WORLD BAMBOO DAY 2024 PROMOTION

Celebrate World Bamboo Day with Ontake: 15% Off All Products Until September 30!

Every year on September 18th, we celebrate World Bamboo Day, a global event designed to raise awareness about the importance of bamboo and its many uses in community and economic development. This day is a reminder of bamboo’s immense potential, from its traditional applications to modern innovations. Bamboo plays a vital role in sustainable practices, environmental conservation, and even health and wellness.

To mark the occasion, we’re excited to offer a 15% discount on all products in the Ontake Shop, available until September 30. Whether you’re a long-time practitioner or new to bamboo-based therapies, now’s the perfect time to stock up on your favorite tools. Simply use code BAMBOO24 at checkout.

Bamboo: A Versatile Marvel

Bamboo is truly one of the most versatile materials on the planet. Here are just a few examples of its incredible uses:

Construction

Over one billion people around the world live in bamboo houses, which are strong, sustainable, and eco-friendly. In fact, bamboo can be used to build homes, roads, and bridges. In China, bamboo bridges can support trucks weighing up to 16 tons!

Medicine

Bamboo has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine. Ingredients from the black bamboo shoot are known for treating kidney diseases, while bamboo roots and leaves have also been applied to address conditions like cancer and some sexually transmitted diseases.

Food and Preservation

Bamboo shoots are a staple in Asian cuisine. In Japan, the antioxidant properties of bamboo skin are used to prevent bacterial growth, serving as natural food preservatives.

Bamboo in Therapy: Warm Bamboo Ontake

In the world of acupuncture and holistic therapy, bamboo is at the heart of the Ontake Method. Bamboo’s lightweight and durable properties make it ideal for Ontake Warm Bamboo therapy, where heated bamboo is rolled over the skin to promote circulation, relieve pain, and restore balance.

This World Bamboo Day, we celebrate bamboo’s power not just as a tool for building and healing but also as a natural gift that continues to improve lives globally.

Check out the Ontake Shop with 15% Off!

In honour of World Bamboo Day, we’re offering a 15% discount on all products in the Ontake Shop, valid until September 30. Whether you’re looking to expand your toolkit or try something new, this is the perfect time.

Use the code BAMBOO24 at checkout to claim your discount and celebrate this incredible resource!

Take advantage of this offer and help spread awareness of bamboo’s profound impact on health and sustainability.

Celebrate World Bamboo Day with us, and let’s continue promoting its healing potential worldwide!

Check out the Ontake shop

WORLD BAMBOO DAY 2024 PROMOTION Read More »

Pain Relief with the Ontake Method: How the Application of Heat to Body Correspondence Systems Can Bring Rapid Pain Relief

Leave a Comment / acupuncture, Ontake / admin

We all know the soothing effects of warmth— how a hot water bottle can provide instant relief. Ontake, since its inception, has been used similarly to relieve pain, functioning as a small, mobile source of warmth applied directly to the body. But beyond this, when we incorporate theoretical frameworks like kyojitsu, Dr Manaka’s meridian frequencies, and the holographic mappings of Dr Tan and Kurakichi Hirata, we unlock Ontake’s potential to address pain in various areas, far beyond the local application. Each of these theoretical models acts as a ‘force multiplier’, layering the effects of the meridian system and body correspondences over the treatment.
What sets Ontake apart is its simplicity. Unlike the intricate techniques of okyu small cone moxibustion that require extensive training, the basic Ontake strokes can be learned in minutes. Ontake is easy to apply, enjoyable for patients, and remarkably effective in reducing pain. This combination of effectiveness and simplicity is what makes this simple moxa device increasingly popular around the world (Oran Kivity, NAJOM)
私たちは皆、温かさがもたらす癒しの効果を知っています。湯たんぽがどれほどの安心感と痛みの緩和を与えるか。温竹（Ontake）は、その誕生以来、同様に痛みを和らげるために使われてきました。小さく持ち運びができる熱源として、皮膚に直接適用されます。しかし、それだけではありません。虚実（Kyojitsu）、真中医師（Dr. Manaka）の経絡周波数、そして陳英武医師（Dr. Tan）や平田内閣（Kurakichi Hirata）のホログラフィックなマッピングなどの理論的枠組みを取り入れることで、温竹が体のあらゆる部位の痛みに対処する可能性を開きます。これらの理論モデルの一つひとつが「フォース・マルチプライヤー」として機能し、治療に経絡システムと身体の対応関係の効果を重ねていきます。
温竹が他と一線を画すのは、そのシンプルさです。細やかな訓練が必要な小灸（okyu）によるもぐさの技法とは異なり、基本的な温竹のストロークは数分で学ぶことができます。温竹は簡単に施術でき、患者にとっても心地よく、痛みの軽減に驚くほど効果的です。この効果とシンプルさの組み合わせが、この簡単なもぐさ器具を世界中で人気にしている理由です。私の鍼灸施術は、温竹なしでは想像できません。

