Through checking the ancient books and the articles at the modern times and combining the disciplinary characteristics of techniques of acupuncture and moxibustion, the training of manipulation skills was discussed. It is proposed that during the teaching of the techniques of acupuncture and moxibustion, the most basic ability of needling technique should be trained in the first place. This ability includes the ability of spiritual cultivation, the ability of tactile perception and the specific training for the needling techniques. The ability of spiritual cultivation refers to the consciousness concentration to the patient when providing acupuncture, which may promotes deqi and conducts qi to the affected area. The ability of tactile perception refers to the different feelings of different tissues under the hands before and after acupuncture, the perception to the different needling sensations corresponding to the chief complains of patients as well as the different body responses after acupuncture. In order to ensure the better learning results, the specific manipulations of needling techniques should be provided accordingly on the base of these basic training skills of acupuncture.
Keywords: basic ability of acupuncture; spiritual cultivation; tactile perception; teaching method; techniques of acupuncture and moxibustion.