Dragon rises. Red bird flies…

The dragon symbolizes force and power in the cosmos, infusing it with passion, inquiry, awareness and growth. These invisible forces propel knowledge and exploration, igniting the potential of new mastery continuously being reborn. Emerging from the ashes of old ways, the red bird flies and continues the endless cycle of being and becoming, death and rebirth of self. 

Dr. Leon Hammer was infused with the power and purpose of the Dragon which propelled him forth in his unwavering dedication to the medicine, the students, and the patients. He sparked profound self-awareness in many and the development of that awareness with a few select studious physicians. Now, from the ashes of his absence, his direct lineage holders soar in his wake—bearing the wealth of his teachings and the profound responsibility of stewarding his legacy.


The Red Bird Flies Collective proudly embraces our shared purpose in carrying forward Dr. Hammer’s work. As honored members of his chosen lineage, in fellowship with the Dr. Leon Hammer Legacy Foundation, we celebrate the wisdom he entrusted to us by inviting you to join a journey that began long ago—a journey that continues to evolve with each new student who brings fresh perspective and the potential for new discovery. Dr. Hammer’s teachings and the uncounted hours of collaboration and breakthrough spent by his side continue to nourish us and challenge us to rise. The way forward is ever shifting with the rhythms of life and the cosmos, yet we fly.

The Significance of a Direct Lineage Holder of Dr. Leon Hammer, MD

Where tradition meets revision - the guide to thinking like a Chinese Medicine physician.

The direct lineage holders received Dr. Hammer’s teachings not from pages in a book or secondhand interpretation, but from the source himself, shaped by the full depth of his companionship, inquiry, and ever-evolving understanding. This experience of direct learning was not just about absorbing knowledge, it was an experience of transmission, where teacher and student aligned in a resonance of joint discovery. We were not only taught by Dr. Hammer but certified by him to teach, entrusted by him to carry forward the wisdom he refined over a lifetime. Until his passing in 2023, we maintained a living student-teacher relationship, contributing to the lineage under his direct supervision and collaboration. His teachings were not static lessons to be repeated by rote, they were a dynamic, evolving process–one that we now continue in honor of his legacy, a lived learning experience rather than interpretation from a distance.

The development of Leon Hammer’s Lineage

From the US Air Force, to wildlife conservation on the coast, to a child psychology ward, to China, qi gong, and daily naps, Dr. Hammer has drawn from a rich lifetime of experience to bring his way of thinking in terms of Chinese Medicine to the World.

    • Cornell University

    • Cornell Medical College

    • William A. White Institute of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry

    • Fritz Perls

    • Alexander Lowen

    • Dr. Van Buren

    • Dr. John H.F. Shen

    • Studies in Beijing, China with Dr. Li, Dr. Ye, and Mme.So

    • Giovanni Maciocia

    • Alan Papier

    • Dr. Timothy Mar

    • Dr. Jerry Deutch

    • Dr. Al Lowen

    • Dr. John Pierrakos

  • The Pulse system was developed by Dr. Hammer in his practice, and with his students.

  • The first book to be published on Chinese medicine and psychology.

  • In Menghe, China, in a small village, this pulse system found its roots.

  • Various articles and Dragon Rises Red Bird Flies

  • This is where the term Contemporary Oriental Medicine TM was created to name the new body of work Dr. Hammer had developed in the field of Chinese Medicine.

    CDM is Contemporary Oriental Medicine Diagnosis & Management. This is the methodology for managing a patient case like a physician instead of treating symptoms like an acupuncture technician.

  • Handbook of Contemporary Chinese Pulse Diagnosis

    Patient-Practitioner Relationship in Acupuncture

    Concepts

    Methodology

    Lifestyle

    Triple Burner

    New Case Studies

  • Brandt Stickley, AP, MAOM was the first and is the most prominent practitioner to develop the book into a college level course. He has also carried it forth into CEU course for practitioner from many fields.