This post is written to provide a visual accompaniment to an article published in the North American Joiurnal of Oriental Medicine. In that article, I explore two systems of treatment that use holographic mappings of the body: Dr Tan’s Balance Method and Kurakichi Hirata’s zones, and uncover how these systems have been integrated into the Ontake Method. The article cites three cases which can be viewed here.

この投稿は、「北米東洋医学ジャーナル」に掲載された記事の視覚的な補完を提供するために書かれました。その記事では、陳英武医師（Dr. Tan）のバランスメソッドと平田内閣（Kurakichi Hirata）のゾーンという、身体のホログラフィックなマッピングを用いた2つの治療システムについて探求し、それらのシステムが温竹メソッドにどのように統合されているかを明らかにしています。記事では3つの症例が紹介されており、それらをここで見ることができます。

Jaw pain 顎の痛み

In the first case, our model has chronic jaw pain, which extends over the top of her head to her neck. She describes pain in the small intestine, gallbladder and stomach channels, but with palpation, it is evident that the most reactive channel is stomach.

Because the elbow is isophasal with the jaw (both are hinge joints), we palpate around the elbow for abnormal tissue, then apply Ontake on the large intestine channel at 108 beats per minute. As the stomach channel pain is relieved, the other channel pains also clear.

The treatment finishes with DU 14, the meeting point of all the yang channels.

最初の症例では、モデルが慢性的な顎の痛みを訴え、その痛みが頭頂部から首にかけて広がっています。彼女は小腸経、胆経、胃経に痛みを感じると説明しますが、触診すると最も反応が強い経絡は胃経であることが明らかです。

肘は顎と同相（どちらも蝶番関節）であるため、肘周辺の異常な組織を触診し、108拍/分で大腸経に温竹を適用します。胃経の痛みが和らぐと、他の経絡の痛みも消えます。

治療は、全ての陽経が集まる大椎（DU 14）で終了します。

Knee pain 膝の痛み

In the second case, our model has chronic knee pain in his right leg. It’s on the spleen channel. According to Dr Tan’s theory, we should treat this from the left elbow or the left knee. Paired channels include TB, ST and LU. Because there are abnormal tissue findings at the lung channel around the elbow, Ontake is applied to the area at the lung frequency (126 bpm). This relieves the pain.

2つ目の症例では、モデルが右脚に慢性的な膝の痛みを訴えています。それは脾経にあります。陳英武医師（Dr. Tan）の理論によると、これを左肘または左膝から治療すべきです。対経絡には三焦経、胃経、肺経が含まれます。肘周辺の肺経に異常な組織が見られたため、肺の周波数（126拍/分）で温竹をその部位に適用します。これにより痛みが緩和されます。

Overlapping toe (clinodactyly) 重なる足指（捻指）

In the following case, this time not from my practice but from that of my French colleague Nelly Lapierre, you can see how HOT can be used to treat a chronic painful condition of overlapping toe. The second toe had curled over the big toe, and walking was extremely painful. As you can see from the graphics in the video, the toes are in zone 1, so Nelly treated zone 1 in other regions with amazing results.

This video is in French with English and Japanese subtitles.

次の症例は、私の施術ではなく、フランスの同僚ネリー・ラピエールの施術からのものです。この症例では、HOTを使用して、慢性的な重なる足指の痛みの状態を治療する方法を見ることができます。第2指が親指の上に丸まり、歩行が非常に痛みを伴うものでした。ビデオのグラフィックスから分かるように、足指はゾーン1に位置しているため、ネリーは他の部位のゾーン1を治療し、驚くべき結果を得ました。

このビデオはフランス語で、英語と日本語の字幕が付いています。

I hope you enjoyed these videos.

