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The 3-Level Acupuncture Balance: Part 3 –

More on the Eight Extraordinary Channel
Balance

Originally published on the AcuGraph website at Miridiatech.com

The 3-Level Acupuncture Protocol balances the Primary Channels (to regulate circulation of qi and blood),
the Eight Extraordinary Channels (to regulate the musculoskeletal body), and the Divergent Channels (to
regulate the internal zang-fu organs). In this article, I want to go into more detail regarding the Eight
Extraordinary Channels, pointing out the differences between the Chinese and Japanese approach, both
theoretically and clinically. I will often shorten Eight Extraordinary Channels to “8 Extras”

CHINESE UNDERSTANDING OF EIGHT EXTRAORDINARY CHANNELS.

In the traditional Chinese approach, the 8 Extra channels are considered to be storage vessels or reservoirs
of energy. They store and distribute yuan-jing, our original constitutional energy. They are considered “pre-
heaven channels”, and are important in fetal development. They are not regular channels like the primary
channels; they follow their own course circulation without connections to cutaneous, sinew, or channel
divergences. They do not have normal yang-yin­pairs, are not associated directly with the zang-fu, and do
not have dedicated acupuncture points. However, they cross primary channel points and are controlled,
influenced, and treated by primary channel points.

In the Chinese approach, they are seen as constitutional vessels, representing the link between pre-heaven
(inherited) energies, and post-heaven (acquired) energies. Energy circulation in the Eight Extra channels
help to maintain the inner equilibrium of qi, blood and distribution of jing. Part of their importance is to handle
overflow and excess of qi and blood from primary channel system. In the Nanjing, the 8 Extra were
described as reservoirs in case of primary channel depletion, and as reservoirs in case of primary channel
excess. In this regard, they can absorb and transfer excess during blockages in the primary channel
network. They do this where 8 Extra channels cross the Primary channels. Some sources believe that the 8
Extra cross the Primary channel points at the yuan-source points, allowing access to reservoirs of yuan qi
from the 8 Extra network.

Although the 8 Extras were discussed in the medical classics, they did not come into clinical use until the
14th century, when it was seen that 8 Extras could be influenced by treating points of the Primary channels.

Specific Functions of the 8 Extra in Classical Chinese Medicine

Enables the various stages of growth and life

Fertility and conception
Embryological development
Prenatal energy in the 8 Extras consist of the parents’ jing, the embryo’s yuan-source qi, and zong qi
(the cosmic or ancestral qi)
8 Extras link pre-heaven and post-heaven qi
Manage, circulate and distribute jing
Jing is transformed into qi
Distribute ying qi, wei qi, fluids and blood
Distributes qi to the zang-fu via Triple Energizer function
Nourishes marrow and brain 

Functions of the Individual 8 Extra Channels in TCM

Ren Mai

Controls all aspects, functions and location of yin

Command/confluent point: LU 7

Du Mai

Controls all aspects, functions and location of yang

Command/confluent point: SI 3

Chong Mai

Original Chinese name meant “pregnancy”

Important for uterus, ovary, fertility, menses
Command/confluent point: SP 4

Dai Mai

Belt/Girdle vessel
Command/confluent point: GB 41

Yang Wei Mai

Yang Linking: links all yang channels

Command/confluent point: TE 5

Yin Wei Mai

 Yin Linking: links all yin channels
Command/confluent point: PC 6

Yang Qiao Mai

Yang Motility
Qiao means “to lift up one’s heel”
Command/confluent point: BL 62

Yin Qiao Mai

Yin Motility
Command/confluent point: KI 6

Traditional pairings

Lu 7 – KI 6                                         Ren –          Yinqiao

PC 6 –                                                 SP 4          Yinwei –                          Chong

SI 3 – BL 62                                      Du –           Yangqiao

TE 5 – GB 41                                       Yangwei – Dai

Connections with the Primary Channels

Besides the command points, each of the eight channels connect to primary channels. In both the Chinese
and Japanese approaches, these connections are often used to reinforce or develop an Eight Extra
treatment, combining with a traditional Command point.