    Vasanthi Vanniasingham, AP, PhD

    Laisha Canner, AP, MAOM

    Karen Bilton, PhD

Dr. Hammer was fortunate to have studied mainly under two masters of Chinese medicine – Dr. J.D. van Buren and Dr. John H.F. Shen. Both teachers possessed a deep understanding of Classical Chinese Medicine and both teachers sought out deeper knowledge by investigating the rich oral traditions passed down through the generations. This rare combination of Classical doctrine and ancient tradition provided Dr. Hammer with a unique insight into skills both hallowed and often hidden within the practice.

Among the many lessons he received, Dr. Hammer learned pulse diagnosis from Dr. Shen, who imparted his knowledge of pulse positions, depths, qualities, and their interpretations. However, Dr. Hammer’s work did not end there–the closing of each lesson served only as the beginning of a new endeavor of inquiry and expansion. Through decades of dedication and exploration, he refined and deepened Dr. Shen’s teachings, developing his own contributions to Chinese Medicine. 

Over time, with great care for and collaboration with his pupils, he transformed the traditional one-to-one apprenticeship model. The Hammer model of learning employed a structured method for teaching groups of practitioners while ensuring that his knowledge could be shared more broadly without losing its depth and precision. His published works provided a reliable, repeatable, and profoundly insightful foundation for future generations. 

Dr. Hammer recognized long ago the unprecedented challenges facing humans of an industrialized world. Using traditional systems of Chinese Medicine, he was able to understand and diagnose the effects on human health and development with near prophetic accuracy. In recognition of his mastery and immense contributions to the Chinese Medicine Menghe tradition–from which the pulse teachings originated – Dr. Hammer was formally inducted into their lineage. In addition to this honor, in 2002, Dr. Hammer received an award from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Foundation for “Building Bridges of Integration” between Western and Chinese Medicine.

Shen-Hammer Pulse Diagnosis System

There is an important distinction between the work of Dr. John H.F. Shen and Dr. Leon Hammer, MD.

Historical Progression from Pulse Student to Certified Teacher

It is of utmost importance to distinguish the various pathways students have followed in their study of Shen-Hammer Pulse. The nuance and depth of this work takes a long time to master and requires a collaborative effort with ones teachers in order to accurately calibrate ones senses to the Pulse. Consistent application of Pulse palpation in the clinical setting is the only way to learn the true Pulse in all it has to offer. It is impossible to teach and learn entirely from published texts. One must maintain contact with the current group of lineage holders in order to preserve the accuracy of Dr. Hammer and Dr. Shen’s teachings. Anyone who disconnects from the Collaborative can not be trusted to pass along accurate information. Any new findings, qualities, interpretations, and other correlations to pathology and physiology understand are designated as new and differentiated from the established repeatable clinical results of Dr. Hammer and Dr. Shen.

  • Individuals who studied with Leon prior to about 1996. Resources available at the time included written notes, rough sketches, and small groups or one-on-one.

    If they did not continue studying with Leon, then they did not have the influence of his later clarifications of teachings and insights. They didn’t have experience working with the published texts and learning about the edits and things that were conveyed incorrectly. They hold the history of the early teachings of Leon Hammer and his experiences with Dr. Shen. Leon was a great storyteller and may have shared stories with them that others never heard.

    From this group of early students came the first Certified Teachers. The first Certified Teachers were the ones to provide the introductory and intermediate level courses for practitioners to take before they were approved to go into a masters course learning directly from Leon.

    Some of them continued to study with Leon and assist in the advanced level courses, but for the most part, they went separate ways and did not stay active in the dragon rises seminars organization, although many of them remained close friends with him until his passing.

  • Students had to be approved by their instructor according to their success in intermediate level courses in order to enroll master's level courses. The courses were limited to 12 students. They were scheduled for a seven month period with 3 1/2 days of class every month including one month skipped in the middle.

    Each student would have the opportunity to feel three pulse volunteers per weekend, one pulse in a small group with close attention from Leon and two pulses in a slightly larger group. Students could ask any questions about pulse qualities, other sensations, finger placement, finger pressure and could test themselves against his findings.