Feel free to comment below!

これらのビデオを楽しんでいただけたでしょうか？

以下にコメントしてください。

To view more about Hirata zones, click here.

Pain Relief with the Ontake Method: How the Application of Heat to Body Correspondence Systems Can Bring Rapid Pain Relief Read More »

ONTAKE 101 AND ONTAKE ORIGINS

NET OF KNOWLEDGE

If you’ve not studied with me before, and you’d like to, I’ve got three online courses with Net of Knowledge. If you’re looking for the basics, start with Ontake 101, which covers everything from loading and lighting Ontake to treating sore throat and midline pain. And it only costs USD30! If you’d like something a bit longer, check out the other two!

Ontake Moxibustion 101

Getting Started with the Ontake Method

In this highly practical introductory module you will:

(1) Discover what Ontake is and the kind of things the Ontake Method can do.
(2) Learn how to load, light and extinguish the Ontake.
(3) Acquire three basic strokes to get you started: tapping, rolling and super-knocking.
(4) Explore a simple treatment model for the rapid relief of pain anywhere on the midline of the body with Ontake, including sore throat, neck pain, middle back, pubic symphysis and epigastric pain.

Ontake Moxibustion for Meridian Therapy and Toyohari Practitioners

Treating the Back and Consolidating the Pulse

This highly enjoyable two-hour recorded webinar explores Ontake’s origins in Japan, with an overview of historical and contemporary uses. Using numerous short video clips, dynamic presentations, and frequent breaks for questions and reflection, students learn how to load and light Ontake and contrast the different application methods for deficient and excess areas along channels.

In this highly practical introductory two-hour, you will learn:

(1) How to load, light and extinguish Ontake
(2) Protocols to augment the root treatment
(3) Protocols for assessing the lustre of the skin and balancing kyo and jitsu with Ontake
(4) A simple routine for treating the back to consolidate the pulse

Moxa in Motion with Ontake Warm Bamboo

Rhythmic Moxibustion Methods from Japan

In this twelve hour course, you will learn:

(1) Dr Manaka’s meridian frequencies and how to apply them
(2) Protocols for symptom relief
(3) Protocols for whole-body regulation
(4) The integration of Dr Tan’s holographic models with Ontake for the rapid relief of pain

Presented by Oran Kivity and compered by Michael Max from the Qiological podcast, the format is varied and dynamic, with lectures, PowerPoints, group Q&A sessions and teaching videos. Each lesson is linked to a section in a fifty-page workbook packed with learner-centred quizzes and exercises. Engagingly filmed, produced and edited to hold the attention of distance learners, Moxa in Motion presents a step-by-step guide to utilizing the Ontake Method that will leave you confident in your new skills and more effective in your practice.

ONTAKE 101 AND ONTAKE ORIGINS Read More »

PINCH AND PRESS—A BRAND NEW ONTAKE TECHNIQUE

Leave a Comment / Ontake, Uncategorized / admin

A few years ago, I studied teishin techniques in Indonesia with Funamizu Sensei from Japan. One of the techniques he taught was easily adaptable to Ontake practice. I call it Pinch and Press.

Here’s a simple guide you can follow to practise on your thigh. If you’re right-handed, it’s easier to start off on the left stomach channel or the right spleen channel. If you’re left-handed, practise on the right stomach channel or the left spleen channel.

1) SUPPORT HAND
With your non-dominant hand, squeeze and lift a handful of muscle around ST 34. Then, release it quickly, allowing the muscle to drop back down. Move proximally and repeat.

2) DOMINANT HAND
Hold the Ontake in your dominant hand, with the lighted mouth facing down. When your support hand lifts the muscle, touch the mouth to the top of the mound. As you release the muscle, let the Ontake drop down with it, keeping the mouth in contact with the skin.

3) SEQUENCE
Pick up the muscle with your support hand, creating a mound. Place the Ontake on top of it. As you release the mound briskly, the Ontake follows, and the patient feels a sudden warmth and release. Immediately pinch the muscle again and repeat, contacting the Ontake with each release. You can repeat this at the same spot or move to another location.

