Post by kensei on Aug 11, 2012 16:00:45 GMT
So, as some of you know I used to own and work as a massage therapist, not a massuse but a medical massage therapist, I worked with athletes and the like and walked away from the whole thing because the industry took a strange turn about a decade ago.
When I started doing it I started because I was in university studying sports med and was looking at going into physio when I hurt my leg really bad. It was a chiro that blew out my hamstring on me trying to "adjust" something and he also buggered up my back as well. I found a massage therapist that was a miricle worker. I jumped from university to a two year high intensity training program at a massage college here in my city and busted my ass for two years to become a legit massage therapist.
I opened and ran BioDynamixs a massage/rehab company that worked with local athletes and people to get better after injuries. It was a huge success the first two years I ran it. but after a few years I noticed a change in the industry.
In place of serious therapists that were out to help those in pain and work with other modalities (Chiro and physio) we became a two teir group, one was the "rub and tug" people, the kind of massuses that you hear alot about in the papers, not the kind of thing I was willing to work beside! they had the two week end course...if that and they were basically HOOKERS! I was sick that our legislation had been repealled in the city and was Mad enough to post on my old web site that the local government had let us down! You would go for a massage from them and they would ask you to take off ALL your clothing and get under the sheet, with its questionable stains and you would look around in the room and see half naked pictures of ladies and the room would have a strange smell that made you uncomfortable. the 18...maybe year old girl would come in and start pouring oil on you...and then you, hopefully, get up and leave!
The second group were almost as damaging as the first. they were the "tree hugging mystical massage group" you know the kind, the mystical magic powers that they have come out of their hands and into your body! The guys that expond Chi/Ki/Qi movement and by rubbing your feet/head/back they can manipulate the mystical energy and make you healthier. You would go into the room for a massage and it looks all new age, beautiful pictures of Asian gods and wood statues of Buddha, Pachuli burning in the corner, the whole natural fiber sheets you are under are so rough they scratch you as you pull them over you...and then the sales pitch about going vegan or something comes up while they rub you with a natural oil that kind of burns as it is applied.
Strangely both groups were opposing in every way but the same in the destruction of true massage in my city. I recoiled from the whole thing and joined the insurance world.
Well, if you look at my experience with the world of massage you can see parralels in my Karate experience.
When we left the JKA years ago we looked around for other groups that were forming and some that had been around a bit. We saw UBER-Traditionalists, and those that were new age-y in appearence. We saw those that were creating new Kata and those that were using Ki power in training and the like. We recoiled alot from some groups. One in particular was looking to have us join and they were more "full contact" kind of sparring, but when we saw that this meant full contact demonstrations, and not Kumite we saw an instructor base taught to beat up their students. We said no....
I am sure you can see the same kinds of things in the systems and groups you have all been part of or saw.
My hope is that we (all of us) can find groups that meet our expectations and if not we are not forced out of the business like I was with massage. My hope is that we can find a happy middle for each of us that makes us happy. Karate is for everyone and no matter what your name is or what your ideals are you can find a place to train!
When I started doing it I started because I was in university studying sports med and was looking at going into physio when I hurt my leg really bad. It was a chiro that blew out my hamstring on me trying to "adjust" something and he also buggered up my back as well. I found a massage therapist that was a miricle worker. I jumped from university to a two year high intensity training program at a massage college here in my city and busted my ass for two years to become a legit massage therapist.
I opened and ran BioDynamixs a massage/rehab company that worked with local athletes and people to get better after injuries. It was a huge success the first two years I ran it. but after a few years I noticed a change in the industry.
In place of serious therapists that were out to help those in pain and work with other modalities (Chiro and physio) we became a two teir group, one was the "rub and tug" people, the kind of massuses that you hear alot about in the papers, not the kind of thing I was willing to work beside! they had the two week end course...if that and they were basically HOOKERS! I was sick that our legislation had been repealled in the city and was Mad enough to post on my old web site that the local government had let us down! You would go for a massage from them and they would ask you to take off ALL your clothing and get under the sheet, with its questionable stains and you would look around in the room and see half naked pictures of ladies and the room would have a strange smell that made you uncomfortable. the 18...maybe year old girl would come in and start pouring oil on you...and then you, hopefully, get up and leave!
The second group were almost as damaging as the first. they were the "tree hugging mystical massage group" you know the kind, the mystical magic powers that they have come out of their hands and into your body! The guys that expond Chi/Ki/Qi movement and by rubbing your feet/head/back they can manipulate the mystical energy and make you healthier. You would go into the room for a massage and it looks all new age, beautiful pictures of Asian gods and wood statues of Buddha, Pachuli burning in the corner, the whole natural fiber sheets you are under are so rough they scratch you as you pull them over you...and then the sales pitch about going vegan or something comes up while they rub you with a natural oil that kind of burns as it is applied.
Strangely both groups were opposing in every way but the same in the destruction of true massage in my city. I recoiled from the whole thing and joined the insurance world.
Well, if you look at my experience with the world of massage you can see parralels in my Karate experience.
When we left the JKA years ago we looked around for other groups that were forming and some that had been around a bit. We saw UBER-Traditionalists, and those that were new age-y in appearence. We saw those that were creating new Kata and those that were using Ki power in training and the like. We recoiled alot from some groups. One in particular was looking to have us join and they were more "full contact" kind of sparring, but when we saw that this meant full contact demonstrations, and not Kumite we saw an instructor base taught to beat up their students. We said no....
I am sure you can see the same kinds of things in the systems and groups you have all been part of or saw.
My hope is that we (all of us) can find groups that meet our expectations and if not we are not forced out of the business like I was with massage. My hope is that we can find a happy middle for each of us that makes us happy. Karate is for everyone and no matter what your name is or what your ideals are you can find a place to train!