    After successful completion of this course, students were allowed to attend the advanced trainings along with the current certified teachers. The advanced courses were where students would train to become certified teachers and the group would share clinical findings from their own patients.

  • The Advanced Seminars were the time to ask questions about the pulse and Chinese Medicine, the therapeutic relationship, managing patient cases over a long term transformation, and staying up to date with the organizational issues of Dragon Rises Seminars. It was during these meetings that Dr. Hammer would impart upon us the significance of our studies and our teaching efforts in order to keep the lineage alive.

    Every seminar would start with the meeting and Depth calibration to Dr. Hammer. The next day would begin bright and early with hands-on pulse palpation of volunteers. The afternoon was for pulse interpretation discussion for each of the volunteers that morning. We would end each discussion with a Case History reveal. Dr. Hammer would then discuss how to manage the case for the patient's survival and deep healing.

  • Individuals who were certified as teachers by Dr. Hammer, studied closely with him and produced many rounds of complete pulse intakes on volunteers which demonstrated extreme accuracy in matching his pulse record for the same volunteer.

    We were trained to discuss pulse interpretation and potential illness and prognosis for volunteers without knowing their case history.

    The ability to identify reliable pulse interpretations and discern those from ideas that need further research was instilled through repetition and discussion with Dr. Hammer.

  • Senior Teachers are those who have spent the most amount of time studying with Dr. Hammer while concurrently teaching pulse courses.

    We were trained by Dr. Hammer and absorbed the essence of his contributions to Chinese Medicine, from repeated demonstrations of how to think in terms of Chinese Medicine. At the center of our approach is such things as, treating the person and not the symptoms, evaluating the Root strength of each patient, and how to use the pulse to develop a therapeutic relationship.

    Any one who studied with Dr. Hammer as an Early Student, but did not attend Advanced Seminars is not considered a Senior Teacher or a Certified Senior Teacher.

  • After Dr. Hammer stopped teaching Master's Courses, he relied on Senior Teachers to train up coming students. The current teachers certified by Senior Teachers all had the opportunity to study directly with Dr. Hammer, to different degrees, for a short time. Their training depended largely on their Senior Teachers.

  • Any individuals working towards becoming a Certified Teacher must study with and assist at least two Certified Senior Teachers, complete all of the training materials and pass the tests.

    Anyone teaching the Shen-Hammer Pulse who is not a Certified Teacher may be destroying the reliability of the pulse and spreading misinformation.

    A Degree from Dragon Rises College does not count in any way as a certification in Shen-Hammer Pulse.

  • Individuals who assist any Certified Teacher in classes can request to become a Certified Assistant Teacher and begin to document hours and experience towards becoming a Certified Teacher.

  • A Degree from Dragon Rises College does not count in any way as a certification in Shen-Hammer Pulse.

    Dragon Rises College graduates should repeat Introductory and Intermediate Courses to ensure they have the proper Depth Calibration and Pulse Position Locations, as well as accurate pulse quality identification and interpretation basics.

    Any student wishing to skip the Introductory or Intermediate Courses can seek permission from a Certified Senior Teacher.

Teachers

Certified Senior Teacher

Certified Teacher

Assistant Teacher

Certified Assistant Teacher

Courses

Introductory Course

Foundations Course

Intermediate Course

Intro-mediate Course

Advanced Course

Practitioner

Certified Shen-Hammer Pulse Practitioner

Certified COM Practitioner

Certification in Heart Shock

 Naming conventions to delineate the teaching and the work.

Meet the Direct Lineage Holders of
Shen-Hammer Pulse & Contemporary Oriental Medicine

  • Laisha Canner, AP, MAOM

  • Brandt Stickley, AP, MAOM

  • Karen Bilton, PhD

  • Ross Rosen, JD, MSTOM, LAc,  Dipl OM

Why we dedicated our lives to study with Dr. Hammer

Sitting with my computer in the screened in porch in Indian Lake, NY where Dr. Hammer wrote Dragon Rises, Red Bird Flies and Chinese Pulse Diagnosis: A Contemporary Approach, I reflect on why I chose to study with Dr. Hammer, and more importantly why I chose to dedicate my professional life to advancing the teachings that he so generously shared with all of the senior certified teachers for multiple decades. 