4) INTEGRATING THE METRONOME
This is a fast sequence done to a beat. On each beat, perform one Pinch and Press sequence. If you’re counting to four, you do four sequences—Pinch and Press, Pinch and Press, Pinch and Press, and so on.

APPLICATIONS
The downstroke, aided by gravity, makes this a dispersing technique, excellent for easing tight muscles. You can use it anywhere there’s enough tissue to pinch—tight legs, tight arms, and especially my favourite application: tight shoulders. Enjoy!

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the Facebook Group.

To view more about Ontake and Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion see:

PINCH AND PRESS—A BRAND NEW ONTAKE TECHNIQUE Read More »

What is Ontake Moxibustion

2 Comments / acupuncture, Ontake / admin

WHAT IS ONTAKE?

INTRODUCING ONTAKE

Ontake Warm Bamboo is a moxibustion technique with two additional components: pressure and rhythm. A short piece of bamboo is filled with moxa wool. When the moxa is ignited, the bamboo gets hot and can be held, tapped, pressed or rolled along the acupuncture channels. Additionally, using a metronome, these techniques can be applied rhythmically at specific frequencies of beats per minute.

A MOBILE MOXA BOX

Make a long bamboo tube about 4 cm long, without a joint. The thickness of the bamboo tube wall should be about 3–4 mm. Fill it with semi-pure moxa, leaving a space at both ends of the bamboo. —Makoto Yamashita

Ontake functions in the same way as a traditional moxa box, except it’s far smaller and much more mobile. In contrast to a moxa box or a moxa stick, it can be rolled on the skin and pressed deep into the soft tissue. It fits comfortably in your hand and can be tapped or rolled rhythmically over any part of the body, including the face. It allows you to be agile and flexible, treating small or broad areas quickly, and crucially, patients love the experience, which is pleasant and calming.

Any part of the bamboo can be applied to the skin. You can roll with it, knock percussively with the side, tap the lighted end briefly on the skin or press deeply into articulations with the lip. Even without any theory or training, applying heated bamboo to a painful area can get results.

ONTAKE APPLICATIONS

Ontake has been around for a short time in Japan, perhaps since the 1960s, and historically it was used as a local branch tool. So, for example, if there was tightness or pain at the shoulder, it was applied there. In the last ten years, however, its uses and applications have grown more sophisticated, and it can be applied with a growing number of theoretical models.

DR MANAKA'S MERIDIAN FREQUENCIES

Rhythmic percussion of the meridians has been a tradition in Japanese acupuncture going back to the Mubunryu style in the late 1500s when blunt gold and silver needles were lightly tapped with a wooden mallet on reactive points on the abdomen. In the late 20^th century, Yoshio Manaka, a renowned Japanese doctor, acupuncturist and researcher, developed percussive tapping treatments using a wooden hammer and needle.

He then researched specific tapping frequencies of beats per minute for each acupuncture channel. These frequencies advanced the efficacy and range of his methods considerably, and his meridian frequencies became an important part of his routines. Here’s a table listing the twelve channels, and Ren and Du and the frequency of beats per minute that they respond to.

104	Midline channels (Ren and Du Mai)
108	Large intestine and liver
112	Bladder
120	Gallbladder, small intestine, kidneys
126	Heart, lung
132	Stomach, spleen
152	Sanjiao
176	Pericardium

Ontake treatment has also proved effective when applied at the meridian frequencies. When heat is applied in this way, there are rapid changes in soft tissue tension, exceeding the effectiveness of the wooden hammer and needle in quite unexpected ways.

BRANCH TREATMENTS WITH ONTAKE

Ontake is a versatile tool for treating symptoms, especially when using yin and yang principles of opposites. For example, when applied on the sacrum, it is effective for sore throat. The throat is superior and anterior, and the sacrum is inferior and posterior. If the sore throat is central, roll the Ontake on the midline of the sacrum at 104 bpm (Du Mai). If the sore throat is on the left, roll the Ontake more on the right of the sacrum at 112 bpm (bladder), and vice versa. This treatment exploits the relationships between the kidney and bladder channels and the Ren and Du Mai vessels. These principles of treating opposites can be applied not just to sore throat but to midline pain anywhere in the body, for example, pubic symphysis pain, sacral pain and mid-thoracic pain.

