ST-32 (Fu Tu) Crouching Rabbit

What does ST-32 Fu Tu do?

ST-32 activates the channel and alleviates pain, and it dispels wind-damp — the anterior thigh’s local action, shared word for word with its neighbours.

• Activates the channel and alleviates pain
• Dispels wind-damp — the classical account of aching, cold, weather-sensitive limbs

Three consecutive thigh points, one action record. Our ST-31 Bi Guan, ST-32 and ST-33 Yin Shi all carry exactly these two actions in the same words — a run of anterior-thigh points whose recorded function is uniform. This library discloses that overlap rather than differentiating them artificially, as it does across the BL-03 to BL-09 scalp run and the GB temporal points. What separates these three is position on the thigh and small differences in their indication lists, not their actions.

An outright name collision, and one of eight in this library. “Fu Tu” is the name of two different points: ST-32 here on the thigh, and LI-18 on the side of the neck. Verified by querying every pinyin value in our data. They are on different channels in different regions, and only the channel code tells them apart — and the two Fu Tus do not even share a character: the fu of ST-32 is “crouching” and the fu of LI-18 “support”, identical only in toneless pinyin. The full audit is in our reference notes.

On the name, which is one of the best in the system. “Fu Tu” means Crouching Rabbit — fu crouching, tu rabbit. When the thigh is tensed, the belly of rectus femoris bulges under the skin in the shape of a crouching hare, and the point sits on it. It is one of a small group of animal-image names in the point system, alongside LU-10 Yu Ji (Fish Border) and SI-04 Wan Gu’s region — names that describe a landmark by what it looks like. This one is unusually apt.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; every pinyin value queried for duplicates and the ST-32 / LI-18 collision confirmed, and the ST-31 and ST-33 action records compared word for word, against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is ST-32 Fu Tu used for?

ST-32 is used for pain in the lower back and hip, coldness of the knee, paralysis or impaired movement and pain of the leg, and beriberi. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Pain in the lumbar and iliac region
• Coldness of the knee
• Paralysis or motor impairment and pain of the lower extremities
• Beriberi

“Coldness of the knee” is distinctive, and it fits the point’s position. ST-32 sits on the front of the thigh above the knee, and a recorded sensation of cold there is a local indication of the kind the wind-damp action addresses. It is uncommon phrasing in our data, and where our record is that specific this library preserves it.

“Beriberi” needs its context stated, because the word has changed meaning. In the classical literature jiao qi — usually translated “beriberi” — described a group of leg disorders with weakness, swelling and numbness. The modern disease beriberi is thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency, which causes nerve and heart damage and is treated with thiamine, urgently in its severe forms. The classical category and the modern disease overlap but are not the same, and this record documents the historical indication. Progressive leg weakness, numbness or swelling requires medical assessment, and where a nutritional cause is possible it is both serious and readily treatable.

An honest note. LEG PARALYSIS OR NEW WEAKNESS REQUIRES URGENT MEDICAL ASSESSMENT — sudden weakness can indicate stroke or spinal-cord compression, where speed changes outcomes. Progressive weakness or wasting needs assessment in any case. This record documents classical use and should not delay it.

How it is combined. With ST-31 Bi Guan above and ST-33 Yin Shi below on the same thigh line. With ST-34 Liang Qiu, the Xi-Cleft point, near the knee. With GB-30 Huan Tiao and GB-31 Feng Shi laterally for the leg. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication record; the GB-30, GB-31, ST-31, ST-33 and ST-34 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is ST-32 Fu Tu located?

ST-32 is on the front of the thigh, on the line from the hip bone’s front point to the outer edge of the kneecap — on the bulge of the thigh muscle that stands out when the leg is tensed.

• On the line between the anterior superior iliac spine and the lateral border of the patella
• On the belly of rectus femoris, which bulges when the thigh is tensed — the “crouching rabbit” of the name
• ST-33 Yin Shi lies below on the same line; ST-31 Bi Guan above at the hip

Two bony landmarks define the line, and both are findable. The anterior superior iliac spine — the front point of the hip bone, palpable at the front of the waist — and the outer corner of the kneecap. The whole anterior thigh run is placed on the line between them, so no counting or proportional guesswork is needed: two ends, a straight line, points along it. Tensing the thigh raises the muscle belly and confirms the position by feel.

On the name. “Fu Tu” — Crouching Rabbit, the bulging thigh muscle. And, as above, a name shared outright with LI-18 on the neck — search on the code, not the name.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; every pinyin value queried for duplicates, and the ST-31 and ST-33 records checked, against our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 155): On the thigh, on a line drawn between the lateral border of the patella and the anterior superior iliac spine, in a depression 6 cun proximal to the superior border of the patella.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 153): On the line connecting the anterior superior iliac spine and lateral border of the patella, 6 cun above the laterosuperior border of the patella.

How is ST-32 Fu Tu needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 1.0–1.5 inches, with moxibustion applicable — a deep recorded range, because the thigh muscle is thick. What follows is a neutral record of what the reference literature documents. It is not instruction, and this page does not teach technique.

• Angle and depth as recorded: perpendicular, 1.0–1.5 inches — matching ST-31 above, and deeper than the 0.7–1.0 inch at ST-33 nearer the knee. The recorded depths track the thickness of the quadriceps, greatest at the mid-thigh.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: rectus femoris and the vastus muscles form the bulk of the anterior thigh; the femoral nerve’s muscular branches supply them; the femoral artery and vein run more medially in the thigh, away from this point; the femur lies deep.

Hazard, stated proportionately. There is no body cavity here, no pleura and no organ, and the great vessels of the thigh run medial to this point, not beneath it. It is thick muscle over bone — a low-hazard point whose deep recorded range reflects the muscle, not a specific danger. Only four points in the library carry an organ-injury caution, counted by query, none on a limb.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at ST-32 could be located, and none is borrowed. Neither measured-depth study this library uses reaches the leg. No case report naming ST-32 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged, and the ST-31 and ST-33 depths compared; the four organ-injury cautions queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on ST-32, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates ST-32. Where the point appears it is one component of a leg or knee protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. ST-32 sits on the belly of rectus femoris, on the line from the hip bone to the outer kneecap — two findable landmarks, no counting. Its action is the anterior thigh’s uniform one, shared word for word with ST-31 and ST-33. Its indications include the distinctive coldness of the knee and the classical beriberi, whose modern meaning — thiamine deficiency — differs from the classical leg-disorder category. And its name, Crouching Rabbit, is one of the vivid animal-image names in the system.

The name collision is the practical point. “Fu Tu” is also LI-18, on the neck — a different point on a different channel, sharing only the toneless pinyin. One of eight such collisions in this library, and a reason to read the channel code rather than the name.

A note on searching for it. “ST 32”, “S 32” and “Futu” searches return protocol trials, the Large Intestine point of the same name on the neck, and a large volume of unrelated material. Search on the code. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against which Fu Tu a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (action, indication, location and translation records; every pinyin value audited for duplicates and the ST-31 and ST-33 records compared, against our own data).