Ross Rosen, JD, MSTOM, LAc,  Dipl OM

Embarking on a career in Chinese medicine, one quickly learns and realizes that the essence of the medicine and the hallmark of diagnostics can be found in the pulse on the radial artery.  One also quickly learns and realizes that there are very few people who have gained a mastery in this art-science, and even fewer who have been able to create methodologies for instructing others to gain mastery as well.  Breaking the pulse down into 9 depths, 28 pulse positions, 90 discrete sensations, 5 waveforms, systemic and individual organ system and anatomical evaluations, etc. has allowed for a very teachable system that can be reproduced and confirmed by others within the system.  This is what drew many of us to learn from Dr. Hammer.  And while true mastery can take a lifetime, one can gain a high level of skill in a relatively short period of time with proper instruction.  

So, why did we all stay learning from this man for decades?  As a psychiatric physician, Dr. Hammer also developed a highly sensitive skill in being able to read people, communicate with them in unique ways that revealed his understanding of their suffering and lived experiences, while providing context via the lens of Chinese medicine, allowing for precise management strategies and treatment over time.  

A system of medicine is like a map; the more sophisticated, detailed, inclusive and subtle the map, the more it can see from various vantage points, and the higher the likelihood that it can approximate the true reality.  What Dr. Hammer has done over the course of his nine plus decades is to provide teachings via a complex mapping which included pulse diagnosis, facial diagnosis, unique principles and energetic realities, psychological models which weaved together western psychiatry and Chinese medicine, processes for gathering information via the 'asking' diagnosis, and ways of organizing and synthesizing the data into treatment and management strategies that factored in the entirety of the patient's lived experience as well as all clinical findings.  For many of us senior certified teachers, it has been the backdrop to our own on-going development as practitioners as we then all bring our own unique strengths and experiences and studies into a more complete embodied clinical practice.”

A growing appetite for further knowledge

My 27-year association with Dr. Leon Hammer, MD, has profoundly influenced my experience with Chinese medicine. When I began a genuine commitment to finding meaning in the ancient and elusive skill of pulse diagnosis, I had the good fortune of meeting him in New York in 1996. Many prosperous years of learning, mentorship, collaboration, and friendship followed – a privilege for which I am ever grateful.

Karen Bilton, PhD

I was introduced to the Shen-Hammer pulse system in 1996 after participating in several four-day Foundation Classes taught by his then-student-teachers. Following these two workshops, I had already learned and understood more about pulse diagnosis than in my four years of undergraduate study and two years of practice. Direct studies with Dr. Hammer from 1997 onwards and the observation that my readings obtained from the pulse were remarkably similar to those of other students further nurtured my enthusiasm for the pulse.

Along with a handful of his other advanced students, a growing appetite for further knowledge led me in 2000 to Dr. Hammer’s Master of Pulse Diagnosis Program. Over a six-month period, we met for four days every month and saw 12 patients per workshop, feeling their pulses and working through their cases together. By the program’s conclusion, the students' ability to take a pulse, interpret the findings, and formulate a treatment plan was extremely refined and anecdotally consistent.

An interest in academic inquiry and my increasing competency with the skill, buoyed by these observations motivated me to pursue PhD research to examine the reliability of practitioners using this method clinically. My thesis was accepted to the University of Technology, Sydney (Australia), while all raw data for the project was collected at Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine in Gainesville, FL.

The study utilized a real-life design and engaged as testers Dr Hammer, myself, and four of my contemporaries who had completed the Master of Pulse Diagnosis and displayed comparable skill (Laisha Canner, Brandt Stickley, Jamin Nichols, and Hamilton Rotte).

Fifteen volunteer subjects whose pulses were unknown to the six testers were recruited. Two episodes of data collection were conducted 28 days apart as a practical test and retest. For each subject, pulse rates, eleven Large Segment pulse categories palpated bilaterally (including First Impressions, Qi, Blood and Organ Depths, Waveforms among others), and twenty-nine Small Segment pulse positions (Principal and Complementary) palpated with one finger, were included in the study. Each category was assessed, reassessed, and recorded on pulse forms according to the system methodology by the testers during both testing phases.

