noticed that the participants have many questions for him.  This indicates their degree of interest and engagement in the seminar.

He lectures on the difficult classics with such ease and light heartedness that everyone can understand.  The translator Mr. Edward Obaidey knows exactly what Ikeda sensei is talking about since he is the designated translator for Ikeda sensei whenever he lectures abroad.  They are a wonderful team together.  Mr. Obaidey studied under Ikeda sensei for 10 years and has his own practice in Tokyo now.  He is well versed in the classics as well as in Western medicine.  Their exchange creates laughter and a relaxed atmosphere throughout the class. 

Ikeda sensei lectured on many different topics. All of them are so valuable that I would not want to miss any of them for anything.  However, there is one thing he repeatedly touched upon: in addition to learning skills an acupuncturist needs to cultivate oneself integrating one's way of life, character, intelligence, philosophy, etc. in order to effectively treat patients.  In other words he emphasized that character is essential to become a good acupuncturist.  This point stands out the most from his lectures.  In recent years the importance of the initial medical interview is being discussed more in Japan, especially in the acupuncture community.  Communicating clearly with the patient and cultivating a connection that imparts the character and virtue of the practitioner is vitally important especially in a field of medicine unique in its holistic approach. 

This seminar by Ikeda sensei was the second of a six seminar series that will be held yearly through the year 2006.  This second seminar was on Liver Deficiency Syndrome. Kidney Deficiency Syndrome, Spleen Deficiency Syndrome, and Lung Deficiency Syndrome will follow in the subsequent years.

Last year's seminar was an introduction to traditional medicine.  In the U.S. Traditional Chinese Medicine is the basis of training of acupuncturists.  The overview of traditional Japanese medicine in relation to TCM helped the understanding of this unfamiliar realm of Japanese acupuncture for many participants.

The lecture this year started with the review of the last year's lecture.  Any disease categorized according to traditional medicine has a basic pattern.  This basic pattern relies on the basic theory found in Su Wen and Lin Shu, which say diseases arise from deficiency.  The cold and heat produced from the basic pattern spread to different organs or meridians causing a variety of symptoms.

This second seminar centered on Liver Deficiency Syndrome.  In the morning Ikeda sensei lectured on the causes of heat and cold production, basic rules of how heat and cold spread, symptoms and pulse according to the location of spread heat and cold, abdominal diagnosis, treatment principles, tonification, shunting and dispersion techniques on meridian points and herbal formulae.  In California acupuncturists are licensed to practice herbal medicine.

The classics are the foundation for practicing traditional acupuncture.  However, in school students do not get an opportunity to study them.  Those classics are difficult to understand. As a result they stay away from the classics.  In contrast Ikeda sensei's lecture is based on the principles of the classics and traditional acupuncture, which were explained in very easy, simple and clear words.  He gives guidelines on how to study these difficult classics.  We need to learn how to study the classics and then apply the obtained knowledge accordingly in order to learn the clinical use of these classics.

Ikeda sensei also mentioned that we, as acupuncturists, have to keep studying the theories and improving diagnostic and treatment skills all of the time for the rest of our life.  There is no completion to this effort.

In the afternoon we had practical sessions in small groups and learned how to approach a patient, how to make a diagnosis, and the tonification and shunting techniques of acupuncture.  In addition we had actual patients at the seminar that Ikeda sensei treated and advised.  One patient (age 56) had chronic pain after a rotator cuff surgery.  Another patient (age 43) had Hodgkin's disease, a concern about weight loss and various other complaints.  A 15-year-old boy in a wheel chair had received repeated surgeries due to spina bifida and now suffers from anemia and recurring urinary tract infections.  It caught my attention that Ikeda sensei was very concise and clear when he talked to these patients about their conditions out of consideration and care for them, while he gave full explanation and advice to their acupuncturists separately.

I will introduce the details of the lecture and case studies in the third issue of Women's Acupuncture World Network.


3. Women's World Wide Acupuncture Network forum

The forum was held from 6 to 9pm on the second day of the seminar on March 23.  Most participants of the seminar attended the forum.  A total of 60 people including men were at the forum.  The forum started in a relaxed atmosphere at banquet dinner tables.  The theme this time was the 'art of studentship.'  One of the reasons for choosing this theme lies in the situation in the U.S. where graduates of acupuncture schools start their own practice right after graduation.  This is because: 1) there are few places to study and train further before starting their own practice; 2) they need to make a living soon after graduation.

Last year at the first Ikeda sensei seminar in San Francisco many participating acupuncturists showed strong interest in finding how Japanese acupuncturists train themselves in diagnostic and needling skills.  This is another reason why we chose this theme, which is the traditional method of training for acupuncturists in Japan.

