III. Poking and twisting the Laogong Point and the Yongquan Point can strengthen your heart and kidneys, bringing longevity.

Ziwuliuzhushuonan wrote: “The Laogong Point is the pericardium’s Ying-Spring point with the element of fire. The point is named Laogong (working place) because the pericardium is the subordinate of the heart and work for this ruling viscus.”

Choosing Names of the Points wrote: “Laogong, Lao means labor, Gong means the emperor’s palace... The hands are the body parts to do various kinds of labor, so it is called Laogong.” “The pericardium protects the heart and has the element of fire. Meridians and points with the element of fire represent the heart fire. The point is on the horizontal line on the palm, the radial side of the third metacarpal. When you bend your fingers to make a fist, the middle fingertip can rightly touch the point. It has the function of nourishing the heart, preventing and treating stroke, coma, heat stroke, heartache, madness, hysteria, and other diseases.”

Jiayijing wrote: “Yongquan Point is the Jing-Well point of the kidney meridian of foot-shaoyin. The kidney has the element of water, and this point act as the source of the element power of water like a spring. So, this point is called Yongquan (surging spring).” When a person curls his foot, the point can be found in the pit at the first third of the sole.

Choosing Names of the Points wrote: “The surge of the spring is a manifestation of water boiling. Spring water is produced from the earth. This point is the Jing-Well point producing qi of the kidney meridian of foot-shaoyin, and is located in the pit of the sole, just like a spring emerges from the ground. So, it gets this name.” Ziwuliuzhushuonan also wrote: “The Yongquan point is the Jing-Well point of the kidneys, hiding genuine qi under these viscera. The kidneys govern the element of water, so the point is in the sole’s center and is named Yongquan.” This point can nourish the kidneys, prevent and treat diseases such as crown area ache, dizziness, blurred vision, sore throat, dry tongue, difficult urination, and constipation.

Research files show that according to the postures and movement structures of “Ji Chang Shoots a Louse” in Dao Yin Yang Sheng Gong Shi Er Fa, this routine can affect the Laogong Point of the pericardium meridian of hand-jueyin and the Yongquan Point of the kidney meridian of foot-shaoyin simultaneously. For example, when doing this routine, the exerciser steps his left foot leftwards, turns his body leftwards, bends his left leg to crouch, presses his right heel and rubs the ground to stimulate the Yongquan Point. Meanwhile, he clenches his two fists and uses his middle fingers to press the Laogong Point. The same movements should be done using the exerciser’s right foot.

TCM specialists tell us that doing “Ji Chang Shoots a Louse” in this way can nourish the heart, calm the mind, replenish yin, decrease internal heat, and treat symptoms like incongruous heart and kidneys, dysphoria, sleeplessness, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus and sore waist.

Also, these symptoms such as “inconsistent heart and kidneys” grow from insufficient yin in the kidneys and the misplaced elements of water and fire. This misplacing is that the element of water cannot go up to the heart, making the heart fire active, disrupting the mind and causing the person to palpitate and lose sleep.

The symptoms above are also caused by the unstable yin in the kidneys and the insufficient essence. The unstable yin and insufficient essence can bring yang's turbulence in the upper part of the body, causing dizziness, tinnitus, palm and pole fever, red tongue and attenuate pulses, which are all brought by the insufficiency of yin and too much amount of fire.

These remind me of a Mr. Li who kept exercising Dao Yi Yang Sheng Gong Shi Er Fa. Three years ago, he called me and said: “Every day I do ‘Ji Chang Shoots a Louse’ to warm up. After doing it I find my mind refreshed and symptoms like tinnitus, dysphoria, and dizziness all vanished. I then have a very good sleep at night.” I told him: “This may be the benefit of exercising. The old saying is right: ‘Poking and twisting the Laogong Point and the Yongquan Point can strengthen your heart and kidneys, bringing you longevity.’ Because the movements of “Ji Chang Shoots a Louse” can bring beneficial effects to the Yongquan Point, a point of the kidney meridian, and the Laogong Point, a point of the pericardium meridian. Your long-term exercising helps to hold down the heart fire, preventing the kidney water from getting too cold and rising the kidney water to prevent the heart fire from being too strong. Thus, the dynamical balance of the body is achieved.

This is the brief conclusion to the cultural connotation and life nourishing principle of “Ji Chang Shoots a Louse”.

（By Zhang Guangde, Si Chaoquan）