Intra-rater reliability was measured by comparing individual tester results on day one with day two, while inter-rater agreement and reliability were determined by comparing all testers across both days. Rates were analyzed using ANOVA, while the remaining data employed Cohen's kappa coefficient. Kappa values were interpreted according to previous clinical studies that incorporated a subjective tool to assist in clinical diagnosis. Cross-referencing percentage agreement with the appropriate kappa results rated the dependability of individual pulse qualities and positions.

The results supported the findings of earlier studies that when pulse parameters are specifically defined, skilled testers can achieve acceptable levels of reliability. While the study found rater reliability to be acceptable or above, intra-rater agreement proved to be higher than inter-rater agreement. Large Segment categories palpated with six fingers were identified as more reliable than Small Segment positions assessed using a single finger. Reliability according to pulse quality, while again showing acceptable levels or above, identified Reduced Volume qualities as slightly less reliable than the remaining pulse quality classifications.

The data also identified areas within the pulse system where agreement levels among raters fell below acceptable standards. Unacceptable inter-rater reliability was identified in the Diaphragm and its component Complementary Positions. These results suggested inaccurate and confusing language in the descriptions for accessing these positions may have contributed to variance within the testers’ techniques.

The Diaphragm positions were later evaluated by the research group during an Intensive Study weekend. The data accurately revealed that each of the testers had developed a technique that differed from Dr. Hammer’s due to confusing instructions for accessing these positions. Following a revision of these positions and updating directions for palpation, the group of testers were able to modify their method so their pulse readings more closely matched Dr Hammer’s.


This research thoroughly investigated the pulse method transmitted from the Meng-he Ding lineage through Dr. Shen to Dr. Hammer and on to the current direct lineage holders. We identified areas with problematic levels of agreement and refined these for accuracy by implementing the indicated modifications. This study represents the first instance in which pulse knowledge, in use for centuries, has been tested by such rigorous methods, further validating Shen-Hammer Pulse Diagnosis.

The conclusion of this project saw the research group collaborate with other experts in Shen-Hammer Pulse to produce the "Handbook of Contemporary Chinese Pulse Diagnosis," which I had the honor of co-editing with Dr Hammer. By sharing our expertise and insights, we aimed to create a clinical resource to support and educate practitioners in the field. (Note: Contemporary Chinese Pulse Diagnosis is now recognized as Shen-Hammer Pulse Diagnosis).

For more details, you can access my dissertation through the University of Technology, Sydney here.

https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/20435/14/02Whole.pdf

Teaching as a form of learning.

Laisha Bliss Canner, AP, MAOM

My career path has been anything but linear, yet it came together in a convergence of artistry, design and Chinese medicine. I spent my adult life visualizing my studies with Dr. Hammer, learning the intricacies of pulse reading and the profound connections between the body and mind.

I had the unique privilege of studying graphic design for 3 years then working directly with Dr. Hammer whose guidance and expertise were essential to the accuracy of the designs. As I created these visuals, he meticulously advised me, correcting and refining the locations of the pulse positions along the radial artery to ensure they precisely reflected their true anatomical placement. His corrections were vital, as even minor discrepancies in a pulse position can significantly alter the diagnostic interpretation. Through his careful instruction, I gained a deeper understanding of how each pulse—whether shallow or deep, rapid or slow—reveals critical insights into a patient’s health and imbalances.

These designs have since been adopted as the official diagrams of the Shen-Hammer Pulse positions and pulse Depths. The validation of my work by my masterful teacher, before his passing, was both an honor and a humbling affirmation of the accuracy and value of the materials. His endorsement not only legitimized the designs but also solidified their place as a trusted resource in the field. I am incredibly grateful for the time I had to work with him and I remain deeply thankful for his guidance in creating resources that will continue to educate and inspire future generations of practitioners.

As Direct Lineage Holders we offer classes to continue the work of Dr. Hammer.