ROOT TREATMENTS

There is a tradition in Japanese acupuncture, and especially in moxibustion, of generalised treatments that do not depend on the identification of patterns such as, for example, kidney deficiency or liver excess. Perhaps the most famous of these in moxibustion is the Sawada protocol, “a formula of points that could be used on all patients, regardless of complaint or condition. This formula fortified the patient’s constitution and strengthened the qi and the defensive and healing energies”.[i]

Ontake can be used in the same way, focusing on the yangming channels of the arm and leg and the bladder channel on the back. This sequence is a powerful whole-body root treatment that stimulates healing responses without focusing on patterns or symptoms.

ONTAKE 1, 2, 3 FOR PAIN RELIEF

The late Dr Richard Tan was well known for relieving pain rapidly using channel pairings and different holographic models. He called his approach Acupuncture 1 2 3. This approach can be adapted to Ontake: identifying the sick channel, finding a dynamic paired channel and rolling or tapping with bamboo on the paired channel using Tan’s holographic mappings to inform the location. Ontake has the advantage of being needle-free, and the heat creates dynamic and long-lasting changes, arguably more effective than needling.

HIRATA ONTAKE THERAPY

Hot Needle Therapy (Nesshin Kairyo Jutsu) was a Japanese holographic system of treatment. It was developed by Kurakichi Hirata (1901–1945), who developed a unique dermatome moxibustion system using a heated probe. His goal was two-fold: to develop a system that triggered the body’s healing response and was simple enough to be used at home by lay people. His heated needle never caught on in the West, but Ontake is a safe and effective substitute, breathing new life into this remarkable method, supercharging your sessions and empowering patients to continue treatment at home.

My second book was called Hirata Zone Therapy with the Ontake Method, but shortly after it was published it dawned on me that HZT doesn’t roll of the tongue very well, whereas Hirata Ontake Therapy creates the irresistible acronym HOT! So don’t be confused. HZT and HOT are one and the same.

CONCLUSION

Ontake Warm Bamboo is a simple and elegant new moxa device, cheap to buy and easy to make yourself. It can be adapted to any clinical practice that uses the meridian system, and it can be used with a variety of theoretical models. Finally, it can empower patients to self-treat safely.

What is Ontake Moxibustion Read More »

Helpful Hirata Zone Therapy Book Review

Leave a Comment / acupuncture, Ontake / Oran Kivity

Maya Suzuki is the acupuncture and moxibustion mover and shaker behind Shinkyu University, which she created to help practitioners deepen their knowledge and practice of Japanese acupuncture. I am delighted to share her review in the Journal of Chinese Medicine of my second book, Hirata Zone Therapy with the Ontake Method.

If you’d like to know to read the book, you can buy it here in the Ontake Shop, on Amazon or order it through your regular bookstore.

Helpful Hirata Zone Therapy Book Review Read More »

Helpful Moxa in Motion Book Review

Leave a Comment / acupuncture, Ontake / Oran Kivity

Moxafrica co-founder Jenny Craig. Jenny really ‘gets’ Ontake and her enthusiasm speaks for itself. This book review of Moxa in Motion was first published in the European Journal of Oriental Medicine (EJOM) Vol 9, No 6, 2021. www.ejom.co.uk

Read the book

If you’d like to read the book, you can buy it here in the Ontake Shop or via Amazon.

Helpful Moxa in Motion Book Review Read More »

HIRATA ORIGINS

2 Comments / acupuncture, Ontake / Oran Kivity

THE INTEGRATION OF THE HIRATA ZONES WITH THE ONTAKE METHOD

Kurakichi Hirata 平田内蔵吉

Hot Needle Therapy (Nesshin Kairyo Jutsu) was a Japanese holographic system of treatment. It was developed by Kurakichi Hirata (1901–1945), who developed a unique holographic mapping system of the body that he treated with a heated probe.

Hirata’s holographic mappings predate Nogier’s microsystem of the ear and all the holographic systems that have come since. Hirata should therefore be seen as a pioneer in the field of acupuncture, creating the first holographic mapping of the modern era.

Dissatisfied with conventional medicine, Hirata wanted to develop an accessible system of self-treatment. He designed a system that was simple for the public to learn and apply by using a heated tool that, unlike acupuncture needles, required little skill to use. He wrote several books, developing his treatment model to a high level, integrating it with ideas from TEAM. Sadly, this young prodigy died during the Second World War.

