| Applied
kinesiology is a pseudoscientific system of muscle-testing and therapy whose
basic notion is that every organ dysfunction is accompanied by a specific muscle
weakness, which enables diseases to be diagnosed through muscle-testing
procedures. Kinesiology is a collection of diagnostic tools and treatment
techniques, that has its origin in manual muscle-testing, developed by Robert W.
Lovett and Wilhelmina Wright in the 1920s and Henry and Florence Kendall during
the 1940s and further expanded to modern applied kinesiology in the 1960s.
The origin of contemporary applied kinesiology is traced to 1964 when
George G. Goodheart, Jr., D.C. observed that in the absence of congenital or
pathologic anomaly, postural distortion is often associated with muscles that
fail to meet the demands of muscle tests designed to maximally isolate specific
muscles. He also claimed to observe that tender nodules were frequently
palpable within the origin and/or insertion of the tested muscle. He
further claimed that a massage to these nodules relieved excessive tension and
pain while restoring strength to the opposing muscles.
Supporters of AK claim that the continued observation led to the discovery of the connection between the
electrical organ meridians used in Chinese acupuncture and the muscles.
This has yet to be proven by Western medicine. According to Chinese medicine, meridians are the pathways through which the life
force flows. It is claimed that muscles sharing similar nerve pathways are
strengthened by the same organ meridians, thus the apparent correlation of the
nerve to organ connection.
Later, in the early seventies, another chiropractor, John Thie, DC,
systematized kinesiology for the lay person, making the techniques available for
anyone to learn. He wrote the book Touch for Health, and began
teaching courses to interested people.
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