"My teachers have told me that Chinese needling technique works, for the most part, on the premise of 'no pain, no gain.' If there is no sensation of chi for the patient, the treatment is ineffectual. Acupuncturists who practice Chinese technique intentionally manipulate needles well beyond the comfort zone of most Americans. In Japan , the opposite is true. If the patient even feels needle insertion, the treatment is less effective. If the patient experiences pain upon the rising of chi, you may as well pack up and go home, because no benefit will come from the work. The Chinese practitioner fails if the patient feels nothing; the Japanese practitioner fails if the patient feels anything. Same patient; same syndromes. Go figure ."
by Felice Dunas. "Adventures with Captain X". Acupuncture Today, April 2006, Volume 7, Number 4, p. 12.