| Anterior | Towards the front, or describing the front of the body – e.g. the eyes are anterior to the ears, the Ren channel is on the anterior of the body. |
| Posterior | Towards the rear, or describing the back of the body – e.g. the ears are posterior to the eyes, the Bladder channel is on the posterior of the body. |
| Superior | Above, or towards the upper part – e.g. the eyes are superior to the mouth, GB 14 is superior to the eyebrow. |
| Inferior | Below, or towards the lower part – e.g. the mouth is inferior to the eyes, SI 18 is just inferior to the cheekbone. |
| Superficial | Nearer to the surface – e.g. the skin is superficial to the muscles and the Zang Fu. |
| Deep | Further from the surface – e.g. the Zang Fu are deep in relation to the skin. |
| Proximal | Nearer to the source – e.g. Lu 7 is on the lower forearm, just proximal to the wrist crease. |
| Distal | Further from the source – e.g. Lu 10 is on the hand, just distal to the wrist crease. |
| Internal or Interior | Inner, or relating to inside – e.g. the Zang Fu are internal. |
| External or Exterior | Outer or relating to the outside – e.g. the skin and Wei Qi are considered external or exterior. |
| Medial | Towards the midline of the body when standing with palms facing forwards – e.g H 3 is on the medial side of the biceps tendon. |
| Lateral | Away from the midline of the body when standing with palms facing forwards – e.g. Lu 5 is on the lateral side of the biceps tendon. |
| Abduction | Movement away from the midline of the body – e.g. when the arm is held out to the side it is abducted. |
| Adduction | Movement towards the midline of the body – e.g. when the arm is brought back down towards the body it is adducted. |
| Flexion | A body part bends and there is a decrease in angle between the moving bones – e.g. when bending the elbow to touch the nose, the arm is flexed. |
| Extension | A body part straightens and there is an increase in angle between the moving bones – e.g. when rising from a sitting position, the bent legs extend. |
| Tendon | A connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. |
| Ligament | A connective tissue that connects bone to bone to form joints. |
| Condyle | A round prominence at the end of a bone, most often forms part of a joint with another bone – e.g. when looking for the the medial condyle of the tibia when locating Sp 9 we look for ‘the round bit at the end of the tibia where it meets another bone.’ |
| Epicondyle | “Upon a condyle”, this is another round bit at the end of a bone, on or above a condyle and usually has tendons or ligaments attached to it – e.g. the medial epicondyle of the humerus is the bony bit we use to help locate H 3 and is an attachment for elbow ligaments. |
| Tuberosity | A large protuberance at the end of a bone for attachment of a tendon (muscle) – e.g. we use the greater tuberosity of the humerus to locate LI 15 and Sj 14 and the attachment of the deltoid on the deltoid tuberosity to locate LI 14. |
| Acromion | The ‘sticky out bit’ at the lateral end of the scapular spine, the bit that curves out from the shoulder blade just above the top of the arm. It joins with the clavicle just on the front of the shoulder – e.g. this is used to help locate pretty much all the shoulder points including the ones we are currently learning: LI 15 Sj 14 & SI 10. |
| Fossa | A hollow or depressed area – e.g. there are three dips or ‘basins’ on the surface of the scapula, we have been using the supraspinous fossa (the hollow just above the scapular spine) to help locate SI 12 & SI 13. |
| Styloid Process | A slender, pointed bony protrusion at the end of a bone that is an attachment for tendons and ligaments – e.g. the styloid process of the radius used to locate Lu 7 and the styloid process of the ulna used to locate SI 6. |
| Articulation | A connection between bones – e.g. a joint. |
| Foramen | A hole or opening that something, usually nerves, blood vessels passes through – e.g. there is a foramen in the occipital bone, beneath and between GB 20 that part of the spinal cord passes through. |