 And welcome to another exciting and thrilling episode of Hibachi Talk. I've got Rick's, my co-host today, the Fundmeister. Everybody knows him. He's got more money than God. But not the Catholic Church. Not the Catholic Church. Because God gave it all away. Anyway, please pull up a chair. Grab yourself a live. We're going to sit here with Dr. John Aki Berman. And we're going to talk about, I must say, Chiro. See, I can't even get that in my head. Thank you very much. You have your own firm that's been in Waikiki for quite some time. You have a pretty incredible background, which we will ask about right now. So the first question is, so tell us a little bit about yourself. Where did you go to school? What possessed you to get into this field? Well, I went to USC pre-med. And decided to take that into chiropractic, because that's been my primary form of health care my entire life, since I was 11. He went to USC. No, he went to Berkeley. He went to Berkeley. Sorry about the game. For the last several decades. For that last week? You kicked their butt? Yeah. But it always has for the last several years. Anyway, sorry. I keep budding in, so you'll have to get used to it. So pre-med got into this. And I had a lot of choices of where to take my degree. But as I was reminded, chiropractic has been my form of health care. I was a competitive gymnast for 14 years. So I started having back pain at 11. So I have had chiropractic care ever since then. So you think that when I think of chiropractor, I think of back pain. But it's more than that, right? Right. It's really about the neurology of the body. So picture all the nerves come down and out from the spinal cord. What happens when you put pressure on the nerve? It's the same as you're trying to water the garden. And someone's standing on the hose. Oh, OK. So how you're losing the nerve flow to your organ systems, to the muscles, and that also impedes the blood flow, right, in and out, and the lymph. So it really affects your overall health. And we believe that the body has an innate capacity to heal itself if all impediments are removed. It's gotten more complicated in the modern world because we're eating junk, we're eating chemicals. I won't go over. Tell me about it. I can go on and on about that. And you have. But it's also about the postgraduate specialties I have that allow me to be able to work with a lot of subclinical fibroid, digestive issues. So you're thinking digestive issues. So I'm thinking digestive issues. And then the chirol keeps coming up to it. I know, right? Chirol has that word chirol in it, which is like the worst donut you could ever get in the world. Right. So you have to deal with not just the spinal column. You have to do my diet. Yeah, I mean, but this is me. OK. Most chiropractors. I'm actually really different. I'm not a chiropractor. I'm not a chiropractor. I'm actually really different in that not just my extensive postgraduate training that allows me to have the knowledge to be able to treat these things. But I work on carpal tunnel to me is easy fix. I work on feet. I work on knees, shoulders. My treatment times go for an hour. So I'm really doing a lot for the patient all at once. Most people are expecting like a 15 minute crack, put things in line, and bye-bye. Yeah, stand you up, bend you forward, sideways, whatever it is. And that's kind of been my mindset of chiropractors. Exactly. But you're giving me a whole kind of different way of looking at it. Yep. Holistically. Right. Which is a word that's used a lot, but it really is holistically. Well, it really just means looking at the whole. Like not saying, OK, you came to me first shoulders. I'm going to treat that shoulder. And we're not going to take into account the problems with your neck when it's all one complex. You know, you got the scapula. You got the collarbone. You got the neck, you know, the upper back. You're not going to fix the shoulder by just looking at the shoulder. So that would be a holistic view. So, when your patients come to you, they come through referrals and through, because I don't see you pounding the pavement doing a lot of marketing, but you seem to be pretty damn busy. Well, it's mostly referral. And of course, that's the best because, you know, these people are more serious about seeing me. Because of my location in Waikiki, I do see tourists, which is kind of a fun, different challenge. Yeah. Because, you know, you seem to track like and tracks like. And so, but I get one or two chances to change their world. Right. So, you took a high risk of going into this on your own. I mean, you got your own business. So, you started this out. And it's not easy. And it's not easy. You've invested a lot of money in technology and equipment. We'll talk about that in the second half. So, whatever possessed you to take this huge risk? Honestly, I never thought past helping people, honestly. You know, I only thought about the work and getting my hands on people and how I could help them. And, you know, you just assume that the rest will follow. If you're good at what you do, then you're trying hard and you have everyone your best interest, then it should come back around. It should come back around. So, what has been some of the most challenging, we have to comply with HIPAA laws here. So, what have been some of the most challenging circumstances that you've come up against? Besides the government. Yeah, right. We're not on a low level. Besides Rick's and I. I'd say, you know, I work with Polo players on Island and they've been doing this for how many years and they're like, yeah. Yeah, they're on horseback. We all have cumulative effects. Yeah, they're riding horses, totally stabilized here and then swinging a mallet. And then the other part of the game is to try to knock the other person's