Hirata’s general ideas on health are quite familiar to practitioners of TEAM. He believed that when the organs are harmonised and balanced, there is no disease. When something becomes imbalanced at the core level, disease develops. It is therefore more important to treat the core than address specific symptoms.

Hirata’s model of disease was strongly influenced by the TEAM idea of “Heaven, Humanity and Earth”. He saw the skin as the interface between human beings and the natural world—the place where disease enters and where reactions take place. For this reason, Hirata emphasised diagnosing and treating at the level of the skin, and his method focused on stimulating the skin with heat.

He developed a hologram composed of twelve horizontal dermatomes (or zones). These twelve zones are mapped out in six different regions, namely, the head, face, neck, torso, arms, and legs. Zones in each region resonate with and reflect the same zone in another region.

THE TWELVE ZONES

There are twelve zones, which for the most part, correspond to the twelve yin and yang organs of TEAM theory. However, as Hirata’s model was medicalised, at least at the beginning, there are no correspondences for triple burner or pericardium. Instead, there are new correspondences at the very top and bottom of the hologram for the bronchi and the reproductive organs. The gall bladder zone and spleen zone also reflect and treat the exocrine and endocrine functions of the pancreas, respectively.

1. Bronchi

2. Lungs

3. Heart

4. Liver

5. Gall bladder and exocrine gland of the pancreas

6. Spleen and endocrine gland of the pancreas

7. Stomach

8. Kidney

9. Large intestine

10. Small intestine

11. Bladder

12. Reproductive organs

Each region is a hologram of the body, and therefore, each region reflects the same physiological and pathological processes in the same way. For example, Hirata believed that an imbalance in the liver organ manifests in reactions on the liver zone in each region.

This synergistic action means that the same twelve zones can be examined or treated in any or all of the six regions; thus, the head, face, neck, arms, legs, and torso can be used both diagnostically and therapeutically.

THE ARM AND LEG REGIONS

Rather than have the zones as an abstraction, let’s start by exploring two regions, the arm and the leg. The zones of the arm form a holographic image, numbered from 1–12, from the top of the shoulder to the tips of the fingers. The twelve zones can be grouped simply into four on the upper arm, four on the forearm, and four on the hand. A little bit like the back-shu points, the arm reflects its anatomical neighbours, with the upper jiao zones in the upper part of the arm, the middle jiao zones in the middle section, and the lower jiao points in the hand. Take thirty seconds out from reading this article to divide your upper arm, forearm and hand each into four segments each. Try counting down from 1–12.

The leg region is similar to the arm region, in that it is divided into four zones in each segment. However, it is a reverse mirror of the arm, in that zone 1 is at the fingers and zone 12 is at the thigh. Try counting the zones up from 1–12.

The torso region repeats the pattern of the arm, with the twelve zones flowing from top to bottom in the same order. The twelve zones also repeat on the head, face, and neck, but in these regions, as on the leg, they count from the bottom up.

Yoshio Manaka 間中喜雄

One of the most influential practitioners to investigate and take up Hirata’s ideas was the renowned Japanese medical doctor and acupuncturist, Dr Yoshio Manaka (1911–1989).

Dr Manaka combined scientific research skills with a fascination for traditional methods of healing. He studied Hirata’s books, and enthusiastically adapted his methods, eventually publishing his own book about them in 1982, Hiratashiki Junihannotai Nesshin Shigeki Ryoho (Hirata’s Heated Needle Stimulation Treatment).

Stephen Birch

British acupuncturist, author, and teacher, Stephen Birch, became acquainted with Dr Manaka in the 1980s. This international collaboration led to the publication of Chasing the Dragon’s Tail, written by Birch with Manaka’s input and guidance. It was a seminal book on acupuncture and acupuncture research, and contained some of the first explanations of Hirata Zone Therapy (HZT) in English.

Birch became a conduit for Japanese acupuncture thinking and ideas, teaching Manaka-Style Acupuncture (MSA) globally. However, when teaching, his classes did not cover HZT in any detail. We can guess that the reasons for this were pragmatic.

In the old days, HZT involved stimulating the zones with a cone-shaped metal instrument lined with asbestos and filled with burning ethyl alcohol, called the shinryoki or Mind Therapy Device. Few of these remain in existence now, and they would be considered unsafe to use for many reasons.

