Obeisance Before a Zhongcha Shop in Kunming, Yunnan, China
“Well, if the side-effects of steroids for asthma nearly killing my mother didn’t bring about my ‘come to Jesus moment’ at 14, it certainly went a long way toward me figuring things out for myself during my health crisis from an MMR vaccination in law school at 27.”
Yang-chu Higgins, LAc EFT-Adv graduated ’07 from Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, in Los Angeles. Upon obtaining his BA from the University of Iowa in Anthropology during the early 90s, he pursued advanced studies at the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Each afforded opportunities to study Chinese at Beijing University and ethnology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院), a period totalling a little less than three years.
Yang-chu, named by his father for an ancient Chinese philosopher, favours conceptualising medical practice as “Conscious Acupuncture,” because it resonates with the principles of Jazz. This translates into spontaneous responses to palpable findings based upon a foundation of ever-growing knowledge disseminated by those venerated as “masters,” Jazz Medicine Masters he fancies.
Dr. Yang or Dr. Higgins, depending upon your preference, is inherently skeptical of everything. He believes the propensity to project must be guarded against by objective measures, foremost being the patient’s subjective response. Every patient is his teacher. Even as each patient expects him to have answers, each patient presents with unique elements that deepen his knowledge of how particular conditions can most efficiently be treated. The demands he places upon himself are high, because he believes that any shortcoming of treatment is only limited by his own scope of knowledge, not due to any limitations of the medicine itself. Therefore, he places great emphasis upon Chinese medical knowledge gained and the powers of deductive reasoning it demands. Neither intuition nor any other unverifiable modality informs his approach.
Yang-chu peddles quality puerh teas though his website Puerhjunky, a study he finds enjoyable in addition to his endless quizzing of patients on horrible songs from the 80s, some which he secretly likes. You can book an appointment here or call, ph. 323.936.5152 to book in person.