However, I soon discovered that my parents and family did not fully appreciate my vision of my life as a martial arts instructor. I found those days extremely challenging and rewarding.
I was in college at the time and frequently finished classes and immediately raced down to the school to teach or train. After a number of years of assisting, several fellow instructors and I opened up a martial arts school. As I progressed in rank and understanding and began to appreciate the benefits of improved health, discipline, and self-esteem, as did so many students before me, I developed a desire to teach and pass on what I had been taught. This path was one of self-exploration and development. What started as a hobby, a way to get in shape and increase my self-confidence, soon turned into a passion. T the age of 16 I began training in martial arts. I also realized that others were less than understanding of my desire to expand the usual As I began my formal medical training, I quickly realized that teaching patients to improve or maintain their health was a part of medicine that often got lost in trying to provide patients with the latest advancements in order to diagnose, treat, or cure disease. To me, this was the essence of good medicine. To me a martial arts instructor, nothing felt more meaningful and rewarding. I had seen multiple students lose weight, improve their control of stress, and in general improve their quality of life. I had seen multiple examples of problems, such as back pain, improved through the use of t’ai ch’i, or asthma through the use of various breathing exercises. I continued teaching martial arts and began to question why conventional medicine did not often utilize methods from other healing traditions. During that time, I continued on my path of selfexploration. Over the next year and a half, I completed the premed requirements and was ultimately accepted to Boston University School of Medicine. For is not the essence of medicine to teach people to improve and maintain their health? In fact, the Latin root for doctor, docere, means “to teach.” I can still remember the phone call to my parents when I informed them that I was deferring my law school entrance and planned to start premed classes in summer school less than a week after graduation. Although a number of careers would have afforded me the opportunity to teach and promote health, I decided to become a physician.
You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at Text and cover design by Cathy Rincon Printed in the United States of America VB FOF 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper.įOREWORD their health and well-being. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. N38 2004 615.5'03-dc21 2003043415 Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Includes bibliographical references and index. 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Navarra, Tova The encyclopedia of complementary and alternative medicine / Tova Navarra foreword by Adam Perlman. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Encyclopedia of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Copyright © 2004 by Tova Navarra All rights reserved. Barnabas Health Care System, Livingston, New Jersey Siegler Center for Integrative Medicine St. COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE Tova Navarra, B.A., R.N.įoreword by Adam Perlman, M.D., M.P.H.
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