Du (GV), SI 3:           GV 1 to 28

Ren (CV), LU 7:         CV 1 to 24

Chong, SP 4:              CV 1, 7; ST 30; KI 11 to 27

Yangwei, TE 5:           BL 63; GB 35, 29; SI 10; LI 14; TE 13, 15; GB 13 to 21

Yinwei, PC 6:              KI 9; SP 13, 15, 16; LV 14; CV 22, 23

Yangqiao, BL 62:       BL 61, 59; GB 29; SI 10; LI 15, 16; GB 20; ST 1 to 4; BL 1

Yinqiao, KI 6:             KI 2, 8; ST 12; BL 1

Dai, GB 41:                LV 13; GB 26, 27, 28; CV 8; KI 16; BL 52, 23; GV 4

Four of the Extraordinary channels have their own xi-cleft point, for relieving excess. These are:

Yangwei:          GB 35

Yinwei:             KI 9
Yangqiao:         BL 59

Yinqiao:            KI 8

Modern Approaches to the Eight Extraordinary Channels

David Twicken, a contemporary scholar on secondary channels, has devoted considerable thought in his
book, Eight Extraordinary Channels (2013, Singing Dragon). First, he proposes a layering system for
channel systems from superficial to deep.

Wei Level (most superficial)

Sinew channels
Connecting (luo) channels
Primary channels
Divergent channels
Eight Extraordinary channels
Yuan level – (most deep)

This runs counter to the modern Japanese approach that we are using in the 3-Level Acupuncture Protocol,
where the Divergent Channel networks runs deeper than the Eight Extraordinary Channel network, but this
sequence is faithful to the classical Chinese understanding.

Dr. Twicken proposes using 8 Extra therapy for problems affecting the yuan and jing, for example, chronic
constitutional weaknesses leading to asthma or lung weakness, use LU 7 – KI 6.

Hamid Montakab, MD, in his book Acupuncture Point and Channel Energetics (Kiener, 2014), displays 8
Extra circulation by seeing the body as a sphere. Du Mai circulates up the back, Ren Mai circulates energy
down the front. Yinwei goes up the inside of the sphere; Yangwei goes down the inside of the sphere.
Yinqiao goes up the outside of the sphere, and Yangqiao goes down the outside of the sphere. Chong mai
goes up and down the center, and the Dai Mai links around the sphere. I incorporate this into an 8 Extra qi
gong, which we will talk about in a future blog.
 Montakab, Acupuncture Point and Channel Energetics

JAPANESE UNDERSTANDING OF EIGHT EXTRAORDINARY CHANNELS.

Our 3-Level Balance is a continuation of the work of Yoshio Manaka, MD, his Topological Society, and later,
Miki Shima. I give an overview of this history in our Article #2. I’d like to take the opportunity to talk about
more about Manaka’s understanding of the Eight Extraordinary Channels.

Yoshio Manaka developed an 8 Extra channel approach as a stand-alone therapy. He started by discussing
the embryological role of the 8 Extra channels, allowing energy to move and develop in the fetus. Classical
Chinese texts allow that the Eight Extraordinary Channels act as pathways by which qi and blood distribute
in the embryo, but Manaka went further by saying that the 8 Channels were the only network in the embryo,
acting as an origin for a Primary Channel system. This Primary Channel circulation emerges after birth,
reaching full maturity by age 3.

Manaka never discussed the 8 Extras as storing and circulating yuan-jing energy, as the Chinese did. There
is no indication that he even agreed with this. He did say that the 8 Extras offer a background “ocean of
yang” and “ocean of yin” that can replenish the primary channels. Unlike primary channels, the 8 Extra
network does not comprise a continuous circuit. They do not distribute energies (qi, blood, ying and wei) like
the primary channels.

