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Koryo Hand Therapy is a form of acupuncture and moxibustion that
affects the
entire body through treatment on the hands.
It can be simple enough to learn and begin using in a single day,
yet with
extended study can be applied to a wide range of remedial treatment
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Koryo Hand Theraphy , called Soojichim , is founded by Dr.
Yoo Tae-woo in
1971 in Korea as a kind of alternative medicine.
Since Koryo Hand Theraphy was born, It has taken Korea by storm
and spread
to 50 countries. Starting in Japan in 1978, as of now 16 foreign
countries
in Asia, Europe and the Americas have KHT centers teaching the
techniques
Korea has 190 centers and over three million people have taken
training.
KHT is practiced mostly by lay people rather than by licensed
doctors. In
Korea thousands of people treat friends and strangers alike
without pay, and
some accomplished practitioners have ailing patients actually
lined up
outside their doors. |
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As a form of alternative medicine that differs from both traditional
Oriental as well as Western medicine, it has generated controversy
in Korea
- especially with the established community of Oriental medicine.
This is
reminiscent of how the use of herbs and vitamin-mineral supplements
has
raised eyebrows among physicians in the West.
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A microcosm of the entire body represented in one of its sub-units
Organisms contain life energy called ki or chi which in the
human body said to flow through certain channels or ¡°meridians¡±
that doctors of Oriental medicine have defined over the millennia.
When yin and yang forces are in balance, the ki flows normally
and the body is healthy; when there is an imbalance then discomfort
or illness is the result. Acupuncture needles or the burning
of moxa,etc., are used to manopulate the floe ki and restore
balance to the body. |
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The tiny needles are inserted only about a millimeter deep,
yet they can relieve pain anywhere in the body and stimulate
the healing of an array of ailments, to name a few: joint pain;
obesity; skin problems; constitutional weakness from chronic
disease, stress or drug therapy; minor inflammation; headaches,
loss of appetite. As are many forms of alternative medicine,
KHT is also employed to help keep the body in tone for prevention
of disease.
Sometimes a drop of blood may be drawn from the end of a finger
As frequently as cupuncture on a patient's hand a KHT practitioner
will use moxibustion. This means burning small columns of dried
mugwort, or moxa upon specific spots, which conveys heat but
not enough to burn the skin.
Small metallic pellets are taped to the skin, too, and machines
have been developed to deliver electronic stimulation in lieu
of needles.
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A beginner can use Koryo Hand Therapy to treat a variety of
minor maladies
simply by "corresponding treatment" according to the following
formula.
There are five fingers corresponding to four limbs plus the
head. The index
finger and ring finger correspond to the arms, thumb and pinky
to the legs,
and the middle fingertip is in the relative position of the
head. The palm
corresponds to the front torso and the back of the hand to the
person's
back, and each part of the body corresponds to a specific area
on the hand.
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An advantage of KHT over other microcosm therapies is that
the homunculus is
detailed enough to enable mapping of an entire array of 345
acupuncture
points on the human body, along 14 meridians. Here are some
examples of
treatment utilizing them
1. An important meridian runs vertically down the front of the
body
therefore a line along the middle finger and down the center
of the palm
corresponds to it. KHT utilizes this meridian to great advantage
with
moxibustion. Learning to use this meridian is very easy, yet
the effects are
quite beneficial.
2. Another meridian runs down each side of the spine.
KHT shu treatment is conducted along points on the corresponding
two lines near the center of the back of the hand. Small metal
pellets are often taped to the skin at these points.
3. More sophisticated treatment points corresponding to major
acupuncture points on the body.
One example would be treatments based on "five-element" theory,
a major axis of Oriental medicine. In KHT, this type of treatment
centers upon the outer two joints of the ring and little fingers.
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1. For nosebleed:
Tie the tip of the middle finger until it turns dark, release,
repeat until bleeding stops.
2. Eyestrain:
Prod middle finger pad to find a sensitive spot and prick a
drop of blood-or roll the stick of a cotton swab around the
area for about 10 minutes or apply pellets.
3. Cough and stuffed-up nose
Tape metallic pellets around the tip of the middle finger.
4. Sprained wrist or ankle
Form a ring of layered aluminum foil and place it around the
outermost knuckle of the corresponding finger on the corresponding
side.
5. Emergency unconsciousness Draw a drop of blood from finger
tips. |
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| adapted by Korea Travel News August 2000 |
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