Greg Bantick - Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic

12/10/2025

I will be out of clinic for a short break.
Last day in clinic - Saturday October 18
First day back - Thursday November 6

Will spend a few days in Tokyo resting and visiting friends.
Then Kyoto for a 10 day sesshin 接心 (せっしん) literally "to touch the heart-mind". It is a chance for intensive meditation in a Zen hermitage.
Then a few days seeing friends and visiting some local mountain temples, hopefully to see some early fall colours.

These retreats offer me a chance to deeply calm down, to listen inside, and clarify what 'this' is. Meeting others on this path as many of my Japanese friends are, is inspiring. Be they pursuing community care, art, calligraphy, pottery and other arts, many use their work as a reflective practice.

The clinic will be open to help you, and you can get refills of your herbal prescriptions.
I hope you find ways to calm and refresh too.

09/10/2025

A different way to exercise and to develop balance, coordination, strength, ease, concentration, grace, and more, than what you might be taught in a gym, or by most 'western' based exercise approaches. Perhaps these arts are not well described by the word exercise as they a more a way of cultivation of a more skilful life.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CdrZ9tbJ9/

An old Taijiquan saying goes: "Taijiquan is the art of spiralling. Without understanding this, one does not understand the art." There are two kinds of "spiralling method", involving Orbital Revolution (Gongzhuan公转) and Axial Rotation (Zizhuan自转). The integration of both enables one to experience the subtle state of “energy moving like drawing silk”, and to develop the jin of Taijiquan.

“Orbital Revolution” refers to the overall movement of the body in which the waist and hips serve as the central axis, leading the arms and legs to trace arcs through space. The limbs move in coordination, driven by the rotation of the torso. It emphasises whole body movement - ensuring that all parts of the body move in sync, rather than operating independently.

"Axial Rotation" refers to localised, spiral movements within individual limbs, most typically in the clockwise and anticlockwise twisting of the hands and arms. Even in the most simple lifting movements, the arm subtly "rotate," like wringing a towel. The principle also applies to the lower limbs. "Reeling silk energy" (缠丝劲) is generated in this way.

Many practitioners focus solely on "orbital revolution" in their training while neglecting "axial rotation." As a result power gets stuck at the shoulders. In practice, "orbital revolution" and "axial rotation" work together - like the earth orbiting the sun while spinning on its axis. Without rotation, one cannot receive, nor redirect and neutralise an incoming force. Without revolution, rotation loses its foundational axis, and limb movements become ungrounded and weak.

Clarifying the relationship between orbital revolution and axial rotation in different parts of the body is primarily to achieve overall coordination, avoid superfluous movements, and prevent internal contradictions in one's power. Any movement that is unnecessary, excessive, or irrational is considered superfluous. By eliminating such movements the body move as one integrated unit, generate "unified energy," and avoid the pitfalls of dispersed force, excessive rigidity, as well as the errors of yielding too much or resisting too hard in practice.

These concepts are rooted in Daoist philosophy and Chinese martial arts principles, where the body is seen as a dynamic system of interconnected rotations. They highlight the importance of integration (whole-body movement) and differentiation (localised spirals) in achieving martial efficiency and health benefits.

07/10/2025

Three ways we misunderstand our experience as happening to, or coming from some kind of imagined fixed self, are as witness, agency, or narrative.

This new book, based on Chinese philosophy, tackles the idea of any individual agency. I haven't read it yet, just a review and a sample. Sounds like the traditional Chinese medicine view of us influenced by and influencing all.

"In All Things Act, Mercedes Valmisa argues that there is no such thing as an individual action and that all actions are constituted and performed by a diverse array of entities. Examining the collective character of action, this book rejects the view of agency as a capacity--especially one limited to humans--and redefines agency as an umbrella term for the concrete sociomaterial processes that emerge from the collaborative efforts of multiple entities acting together. Agency is not the faculty of an individual entity or self; it is always the function of a network or assembly of actors. The book also considers the significant role of nonhuman actors in these processes--things without intentions, will, or even awareness. This relational and collective approach shifts the focus away from mental states, emphasizing instead how humans and nonhumans alike participate in, contribute to, and shape the unfolding of events."

In , Mercedes Valmisa argues that there is no such thing as an individual action and that all actions are constituted and performed by a diverse array of entities. Examining the collective character of action, this book rejects the view of agency as a capacity--especially one limited to humans-...

06/10/2025

I am going to give this new site a try. Read the intro by Pierce and see it might work for you too.

From Pierce "If you are a professional scholar, or have a graduate degree, or are currently working toward that goal, or are involved in academic work such as translation, or are teaching/admin in higher ed, or are a department or association, you are welcome to join ProfBook.net, a dedicated social media platform designed specifically for scholarly networking, exchange, and community-building.
This platform is called ProfBook because it is essentially a dupe of Facebook Groups — you might even say it’s “Facebook Groups without the Facebook.” You create a profile, join interest groups to connect with colleagues, and you can post updates of various types (events, media, text, links, etc.) there. Like Facebook, it works in any browser and also via a smartphone app.
What’s different between ProfBook and other social media? Here are some of the main points of distinction:
· There are no ads, tracking, incognito collection of information, or data monetization of any kind. None. Period.
· The platform is designed by an academic for academics, with no profit margins to pursue or shareholders to satisfy.
· There is no algorithm choosing what you see on ProfBook. You see what you want, everything you want, and only what you want.
· There is no spam. This is a “gated community” only open to fellow academics.
· There’s no personal feed. Unlike conventional social media that focuses on drawing attention and followers to you as an individual, ProfBook is about creating community through sharing information with groups of colleagues.
· There is a fee for use. ProfBook membership will cost $1 per month. Early adopters will get a free trial period for 6 months, and then the monthly fee kicks in. I’m floating the platform at my own expense for the first little while, and then once it’s established, the monthly fees are going to pay for ProfBook to stay completely ad free forever.
Here’s the thing, though. In order for a new social media platform to work, we need everyone join the platform en masse. It won’t work if it’s just a few people. We need a movement. So, come and check it out, and let’s build something new together that works for us. I hope you’ll join me in making this new community.
👍️ Please like, comment, and share this post to boost visibility. Thanks! 👍️"

Do you love the ability to connect with fellow scholars to share resources, ask questions, announce conferences and books, and build collaborative networks? Are you tired of the existing social media options that feed you constant ads, invade your privacy, and monetize your data? ProfBook combines t...

01/10/2025

An insightful comment by Justin and interesting article.

Liver injury, a common pathophysiological basis of various liver diseases, is associated with inflammation. Hepatic nerves regulate inflammation. However, the specific signals that trigger inflammation and methods to treat inflammation by targeting nerves remain unknown.

26/09/2025

Do we understand wholeness? Here is a view close to our early medical writings. Gary Snyder has been an inspiration of mine for many decades. Familiar with East Asian languages and traditional philosophy and culture.

“Practically speaking, a life that is vowed to simplicity, appropriate boldness, good humor, gratitude, unstinting work and play, and lots of walking, brings us close to the actually existing world and its wholeness.” — Gary Snyder

25/09/2025

Hard to keep up with the many books coming out.

"In Socializing Medicine, Pao-chen Tang, Yuqian Yan, and Ling Zhang explore the intersections of medicine, health, and East Asian media..........
Collectively, they advocate for alternative understandings of medical culture through media productions that envision accessible and equitable healthcare practices."

In , Pao-chen Tang, Yuqian Yan, and Ling Zhang explore the intersections of medicine, health, and East Asian media. Interweaving archival research, audiovisual analyses, and theoretical insights from the emerging field of health humanities, the book reveals the multifaceted ways in which the ma...