Manaka developed an electrically heated blunt probe called the tenshin kyu (spiked moxibustion device), but this was not mass-produced and once again, few of these remain in existence. Contemporary Hirata practitioners use a more sophisticated electronic hot probe called the hirata-kun but its retail price puts it out of the range of most acupuncturists.

Thus, we can conclude that HZT never really caught on in the West because there was no safe or affordable device available to deliver the heat. Teaching HZT would have been an academic pursuit with no practical application. Acupuncture students are nothing if not pragmatic—if there’s no application, there’s no value!

Ontake to the Rescue

In 2010, I was introduced to Ontake, a little-known moxibustion tool. Ontake is comprised of a short piece of bamboo filled with moxa wool. When the moxa is ignited, the bamboo gets hot and can be applied to the skin. The bamboo can be held, tapped, pressed or rolled rhythmically along the acupuncture channels and on specific points.

After reading my first paper on Ontake in 2011, Birch immediately saw its potential, encouraging me to experiment with it to see if it could be applied to the Hirata zones.

HZT is a unique system of dermatome moxibustion that has almost been lost. Birch’s suggestion that I should study HZT and integrate it with Ontake became a mission—a mission to discover how Hirata worked, how Manaka redeveloped his findings, and how almost ninety years later, we can achieve the maximum benefit from these ideas. The mission ended up as a book, aiming to place the system into a pragmatic modern context so that Western practitioners and their patients can easily learn and apply it.

BASIC HIRATA

The model for treatment in HZT has developed over time. When Hirata first started it, it was a relatively simple model, what I call Basic HZT, which used only the zones for treatment. By the time of Hirata’s death, the model was more complex, integrating the twelve channels of acupuncture, although Hirata declined to call them that, naming them instead, “reactive lines”. He gave each of these twelve reactive lines a number, calling the yin channels kussen “flexion lines”, and the yang channels shinsen “extension lines”.

Manaka further refined this integration of the channel system, what I call Intermediate HZT. Today, contemporary practitioners such as Taku Yokoyama in Japan, who studied with Manaka, or members of the Kokusai Nihon Onnetsu Ryoho Kenkyukai, (International Japanese Thermotherapy Association), practise what I call Complex HZT, integrating many other ideas into the HZT model.

In this article, I’ll discuss only Basic HZT. Basic HZT is so simple, anyone can practise it, even laypeople who know nothing of acupuncture. No meridians are involved, so all you need to perform Basic Hirata is the following:

A good grasp of the location of the zones in all six regions, especially the neck, torso, arms, and legs.
An understanding of how to load, light, and apply Ontake.

CASES TREATED WITH THE BASIC HIRATA METHOD

Male, 32

Symptoms: Persistent cough and occasional lower backache.

Generally quite healthy and robust, this patient had developed a “mystery” intermittent cough that he was unable to shake. On questioning, however, the timing suggested that the yearly cycle of air pollution in Kuala Lumpur was to blame.

He had also developed some intermittent lumbar pain. Hirata’s prescriptions for cough typically focus on zone 1 (bronchi). According to the location of the back pain, the affected zones were 9 and 10 (large and small intestine). Palpation revealed marked tension on the leg region at zones 9 and 10 (mostly on the stomach channel above the knee), and a few slightly rough patches of skin on the chest and arms at zones 1 and 2 (bronchi and lung).

Treatment consisted of tapping with Ontake on the deficient areas on the chest and upper arms on zones 1 and 2 until the skin felt more even, then rubbing, pressing, superknocking (a brisk percussive stroke with the side of the warm bamboo), and rolling on the thighs until the tension on zones 9 and 10 was relieved. After he turned over, we tapped on the upper back, identifying and treating more dry or rough areas in zones 1 and 2.

No other treatment was given. Following the session, he reported that some stiffness in the back of his legs and knee pain, which he had not previously disclosed, felt much better. This maintained. The cough also cleared for a few days, but when the pollution got even worse at the end of that week, it returned.

Female, 30

Symptoms: Lumbar and buttock pain, and abdominal distension.

She had been coming for back pain for a few weeks and had been feeling much better, but she had a relapse after a long flight home from an international conference. According to the location of the back pain, the affected zones were 9, 10, and 11 (large intestine, small intestine and bladder). According to TEAM theory, abdominal distension relates to zones 6 and 7(spleen and stomach).

