"The minds of others I know well but, who I am I cannot tell."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Who am I?
Doctor of Chinese Medicine (Shanghai University of TCM)
Host of A Manual of Chinese Herbalism
Python Developer
6th gen lineage disciple of Yang style Tai Chi
Long-time student of Tibetan Buddhism
Podcast host of Critical Mind, Embodied Spirit
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I treat patients, not diseases, with a bespoke strategy of realignment and integration of deep fascia, herbal pharmacology, classical and modern acupuncture, and postural realignment with Tai Chi.
My Ethics
In September 2017 I took an Oath of Medical Ethics (like the Hippocratic Oath) at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I take that oath to preserve life and respect the body, mind, and personal privacy of all patients in every moment of my practice and I take it very seriously.
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The consultation process requires asking personal or sensitive questions. All information shared with me is kept in strict confidence. I am bound by my oath and the professional standards of the industry not to share this information with anyone without your prior consent. Your data is also protected by law.
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The consultation/treatment process often involves touching your body with my fingertips, hands, and elbows. This is always done with prior consent, a deep intention to heal, and the highest respect for your personal boundaries. If the treatment is going to involve touch, you must first understand where on the body I will touch and give your full consent before I start treatment; this is my responsibility. Should you not want to show a part of your body or have it touched, please communicate that with me and I will respect you. Should you wish to stop a treatment/consultation etc. at any time, you are of course free to do so.
My Story
I'm a doctor of Chinese Medicine and software developer from the South West of England.
At the same time as studying western philosophy and critical thinking at school, I started systematically studying Tibetan Buddhism in my early teens with the Saraswati Buddhist group in Somerset, UK. I was attracted by the analytical approach of Tibetan Buddhism that favoured debate and questioning over blind faith. Through this I met many great teachers and made trips to the Tibetan settlements in Southern India as a teenager.
At age 19 I entered a 2.5 year residential study programme in Buddhist philosophy and practice in Tuscony, Italy. After graduating, in 2008 I moved to China where I studied martial arts (Tai Chi, Brazilian Jiujitsu, Muay Thai) and different branches of Chinese medicine at great universities and in far flung places with traditional ‘masters’ of the old school - from Fujian, to Guangxi, to Shanghai. This journey in China started with 6 years Tai Chi training at Xiamen University, has taken me to spend two years living with a Yang style Tai Chi lineage master training full-time, working full-time as a clinical massage therapist for 6 months in Xiamen Hospital for Traditional Chinese Medicine and, in 2022, graduating from a 5-year Chinese medical degree at the largest research institute for Chinese medicine in the world, the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
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Studying ancient traditions is often inconvenient. In light of this, I am currently building the world's largest free searchable database of Chinese Herbalism - A Manual of Chinese Herbalism.
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Whilst I’m very much still at the beginning of my own personal development (we are our own greatest blind spots!) I have inherited a great deal of insight about training/healing the mind-body from an extraordinary range of teachers. In 2021 I launched the podcast Critical Mind, Embodied Spirit in an attempt to share with the world some of the insights of the extraordinary people I've met.
Education and Certifications
Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China 2017-2022
5-year Chinese medical degree majoring in acupuncture and massage therapy at the world's leading Chinese medical university
Xiamen Hospital of Chinese Medicine, China 2015
Affiliated with Beijing University of Chinese medicine, 6-month Tuina (clinical massage therapy) training under Director of Acupuncture and Tuina ward
Guangxi Wushu Association with 5th generation Yang family Tai Chi Lineage Holder, Nanning, China 2013-Present day
Initially studying full-time for 2 years from 2013-2015 with Yan Han Xiu, vice-president of the Guangxi province Wushu association, 5th generation lineage holder of Yang style Tai Chi, and disciple of Yang Zhen Ji and Fu Zhong Wen for over 40 years in Nanning, China. I continue to train daily.
Xiamen University, China 2008-2013
Study of Chinese language, Overseas Education collage
Study of Yang style Tai Chi and Sanda, Department of Physical Education
Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Pomia, Italy 2005-2007
2.5 year residential diploma in Tibetan Buddhist Theory and Practice (Basic Program) under Geshe Jampa Gyatso
My Philosophy
I use whatever works and abandon what doesn’t. Prevent disease before it occurs. Once it has occurred, cure it at the root whilst limiting the damage done by branches of the disease. The primary methodology is to enable the body to cure itself. This requires a comprehensive strategy that takes into consideration the entire human being.
Modern Chinese medicine as taught in the 21th century in the People’s Republic of China is guided by the conclusions drawn from clinical records that cover a period of at least 2 thousand years but, importantly, directed by the scientific method in light of modern laboratory and epidemiological studies.
Whilst modern allopathic or ‘western’ medicine excels in many ways, particularly surgery and acute symptom management, Chinese medicine has always been focused on a wholistic and non-invasive approach to health that looks to the natural world to inspire an inexpensive and un-invasive way to permanently cure disease so that a doctor is no longer needed.