Sports Medicine Acupuncture (SMA) incorporates principles and techniques from Traditional Chinese Me
10/01/2025
đź“Ł Our October SMA newsletter is here!
Attention Acupuncture Community...our latest newsletter has just been sent out and it’s full of important info and valuable tools for all of you who are passionate about sports medicine and acupuncture.
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Sacroiliac joint pain (SIJ) is a common injury, in which the patient will often seek help from an acupuncturist. This brief article will present a basic Sports Medicine Acupuncture assessment and treatment approach that examines postural and myofascial tissue imbalances determined through functional assessment and treated by acupuncture channel theory:
If you want to improve your skills in assessing, diagnosing and treating SIJ pain, we have the Assessment & Treatment of Low Back and Hip 2-day intensive coming up November 22-23, 2025 at the Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine – Toronto!
In this class you’ll learn clinically applicable skills including:
❶ Diagnostic methods such as orthopedic exams, postural assessment, manual muscle testing, and how to ask the right questions
âť· How to more precisely differentiate common injuries such as SIJ pain, facet irritation, disc related injury, hip flexor strain, trochanteric bursitis, soft tissue affecting the low back &/or hip
❸ Innovative treatment techniques using huatuojiaji points, motor entry points, channel points like extraordinary points along with PNF stretching and myofascial work
âťą ***Plus key corrective exercises you can teach your patients to help sustain their improvements
🗓️ DATE: November 22-23, 2025
đź“ŤLOCATION: Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Toronto Campus, 283 Spadina Avenue, 3rd Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2E3)
THANK YOU, Nina for your kind words about the SMAC program and how it has benefited your clinical practice. We strive to constantly improve our program year after year to keep the program clinically applicable. Our goal is to help develop our students' proficiency in sports medicine acupuncture and improve patient outcomes through our SMAC Program, online programming as well as our 2 and 3-day intensive coursework!
If you’re interested in improving your skills in assessing, diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal issues, whether in athletes, adolescents or in older adults, click here and learn more about our offerings!
Sports Medicine Acupuncture Textbook eBook 🍂 Autumn Equinox Sale 🍂
"A truly comprehensive text that integrates TCM and modern sports medicine." Dan Bensky, author of "Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica" and "Discussion of Cold Damage with Commentaries for the Clinic"
Low back and hip pain are common reasons patients first come for acupuncture. They can be tricky to treat as there are many factors involved, and misdiagnosis and/or mistreatment is unfortunately very common. Many assumptions are often made without clear assessment, and in many cases, injury to the low back will often involve hip symptoms and conversely, hip pain frequently stems from the lumbar spine.
Practitioners taking this class will learn to observe, assess and treat the low back and hip as one complex. They will learn how to both precisely identify imbalance between the musculature acting on the hip and low back as well as provide innovative treatment protocols to help correct these imbalances to provide real lasting pain relief. Injuries will be examined from a mechanical “how and why” perspective using orthopedic physical evaluations and manual muscle testing to more precisely assess the integrity of the musculoskeletal system while keeping treatments grounded in the framework of Chinese Medicine. Advanced needle techniques, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitated stretching and myofascial release techniques are also presented and practiced.
LEARN HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR OUTCOMES & PROVIDE MORE LASTING RELIEF!
Attention Acupuncture Community...our latest newsletter has just been sent out and it’s full of important info and valuable tools for all of you who are passionate about sports medicine and acupuncture.
CURRENT SUBSCRIBERS: If you don’t see it in your inbox, check your Spam or Promotions folders (and drag it over to your Inbox)!
NOT A SUBSCRIBER YET? Don’t miss out on future updates and exclusive content! Sign up now to stay in the loop and get all the latest news delivered straight to you every month: https://www.sportsmedicineacupuncture.com/connect-with-us/
08/08/2025
We're thrilled to feature Rowena Booth's testimonial about her transformative experience in our Sports Medicine Acupuncture Certification program. Her words perfectly capture what we strive for – empowering practitioners with cutting-edge skills that make a real difference in patient care. Testimonials like these remind us why we're passionate about advancing sports medicine education. Thank you for taking the time to share how the program has enhanced your practice and patient outcomes!
REGISTER FOR MODULE III NOW!
Our next module is quickly approaching! Here are the dates and links you need to join us:
Keep in mind, you can start with any module in the SMAC Program. Classes can also be taken a la carte to earn CAB and NCCAOM CEUs as the certification track is completely optional!
Attention Acupuncture Community...our latest newsletter has just been sent out and it’s full of important info and valuable tools for all of you who are passionate about sports medicine and acupuncture.
Low back pain is one of the most common reasons patients first come to our clinic. Do you want to improve your skills to accurately diagnose and treat these regions to provide more complete and lasting relief?