horse out of the way so you can get the ball. Right. So, yeah, were you at the Polo event? That one I was not at. A couple of weeks ago. Yeah. I had a conflict. So did I. Yeah, but I've treated, my youngest patient, I actually treated at Kapiolani Hospital the day she was born. Wow. Oh, you've got to tell me. Oh, yeah, because his wife is, well, he's better. Better than delivery doors at Kapiolani. Yeah, because when you just think about it, the baby's been squished inside and then it comes out and you don't know how they got turned or moved or whatever. So it's more of just a very, I mean, the pressure is like, you know, it's like this. They're not boned yet. But you want to make sure that we, I mean, we call it birth trauma, but it's not necessarily trauma, like a real trauma trauma, but it's just so that they can grow and develop optimally. And that goes for all children in chiropractic care. You don't usually need to see them off and there isn't usually that much of an issue and parents tend to dismiss it because they say, oh, they'll just outgrow at their kids. They don't, they grow into it. These little things that happen in childhood, they carry through. And those are the people I'm seeing in their 30s, 40s, 50s, I'm going, but what happened to your back? I just don't know. It's bothered me. Yeah. Or why do you have such bull-legs? Like I have. Yeah. I couldn't stop agreeing. Everything kind of straightened out right after birth and the pregnancy and the birth. And I also do- And straighten everything out and let's go from here. Oh, one of my post-graduates is Webster Neutero Constraint Technique. So in other words, the baby's breech and if it is due to in-year-to-constraints. Yeah. His wife would know how to say that. I don't know how to say it either. I'm just too excited. I just can't know myself. So if that is the problem, I can release what's keeping the baby from turning and they usually turn that night. Wow. I mean, do you do something else like a short and umbilical cord? No, I can't help that. Yeah, there's no- You know, so I mean, I should say that as a disclaimer all around. It's like, depends on what the problem is, whether I can help it. If it's a surgical issue, you know, I can optimize your surgery, pre- and post-op. Mm-hmm. But, you know, we still got to have surgery. Yeah, which isn't- Go ahead, go ahead. Well, how do you get brought into a case like that? Is that the- Treating the grandparents. The mom or the patient? The great-grandparents, you know, the mom and dad. You know, so it's usually a situation where I know the family or when someone panics and goes online. And that's not a lot of fun. It's like, you know, I'm doing two weeks on Breach and I don't know anything about them and they've been getting no care. You know, I'm not out there on the internet with that as much. Mm-hmm. But also my oldest patient, we can jump to the other end, was 104. Oh, close to him! He's older than you! Gosh! I didn't think there was anybody older than you. Yeah, he was a little stiff after running the marathon. Yeah. But yeah, so it's like, you know, I'm very adaptable in my techniques for, you know, I'm very conscious of people's, you know, where people are in different stages of life because you have to be aware of, you know, you know, there might be arthritis in the neck now that they're in their 60s, 70s, whatever. Right. You know. And, you know, so like this, right? This is not arthritis. This is Viking's curse. And on the other hand, too, oh my God, what are you doing with these? Cut them off. So I'm just really intrigued with the babies, the fact that, you know, that you, like, how do you move them around? Well, what I generally do is I observe them because there's a lot of tells, like they only want to turn their head one way. You know, you just observe. Is this right? You know, what is in symmetrical? Is it an ultrasound? No, they're just on the table in front of me, right here. So you just observe them? Yeah. And I'm just watching. And then I'll try to see what the mobility is. It's usually pretty good on children. So you just have to be really aware. And I'm pretty just intuitive with it. Like, I had this baby, you know, in front of me on the table. I was straddling the table. And all of a sudden I said to the mom, how's his stomach? And then, bleh. And I was just about to pick him up. Oh, this is after. I was thinking the one, the pre-birth, when you get, when they're, oh, when they're, they're breached and how you get them to turn around. Oh, sorry. No, I thought. No, I understand the other part. Yeah. So when I'm treating an infant that's been born, I usually lay on my back and put them on me so they're comfortable. And I, and like I said, yeah, I just feel where things aren't right. Check the hip mobility. You know, looking for symmetry. I saw a photo of that on your website. Yeah. Yeah. On your website. That was the baby that I treated at first. And that was her, you know, on follow-up visit in my office. Yeah. Because, yeah, I said, well, I didn't realize she had a child. And then I realized, no, look at that face. But I realized then, because it was at your office, that, you know, I said, well, I wonder why that would be there. So that's why. Yeah. Wow. This is pretty incredible. You know, four months or maybe it was like, how old was that baby on that photo? Less than six months. