Lineage and Legacy: Honoring Our Teachers (Those That Have “Gone Before”) Part One

I am very happy to contribute to this blog dedicated to honoring teachers and their legacies. For me, the role of a teacher is embodied in the meaning of the word sensei, “the one who has gone before”, to act as a beacon, to light the way for others, to inspire, to lead but also to serve. A great teacher can successfully transmit their experience directly and in a unique way to their student who can then begin to make it their own. In this way teachers should always expect their students to surpass their own achievements as part of the natural evolutionary flow.

My education in this field has been quite eclectic. Unusually perhaps, I do not have the experience of having studied with a single primary teacher, rather there have been several major influences on my development over the years in both formal institutional and apprenticeship settings. I would like to share a few examples of individuals I have had the good fortune to learn from and of experiences I had with them that influenced and inspired me in the hope this may be of interest to others on their path.

My own encounter with East Asian Medicine began in 1982 in Tokyo where I, a recent College graduate from the UK, had taken up residence and was teaching English to Japanese high school students. The relatively modest number of “Gaijin” (foreigners) at that time consisted of 2 primary communities – the professional ex-pats (mostly company executives on 2-year postings) and the somewhat motley crew of “professional” students like myself (mostly studying traditional Japanese arts of one kind or another – fine, martial, medical and so on). I for example initially took classes in traditions as diverse as Ikebana, Butoh, Shaku Hachi and Aikido which I finally stuck with for a while at the Aikikai in Shinjuku. But it was a chance meeting with another Englishman in Tokyo that was to influence me in another direction – traditional Japanese medical arts.

Peter Yates invited me to visit the Acupuncture school he was then studying at, the International Institute of Oriental Medicine, and I soon joined him in class as part of a 3-year acupuncture training - so began a close friendship that was to last almost 40 years until Peter’s untimely passing in December of 2020.

Our main Acupuncture teacher at IIOM was Suzuki Todo with whom we studied in small intimate classes and in the clinic. His approach was highly pragmatic, perhaps reflecting the significance of his assumed first name “Todo” (his given name was Yuki), after Yoshimasu Todo, the legendary late Edo Kampo practitioner from the Koho-Ha or “Classsical School” famed for its highly pragmatic approaches to treatment. Outside class for example we were encouraged to develop a very intimate and hands-on relationship to the “tools of the trade”. We had to make I remember, by hand, a needle sharpening device using a small model battery-powered motor with a tiny round whetstone and magnifying glass attached, in order to sharpen our needles one by one after each 10 insertions. (In those days only re-usable, high quality, stainless-steel needles were in use which we would autoclave in a pressure cooker at home). We also rolled our own moxa sticks of all sizes including those to be cut into small pieces for Kyutoshin or “needle moxa”. The same rigorous attention to detail and no-nonsense practicality applied in the classroom. Day one for example, we started needle insertion alongside point location and meridian/organ theory. All aspects of acupuncture practice were taught simultaneously and without pre-requisites. So, a class might begin with palpation of the Lung channel, location, palpation and preparation of the points along its trajectory, then basic needle technique followed by insertion practice on points along the Lung pathway with detailed correction of technique and repeated practice on ourselves and our fellow students. Then Suzuki sensei might introduce a case from the clinic involving treatment of Lung and other channel points by way of giving a clinical context so that detailed discussion of case studies began from the very beginning of training. We were also observing patients regularly in his clinic from the start of our studies all the way through. I can hear Suzuki’s admonition now: “Never needle or moxa a point on someone you haven’t done on yourself at least 100 times!”.

This total emersion approach I soon learned was typical of many teachers in Japan whereby the student was presented with the “whole” from the outset (in this case the complete assessment and treatment of a patient from start to finish) without regard to their level of experience. Complex aspects of theory, diagnosis, principles of treatment, methodology and technique were all mixed into the total experience and arrived at the student’s door abruptly and without detailed explanation. As you might imagine this was often confusing and quite overwhelming to the beginner student – to be presented with evidence of the end point of learning without having studied, let alone mastered any of the skills required to get there! But I soon realized there are several key aspects to this traditional system of teaching/learning that serve to make it not only practical but highly effective in the end.