There was marked tension on both anterior thighs at zones 10 and 11. Bamboo was applied with pressing and rolling on the right. After the muscles released (within two minutes), her left leg was also much more relaxed, so this was treated the same way for a shorter time. After this, she walked around the room and reported that the pain was much reduced. Zones 10 and 11 were then rolled on the back of both hands. After testing once more, the pain was gone.

Whilst in supine position, bamboo was applied on zones 6–10 on the abdomen from the midline to the midaxillary line, tapping and rolling lightly. Branch treatment finished with local rolling on the back. By then, she was very relaxed.

The session concluded with very light Toyohari-style acupuncture root treatment.

Male, 32

Symptoms: Sudden onset of redness and itchiness to the right eye, which was beginning to close up.

Zone selection was according to TEAM theory, namely that the liver opens into the eyes. Ontake was applied to zone 4 (liver) on the head, arm, back, and leg regions, simply tapping each zone for about one minute until the skin felt warm to the touch. On the limbs, only the right side was treated but on the head and back, both sides were treated. The eye infection reduced in intensity within minutes and cleared up within two hours.

COMMENT

These examples show how it is possible to use Basic HZT with very simple selection and treatment criteria. If there’s a problem in the lungs such as cough, treat the lung zone. If there’s a problem in the back, treat the zones where the pain is. If there’s a problem in the eyes, treat the liver zone because of the relationship of the liver to the eyes. Western medical correlations, anatomical location, TEAM theory, and of course, palpation all helped with the choice of zones, and bamboo was applied without thought to treating affected channels.

OBSERVATIONS FROM MY OWN PRACTICE

I have found that HZT brings extra healing momentum to what I normally do. Thus, if I treat the kidney channel with meridian therapy methods, I can add Ontake on the kidney zone in different regions as an adjunctive treatment. If I treat with MSA, perhaps choosing a Mixed Yin pattern, I can accelerate the release of tight areas on the abdomen by tapping the liver and kidney zones. Whatever system of root treatment I apply, I can focus on the digestion by tapping on the spleen and stomach zones, or improve lung function by tapping on zones 1 and 2.

Palpation is another useful area for HZT. Palpation of the zones of the arm and leg regions always conveys a wealth of diagnostic information. For example, if there are shoulder, upper back or heart and lung channel issues, zones 1 and 2 on the arm will often present with tightness or induration.

As zones 8 and 9 cover the lumbar region and zones 10 and 11 traverse the sacrum, the anterior thigh is a rich area to pick up information about what is happening in the lower back. Tension above SP-10 and ST-34, at the intersection of zones 9 and 10, is nearly always indicative of lumbar stiffness or pain.

CONCLUSIONS

Basic HZT is an elementary treatment model that can easily be integrated into your everyday workflow or adapted for home use by patients.

More sophisticated models of treatment integrate the channel system, and channel pairings, as well as Dr Manaka’s meridian frequencies, tapping the zones with Ontake using a metronome set to specific frequencies of beats per minute.

Deeper study of HZT, integrating its concepts with channel theory and other treatment models, reveals its great potential.

Hirata’s original goal was to create a people’s medicine that treated the core energy of the body. In so doing, he created the first holographic system of acupuncture in the modern age. His influence has declined over time but now, with the integration of Ontake, we can find new uses for his ideas in contemporary practice. All you need is a lighted Ontake and you can start!

IN A NUTSHELL

In the 1930s, Hirata developed a twelve-zone holographic system of dermatome moxibustion.
The twelve zones repeat over six regions: the head, face, neck, torso, arms, and legs.
In the 1980s, Manaka researched and developed this system further, integrating it into MSA.
Birch wrote about this in the West, but as no tool was available to treat the zones with heat, the method did not catch on.
Ontake started to become better known in 2010 as a new tool that could deliver heat safely, thus enabling it to be adapted to treat the Hirata zones.
The zones can be used to add a new level of palpatory awareness.
HZT can be used as a standalone treatment or integrated into your standard workflow.

My new book about the Hirata zones is launching on January 24th. Would you like to help out? Check out the post about joining the launch team or just click the button below to know more

HIRATA ORIGINS Read More »