More about acupuncture
Balance Method according to Dr Tan

My thoughts and actions have been considerably influenced by my teacher of fast-acting acupuncture, Dr Richard Tehfu Tan. I would like to take the opportunity to eternally thank him from the bottom of my heart. Xie xie Tehfu!

Beginning in 2003, he opened the door to a new world – initially for acupuncture. I was fortunate to be able to learn intensively from and with him until 2008. It was thanks to him that I discovered Asian philosophy, herbal medicine, Feng shui, Bazi, Qi gong and Tai chi Ji in a whole new way.

His death in 2015 leaves a great void, but the seeds of this ideas and thoughts continue grow and live among his students. 

Dr Tan studied in Taiwan under a number of teachers of Chinese medicine since his childhood, and it was there as a young man that he began practicing in a military hospital. 

As an adult, and after training as an engineer in the USA, he compiled and structured what he had learned in a completely new way, developing it into the Balance Method following traditional knowledge. He developed his treasure trove of knowledge didactically and taught it all over the world. His knowledge is currently shared and taught most authentically by the founders of “Si yuan” (https://www.siyuanbalance.com/de/). 

What is special about the Balance Method of acupuncture developed by Dr Tan for the patient is the much greater effectiveness compared with other systems of acupuncture taught around the world. 

The diagnostics, methodology and the immediate and long-term outcome (and therefore the greater level of fun ☺) are what make the difference for therapists. 

Diagnosis is exclusively oriented towards the anatomy, which is represented by pathways. 

Until getting to know Dr Tan and his method, I had worked with acupuncture points that were selected not just according to the pathway system. The points that I initially used were assigned meanings from other diagnostic systems of Chinese medicine such as Zang fu, the 6-layer model, the 4-layer model etc. I studied them exactly, and also taught them  on A and B diploma courses for doctors. However, following all these rules did not lead to clearly reproducibly results. At times it worked, at other times it did not, which frustrated me.

A medical colleague, who today teaches herbal medicine successfully, said to me in 1995 when I sat in on her therapy sessions in her practice after completing my first courses in acupuncture: “It doesn’t work so well with the needles, and not at all without herbs.”

I studied herbal medicine, which I would not now like to do without at any cost. The incredible variety of the remedies is a wonderful treasure. I will reveal more about this at another time. 

It would nevertheless be wrong to underestimate acupuncture. 

Acupuncture is a very strong medicine. 

It stimulates the system of body, mind and soul to reorient and to reflect on the actual information and order, inherent in every molecule and vibration, as well as on the “boot program” that is installed and present in our genes, and sometimes also to revert to “factory settings” 😉

When asked by patients what acupuncture did, Dr Tan aptly explained: reprogramming by pressing the restart button. 

The genes in our body contain retrievable information on regeneration, self-preservation, intrinsic rhythm and effective regulative mechanisms. 

And we can all assume that our body is well disposed towards us and really likes us. Incredible potential opens up if we just trust it, support it and allow it to act. ☺

Our body is extremely well organised and structured via our autonomic nervous system and higher and subordinate neuronal structures. 

It is all about giving the human system the opportunity to sort itself, to balance and to recover. This is where this type of acupuncture helps.

The Balance Method is based on equilibrium that can be explained in theoretical terms with “digitalisation”. Issues, areas of focus, pain, internal disorders are formulated as 0 and 1 or in terms of yin and yang and balanced via acupuncture points 1=1/ 0=0. 

The most impressive aspect is the change with pain, where, following a correct diagnosis, an immediate effect is felt and seen. 

Internal diseases are accessible to acupuncture using the Balance Method in just the same way, but the effect is not seen so soon. Learning in this case requires a little more time. 

This healing, and hence acupuncture as a method, reach their limits where changes in structure are so far advanced that regulation is no longer possible. In this case, I use acupuncture as a diagnostic instrument: when pain refuses to go away, imaging and further investigations must bring clarity. The results may then show that an operation or other form of treatment is necessary. 

Acupuncture also reaches its limits as a regulative method when an external or internal stimulus acts repeatedly, making regeneration impossible.