Felix Mann
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[edit] Biography
Dr Felix Mann was born in Germany but moved to England at the age of three, and was brought up bi-lingually.
After qualifying at Cambridge University and Westminster Hospital, he first studied acupuncture in 1958 in the traditional Chinese manner. A scientific approach to acupuncture did not exist at that time, nor many text books in any European language. Dr. Mann therefore spent ten years learning to read medical Chinese, including a study period in China, in order to be able to read both ancient and modern text books in their original language.
However, on the basis of his clinical observations, he soon discovered that the traditional theoretical foundation of acupuncture was fundamentally incorrect - somewhat like the 'flat earth' theory of the Middle Ages - good enough for building houses but not for navigation. In reality, acupuncture points[1] and meridians do not exist; yin and yang, the five elements and the mathematically intricate laws of acupuncture are a philosophical concept, mostly irrelevant, susceptible to different explanation, or simply wrong.
Felix Mann has evolved a different system of acupuncture over the past thirty to forty years, and much of what he teaches in Scientific Acupuncture conforms to neurophysiological concepts.
His publications include Reinventing Acupuncture, first published in 1992, with a second edition being published in Autumn 2000.
Felix Mann was the Founder President of The Medical Acupuncture Society 1959-1980; President of The British Medical Acupuncture Society 1980; and Holder of The German Pain Prize 1995.
[edit] Scientific acupuncture
On the basis of his clinical experience, however, he soon realised that the traditional theoretical foundation of acupuncture is fundamentally incorrect, and over the last thirty years has evolved a different system of acupuncture - described in his publication Reinventing Acupuncture - based on the tender areas, quite often large and of variable position, which may be found in disease. Account is taken of the radiation of pain a patient may experience, which is different from the course of meridians. This system correlates with the functioning of the autonomic nervous system.
Much of the teaching conforms to neurophysiological concepts, and the system is particularly suitable for doctors trained in Western medicine, with or without previous experience of acupuncture. Scientific acupuncture is easier to understand because it fits in with modern medical training better than a system based on a metaphysical philosophy. Even those versed in traditional acupuncture find Dr Mann's system as well as concepts such as periosteal acupuncture, micro-acupuncture and Strong Reactors new to them.
Traditional acupuncture often requires numerous and frequent treatments, using a large number of needles and strong, lengthy stimulation. Mann's system is claimed to enable doctors to obtain a good response from a substantial proportion of patients after only a few treatments, usually involving just a couple of gentle needle pricks lasting a few seconds. The simplicity of this system is particularly suited to busy general or specialist practice.
[edit] Publications
As Felix Mann has developed his theory and practice of acupunture over 45 years, some of his early published works have been superseded by his later works and are now out of print.
2000 Reinventing Acupuncture
2nd edition
1996 Reinventing Acupuncture
Revised 1st edition
1992 Reinventing Acupuncture
1st edition published, also in German and Italian.
1987 Textbook of Acupuncture (Omnibus)
1977 Scientific Aspects of Acupuncture
2nd edition in 1983
Also published in Japanese
1971 Acupuncture: Cure of Many Diseases
Revised edition 1972, USA edition 1972, Pan edition 1972, 2nd edition 1992
Also published in Spanish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian, Swedish
1966 Atlas of Acupuncture.
13 reprints
1964 The Meridians of Acupuncture
Also published in Italian
1963 The Treatment of Disease by Acupuncture
2nd edition 1967; 3rd edition 1974
1962 Acupuncture: The Ancient Chinese Art of Healing
Revised 1962; 2nd edition 1971; Revised edition 1973
3rd edition 198l; USA editions 1963 + 1972
Also published in Italian
[edit] Notes
- ^ "...acupuncture points are no more real than the black spots that a drunkard sees in front of his eyes." (Mann F. Reinventing Acupuncture: A New Concept of Ancient Medicine. Butterworth Heinemann, London, 1996,14.)
