What You Can Learn with a thorough Manual Evaluation (Video)

When evaluating a person to decide on a course of treatment, or someone with a complicated medical history, it is very helpful to do a complete palpatory exam.  Manual Therapy is an effective treatment in itself for a lot of conditions (for some things it is the treatment of choice), and a method of finding out information that can help create a very thorough treatment plan.

Sometimes in the course of doing this kind of evaluation, you can discover information that may not have come out during a medical history, or even information that your client may have forgotten about or does not realize is important.

Nakazono-Sensei, during my training in this form of Manual Therapy, liked to say that “In Oriental Medicine, Diagnosis and Treatment are the same - you should treat someone as if you are diagnosing, and diagnose as if you are treating them.”

When you are touching someone in a therapeutic context, you are affecting them at the same time that you are discovering things about their condition.  Sometimes you can find out some surprising things…

Please contact me if you think you or your students might like to learn more about these kinds of therapies.

For more information, please give me a call at (206) 632-5640, or email me at ed@hibikimedia.com (Click the envelope icon at the top right of this page)

Body Mechanics for Bodyworkers (Video)

As Manual Therapists, Bodyworkers, and Massage Therapists, we use our hands and bodies to work on our clients.  This can be very physically demanding work, and if we are going to do it over a long period of time (as a career), we need to know how to use our bodies to exert the necessary force, repeatedly, without hurting ourselves.

Martial artists have the same concern, and because Martial Arts (on a practical level) is largely about exerting force with one’s body, martial artists have become quite sophisticated in their approach to body mechanics.  I have developed a series of classes based on Principles of Body Mechanics drawn from a number of different martial arts. These classes are designed to train Bodyworkers in how to use their bodies to exert force in their work in ways that will keep them from being injured and insure that they can have a long, productive career doing the work that they love.  I have used these strategies throughout my 25-year career as a Manual Therapist and Acupuncturist.

This is a video montage of a class I taught in Seattle, WA, a few years ago.  This is a sample of the kinds of things I like to talk about in this context, and is excerpted from a 4-hour class that includes principles of pushing, pulling, using your hands to exert force, using balance, leverage, and other strategies to prevent injuries.  It is a fun class with lots of simple exercises to demonstrate the principles and help to build them into your muscle memory and nervous system, so that they become automatic habits.  The principles taught in this class also apply to martial arts, yoga, dance, and other athletic or work situations that might put someone at risk for injuries.

Please contact me if you think you or your students might like to learn more about these kinds of subjects.

For more information, please give me a call at (206) 632-5640, or email me at ed@hibikimedia.com (Click the envelope icon at the top right of this page)

I look forward to hearing from you.