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A couple of months. Yeah, a couple of months old. And then you go to a hundred and four. If you don't mind me asking, what did you treat the 104-year-old for? I was actually also doing exercise training with her. And we were doing like squats. We would do half-hour exercise sessions. No kidding. And, you know, but she had actually had the first fall of her life and hurt her back doing it. Wow. You know. So, believe it or not, it's scary when they're a hundred and four. Yeah, well, tell me at my age. But nothing broke at least. Tell me at my age. You know, if he falls, we'll never get him up. So, except he's lost a lot of weight and he's looking darn good. I'm looking for it. He's really starting to irritate the hell out of me. As opposed to me, he was going the other way. I know, you've been talking to me. I've got to listen to you. Anyway, I've got to take a break. And then we're going to come back and talk about some of the technologies you've got. I've got a couple of photos of your studio. Is that a studio? Well, I call it the exercise studio at the chiropractic office. Whatever it is. Okay, we'll do that. We'll come back. And I didn't talk about Bitcoin. So, I've got to talk about Bitcoin just a little bit. And then I also got to talk about Angus because he's not here, but he's heartbroken. Anyway, we'll be back in a minute. We say forget the moon. Diveheart can help children, adults, and veterans of all abilities escape gravity. Right here on Earth. Search diveheart.org and imagine the possibilities in your life. Hello-ha! And welcome back to Abadji Talk. Gordo the Texar here. We're here with Dr. John Aki Berman, chiropractor extraordinaire. Ooh! I like... I just coined that phrase. I like it. Oh, there you go. Mr. Mauer, the fundmeister, is here with us today as well. So anyway, a couple things. First of all, I usually don't think about Bitcoin in the beginning, but I was so excited about you being here that I forgot. So, I've got to put a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of what you've got. So, I've got to put a little comment in there. So, we do a cryptocurrency update every week. So, cryptocurrency, by the way, Bitcoin broke $4,000 today. Yeah, that's pretty amazing. And so, what we're finding, though, is that there's a lot of debit cards being created now that you can use Bitcoin to purchase your goods with. Just like a Starbucks card, you load it up with Bitcoin that gets converted to cash. So, that's what these cryptocurrency cards are doing. And there's popping up all over. You see Visa with them now, MasterCard and such, and so it's really causing the market to kind of like re-evaluate itself and take off. So, it's, again, another thing that's coming in here. And I keep telling everybody, you should take Bitcoin. I'll help you do that. All right. Why not? Why not? I take them. No one's ever paid you. You have what? I have Square to take credit cards. You have Square to take credit cards. So, you're already in the tech side. So, that's what's happening. Anyway, Angus is not here today. I know. I know. You're so decimated, but you were the one that brought to our attention a little photo you had of you and Angus on a little secret rendezvous with my dad. So, do we have that shot? Look at who it has. I don't know, man. Angus is looking pretty happy. He's popping right out of his head. How does his shoulder look there? Does he need to work on his neck? I don't know. And Doctor, you seem to be rather into it, I might add. Anyway, this is better than half an Angus here when he's got that one. I'm blushing, just thinking about it. Anyway, so let's get back to this. So, you're a chiropractor. You're a physical therapist, trainer, you're a personal trainer. So, you're spread all over the kinds of things. Well, it's not really because basically if you boil all of it down, my specialty is all of physical therapy. My specialty is all of physical medicine and exercise and how they interact to, not everybody does both with me, but I always have the PT and the personal training exercise tools to help people, that's what they really need to stabilize their adjustments. So, very, very synergistic. Basically, if you get the person all aligned, well, don't you want to back that up with some specific exercise to stabilize you there? So, I don't want to just keep fixing the same thing. I want to teach you how to prevent things in the future. Balance. Yes. And performance enhancement for athletes, there's a lot of ways it goes, but you can't tell people what to do, but I prefer to have it be synergistic where the patient is helping themselves and they're doing their exercises as well. You don't have to, but like I said, it's a very good combination. It's the kind of combination of the three. So, let's talk about one of the questions that I have, and I have two, but the first one I'm going to ask is, how has technology changed your patients? I mean, we're a lot different now when we're coming to see you. And because you have technology to help you with the insistence and treatment, but how have we changed how you react to us? Okay, well, this is something I've been thinking about, because I get frustrated. It used to be pretty simple. You show a patient, this is how you need to set up your workstation. You know, in the past, I've gone into companies and done lectures on this, you know, to avoid work comp, you know, and it's so simple. But now it's like, well, why is your monitor, if you're sitting here, why is your monitor over there? Well, because that's where the outlet is. That's where the cables are. So, in other words, all the workstations are getting set up to accommodate the technology rather than the actual person who's working. And one of the, I mean, there's a lot of problems with this. Like I said, a lot of people are working at right angles to their monitor, which is insane, absolutely insane. But the other phenomenon that happens, and this is a recent study on back pain, you know, like what can we do to prevent back pain in the workplace? Where is it coming from? Okay, well, the obvious is people that are repetitively bending over and lifting, right? You know, physical jobs where you lift a