Low back and back pain can be tricky to treat as injury to the low back will often involve hip symptoms and conversely, hip pain frequently stems from the lumbar spine. Practitioners taking this class will learn to observe, assess and treat the low back and hip as one complex. They will learn how to both precisely identify imbalance between the musculature acting on the hip and low back as well as provide innovative treatment protocols to help correct these imbalances to provide real lasting pain relief.
We will examine injuries from a mechanical “how and why” using orthopedic physical evaluations and manual muscle testing to assess the integrity of the musculoskeletal system while keeping treatments grounded in the framework of Chinese Medicine. Advanced needle techniques, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitated stretching and myofascial release techniques are also presented and practiced.
Extra point Jianxi, translated as “Strengthen Knee,” seems to share the same location as the motor nerve innervation (motor point). This extra point is located 3 cun directly above the center point of the superior border of the patella. This point received its name “Strengthen Muscle” most likely from evidential findings, therefore it is assumed that many practitioners before us have used this point for this reason.
The indications for this point as used in the Shanghai University, China are paralysis of the knee and arthritis of the knee. (O’ Connor, J. 1981). In addition, the author uses this point for anterior knee pain such as prepatellar bursitis. The action of the articularis genu is to lift the patellar synovial sack upward during knee extension, an inability is this muscle’s action can lead to a bursitis condition.
READ THE BLOG & WATCH THE VIDEO: Anterior Knee Pain—Articularis Genus & Extra Point Jianxi
We will cover how to properly needle this important point in our upcoming Assessment & Treatment Module III: The Lower Extremity 4-day live in-person classes.
Keep in mind, you can start with any module in the SMAC Program. Classes can also be taken a la carte to earn CAB and NCCAOM CEUs as the certification track is completely optional!
We love receiving feedback from our students! Thank you, Clayton, for your kind words! We strive to improve our programs year-to-year so even our most senior certified practitioners still learn and grow. We also pride ourselves in having an exceptional cohort of certified SMA practitioners who assist in our classes and provide side-by-side guidance.
Keep in mind, you can start with any module in the SMAC Program. Classes can also be taken a la carte to earn CAB and NCCAOM CEUs as the certification track is completely optional!
I cannot encourage practitioners in our field enough to take advantage of this opportunity. It will change your practice and increase your patient volume. You can’t help but to become a better practitioner with the knowledge that is gained! Exceptional course 5 stars!
Each participant will be involved in a 3-day cadaver dissection where they’ll have the opportunity to dissect, palpate and needle important structures under the guidance of the Brian Lau, AP, C.SMA, Joseph Bickle, L.Ac., C.SMA, & Maxine Lewis L.Ac, C.SMA.
Nothing can replace doing dissection first hand, with your own hands and eyes. This class is imperative for the acupuncturist as you will return to your practice with a new vision of your patients that helps with improved treatment outcomes!
THIS CLASS WILL SELL OUT...so register NOW to join us for a unique opportunity like none other!
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to Sports Medicine Acupuncture/AcuSport Education:
AcuSport Education is a subsidiary company of AcuSport Seminar Series, Inc. We are a sports medicine acupuncture education company devoted to raising educational standards of licensed acupuncturists in the integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Sports Medicine. We are committed to training licensed acupuncturists around the globe to accurately assess and treat sport, orthopedic and work-related injuries. Our goal is for graduates of the Sports Medicine Acupuncture Certification Program to successfully manage the patient and their injury from the initial assessment, through treatment and rehabilitation and onto injury prevention.
Sports Medicine Acupuncture (SMA) incorporates principles and techniques from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western Sports Medicine to assess and treat the patient’s injury from a true integrated perspective.
SMA uses functional anatomy, range of motion testing, orthopedic examinations, manual muscle testing and palpation to identify the injured tissues. Postural and concomitant muscle imbalances are assessed through static and functional movements which guide the practitioner to understand how and why the injury occurred. This assessment is integrated into the TCM channel systems (jing luo, jing jin) to diagnose and treat the excess (shi) and deficient (xu) conditions involving the channels and the injured tissue. SMA emphasizes the importance of determining an accurate organ (zang fu) differential diagnosis to ensure an individualized treatment plan for the patient and their injury.
Sports Medicine Acupuncture is strongly rooted in TCM and respects its simplicity and complexity. Integrating Western Sports Medicine with the genius of Traditional Chinese Medicine is a continuous and life-long endeavor.
Sports Medicine Acupuncture is a registered trademark on the United States principal register. Use of the Sports Medicine Acupuncture license is granted by AcuSport Education after all program requirements have been completed and is exclusive to SMA Licensed Practitioners who have graduated from the Sports Medicine Acupuncture Certification program.
