Ilkay Zihni Chirali was born in 1946 in Lemba (Çirali) Gazi Baf, Cyprus. He grew up in a village by the sea where people, animals and plants were dependent upon each other. They shared the same simplicity and their environment was always treated with conviction, respect and love. He eventually left Cyprus to pursue his higher education, first in Turkey and then in Sweden and England. In 1982 he emigrated to Australia, where he studied Chinese Medicine with Professor Wong Lun and Master Danial Wong. Ilkay qualified as an acupuncturist in Melbourne, Australia, where he opened his first Acupuncture and Stress Therapy Clinic. He returned to England in 1987 and now runs a clinic in Bexleyheath, Kent, where he treats children as well as adults.Ilkay's wide-ranging studies have brought him expertise in acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, clinical hypnotherapy, the Lusher Personality Test, paediatric acupuncture and western medicine pathology. He has studied further in Nanjing, China, at the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and First Affiliated Hospital in the Internal Medicine, Dermatology and Gynaecology departments.Ilkay has practiced cupping from an early age, gaining his first experience of the technique when employing the traditional Turkish folklore remedy for colds. He has been organizing regular cupping workshops both in the UK and overseas since 1988 and a BBC TV programme where he appeared as an "Expert”. To date, he has given over 60 public lectures and a BBC World Service Radio talk on the subject of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Cupping Therapy.