22. Why the traditions differ

The traditions do not disagree much about where the points are. They disagree about how to choose them. One reasons from organ patterns, another from the five phases, another from mirrored anatomy, another from the pulse under the practitioner's fingers, another from a family transmission that was never written down until recently.

Medi-Chi models fifteen of them, and every treatment output the platform generates is tagged with the kind of authority it rests on. A Cochrane review and a lineage transmission are both legitimate inputs; they are not the same claim, and blurring them is how a profession loses its credibility.

Trial evidence means point selection has been tested in controlled studies — scalp acupuncture in stroke rehabilitation, wrist-ankle needling in post-operative pain, Jin's three-needle protocols in neuro-rehabilitation. Quality still varies study by study.

Classical text means the selection is traceable to a named source: the Nàn Jīng for five-phase point rules, Lǐ Shízhēn for the eight extraordinary vessels, the rGyud bZhi for Tibetan practice. Textual authority is documented and checkable, and it is not evidence of effect.

Lineage transmission means the source is the teaching itself — Richard Tan's Balance Method, Tung family points, Toyohari, Diện Chẩn, Mikio Sankey's esoteric patterns. Say so plainly to patients rather than dressing it in the language of trials.