These included first and foremost the clear, concise and detailed demonstration provided by the teacher. Whether point location, palpation, needle technique or questioning, observational or palpatory skills such as pulse and abdomen, Suzuki sensei would always demonstrate exactly and repeatedly what skill was being exercised and what he expected us to try and emulate. This was done mostly without words. In turn this led to the express need on the student’s part to develop 2 distinct but related skills (much undervalued these days) – namely the skill of watching and listening intently without interruption or question and that of emulating or copying that skill without judgement. Both these practices depend on repetition and we often found ourselves trying to internalize a skill we had observed in action and then attempting to repeat it over and over, often encouraged or corrected by our peers, before going back to receive correction from the teacher. In this learning process the role of “understanding” is subjugated in favor of developing the ability to actually demonstrate the thing itself in practice. For this reason, much of the actual teaching was done with little “explanation”, rather by demonstration and example. This is often what is referred to as “transmission” of knowledge or “Ishin Denshin” heart to heart learning. It was something I had never encountered before, and it impressed and appealed to me deeply.

Another aspect integral to this system of learning was the deliberate mixed-level classes. Beginners were learning alongside more seasoned students at all times, so for example I followed Peter in class for all our 3 years together at IIOM, me a complete beginner and Pete who had already been studying Traditional Martial and Medical Arts for some years. This again is a method of teaching/learning very common in many traditional educational settings in Asia. The teacher will often rely on another more experienced student in the class (known as Senpai or “senior”) to encourage or bring along their greener peers (known as Kohai or “juniors”). The role of the teacher is then to often correct the Senpai and thus maintain the hierarchy of transmission, keep ego’s in check and ensure that there is always something more to aspire to.

When I graduated from IIOM in 1985, I had not only begun my journey of learning acupuncture (in the Keiraku Chiryo or “Meridian Therapy” style) but perhaps more importantly been taught a way of studying that was new to me at the time but which resonated with me and made so much practical sense that endures to this day. I took that with me into the following 2-year apprenticeship with Nagura sensei in his clinic in Shinjuku where I was to learn, to observe and eventually practice some of the things I had studied with Suzuki sensei. Which in turn led me to China in 1987 where I spent 6 months intensive training, most notably studying Stems and Branches Chrono-acupuncture under Prof. Gao Li Shan at Guan An Men hospital. Both these teachers had a profound influence on me also, but in the interests of space here I want to return to my time at IIOM to share some of my Shiatsu and Kampo educational experiences.

Nigel Dawes M.A. (Cantab.), B.Ac.C., R.C.H.M., Dipl. N.C.C.A.O.M., L.Ac.

Nigel is an internationally renowned teacher and author who has been practicing East Asian Medicine for over 40 years. Now based in New York City, he runs a private practice in Acupuncture, Shiatsu and Kampo (Sino-Japanese Herbal Medicine).

Nigel is well-known nationally and internationally for his work on Fukushin - abdominal diagnosis and application in clinical practice – and has recently published a book on the subject: Fukushin and Kampo, Singing Dragon, 2020. He has multiple peer-reviewed journal publications in the field and is author of 3 other books, including a translation of the modern Japanese classic: Kampo: A Clinical Guide to Theory and Practice, Churchill Livingstone, 2010 and a bodywork text: Shiatsu for Beginners: A Step by Step Guide, Prima Lifestyles, 1995.

He is founder and director of the NYC Kampo Institute and Kampo Fellowship offering seminars and programs in Traditional Japanese Medicine at the post graduate level, including in acupuncture, Shiatsu and Kampo herbal medicine. He teaches both nationally and internationally and has been on faculty with several accredited colleges of East Asian Medicine in New York, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Montreal, Lisbon, London, Brisbane and Tel Aviv. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.