J R Worsley

J. R. Worsley (14 September 1923 – 2 June 2003) was a British acupuncturist who is credited with bringing five element acupuncture, also known as 'classical acupuncture' or 'traditional acupuncture' (to distinguish it from the more widely known traditional Chinese medicine style), to the West.

For many years he resided in the UK, where he opened the College of Traditional Chinese Acupuncture, which trained many of the leading five element practitioners practising today, including Dianne Connelly and Bob Duggan, who founded the Tai Sophia Institute (formerly the Traditional Acupuncture Institute) in Laurel, Maryland, United States. Tai Sophia has gained university status and is now named the Maryland University of Integrative Health.

Worsley was also responsible for starting the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture (AFEA), currently in Gainesville, Florida. This college was founded as the Worsley Institute and was located in Miami Lakes, Florida for many years, where Worsley and his wife lived. This college was non-profit and was led by Dorit Reznik for several years. In later years, the professor had ties to the acupuncture training school in Boulder, Colorado. Today, his wife, Judy Becker Worsley, carries on the five element acupuncture tradition, training and certifying practitioners in schools she endorses.

J. R. Worsley's influence was widely cited by others within the five element tradition, including Peter Eckman, author of In the Footsteps of the Yellow Emperor.