354 History Series: In the Footsteps of a Compleat Acupuncturist • Peter Eckman

In the late 60’s and early 70’s of the last century East Asian medicine began to emerge into mainstream culture. The Reston NY Times article is often cited as a catalytic moment that put the idea of Chinese acupuncture into the minds of Americans. But other streams of medicine from Japan and Korea were also finding their way into the imagination of those who would be a conduit that would help these methods to flourish in the mainstream of Western culture.

Peter Eckman has been a unique bridging influence. His acupuncture came from the currents of Korea, as well as Japan and Taiwan via the Worsley tradition of England.

Listen into this conversation on inquisitiveness, constitution, and how saying “yes” in pivotal moments opens up a world of possibility.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• The cultural landscape of acupuncture in the early 70’s
• The Reston story powerfully captured the American imagination
• Peter’s first job as an acupuncturist
• Wu Wei Ping, the Taiwanese politician/practitioner who taught JR Worsley
• Ed Wong was the five element teacher of Jacques Lavier
• Acupuncture came to the West before it came to the USA
• The role of Lawson Wood
• How it was that only doctors in France are able to practice acupuncture
• Troubleshooting the Barrier Points
• Meeting Stuart Kutchins and together studying Korean acupuncture
• The opportunity to study Korean constitution acupuncture with Dowon Kuon
• Studying with Worsely and the requirements for doing so
• Grappling with giving things up in service of getting what you want in life
• Peter’s perspective on discovering something about acupuncture
• The difference and interrelatedness between constitutional and conditional aspects of a person when treating with acupuncture
• Discovering how the Pulse is the key for understanding medicine across traditions
• Peter’s thoughts on Saam

Try to learn as much from your failures as from your successes. That's why every Master I've met is still just a student.​

Peter Eckman, M.D.

I'm an MD with a specialty practice of acupuncture for 50 years. I've had many teachers along the way to developing my own style called Constitutional Conditional Acupuncture. It prioritizes pulse diagnosis as transmitted from China, Japan, Korea and India. I've taught this approach internationally, including 3 multi-day workshops in China pre-pandemic.

I currently have 4 books published plus numerous journal articles. My belief is that acupuncture and pulse diagnosis are aspects of an Eastern scientific tradition that complements the Western one. It is based on resonance theory or gan ying as its axiom. The Yijing, Neijing, Nanjing and Maijing together with Huainanzi and Daodejing still have hidden gems to teach us.

Like the Dao, you can never exhaust their supply of wisdom. I have even discovered a way to treat cancer with acupuncture that works on the illness itself, not merely the symptoms or side effects of Western therapies. And every day in clinic is still an adventure, even in my eighth decade.

Links and Resources

You can find Peter on his Website and over on the Scholars of Chinese Medicine Facebook Group.

Here's a list of Peter's books.

Peter talked about Dr. Dowon Kuon in the conversation, here's a link to his Eight Constitution Medicine website if you would like to know about this method.

Peter has a Workshop scheduled for June 7-9, 2024 in Alberta, Canada.
Write courseclassic1@gmail.com to register.

If you want to organize a hands-on workshop, contact him at healingmountain.eckman@gmail.com

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