Bamboo and direct moxibustion

This is the first entry in that blog but that blog has a brother blog in Spanish (with many more old entries www.harikyu-in.blogspot.com). I recommend you to be brave and try with the online translators. What kind of bamboo tube can be interesting for me? This is usually a question that many people do when they think that they need a bamboo for direct moxibustion practice, so this post is going about it. Something that is usually around the head is: Where I can find it? One option is to do it yourself but you will need a bamboo plant in your garden (or in your neigbort's garden) or to go to a gardenshop and buy a piece (if you opt for the latter, never buy painted or varnished bamboos cause the heat would spoil it). Another option is to buy directly from a specialized store (that is almost exclusive to Japan). Sankei company provides a wide variety of them (www.oq83.jp and not suffer because their catalog is is also in English). Often, another question is: Do I really need that my tube will be a bamboo? Not really, but the fact is the bamboo has its own reasons. The first reason are traditional and cultural reasons, obviously bamboo was the first material used in the development of the moxa's tube. We must thank Isaburo Fukaya sensei because he was the developer of bamboo as a key tool in the practice of direct moxa (traditionally japanese people used the finger pressure, to pinch or to nail to decrease the painful sensation when someone recived okyu. Fukaya sensei was circling the subject and one day, observing some Japanese traditional brooms (whose handle is bamboo) he thought that a piece of the handle could be ideal for that matter which he tried to find solution. The second reason is the resistance of the material to the exposure of the incandescence of the moxa. The third is the workability of the material and the fourth is the durability of the material (still in use, today, is the preserved original Fukaya's bamboo). If you don't have bamboo you can opt for others canes (which you can find near wetlands and rivers) but not as tough as cracking with the heat and the time, or synthetic materials such as hard plastic pipes.

We will analyze the photo accompanying this post so you can choose to either: 1)Isaburo Fukaya classic bamboo. Made of current bamboo and measuring approximately 4 23/32in x 0 5/8in (diameter) and with a wall thickness of 0 5/64in. One closed end and a smoothing "nose" to make more pleasant your application. It is used to apply special dimension cones (cone Fukaya is basically like a grain of rice but taller). This bamboo makes sense that the value of the okyu application is in the power of controlled burn. 2) Mizutani's bamboo. Designed by Junji Mizutani. Made of bamboo stream but with different characteristics. It has two spaces separated by the natural knot of bamboo. The larger space (3 5/32mm long) is used as the classic bamboo 1), and the lower (0 63/64 mm long) intended to contain less oxygen inside and thus facilitate the progressive shutdown, but exact, of the cone. Its inner diameter is the same as the classic Fukaya although the wall thickness is smaller. It is ideal when in your technique primes that the patient does not feel anything at all. Cones used are very small (mean size of rice grain, sesame or moxa thread). 3) Bamboo Classic Deluxe. This is a bamboo with the same dimensions and uses as the classic bamboo. The difference is in the material used in its construction, this is a special bamboo called black bamboo. This bamboo is much expensive and difficult to find, often it is used in inner decoration. 4) Motoshiro's bamboo. Designed by Hirato Motoshiro. This piece is a re-version of classic bamboo. Made of current bamboo, with dimensions similar to the classic. There are two capsules, both have same dimensions. One have the same desing as the classic bamboo and the other is modified with a series of holes to control the progress of combustion and to prevent the take off the tube before the cone reaches the skin. It is ideal for beginners in the art of bamboo okyu. The next post will deal with the various applications that have the bamboo according to the different techniques and styles.