O m k i Clouds and Rain  Clouds and Rain  Tsubo   © 2011 Veet Allan The recently ascended Shiatsu master Pauline Sasaki once conveyed to me that a tsubo is an apparent and sensed vibrational distortion of Ki. Which, can spontaneously present for treatment anywhere along the expressive pathway of a meridian. Whereas, the standard Chinese Acupuncture model had just stationary treatment points (xue). This idea led me to coin the term ‘residential tsubo’ during the 90’s when working with the standard Acupunture points or holes. These res-tsubo I felt were akin to dwelling places on a map, settled and dutiful.  Whereas the ‘mobile tsubo’  were in the wild and had to be vigilantly scanned for, apprehended and persuaded appropriately. Having practised Shiatsu for many years I was naturally biased towards the use of the Japanese term tsubo  (vital point) rather than the Chinese xue (point or hole). However, if one considers the imagery of their respective characters we may glean some further interest and commonality. Here is an excerpt from ‘Clouds’ regarding hu, ko or tsubo. The Chinese graph hu (壷) means vase, pot, jar or earthenware kettle. It is romanised as tsubo in the Japanese medical discipline of Shiatsu (指壓 or 指圧) and is equivalent to xue (穴) the holes or points of Acupuncture. However, in the Zen (禅) Shiatsu method, unlike the residential nature of the xue. A tsubo is a distortion of the energetic norm within a meridian and can appear anywhere along it’s vibratory route of expression. The top part of hu/tsubo is derived from qu (去) which depicts a personal lid on an empty vessel. Below this is mian (宀) cover. These give a shape or identity as to the container’s contents, with the form being evident as having a neck, handles, belly and base. A related seal graph yi (壹) illustrated above, indicates an auspicious ji (吉) and inauspicious xiong (凶) ritual vase. Further indication that tsubo contain the essential or vital truth and the key to any situation. Moreover, in Japan getting to the “point” is referred to as pressing the  tsubo on the body. Aiming at the truth. The vital locus.      * Please note that you will need a Chinese font installed on your system and enabled via your browser to view the characters within page right text panel .