Starting in the embryo, the 8 Extras regulate the body at the primitive level of symmetric versus asymmetric.
As such, they have a much broader regulatory effect on the movement of qi (“primitive signals”) than primary
channels. Primary channels, by comparison, serve as specific information pathways (“signal
communication”). After birth, the primary channels develop and communicate with one another, providing qi
and blood throughout the body, and supplying the needs of the internal zang-fu organs. The 8 Extra network
still exists, but now its primary importance is maintaining a balance of the physical structural body.

Manaka proposed a symmetrical model where all aspects of the physical structure are seen divided into yin
and yang. “It is easier and more useful to consider the Eight Extraordinary vessels as dividing lines capable
of affecting structural changes as related to the octahedral topological model”. His octahedral topological
model became the foundation for treating the structural body. This paradigm consists of the following:Yin
Aspect                 Yang Aspect

Front                         Back

Upper                        Lower

Right side                  Left side

Inside                         Outside

For maintaining health, Manaka pointed out the importance of keeping the polarities in balance in a four-
quadrant structure, as a fundamental way to promote and maintain health. In a simple understanding of his
octahedron model, he proposed the following:

Ren and Du divide the body left and right

Chong divides the body into yin and yang
Dai divides the body top and bottom
[Wei and Qiao coordinate life changes and are responsible for the aging process]

In the actual octahedron model, Manaka integrates three 8 extra channels with four primary channels:

Ren mai Divides anterior right and left    

Du mai Divides posterior right and left
Dai mai Divides superior-inferior
TW Divides upper, anterior-posterior yang
GB Divides lower, anterior-posterior yang
PC Divides upper, anterior-posterior yin
SP Divides lower, anterior-posterior yin
 From Manaka, Chasing the Dragon’s Tail, p. 81

Manaka determined that the 8 Extra network was a simpler and more fundamental network, developing at
the earliest embryologic stages. Accordingly, the manipulation of the four-quadrant body would have much
deeper clinical affects then traditional Primary channel treatment. This manipulation was best accomplished
through the 8 Extra pairings, using ion-pumping cords.

The 8 Extra network, Manaka discovered, could be influenced by all twelve of the primary acupuncture
channels. Using his torso palpatory confirmation, he saw the octahedral body influenced, not only by the
eight traditional command points, but also by “new” command points assigned to the four channels not
included with the original 4 pairs.

Original command points: SI 3, BL 62, TE 5, GB 41, PC 6, SP 4, LU 7, KI 6.

New command points: LV 4, HT 5, LI 5, ST 40

He proposed a chart using all 12 of these command points as influencing the octahedral, divided into upper
and lower, and yin and yang.
 From Manaka, Chasing the Dragon’s Tail, p. 86

Miki Shima, in developing Manaka’s material into the Somato-Auricular Therapy (SAT), developed Manaka’s
idea to clinically incorporate all 12 channels in an 8 Extra network therapy. Shima coupled these so that they
would fit into a traditional Six Division organization:

Original pairs

KI 6                 –          LU 7

SP 4                –          PC 6

BL 62              –          SI 3                 Taiyang          

GB 41              –          TE 5                 Shaoyang

Additional Pairs

         ST 40              –          LI 5                 Yangming

SP 4               –          LU 7               Taiyin              

KI 6                 –          HT 5                Shaoyin          

LV 4                 –          PC 6                Jueyin

These new “8 Extra” combinations are used in the AcuGraph Divergence menu. In its own way, it not only
balances the 8 Extra network, but potentially includes all 12 channels via the Six Divisions. Manaka laid the
theoretical foundation for this exciting addition to deep channel balancing by proposing these new command
points.

Manaka and Miki Shima both felt that manipulating the 8 Extra network first would set the 4-quadrant
octahedron into balance, without driving pathogenic energies deeper into the Primary network. Following 8
Extra treatment with Divergent treatment, as we do in the 3-Level Balance, allows balance at the level of the
primal 8 Extra network, affecting the musculoskeletal body, and then using the Divergent network to create
balance between the yin-yang pairs attending to the internal zang-fu organs.

