Chapter Four: Fight Club

Moxibustion (Chinese: 灸 (jiǔ) or 灸術 (jiǔshù); Japanese: 灸 (kyū) or 灸術 (kyūjutsu)) is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy which consists of burning dried mugwort (moxa) on particular points on the body. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Mongolia. Suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or process it further into a cigar-shaped stick. They can use it indirectly, with acupuncture needles, or burn it on the patient's skin.

The first Western remarks on moxibustion can be found in letters and reports written by Portuguese missionaries in 16th-century Japan. They called it botão de fogo ("fire button"), a term originally used for round-headed Western cautery irons. Hermann Buschoff, who published the first Western book on this matter in 1674 (English edition 1676), used the Japanese pronunciation mogusa. As the u is not very strongly enunciated, he spelled it "Moxa". Later authors blended "Moxa" with the Latin word combustio ("burning").

Support the network at exportaud.io!

Our schedule: exportaud.io/pootanschedule

Pondering Pootan RSS: exportaud.io/pootan
Ghost Divers RSS: exportaud.io/ghostdivers

The Show: @PonderPootan (twitter) or @pootan (cohost)
Niamh: @FoxmomNia (twitter) and @foxmomnia (cohost)
Connor: @rabbleais (twitter) and @rabbleais (cohost)

OP: “Ningen nante” by Yoshida Takuro
ED: “Hit me hard” by Slagsmålsklubben