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Applied Kinesiology in Benelux
The first AK seminar in Benelux occurred in Antwerp in 1989, with seminars by Richard Meldener and Christopher Astill-Smith. In 1987 Dr. Geert Drenth had followed an AK seminar with Richard Meldener in London and worked for a year at the osteopathic practice of Christopher Astill-Smith. He was so excited with the AK results that once he moved back to Belgium, he started a yearly returning 100-hour event. This seminar series has remained successful and has stimulated around a thousand AK practitioners in Belgium and Holland.
Because the ICAK-Benelux now has their own diplomates, Alain-Bruno Judicq teaches AK in French, Geert Drenth in Dutch, and Alan Jenks and Jim Townhill are teaching 100-hour AK modules in English. ICAK-Benelux was founded from the existing ICAK-Europe in 2006 by Geert Drenth, Ivan Devos, and Hans van Beers and has been continued by Bodil Petersen, Marielle Allewaters, and their teams. Ivan Devos started his AK education 40 years ago with James Durlacher during his chiropractic education in the USA and was one of the first to go to the AK meetings in Paris. Dr. Devos also videotaped all the seminars with Chris Smith.
In 1987 Geert Drenth was stimulated by Christopher Astill-Smith to start the AK seminar with Richard Meldener in London. It was here that he met Harry Stassen, a Dutch dentist who would become a board member of the ICAK-Europe, and stimulated Drenth to start organizing seminars in Belgium.
After the first 100-hour modules in 1989, Chris Smith continued teaching subsequently for years. In the beginning only chiropractors and osteopaths would attend the seminars. Then one year a physiotherapist named Christianne Crijns attended, which was not to the likings of the Dutch chiropractors who were following the 100-hour seminar. Because of her, Harry Stassen stimulated the ICAK-board to accept the Dutch physiotherapists to be part of the ICAK-Benelux. Since this time hundreds of physiotherapists and manual therapists have successfully been educated in the basics of applied kinesiology.
In Belgium physiotherapy is a five-year master’s degree at all universities, but the chiropractic and osteopathic professions are still not recognized by the Belgium government, despite their large numbers in the country. This is due to an old Napoleonic law, which states that only medical doctors are allowed to diagnose. In Holland both professions are regulated, although the DC and DO professions still impugn the value and evidence-base for AK.
The first sponsor that helped organize the seminars in Belgium was Biodynamics, a company selling Nutri West nutrition products. The owner, Francis Maes, would personally come to every seminar and help in every way he could. In 1992, Francis was the one to organize the international annual meeting in Brussels. With Dr. Goodheart present, this became a successful international meeting, and nothing was considered too much for the entertainment of ICAK delegates. It took some time before the ICAK finances were back to normal.
In 2008, Geert Drenth organized the international meeting in Antwerp, “Back to Basics,” which had a good turnout—especially the gala party on Saturday evening. This adventure will hopefully be repeated in Bruges, June 2020.
Applied Kinesiology in Russia
Dr. Lyudmila Vasilova was the chair of post-graduate manual medicine in Novokuznetsk, Siberia (Russia), and asked Joe Shafer (a chiropractor) and Chris Astill-Smith (an osteopath) to bring the first AK courses to Novokuznetsk, Russia, in the fall of 1991. Dr. Lyudmila Vasilova was the driving force for the organized part of ICAK-Russia.
Dr. Shafer went to a Russian International Sports Medicine Conference in Moscow. While there he gave a modicum ‘5 minute’ presentation as they asked the group of chiropractors there if anyone could present something. No one was willing so Shafer thought that he might just demonstrate ‘Gait’ reflexes and facilitation and inhibition. Lyudmila Vasilova was present as the chair of post-graduate manual medicine in Novokuznetsk, Siberia (Russia).
She was impressed and had heard of AK and craniosacral therapy. She asked Shafer if he could come to Russia and present craniosacral techniques. He told her that he was not a cranial osteopath, but an applied kinesiologist and that AK had techniques in the craniosacral discipline. So she asked him to come and do a five-day course.
Having never done a five-day course and only just putting together a 100-hour basic course, Shafer was terrified of going to Russia alone and attempting to give a five-day lecture. So, he thought of Chris Astill-Smith, as he was an AK colleague and had classic cranial osteopathic training. Shafer contacted Lyudmila and she invited them to come in the autumn of 1991. That started AK in Russia. Lyudmila Vasilova has been the main driving force for the organized part of ICAK-Russia.
Dr. Sergey O. Pilyavskiy, MD, DIBAK is a director of the Institute for Clinical Applied Kinesiology in St. Petersburg, Russia. In addition to teaching and clinical practice, he has successfully begun translating into Russian the textbooks written by the leading Western applied kinesiologists and publishing them throughout Russia. Sergey is also a vice president of the ICAK-Russia.
