Originally Posted by
lhommedieu
On the other hand, I have a strong anti-establishment streak and can appreciate the reasons why someone may choose not to go the LMT route. Of course, practicing bodywork carries different responsibilites than scholarship. To carry the issue further, martial arts schools have for thousands of years offered bodywork therapies as part of their curriculum, and many schools have long traditions that require expertise in bodywork therapies if students are to become teachers. This is however an apprenticeship model of dozens of years within a traditional culture that allows for plenty of time to address the ethical caveats mentioned above, with strong mentorship on a constant basis, and a "client" pool that is much more tolerant of mistakes than the general public.
In your particular case you have the advantage of already teaching in this kind of culture, and I gather from some of your posts on forum that your teacher may be part of a similar tradition. I would suggest to any martial arts teacher that that if you (rhetorically) want to practice bodywork you start within the context of treating martial arts students on a pro bono basis, and that if you wanted to charge for your services you'd do so only after getting a lot of practice in this manner (it certainly won't hurt your student attendence base). In addition, some might think that providing bodywork to students who are injured in the course of practice are just be part and parcel of the services that the teacher provides for his or her students. On the other hand, "getting the paper so I can practice legally" certainly has its practical merits, in addition to addressing the concerns described above.
it's certainly arguable that you've assumed an ethical responsibility qua martial arts teacher and that it carries over to any bodywork you decide to practice. Re. the issue of civil suits I should think that you are somewhat vulnerable if you practice bodywork in the context of "martial arts" and something goes wrong: i.e. "I wanted to learn martial arts and I got this cracked rib because I agreed to let my teacher practice "bodywork" on me," etc. However I think that the risk is mitigated by the kind of student you are treating, and certainly an explantation of potential risk to the student (however unlikely) goes a long way of covering you both here. Most bodyworkers that I have learned from have admitted to making "mistakes" along the way to becoming experts in their fields; at issue is the strength of their training to begin with and their abililty to assume responsibility for their mistakes and rectify them.