Blog: Healing Arts Comes to Highland Park at Wu Shu Acupuncture

Pop into any quick mart or 7-11 and note the items lining the front counters.  How many energy “potions” do you see?  Sold in bottles or cans, large and small, we seem to have a constant need for quick fix energy tonics to keep moving and grooving through our fast-paced world.  No stranger to these point-of-purchase displays, I’ve been known to grab a bottle or two as I race to my next meeting or event.  Yet lately I’ve been wondering if it’s the best idea to constantly re-energize and refuel.  Or is it better to realign?

While searching out the answer to this very question I had a serendipitous encounter while hosting the salad portion of the Mount Washington Progressive Dinner.   There I met Jimmy and Jennifer Liu, the husband-wife team behind Highland Park’s latest new business, Wu Shu Acupuncture.  The name is deceiving as Wu Shu Acupuncture is much more than an acupuncture clinic.  It is a full-service studio offering martial arts, Tai Chi, acupuncture, Chinese medicine and massage.  I was so intrigued by the range of services all under one roof I decided to take a closer look.

While the convergence of these practices might seem unusual in the Western world Jimmy explains in other cultures it is quite common.  While traveling throughout China, Jimmy observed similar studios, explaining “it’s about the connections of healing, both inside and out.” 

I can’t speak to the studios in China, but upon walking into Wu Shu Acupuncture's studio, located on Avenue 59 just off Figueroa, I experienced a strange sense of calm.  Maybe my energy was starting to realign simply by being in the presence of a master.  For Jimmy Liu is no mere massage therapist, or a simple acupuncturist.  He is both, and a master of Kung Fu--an 8 degree Black Belt Martial Arts Master to be exact.  Having studied martial arts for more than 12 years under Direct Master Sifu James Ibrao and Grand Master Sifu James Wing Woo, Jimmy has developed an ability to train and better align his own energy.   Jimmy not only believes but has experienced firsthand how through martial arts practice one can harness the power to help prevent illness, build a strong mind and body, and promote balance and harmony of mind, body, emotions and spirit.  Jimmy and Jennifer’s studio is here to help others do the same.

As a massage therapist for over ten years, Jimmy’s knowledge and expertise with the muscles and pressure points of the body led him to further develop in the healing arts, setting his sights on acupuncture.  Part of his study included a journey to China where he advanced in a specific method called trigger point acupuncture, an effective technique for relieving muscle tension.  While visiting the studio I learned that acupuncture is an alternative medicine, only to traditional Westerners like me that is, originating in ancient China.  Patients are treated by inserting thin, solid needles into acupuncture points through the skin. According to traditional Chinese medicine, stimulating these points can correct imbalances in the flow of qi (pronounced “chee”) through channels known as meridians.  The idea behind acupuncture is that stimulating these points with acupuncture needles or pressure relieves obstructions in the flow of energy, enabling the body to heal. Practitioners believe that acupuncture can treat everything from arthritis and asthma to anxiety, acne and sleeplessness.

But why open their studio in Highland Park, of all places?  It turns out that Jimmy is no stranger to Highland Park.  For over thirty years his parents owned and operated a dry cleaning business, 59 N. Fig Cleaners, just around the corner.  So to open his business here in Highland Park was a lot like coming home. 

The more I spoke with Jimmy and Jennifer about the benefits of acupuncture the less I feared the ideas of pins in my body and the more intrigued I became of its potential.  Curious and in need of something more than a high fructose filled potion from the quick mart, I arranged to have my first consult and acupuncture treatment.  Stay tuned for my next entry, post-acupuncture and sans energy drinks, to find out how my energy levels fair.