Rebellious Thoughts

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Should physiotherapists have a role in school's Physical Education Programme in Schools?

What is physical education? Or rather what is the objective of physical education and have the system in education been able to successfully achieve its goals?

Physical Education is an educational course related to the physique of the human body, taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting to promote health. In essence, learning how to utilize our body parts for movement, be it for sports/recreation. After all, the difference between the living and the dead is movement and life is all about movement.

So now let's look at the objectives of physical education in our system. The following information can be found in MOE's webpage. Its kinda chunky, so let's cut the chase and go straight to the point that I wish to discuss (in bold).

Objective of Physical Education Syllabus:
(Primary level) Building a strong foundation in fundamental movement skills (FMS) and broad-based development through a range of enjoyable and varied physical activities. FMS, incorporating movement concepts of body awareness, space awareness, effort and relationships, will be taught across the activity areas of athletics, dance, games/sports, gymnastics, and swimming.

The key issue I want to point out is "building a strong foundation in fundamental movement skills".

As a physiotherapist, it is common to see faulty movement patterns being produced, not just by patients, but by the general population. How many of us actually have optimal movement patterns? How many of us are at high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders?

Movement has been taken for granted. As a child, how many of us were taught how to walk or crawl or even run? It has been assumed to be a natural learning process, but in fact it is not. Movement is learned through experimental, observational learning and further reinforced through various conditioning. As a result, it is fairly common to see parents and child with similar gait patterns, not just because of genes, but because the first point of contact is our parents, hence, we model most of their movements. As humans procreate, genes are passed down, including the result of repetitive movements - our posture and joint alignment. As technology replaces physical demands, we have lost the drive to move for survival. The result - sedentary human beings, the worst case scenario:

Literally. back to square one if you fast forward evolution.

In my time or more accurately to say up till this point in time, physical education revolves around fitness - a measurement of muscular and cardiovascular performance. Basically, valuing results more than the process which is commonly seen in various society settings. This obsession with fitness not only applies to individuals and school, but even in the army. The result - totally unnecessary irreversible damage to our body in worse case scenarios and true enough, that's what physiotherapists see very often.

So am I trying to say that we should have a textbook and manual to learn how to move?

True enough, every individual has their own unique movement patterns. There's 101 ways to achieve a movement such as walking but at what cost? The cost of the hip joint? Or knee cartilage? Or the feet? Or spine? Sure, you got an A in IPPT but you busted your knees for the rest of your life, how cool is that? Is as good as whipping up a delicious meal but you ended up burning your entire kitchen in the process.

Movement patterns are not just some absolute figures that confine movement, but rather a guideline that promotes natural and proper joint mechanics, reducing the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders.

And so the ultimate question - do physical education teachers have sufficient knowledge in this field expertise of movement patterns and human biomechanics? If not, should the role and expertise of physiotherapy be extended to the education system? Also, in addition to fitness testing, should a component of functional movement screening, which screens for movement pattern faults and can be easily conducted in the absence of physiotherapists, be considered in the system?

One Life, Live It, Leave No Regrets Behind. 11:57 PM
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Sunday, May 19, 2013

