It is a short medial channel. Water, paired with bladder. You recognise it at the ankle, not on the back: the back is bladder.
The study pathway
It starts at KI1, on the sole. It rises along the medial border, passes KI3 between the medial malleolus and the Achilles tendon, continues up the inner leg and thigh, the abdomen and the chest, and ends at KI27, below the clavicle.
KI3
It is the yuan of the kidney and the point most often asked for on the medial ankle. The bone is the malleolus. The tendon is the posterior border. It is not behind the lateral malleolus: that side is BL60, bladder.
Water, not the back
Kidney and bladder share an element and are studied together, in different places. The kidney shu (BL23) is on the back, on the bladder channel. KI3 is at the ankle. The note has to give both codes.
Kidney sheetKI3BL23 shuPair: bladderFoot region
Questions
- How many kidney points are there?
- 27 on the classical channel. It is one of the short ones: you can walk the whole pathway in one study session.
- Are KI3 and BL60 together?
- They are on the same ankle, on different sides. KI3 is medial (kidney). BL60 is lateral (bladder).
Study reference within traditional Shiatsu/TCM frameworks. Does not diagnose or treat.