David was born in Denver Colorado in April 1958, and immediately went to live for the first three years of his life in an American airbase in occupied Germany. He utilizes Japanese style acupuncture that uses palpation to accurately determine how to restore the flow of “Qi’ through the systems and organs of the human physical body.
When David was 20 years old, he had a severe car accident that nearly ended his life, and he was quite lost, but he knew he needed to heal. He know that he never wanted to work in a hospital, so he searched for a way to study holistic health. Then, at age 22, he joined the very first class at The Five Branches Institute of Chinese Medicine in Santa Cruz, California. That began his journey to health by anchoring him solidly in the ancient Chinese Taoist wisdom of the I Ching and Wu Wei (accomplishing everything just by being.)
Hello David Kitts, L.Ac, Dipl.O.M.!
Welcome to the Acupuncturist of the Month interview.
So, how long have you been practicing acupuncture for, and what are your specialties?
I received my license in February 1987, but I just got the shocking news that my school is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year! I was in the very first class at Five Branches Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Santa Cruz, CA.
I was lucky to find my main teacher Kiiko Matsumoto within months of my licensure, so my specialty is Japanese Palpation Based Acupuncture. This fit my natural gift of sensing primarily through touch. Since Kiiko bases her style on researching the Nei Jing and the Nan Jing, my specialty is a general practice that covers a broad range of health issues.
I’ve also studied and practiced Energy Medicine in a more shamanic style extensively for 24 years, influenced by traditional dowsing, Tibetan influences, The I Jing, and European mysticism. In keeping with my touch-oriented sensing skills, I base my esoteric practices on feeling into a subtle body anatomy system that is every bit as detailed as western anatomy and physiology and Chinese Traditional Medical theory.
For most of my years of practice, I’ve dedicated a significant amount of my time to a community based style, offering my services for a fraction of what I usually charge so that almost everyone can benefit from effective, holistic health care. At this time I continue to see people for free that are suffering from the stress of being displaced by the fires in Lahaina, Maui, thanks to the dedicated support of the community known as the Maui Medic Healers Hui.
What inspired you to become an acupuncturist?
At 20 years of age I had a near death experience in a bad car accident. When I awoke and decided to live, I realized I had a lot of healing to do, so I might as well study health. I knew I didn’t want to work in the western medical tradition so I went looking for some form of Holistic Health credential.
I was studying Jin Shin Do Japanese acupressure and Chinese Tui Na Physical Medicine in Aptos CA in 1983 when my Tui Na teacher told me he was going to open “The Five Branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine”: a school that would offer training for a California acupuncture license. . My destiny had given me the opportunity to study one of the world’s oldest forms of holistic medicine, so I jumped on it!
You have a theory of Holographic acupuncture, fascinating! Can you tell us more about this theory, and how and why you came up with it?
I took quite a few classes with Dr. Richard Tan and Jefrey Yuen in the 1980’s and 90’s and I began to see patterns connecting their meridian, five element, six stages and four levels theories and Kiiko’s point choices for certain issues. All of these masters depicted the human body as a fractal pattern. That is, every location on the human body has a relationship to other locations that are arranged into similar patterns. The most obvious example is the extremities: feet and toes are mirrors of hands and fingers.
It was when I read “The Spark In the Machine” by Dr. Daniel Keown, that a holographic view of acupuncture theory started to make sense to me. He lays out the direct connection between the science of embryological development and TCM meridian theory.
What connects all of these studies is the observation that the human body forms and maintains itself because of the flow of energy and fluids condensing into denser (slower moving) tissues. All forms are created out of this flow in repeating self-similar fractal patterns determined by the evolutionary design of all life.
A great acupuncture example of using this flow are Stomach Meridian points Kiiko uses for Knee pain (the stomach is the main stabilizing flow of the legs and knees). St 31, 32 and 33 are for knee pain and coldness, their location can be likened to the waves before the water moves over a rock in a stream. The “rock” can be seen as the pain and injury in the knee, impeding the flow of the stomach channel in the leg. Three points below the knee, on tender or puffy points directly on the shin in the vicinity of Stomach 40 are powerful for restoring movement and relieving pain in the knee and can be likened to the larger waves you see AFTER a rock in a stream, further away than the ones above it.
On your journey to become an acupuncturist, what obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them?
Besides the obvious rights of passage represented by the state and national exams the biggest obstacle to success in my field has been economic. I’ve managed to create a thriving practice out of constantly improving myself, my skills and by being of service. Over time, no matter where I am, this has provided me with a solid reputation that generates a good flow of word of mouth referrals. I have supported myself solely from my practice since 1992.
How do you feel space and home clearing and healing can help our patients in the overall goal of wellness?
