Reply To: Acupuncture Bootcamp
Hey Joe,
Pulses can get VERY confusing because there are so many translations and approaches.
1. A Feeble pulse used to be called Minute – which is a Floating pulse.
2. Floating pulses, for your exam, are a group of pulses that act a certain way.
Can Floating pulses be generalized to gain some sort of diagnostic information? Definitely.
Can Floating pulses then be described in greater detail, and given a specific name, to gain even more insight into the patient’s condition? Definitely.
It’s like having to describe a baking oven.
I have a general word to describe it: Hot. If I tell you the oven is Hot, you know, generally, that it is warmer than it is when it’s Cold!
Then, within the category or group of Hot, we have 150F, 350F, etc. This makes it very specific.
You understand Branch and Root in Chinese medicine.
Think of the Root being Floating, and then having all these Branches off of it!
Does that make sense?
It is VERY important that you go by what the guidebook says and no where else.
The Pan-Can has standardized pulses and Gillian created videos exactly off of page 72 which you can see here: http://carb-tcmpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/CARB-TCMPA-Candidate-Handbook.pdf