why is it that there are people who desire for the end of the world?
for the sake of their killing pleasures?
to entertain themselves with the despair, sadness and destruction of the world?
or is it actually to reset humanity's path?
is this the world we really want to live in?
or rather is this world the way it is supposed to be?
yin & yang, darkness and light, despair and hope, one cannot exist without the other.
yet, are we living in a world of equilibrium?
have we humans evolved?
we lived longer, look better, became more and more modern & futuristic just as films have depicted.
does it also mean that apocalypse and catastrophe will follow suit as well?
psychology studies dated as far back as 50 odd years ago show the same results in modern society.
clearly, we have not evolved.
we're still enslaved by the seven sins - pride, greed, gluttony, lust, envy, sloth and wrath.
indulging in food, sleep, monetary gains, unleashing anger upon others and self, eager to triumph others and to be in control of everything.
we have become more tech savvy, we have become more independent or more accurate to say more dependent on technology.
we no longer understand the process and logic behind answers but rather remember where answers reside in - internet.
we have forgotten how to interact with humans
we have forgotten how to treasure what we have
we have forgotten how to move, breathe and live
we have forgotten how to forgive and strive appropriately
we have dulled our senses, cut off all connections from Mother Nature, the very source of life.
we trample upon the benevolent Earth and continue our ways despite having felt the warning that she tries to signal to us.
we think that we can always create a solution i.e. science and technology
and when things go wrong, we blame everything and everyone else except ourselves.
clearly there is so many problems in society and lifestyle yet everyone chooses the easy way out - to go with the flow and let some other people settle it.
is it really okay to see humanity walking down this path filled with unreflected and uncorrected errors?
is it really okay to let the future generations to bear our sins?
has life degraded to such an extent?
how can we evolve when we're so busy with redeeming ourselves for the countless sins that we've sown over the years?
are we really just waiting for apocalypse to occur and turn everything back into a clean slate?
where has the light of humanity gone to?

One Life, Live It, Leave No Regrets Behind. 11:53 AM
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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

feeling all so tired..
just experimented fascia release on my dad
it felt... refreshing for me
1 more week left.
it really sucks when all thoughts, plans, reality dun fall in place.
sometimes.. i wonder... was this path that i took correct?
can i really become a good physio?
had a little catch up in school
heard stories of people doing well
i start to wonder how did i screw up back then?
i wonder if one day i'll be as good
i wonder if i'll make the mark someday
i wonder how long will it take to get there
i wonder why i just cant focus on the task at hand
i just wish for i could get back my discipline
be it in running/workouts/studies/diet
there's no reset button but.. i just need some booster to keep me going

One Life, Live It, Leave No Regrets Behind. 9:43 AM
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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

life is full of irony..
sometimes I wonder what would my life be now if I went over to Australia back then
If I ended up taking up engineering back then.
But that's not the path I want to walk down
Ironically.. paths converge.
Adelaide.. that was where I wanted to go just for her sake.
And now.. I wished I could have been there or other parts of Australia doing physiotherapy
and I'll most likely further my studies in Australia.

Its really hard to fight all alone, especially when time is not in our favor
Sometimes I wonder.. why are we so different? why are we so weak? why are we not allowed to dream? what restricting us?
staying within the comfort zone, doing the bare minimum, cutting corners, chasing titles.
why are we so obsessed with all the superficial things?
what happened to substance?

One Life, Live It, Leave No Regrets Behind. 7:00 AM
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Sunday, January 27, 2013

when nothing goes your way
when nothing progresses
when everything stands in your way
when there's no reason to fight on
when there's no one to turn to

One Life, Live It, Leave No Regrets Behind. 8:00 AM
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ultimate burnout period.. and the worst possible timing - exams, well, the worst thing is that its here to stay.
totally out of fire, motivation and drive to do anything.
reason - unknown

One Life, Live It, Leave No Regrets Behind. 12:41 AM

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Friday, January 18, 2013

things dun always go the way we want to.. but thats not the worse
whats worse is that you don't even know which direction you want to head to.lost, like an ice-burg floating in the sea, waiting to melt and be one with the sea..
not knowing what you really want in life.. its a scary thought
no aim, no goal, no motivation. what awaits.. death and despair.
its not that im beaten down by life, by love or by school
doubts about my current life? perhaps, too much insecurities and pending decisions
waiting for answers, knowing that fate doesn't lie in your hands.. kinda suck.
to bow down to systems and people, not that i hate it but, sometimes we just don't see eye to eye and sadly, my eyes have to look in their direction.
ki do ma, mind body spirit, all of these just don't match
sounds like a really need some help but.. ironically... i want to face it alone yet wishing for some magical support.
the burden of a solitary individual, i wish i was that strong.

One Life, Live It, Leave No Regrets Behind. 6:10 AM
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