| 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 bookTouch for Health, and began teaching courses to interested people. |
