Nothing proves the point more sharply than a well-placed needle, a well thought out treatment strategy, and a quickly recovered patient.

“What was the most amazing thing that you have witnessed with acupuncture?” the person lying face down had just learned that I am a student of Chinese Medicine at Five Branches University and that I had practiced acupuncture in Johannesburg, South Africa, for almost twenty years.

My mind immediately returned me to that Saturday morning at the height of the Johannesburg spring all those years ago. It had been a busy morning, as all Saturday mornings were, as patients from as far afield as Pietersburg, a small town two hundred miles away, arrived to see my master, my shifu, seeking a miracle.

Mr.Skosana came in on his wife’s arm, shuffling to an armchair in the waiting room, whereupon his wife left, and I pulled his file and placed it on the table. Shifu came out from the treatment room shortly after and took Mr. Skosana in for treatment.

When Mr. Skosana came out after his treatment, he walked straight out the door, down the path to the gate, walked through the gate, and stood on the sidewalk gazing down the road, first this way, then that. I thought that he was impatiently looking for his wife.

He stood there gazing intently down the road for a good ten minutes and eventually came back towards the Clinic. He called to me from the doorway, and as I approached, he excitedly said ” watch this.” Then proudly stepped over the threshold. I looked on stupidly, not knowing what I was looking for. He stepped out again, then re-entered, exclaiming”Look, I can see the step !”It then dawned on me that Mr. Skosana had been blind when he came in and that when he had been looking down the road that he was not looking for his wife. He was looking because he could see!!He had been blind when he came for acupuncture, and now he could see!!

That was the incident which completely convinced me that acupuncture was “the Real Deal!”, that confirmed for me that this was the profession for me.

And now here I am, thirty years later, at what is rated the best Acupuncture school in the Bay Area. When I came to America, I had to go back to school to qualify to take the board exam to become a Licensed Acupuncturist.

I’ve been a student at Five Branches University for four years now. Clearly, their rating as the best acupuncture school in Northern California, and certainly, in the Bay Area, is warranted. Teachers like Steve Woodley, are, in my opinion, world class, and able to breathe life and energy into old classical texts that I had struggled with for so long. And the clinical faculty have such depth of insight and rich experience that patients experience their miracles on an ongoing basis, like the veteran’s in Dr. Chi’s Vets clinic hopping off the bed and forgetting their walking canes, or being able to come off chronic pain medications. Or in the words of a venerable veteran, ” I came off Dialysis, out of a walker, and threw away my cane since I’ve been coming to Five Branches. That’s something of a life changer, wouldn’t you say? “

I will graduate in December and will take the state board exam with confidence in March. Confidence because the rigorous preparation that I am undergoing has been proven, as many of my fellow classmates who have already graduated and passed the state board exam have passed on the first attempt, and many, like David and Andrea and Caroline, have their growing and successful practices.

I have followed Shifu for almost thirty years, I have practiced for over twenty years, been in school and worked in Hospitals in Beijing where I witnessed brain surgery using acupuncture anesthesia, and my wealth of experience and long years of study of Chinese medicine gives me the insight to appreciate the quality of acupuncture training, the deep rooting and foundation within the classics, the solid preparation to take and pass the state board exam, but most importantly, the training and preparation to become successful clinicians to build a successful acupuncture practice that Five Branches University offers, and why it is rated the best acupuncture school in Northern California, and certainly the best acupuncture school in the Bay Area.

Five Branches University has also established the world first in the way that they are establishing their Five Branches Alumni Network. I say it’s the world first because this is the first university that has begun to put in place a network to support and enable its graduates to draw upon its contacts and other resources to establish successful practices. This will be a game-changer for graduates who are entering the profession.

Nothing proves the point more sharply than a well-placed needle, a well thought out treatment strategy, and a quickly recovered patient!

About the Author:
I am Trevor Huntley, came from Johannesburg, South Africa. Before I came to the States, I have followed Traditional Chinese Medicine Shifu for almost thirty years, I have practiced for over twenty years, been in school and worked in Hospitals in Beijing. I’ve been a student at Five Branches University for four years now.