More about Yoshio Manaka and his Contributions

Yoshio Manaka wrote continuously on his ideas and

experiments to validate them. Kazuko Itaya and
Stephen Birch diligently went through Manaka’s articles
with the Topological Society, condensing and
organizing this material into the book, Chasing the
Dragon’s Tail by Yoshio Manaka (Paradigm
Publications, 1995, 2008, 2014.)

Manaka was a medical doctor with a Ph.D. in biology.

Throughout his professional life, he devoted himself to
acupuncture, moxibustion and herbal medicine. He
performed numerous scientific experiments testing and
expanding the frontiers of acupuncture.

During WWII, Manaka was a Japanese army physician

based in the Philippines. While working with burn
victims, Manaka placed aluminum foil over burns, and
Dr. Yoshio Manaka created ion-pumping cords (IPC) to move heat excess
to other parts of the body. IPC have a unidirectional
flow of electrons, and the successful clinical application in burns started Manaka on his road to discovery
and invention.

After the war, he devoted himself to studying the ability of IPC to move places of excess to places of
deficiency. This brought him to the field of acupuncture. He became a student of Akabane, and began
examining the relationship of acupuncture channels to each other. In order to confirm the actual effects of his
experiments, Manaka studied, and refined, traditional Japanese palpation diagnosis on the torso. Using
traditional front-mu points for the various zang-fu organs, he would look for signs of tension, flaccidity,
moisture, temperature and soreness, comparing torso manifestations before and after applying some sort of
intervention. These included needles, magnets, ion pumping cords, etc.

A group of students gathered around Manaka’s teachings (known as the Topological Society) and would
confirm Manaka’s findings by reproducing them. Basically, abdominal patterns of tension would change
immediately with correct treatment, and the fact that various practitioners could reproduce these effects, lent
evidential proof to their discoveries. Some of the Topological Society’s research included the following.

Meridians

Confirmed that there is a unidirectional aspect of meridian flow

That meridian qi follows the primary circuit sequence (eg, LU to LI, LI to ST, ST to SP, etc)
That qi concentrates in each meridian, in sequence, every two hours
That there is also a complete cycle through all meridians every 45 minutes, or 50 times per day

Acupuncture points

Confirmed classical indications of 5 Element points, as well as tonification, sedation, xi-cleft and luo-
connecting points
Confirmed that the traditional Five Element points could influence tonification and sedation of the
channel
Confirmed that the Five Element points can directly influence relationships with other channels, in
agreement with classical teachings
Confirmed 8 Extraordinary confluent/control points and master-coupled points
There exists a polarity between tonification and sedation points on the same channel (Manaka would
often combine both tonification point with sedation point using IPC)

Ion Pumping Cords (IPC)

Ion pumping cords allow electricity to flow in one direction only, from black to red

IPC transference is completed in about 10 minutes

Besides connecting different channels, IPC can be performed on a single channel. Eg, to reduce
excess in the LI channel one can move energy from LI 2 (sedation point) to LI 11 (tonification point)

Manaka also discovered that various agents produce electrical effects that can alter the body’s structure via
traditional acupuncture points and the body’s electrical and magnetic fields. Basically, they can can promote
tonification or sedation.

Agent                                       Tonifies            Sedates

Magnet                                     north               south

Metals                                     copper             zinc

gold                  silver

Finger digits                           thumb              little finger

Manaka’s Mu Points

Manaka and his group eventually found that when a patient lies on their back, the best diagnostic points on
the torso are different from traditional Front-mu points, and different even from other Japanese hara
locations. Manaka would palpate these points to use diagnostically. (I have found that they can also be used
by practitioners using muscle-testing.) His new points are as follows:

LU               LU 1 to LU 2

LI                ST 27 (+ slightly lateral)

ST                CV 12 to ST 21

SP               SP 21 to GB 26

HT               CV 14; CV 17; KI 23

SI                ST 26 (+ slightly medial)

BL               KI 11

KI                KI 16

PC               CV 17 + PC 1

TE                ST 25 (+ slightly lateral)

