A short history
The history as we see it - may be inaccurate and
subjective - caution advised
In 1958, at the age of nine, Tony had his first
treatment from Mr McTimoney for a knee injury that had resisted all conventional
treatment. Within 2 treatments the knee was fine and his life path was
plotted.
Some time earlier in that decade Mr
McTimoney had discovered that the chiropractic principles he used in his human
practice were every bit as effective in animals and he had developed a
systematic approach to the treatment of various species which was gaining him a
lot of publicity. The publicity inevitably brought him to the attention of the
Veterinary profession who were doing a lot of muscle-flexing - very similar to
that in which the GCC is currently engaged! (Someone once said that those who do
not learn the mistakes of history are destined to repeat them). Despite the fact
that Mac had offered to teach the technique to the veterinary profession and had
been sent packing, the profession tried to take him to court for treating
animals. Never one to take things lying down Mac brought an injunction against
the veterinary profession in response. In the event he had a small heart attack
which brought that particular episode to an end and the RCVS never pursued their
action - we can only speculate as to why that might be but Mac had some very
influential friends in the corridors of power and perhaps they thought that
sleeping dogs were better left
alone.
At various times during Tony's
regular visits for chiropractic maintenance, Mr McTimoney expressed the desire
to start a training establishment to pass on what he saw was the pure and
essentially simple chiropractic technique he had learnt from a pupil of Palmer.
He felt that it had become over complicated and hedged round with all sorts of
bureaucracy and desperate attempts to obtain the approval of the mainstream
which separated the therapy from the people most in need of it - the patients.
His ambition was that anyone with the desire and the motivation to complete the
training should be allowed to do it - a very egalitarian aim at odds with what
he saw as the more restrictive 'professional' aspirations of the British
Chiropractic Association. He had been invited to join the BCA but he felt that
they were changing chiropractic for the worst and if they didn't see it his way
they were wrong! They for their part saw him as a cantankerous, unhelpful and
undiplomatic - which he undoubtedly was. The upshot of it was that he remained
outside the mainstream of chiropractic thought and opinion in the UK and the
inevitable backbiting and brickbat throwing exercises began and have continued
to this day despite the fact that we are now supposed to be a united profession!
His original course was specifically
designed to allow the widest range of students possible to undertake the course
and early courses had a broad range of academic achievement from zero academic
qualifications to students who already had two degrees. This was how the
McTimoney Chiropractic College began.
(to be
continued ...)
Posted: Tue - March 23, 2004 at 11:51 AM