Issue 7 - June 2003

A tribute to the founder of applied kinesiology
By Marcello Caso, DC, DIBAK and William Maykel, DC, DIBAK

In a world in which differing philosophies at times causes chiropractic to turn on itself and some medical disciplines still attempt to undermine the value of our science and practice, it is rare to find an individual who has earned the respect of both chiropractic and medicine by integrating the best tenants of physical medicine from all of the healing disciplines.

Dr. George J. Goodheart, Jr., a second-generation chiropractor, is the founder, developer and foremost authority on the science of applied kinesiology, a system of muscle testing used for functional neurological evaluation. Doctors of chiropractic, osteopathy, homeopathy, dentistry and medicine use the methods he developed. The discoveries he initially made in 1964 have spread throughout the world, so much so that in Germany alone, 10,000 medical doctors use applied kinesiology and A-K is in the process of becoming a recognized medical specialty in Austria.

Goodheart was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1918 and completed chiropractic school at the National College of Chiropractic in 1939. As a student of nutrition, Goodheart learned at the side of Royal Lee, DDS, founder of the Standard Process vitamin company, and became a prominent lecturer on nutritional topics in the 1950s and 1960s. Since that time, he has continued to lecture extensively at medical, dental and chiropractic meetings and colleges in North America, Japan, Australia and throughout Europe.

In 1964, Goodheart became aware of a muscle-testing system developed by two physical therapists, Kendall and Kendall. Through investigation, he made the first clinical observations that inhibited (or “weak”) muscles could be facilitated by applying specific techniques. From these beginnings, the body of work we currently know as applied kinesiology was developed.

Goodheart’s genius comes about in his ability to take techniques and findings from other healthcare disciplines, streamline them in a practical fashion and bring these pieces of the puzzle together into a cohesive whole, rendering them clinically applicable.

An example of this is his success in taking the work of Travell and Simons as published in their texts, Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual, and differentiating myofascial techniques to identify when each one was clinically most suitable for a particular case. He took the guesswork out of the process. This same inquisitiveness has allowed Goodheart to elaborate diagnostic techniques for innumerable procedures developed elsewhere in the fields of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry and traditional Chinese medicine and apply them to a chiropractic setting.

This pioneer has had a distinguished career that includes:

• He was the first doctor of chiropractic ever appointed to the United States Olympic Sports medicine committee for the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

• In 1987, he was given the Leonardo da Vinci Award by the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential as one of the world’s pioneers in the rehabilitation of brain-injured children.

• In 1988, Goodheart was nominated by the members of Congress for the Presidential medal of Freedom Award, the highest civilian award bestowed by the President on behalf of the nation.

• In 1998 he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International College of Applied Kinesiology (ICAK), the organization he founded.

• In 2001, he was featured in TIME magazine as an innovator in alternative medicine.

The ICAK (U.S.) is honoring Goodheart in celebration of his 85th birthday at its annual meeting, June 26-29, 2003, in Chicago.

Dr. Marcello Caso has been an assistant editor of The International Journal of Applied Kinesiology. His practice is in Milan, Italy. He can be reached at macellocaso@yahoo.com.

Dr. William Maykel, the current chairman of the ICAK-USA’s public relations committee, practices in Auburn and Wellesley, Mass.