In keeping with the Holographic theory embedded in the “Five Branches of TCM”, (Qi Gong, Feng Shui, Acupuncture theory, Herbal and dietary medicine and Calligraphy) the flow of energy through the spaces we live in and the land we live on are part of the patterns that we see in our bodies. If energy flows well in and through the houses we live in and through the lands we live on, then that same energy also has a better chance of flowing easily through our physical and subtle bodies.
If energy flows easily through all forms we live with, then health in our bodies can be restored and maintained easily. Electromagnetic fields are now strongly influencing the way energy moves in both our homes and our bodies and we need new and effective ways of mitigating their effects on our health.
Share a recent success story you had with a patient. What acupuncture points, herbs, or other interventions (meditation, yoga, nutrition, etc.) did you use to help them achieve results?
Some of the more exciting and effective point location selections I have come up with recently are the correspondences between points located on the anterior throat, below and above the clavicle, and the superior border of the scapulae with the points on the superior border of the pelvis and pubic bone and the sacroiliac joints and perineum. In my holographic view, the muscles and bones that frame and hold the neck to the torso are obvious mirrors of the muscles and bones that hold together the pelvic bowl and floor and the organs within it. Most of those point uses I learned from Kiiko, but I’ve expanded my perception of what they can do.
I’m finding that Stomach 9, 11, 12, and 13, Small Intestine 12, 15 and 16, TW 15, 16, CV 21 and 22, the tip of the chin, Du 14 and the Huato points of the first thoracic and 7th cervical vertebra can all have strong effects on the pelvic area. With one long term patient I’ve gotten consistently effective results with organ prolapse, chronic vagal nerve syndromes affecting the entire abdomen, urinary issues, uterine fibroids causing perineal pain, hip dysplasia and chronic low back pain.
You have a world of experience in the eastern medicine field. Which work or educational experience do you feel impacted you and your practice the most to get you to the point you are today?
By far and away it is the astounding body of work by Kiiko Matsomoto.
I’m also extremely grateful for the inspired work of Desda Zuckerman and her epic text book: “Your Sacred Anatomy”.
The I Jing is the well of wisdom that underlies all my work and my understanding of the game of life. It is the direct reflection of the genetic code that assembles, recreates and evolves our physical bodies. Every 6.5 days, the sun powerfully activates one of these codes in a fixed pattern around the calendar year.
The fears these archetypal codes evoke, the gifts we get from facing those fears and the superpowers they contain that are causing the gifts to flower, push us all through the great cosmic evolutionary program. I’m deeply grateful to Ra Uru Hu and Richard Rudd for their modern synthesis of this ancient wisdom which reveals the depth of complexity and true uniqueness of every individual.
What makes you feel inspired about acupuncture?
There’s no end to learning about the interactions of energy and form through the brilliant systems of Taoist Cosmology and Chinese medicine. There’s an endless well of wisdom to delve into that I can use to better understand myself, other people and the world.
Looking back, what advice would you have given to the younger version of yourself, who was just getting started in this profession?
Some of the self confidence I have now. And the trust that the universe helps me every step of the way.
What keeps an acupuncture practice going?
Dedication, practice, study and service from the heart and basic business skills or the ability to collaborate with people who have them.
What are specific roadblocks to watch out for as a new acupuncturist?
Don’t get discouraged by lack of knowledge and wisdom. They come with time. Find the right teachers for you. If you are a person with a good head for business, that’s a plus. By all means develop a busy practice that creates abundance for you! But please never forget that you are in service to your patients and your community. Chinese Medicine is effective and practical but it is love and your heart that heals you and helps others heal themselves.
What are your favorite acupuncture points, and why?
Familiar favorites:
Spleen 9 because it releases the L4-5 low back pain area, calms most abdominal and digestive discomfort, relaxes the trapezius area and releases pressure in the head. That’s a lot of effect for one point.
Heart 3 for similar reasons: because it’s at the crease of the elbow, it has an relaxing on the diaphragm area (the dividing line of the torso) that can increase circulation to the Liver, Spleen , Kidney and Pancreas. And because it’s at the end of both the humerus and the ulna it also immediately eases tension and pain at both ends of the spine at L5 and C7.
Some less familiar favorites:
“Beside Dan Tien”: Extra points not listed in any book on the side of the ASIS pointing towards the Dan Tien. Because they release the scapula (specifically relaxing a very pesky muscle known as teres minor that makes most shoulder pain worse.) AND it stabilizes the entire gallbladder channel so it also treats chronically sprained ankles. It also send energy inwards to support the Dan Tien so it can contribute to reducing anxiety caused by deficiency of source Qi in the belly. You can use two or three needles in that area for extra effect.
