Essential Pulse Diagnosis in Chinese Medicine: Mai Jing A-B-C Method

Pulse taking, specially at the radial artery (Cun Kou), is one of the hardest skills to achieve for a Chinese Medicine practitioner. Terminology and its meaning, often varies from practitioner to practitioner and even within lineages, and since language shapes our thinking, we get trapped in words and our own imagination. Besides this uncertainty, there is sometimes a lack of confidence because of the insufficient practice under the tutelage of an experienced pulse talking teacher.

In this rather intelligent book, Jamie Hamilton combined years of clinical experience, his skills in Chinese language and his perspicacity to re-read the classics; in this case, we are talking specifically about the Mai Jing or ‘Classic of the Pulse’ (脉经). (He also based his research and book on Huang Di Neijing Su Wen, and the Nanjing as well)

.What Hamilton has designed it is essentially what I haven’t seen before, and what in my opinion makes his work exceptional; a clear and detailed protocol for pulse diagnosis.
Following his ABC method (or 6 steps), we prepare our mind to feel specific things, step by step, without getting overwhelmed by so much information or jumping steps ahead and getting confused. The strength of the method he conceived lies in its systematicity.

One of the interesting concepts from his work, is an idea taken from the great Dr Wang Ju Yi, which consists on ‘mining the Classics’. “This means a process of going back to the classics with specific clinical questions and situations in mind and sifting through the text to find innovative ideas and methods” (p.21). Jamie also states that “this is not a full interpretation of the book Mai Jing”, but rather an exploration to some of its most important concepts, with a fresh approach and truly grounded in clinical practice “to ensure relevance of the understanding” (p.21)

I do believe that all practitioners can benefit from this work, and even though I encourage you to assist to Jamie’s seminars (usually taught in Farnham, UK), I find that with the book only, you can have a solid and clear foundation for pulse diagnosis. It is my humble opinion, that this simple and yet profound book, will radically change the way you look at the pulse, and the flexibility of the method will allow you to apply it partially or completely, no matter which Chinese Medicine background you may have.

Studying pulse and pulse taking is very hard due to it subjective nature, also overwhelming when looking to select specific information from the pulse for diagnosis. Jamie has created a fantastic and more simplistic system to look at and take information from the pulse. His book helps to create a easier step by step guide to taking the pulse which allows better focus on specific areas, and explains new ideas around the 9 regions for assistance in finding blocks on the pulse regarding the extraordinary vessels. Fantastic book!

This book is an amazing resource for both students and practising acupuncturists. It condenses a lot of information from the Classics into easily-understandable chapters and interprets it into a very logical system. The pulse diagrams are very helpful.

This book is great. Its easy to understand what you're supposed to be looking for on the pulses and how to treat from there.

Well written, easy to follow and very interesting book, highly recommend 😊

As an acupuncture practitioner, I have found pulse diagnosis one of the hardest things to work out. Finding this book has been transforming. It is so well researched, and written with such clarity and workable explanations. It is a must for any Chinese Medicine practitioner wanting to gain confidence in their ability of pulse diagnosis - this book will absolutely help with that.