The first thing that a practitioner should experience is that even a slight manipulation of needling can bring the subtle change of the body. Manipulation of needling here is not a deep insertion, but a shallow needling, and one has to know that it can affect the sense and tone of the skin both subjectively and objectively.
The generally recognized effect of acupuncture is that a needle should be inserted in a certain depth for a certain period to give certain stimulation to get a result of needling. This view is mainly based on the neurological theory of the western medicine, and in other words, the misunderstanding that more stimulation brings more the treatment effect is.
However, acupuncture treatment can never be like that, rather, the most important is to give the most suitable stimulation that the body requires, and it engenders the most appropriate treatment effect.
Moreover, the structure of the body is based on multiple layers of qi, so to perform needling on the deep area abruptly is a forcible manner to the body, and the treatment effect can vary.
One has to know that the body is always changing, so acupuncture treatment should be adjustable to its change, requiring the fluid manipulation of needling. Abdominal contact needling is the first step of the treatment based on such an idea.
*This article is translated from the book of "Toyo igaku koza dai 10 kan, Keiraku-Shakuju chiryo hen (Oriental Medicine Lectures, Vol.10, Meridian Shakuju Treatment)"