Triple Warmer 18 and 19, Pointing back towards the gall bladder channel. TW 18 is known as “the crazy or spasm vessel”. When someone is really worked up to point of having weird cramps and spasms, this point can stop them immediately. TW 19 is sometimes called “rice paddle” and it’s referring to a cooking function of the middle burner. (When cooking sticky rice in a bamboo steamer, you have to fluff it with a wooden paddle to keep it from clumping) When someone is having difficulty breathing that is causing pain in the sternum CV 17 area this point can open the chest and relax the breathing which has a Wonderfull calming effect on anxiety.
Please note that I always check the areas I wish to affect by inserting a needle in a point. If I don’t get the desired result of less pain, relaxation, eased breathing, less sensitivity, a softening of the tissue, I change the location or direction of the needle or choose another point that gets the desired result.
Tell us about some herbal formulas and foods you find yourself consistently recommending to your patients, friends, and colleagues. What makes these herbs/foods so helpful?
I don’t recommend diet or herbs much any more. Instead I try to help people to learn how to listen to and trust their body’s preferences.
The COVID-19 pandemic has without a doubt had a significant impact on the acupuncture practice community and small businesses alike, and while it’s on the mend, we are still navigating through the new normal as acupuncture providers. How has COVID-19 changed your practice? Have you added or removed any services due to the pandemic?
I have energy medicine protocols I use to support recovery from acute and chronic Covid infections, as well as acupuncture protocols to help restore circulation and relax breathing. I’ve also recently learned how to release the lungs when they get “sticky”. The inflamed lobes of the lungs can sometimes stick to the walls of the thorax or to each other. Gentle pressure on the spine and ribs with clear sensing, awareness and intention can get the lungs moving smoothly again, sometimes instantly allowing better breathing and even instant elimination of chronic coughing.
Sometimes, the best resource for improving our skills is by learning from the other acupuncturists we meet along our professional journey. What is one thing you learned from a fellow acupuncturist or holistic practitioner that has helped you in your professional growth, or in your care for patients?
One of my favorite acupuncture tricks I learned from John Stienke, a sports acupuncturist. I can reliably get another 5-10% release in discomfort and increase in mobility at the end of an injury treatment by inserting needles into Lung 5, pulling upward 6 times, and into Large intestine 10 with the same method. This is very impressive to patients so it’s great for my reputation and it’s a lot of fun to get the little extra result to send them out feeling good.
Do you have any daily habits or rituals that keep you at your “best-self,” both as an acupuncture practitioner and person?
Before I work with anyone I tune into the “Soul Membrane” of my energy body. I feel the direct connection to the entire universe and all the beings in it. I evoke my “universal self” discernment that selects exactly the right frequencies and amounts of frequencies from every source that specifically nourish and strengthen my unique “signal”. I call it “The YES circuit”. I ask this intelligent membrane to coat my hands before I work with anyone. This gives me exquisite and compassionate sensitivity to each person while effortlessly filtering out any energy that might be disruptive to me. This allows me to know that when I feel disturbed, it is not my personal issues, but something going on with them that I may be able to inquire about and help them find their own way to heal.
The kindest thing a patient said to you recently:
“You know that the healing you are doing for yourself is healing your whole family?”
The funniest thing a patient said to you recently:
“You’re doing an excellent imitation of a pincushion right now.”
As an acupuncturist, what are you most proud of thus far in your professional journey?
My perseverance and dedication to my work as my spiritual practice and service to humanity.
If you could have a billboard with anything on it, what would it be and why?
“Tune in your unique signal and find your direct connection to the entire universe”
Because, Honestly, what else really matters?
What is your definition of success?
Feeling like I truly made a difference for at least one person every day.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
Love is the most powerful force in the cosmos. It has at least 64 names. Empathy might be my favorite because it erases all pain and includes everyone and everything.
*Rapid fire questions! *:
Morning or night? NOT a morning person
Tea or coffee? Ripe Pu Erh tea…first thing.
Sun or moon? I have to choose?
Cupping or Tui na? Touch…
Yin or Yang? Huh? They don’t exist without each other
Meditation or exercise? Both, duh.
Instagram or Facebook? Facebook I guess, just cause I’m overloaded with apps and don’t want to do more.
Top 3 Favorite Books? Lamb. The gospel of Biff, Christ’s childhood pal, Blood Sucking Fiends a love story trilogy, Coyote Blue, A Dirty Job and Second Hand Souls, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Fluke or I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings, All by Christopher Moore. Almost anything by Christopher Moore
Where can other licensed acupuncturists, students, and patients go to learn more about your work?
Blog: https://davidkitts.com/resources/blog/
Practice Site: https://davidkitts.com/
David Bryan Kitts on Facebook
Email: david@davidkitts.com