GB               GB 24 +/to GB 29 (ASIS)

LV                LV 14 TO GB 26 (esp. right subcostal)

Manaka’s torso palpation for 8 Extra channel diagnosis are the following:
from Manaka, Chasing the Dragon’s TaiI, p. 135
From Hara Diagnosis: Reflections on the Sea, Matsumoto and Birch, Paradigm, 1988
 from Manaka, Chasing the Dragon’s TaiI 

Manaka would often just treat one or two pairs of 8 Extra imbalances, based on torso palpation. He would
use IPC for the master-coupled command points, but he would support the treatments with other points.
Here is a list of the supportive points he would use.

1. LU 7 (+) – KI 6 (-) Ren – Yinqiao / bilateral

1. Ren mai: CV 16 to CV 2
2. Upper: LU 1, LU 2, ST 12
3. Lower: KI 16, KI 11, ASIS
4. Distal: KI 8
1. SP 4 (+) – PC 6 (-) Chong – Yinwei / right side or bilateral
1. Dx: Subcostal region, esp right
2. Upper: PC 1, CV 17, CV 22, ST 11
3. Mid: SP 21 to GB 26
4. Distal: KI 9
2. SI 3 (+) – BL 62 (-) Du – Yangqiao / bilateral
1. Lower: ASIS + ST 26, KI 11
2. Back: SI 9, SI 10, sides of cervical vertebrae, PSIS
3. GB 41 (+) – TW 5 (-) Dai – Yangwei / left side or bilateral
1. Mid: Along belt: KI 16, SP 15, BL 23
2. Lower: ASIS + ST 25, GB 24
 4. Cross Pattern:

R: SP 4 (+) – PC 6 (-)  Chong – Yinwei

L: GB 41 (+) – TW 5 (-)                    Dai – Yangwei

1. Mid and lower: right subcostal + left ASIS

+/or left naval – ST 25, ST 27

Manaka could also treat 8 Extra imbalances on the back, using Back Shu points. If using the AcuGraph
Divergent menu, you can juxtapose the polarity indications (eg, PC 6 +, SP 4 -) to the back shu points. Here,
you would apply + to the yinwei mai and – to the chong mai.                                                           

Ren –      Yinqiao :                       BL 23 + BL 25

Chong –   Yinwei :                        BL 18 + BL 20

Du –        Yangqiao :                    BL 27 + BL 28

Dai –        Yangwei :                     BL 19 + /or BL 22 / BL 23

Cross Pattern :                           BL 18 + BL 25 or BL 27

In conclusion, we see how Yoshio Manaka and the Topological Society explored and developed applications
of 8 Extra therapy. 8 Extra can be used as a stand-alone therapy by using the first three or four point
recommendations on the AcuGraph Divergence menu, and then reinforcing with additional points
recommended by either the Chinese or Manaka. Or we can continue the balance recommended in the
AcuGraph Divergence menu, continuing with the Divergence balance and integrating with the Primary
channel balance, that is, allowing our 3-Level protocol.

In today’s blog, we highlighted aspects around 8 Extra therapy. Manaka’s discovery of the 4-quadrant
structure, dependent on the flow of the 8 Extra network, as a much more primal foundation to balance than
the Primary network, is a significant development for using acupuncture to restore and enhance the body’s
health.

In future postings, we will talk more about the Divergence channel treatment, and also more on the Primary
channel treatments.

In This Section

Jake Fratkin’s Three-Level Acupuncture Protocol:

Using Computer Diagnosis to Facilitate Japanese
Meridian Balancing

The 3-Level Acupuncture Balance: Overview for

NAJOM

The 3-Level Acupuncture Balance: Part 1 – The

Treatment
 The 3-Level Acupuncture Balance: Part 2 –
Historical Development

The 3-Level Acupuncture Balance: Part 3 – More

on the Eight Extraordinary Channel Balance

The 3-Level Acupuncture Balance: Part 4 – More

on the Divergent Channel Treatment

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