As students three guest speakers including Ikeda sensei's direct student, shared their experiences.  One woman shared her very painful training days as a student with tears in her eyes.  Her heartfelt story moved the participants.  At the same time it reminded me that a woman has to have firm determination and commitment to pursue this profession.

Another speaker shared that once you master how to learn it can be applied to anything.  It is not about learning the techniques but about learning how to learn by simply being with the teacher.  He explained that in a traditional teacher student relationship the first thing you have to learn is self-discipline and that learning the techniques is secondary.

A female speaker, who is an acupuncture schoolteacher in San Diego, California, shared her wonderful experience of learning despite her language difficulty when she visited Ikeda sensei's clinic a few times in the past.

Ikeda sensei shared his experience as a teacher.  At the beginning of the seminar he told all of us: "During this three day seminar empty your mind and listen to me with complete deference as if you are my direct student.  Be aware of your weaknesses and flaws and participate in the class with humbleness."  He went on to explain that this is the art of studentship.  A teacher, especially in the training of acupuncture as traditional medicine, plays a major role because we have to learn by simply experiencing the intuitive art of the master.  It is not an academic study where you can simply memorize and understand the theories.

Ikeda sensei personalizes the training depending on the personality and needs of each student instead of applying a standard method of training.  No one direct student improves in the same way as others.  Chemistry between the teacher and a student plays into the training.  Even a student who is with the teacher for 3 or 5 years will not improve if he or she does not try hard to study on his/her own.  Some students gain better understanding of the art without getting spoon-fed.  This is because when the teacher does not teach, it forces the student to study on his or her own.  What this illustrates is that the student's willingness and openness to learn makes a huge difference in their growth.  There may be a spontaneous energetic exchange between the teacher and a student, which develops naturally.  Having a good student is a wonderful gift for a teacher.  Ikeda sensei wishes everyone to have a great encounter with a teacher.

Ikeda sensei also had a time of training as a student.  He went to the clinic in the morning to clean and prepare for the day's work, worked all day and went home at 9pm, then studied till 2 or 3am.  Complete dedication of your life to training is necessary for a certain period of time in order to become a real professional.  This is required especially in the acupuncture profession.  He said that for a woman to be truly independent and become a professional she has to sacrifice something important in her life.  It is required even more in the future to have this level of tight commitment.  To quietly reflect on your way of life is an important part of being an acupuncturist.  How you live your life, self-cultivation, and self-mastery affect your patients.  That is how acupuncture treatment works.  "Always keeping this in mind and being clearly aware of your own role in life I have no doubt that you can make your own living in this profession."  He closed the discussion with these words.

He also repeatedly said during the seminar that acupuncture produces a tremendous effect only when skills, theory and heart are all integrated.  After all four guest speakers shared their own experiences of teacher student relationship we had a question and answer session with the participants.

One participant from New York discussed how difficult it is to learn these techniques even if we extended schooling to 4 or 5 years.  Most people would like to have a teacher but cannot continue to do so because of financial difficulties.  Some people do not want to put that much effort into it.  Or others may have problems with their character.  He asked how these problems could be solved.  Ikeda sensei answered.  Techniques improve dramatically at a certain point if you simply keep practicing and making an effort.  When this process is repeated the techniques keep improving.  This has nothing to do with one's character flaw.

A participant from Australia shared his opinion.  In Australia they have the same problems that the New York participant presented.  It is the responsibility of the people who had the opportunity to receive training and guidance, to have a clear awareness and to foster and train the next generation.


4. Epilogue

We did not outreach widely to a large population of acupuncturists to hold this seminar.  Most participants found out about it through word of mouth.  We limited the number of participants to 60 people in order for everyone to have a fruitful learning experience.  The participants were very proactively engaged in learning.  All three days were filled with enthusiasm and friendly learning atmosphere.

This event served as an opportunity to network among the people who are studying traditional Japanese acupuncture in the U.S., and also among the Japanese acupuncturists residing in North America. The Network forum served as a place to exchange ideas and opinions as students and as a teacher.  It encouraged people at different levels of training and growth to study further and gave an opportunity to connect with each other around this theme.  Many people strongly expressed the need for continued effort to have this kind of forum.  It would be wonderful if these participants can take the role of transmitting this traditional Japanese medicine from Japan to the U.S., and to the world.

I am very happy to say that I have a very good souvenir to take home to my colleagues of the Women's World Wide Acupuncture Network in Japan.  I often hear about their concerns and insecurities.  This time I stepped onto the land of America and encountered hardworking people.  They are very serious about their life and living.  They are very independent and living strong.  I felt very encouraged and hopeful.  I believe that knowing how to express oneself, to know one's strength, and to be able to promote it will build self-confidence and cultivate true independence.