Weigh in- Should Asian Bodywork really fall under MT Regs?

[Dragonflies]

Well this is very interesting. Once the state of MA. gets their act together with the Board of Massage Therapy, they will probaly do the same.

I'm not so sure, since it took over a dozen years to pass the bill that is now the law. Another bill would have to be presented to create a board for Bodywork modalities, and getting everyone on board that idea could take some real work.

[JLWmassage]

After seeing the independent film "Happy Endings" last night. There really needs to be more regulation of Asian Bodywork. There is just too many Asian Spa's that are abusing the gray area of bodywork

[sjidoulamt]

After seeing the independent film "Happy Endings" last night. There really needs to be more regulation of Asian Bodywork. There is just too many Asian Spa's that are abusing the gray area of bodywork

What do legitimate Asian or Eastern bodywork therapies have to do with illegitimate establishments?

[JLWmassage]

After seeing the independent film "Happy Endings" last night. There really needs to be more regulation of Asian Bodywork. There is just too many Asian Spa's that are abusing the gray area of bodywork

What do legitimate Asian or Eastern bodywork therapies have to do with illegitimate establishments?

BC the ones in my area are advertising Eastern bodywork. Here in MA. you don't need a license to offer bodywork. They are ducking up the radar my adverstising this way

[pueppi]

I also don't think that legitimate Asian or Eastern bodywork therapies have anything to do with illegitimate establishments.

Although you may have illegitimate business popping up all over your area, this is just the course for that type of business. We have them all over the place here (I am in a large city of course, which may make a difference). I can count on my hand about 6 that I know of within a half-mile of my office. A few are just two blocks away, and one is on the cross street from where I practice. It's the nature of that type of business to advertise as "Asian" and it seems to draw a certain crowd.

But, you can't get down on the Asian & Eastern Bodywork providers because someone illegitimate wants to use something similar in their name for a clandestine business.

FWIW, I think there should be some sort of provision for MT's who are trained in ABT to be able to practice under their MT license. However, at the same time, I understand why there is a seperate board for them. This following article I copied a while back may be helpful to someone looking at this thread in the future.

AOBTA - American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia.

Here is an article from November 2007 Massage Today magazine.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better
By Cliff Korn, BS, LMT, NCTMB

Over Labor Day weekend, I was delighted to have an opportunity to visit with some old friends and acquaintances at the AOBTA National Convention in Boston. The American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia (AOBTA) is a nonprofit, professional membership organization representing instructors, practitioners, schools, programs and students of Asian Bodywork Therapy (ABT).

ABT may be described as any form of therapeutic bodywork with its theoretical roots in Chinese medicine theory. Acupressure, amma, chi nei tsang, jin shin do, medical qigong, nuad bo rarn (Thai), shiatsu and tuina are a short selection of ABT modalities.

I am not an ABT practitioner myself, but I've long had an appreciation - if not a full understanding - of the efficacy of these therapies. The benefits of ABT, according to the AOBTA Web site (http://www.aobta.org), include relief of aches and pains, decreased stress levels, and increased relaxation and better sleep. It goes on to say that most clients report a marked decrease in symptoms, improved emotional balance and better overall health with regular treatment. Since these benefits sound a lot like ones that my clients enjoy from the work I do, I frequently have included ABT in the umbrella realm of "massage and bodywork."

I am very aware, however, that many ABT practitioners rankle at falling under any sort of a "massage" umbrella. As a matter of fact, many of you long-time regular readers will have read one of the very first columnists I recruited for the first issue of Massage Today, Barbara Esher, who wrote in the her initial column, "If you put massage and ABT curricula side by side, the only places they would overlap are anatomy, physiology, ethics and CPR, leaving the remaining 400 hours to deal with entirely different techniques, treatment principles and practice. The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) administers our national board exam. For all intents and purposes, Asian Bodywork Therapies (ABT) are not massage; they fall under the umbrella of Asian medicine."

My intent in this article is not to compare and contrast the similarities or differences of various forms of manual therapy, but to state that the AOBTA runs a magnificent convention! I am much more used to the mega conventions in massage therapy, such as the annual AMTA national convention and the annual convention of the Florida State Massage Therapy Association, both of which regularly draw more than 1,000 attendees. By contrast, the AOBTA annual convention drew only a fraction of those numbers, but did draw almost 10 percent of its entire membership to its annual convention! To do that, the AMTA would have to draw almost 6,000 people to its convention.

While small in attendees, the AOBTA convention was large in opportunity. I was most impressed by the consistent high quality of offerings available to attendees. Foremost of these was the choice of international lecturer and AIDS researcher, Candice Pert as keynote speaker. If that wasn't enough, the attendees enjoyed multiple continuing education opportunities from a lineup of renowned educators. The association began their convention with a "Re-Visioning Day" designed to facilitate an exchange of ideas from all AOBTA members to create a new vision and improve business focus and marketing strategies. I spoke to many attendees, including several of the 12 founding members of AOBTA who were present at the convention, and one was pleased to share with me that it was the first time they could remember that everything was being done right - no "tweaks" needed! From my observer's viewpoint, they were exactly correct.

I ended my AOBTA visit with a delightful exchange of ideas with incoming president and former AOBTA membership chair, Maria Spuller. She asked me to share some of her thoughts with Massage Today readers, and I am delighted to do so. She indicated that many massage therapists have had some training in ABT principles and practices, even if limited to a few hours of education in introduction to shiatsu. She knows that many have found incorporating shiatsu principles into their massage practices to be beneficial. She asked me to encourage all the many massage therapists with a passion for getting more benefit from ABT methods to: (1) start receiving ABT regularly themselves; (2) get more approved education in ABT; and (3) make the best use of this new experience and knowledge by taking advantage of the many membership and supporting categories of AOBTA membership.

She concluded by giving me a big smile and saying, "Come play with us!" If you have even the slightest interest in shiatsu or other Asian Bodywork Therapies, I think that's a great idea! I hope you take her up on her invitation.

Thanks for listening!

[JasonE]

For those in MN:

The AOBTA supports the Massage Therapy Licensing bill that was introduced to the MN House and Senate this year. It exempts asian bodywork therapies, so would not affect those practitioners if the bill passes and massage therapy becomes licensed.

Details at www.ALMT.synthasite.com

[pinkenergy]

I don't think it should, although I do think it should be regulated. For instance, with Thai Yoga bodywork, I think it is important that the practitioner be familiar with the yoga asanas represented in TYB, including potential injuries that could result and energetic effects, not to mention a familiarity with Ayurveda.