As an undergraduate, I had a professor named William Engel who was so animated, so passionate about his subject matter and teaching in general, that he oozed carpe diem, leaving students feeling emboldened after each class.
The man would enter the lecture hall carrying an unwieldy amount of books and paperwork under his arm, bespectacled, and dressed in a tweed jacket. He epitomized what you would imagine an English literature professor would look like.
His first words as he barged through the door were always, “Never enough time. Never enough time! Mr. Buford, there’s never enough time!” What followed was lightning in a bottle. Lessons far beyond words on any page and more about acting on life.
(To ensure I was not imagining these experiences, I recently looked up information about Professor Engel today; after all, I was his student 30 years ago. Lo and behold, there was an article from another inspired student in our college newspaper lauding the professor, and also mentioning him entering their class saying, “WHAT IS TIME?!”)
What made the good professor special was that he made it feel normal and OK to speak up. Reading this issue of Massage & Bodywork, a similar theme revealed itself: challenging convention. It takes hutzpah to challenge long-held beliefs and see things anew. And that’s just what our authors have done here.
Dr. Joe Muscolino takes on the sacred cow that is origin/insertion and joint action terminology, suggesting its rigidity hides the simplicity of muscle function (page 36). Muscolino believes this new line of thinking “will promote greater critical reasoning that will allow therapists to be empowered to creatively apply hands-on assessment and treatment skill sets,” thus becoming better practitioners.
Dr. Ben Benjamin has been a lifelong advocate of massage ethics, boundaries, and practitioner and client safety, teaching courses and writing books and articles on the subject for decades. His article “The Attention Button” (page 48) details his recent involvement as a consultant for the massage franchise Hand and Stone and the implementation, and resulting success, of a silent alarm on the massage table as a deterrent to sexual impropriety in the bodywork space.
And our feature well is complete with new author Chelle Doetsch writing about neurodivergency, a relatively new term to the public (page 54). Speaking from experience as a multiple neurodivergent bodyworker, Doetsch wants MTs to know that this faction may represent upwards of 20 percent of the population and that knowing the information in this article will help MTs better serve this clientele.
Each of the additional 16 authors in this publication is a top-tier expert in their respective area—from anatomy to business, from ethics to technique. Each of them takes on a tough topics, brings new information to light, deciphers research, and challenges our intellect and professional acumen.
We’re proud to serve as their host and hope to offer you a taste of Professor Engel’s mental lightning here. We hope you enjoy this issue.
Darren Buford
Editor-in-Chief
darren@abmp.com