lot of things in front of you. But equally now, the problem is what's called creep. Are you sick? You don't get up. And the ligaments supporting your spine literally stretch out like old elastic. And you lose. So you lose stability. So what happens, you know, it's not that most patients aren't coming to me saying, oh my God, I fell and got hurt. Well, you know, after work, I went home, and this is a true story from a 30-year-old, and I went into my kitchen to make dinner. I reached for the lettuce in the refrigerator and was on the ground. And that was probably sitting for numerous hours in front of the monitor. Oh yeah, like most people get involved, you know? So let me ask about things like, I've seen these desks or things you can put on it now that elevate it where you stand up and you can work standing up. Are they things that we should be considering? Those are great. I really think so. There's ones, I mean, I always think of the ergotron because that seemed like it was kind of more the first one of this kind. And that one can go up and down, which I kind of like, because you may want to sit down at some point. But people have to be aware it's not just to lift your workstation so you stand all day. You need to be wearing good shoes. Okay. Not your slippers. Right, and I would be putting, like the mats I have in my kitchen, you know, the squishy rubber gum and the mats. You know, and you're better standing because you are shifting whether you notice it or not. You know, you're not just... So the rubber mat, the fact that you're going to adjust differently, probably not hunched over. Yeah, laptops, that's a problem. I know, I see what I'm doing right here. I know, I mean, I caught all my patients like this. Yeah, doing this for hours. And a lot of times they're, like one of my favorite people in the world. Well, she helps me out with my business, but she puts her laptop on her lap, crosses her legs around each other, and then ends up like this. Oh, that doesn't sound comfortable. And she's doing it in my office. So bad for the man. Bad for everything. Bad for you. But actually, you know, tech snack now is like, I really believe it's going to be a medical diagnosis. Because tech snack, it's... Text, neck. Text, neck. Oh, from us doing this? Yup, you see the angle of your neck? Yeah, so I'm doing this. I got tech snack. And what you see on X-ray is, you know, your spine curves this way. This way while I'm doing this. So I should be doing it like this. Yes. Tech snack thing, okay. And I, you know, I do things like, I'll grab like a pillow and put it on the table. You know, and I do, if I'm going to be on my phone extended, I actually sit cross-legged, because that's what works for me. But I stack pillows again. So I bring the phone to me versus going to the phone. Right. What about thumps? I mean, we're all doing this now. Yeah, I'm starting to see the, you know... The effects of everybody doing this all the time. Or the greatest, yeah. And like this while my eyes, too, can't see. Well, put it this way. Every patient that comes in, I don't care what their complaint is, the first thing I do is work on their hands. Like as in release the carpal tunnel, you know, and that... Oh, you'll have a field day with these puppies. Yeah. Come on in. I love a challenge. Oh, yeah. I'll come back next week and they'll work. But I mean, I think we... We always thought that, okay, the carpal tunnel is the result of the technology. And now it's moving, okay, carpal tunnel, but also tech neck is... Text neck. I know that's the... I know. Text neck because we're texting. Yes. As opposed to tech neck, which you could also use that for, too. Yeah, actually, that's what I was going to say. We could probably use that same... And if all we do, you know, is drive when we're driving the car, as opposed to texting at the same time. Yeah. Yeah, that would take part of it. Yeah. Hey, didn't the upgrade... We're going to change for a second. The upgrade on the phone allows you to put your phone in driving mode so that it will automatically respond to someone saying, I'm driving, I can't text you right now. I like that. That's what... That should be automatic. I have to tell you. It should be automatic. I heard the new IOS has that. I haven't downloaded it yet, but I'm going to do it shortly. Okay, my other tech question, because I've seen these... I see these people that wear these black, kind of like straps. It's like titanium, is it? Or it's a band. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, there's no two things. So I see football players with them on their knees. I see people with them on their shoulders. Some people with them on their back. Brett Farm has one on the TV. Those kinds of things. I love it. I do that. It's like the nail place. I go, what color tape you want? It's called kinesiology taping. And a lot of people... Kinesiology tape. Yeah, no, taping. Taping. It's a technique. And people are... I mean, you wouldn't believe patients that are like, well, I'll just buy some tape. I'm like, yeah, how many seminars did I go to? To... You know, because it really depends. I'm just going to talk over everyone's head. Well, did you put it at the origin of the insertion? Where did you put the tension versus did you want to facilitate the muscle or did you want to relax the muscle or did you want to support the muscle? Did you put 50% pull, 10%, 70%? So it is... Go buy some tape and see what you can do. It is a practical and valid treatment. Oh, very. But it has to be applied properly. And not just by some practitioner. You know, everybody... I watched it when it came out. You know, I really enjoy it because... I don't know, it feeds my creative side as well and it's a puzzle and I love doing it. But, you know, I mean, there's a huge symposium that without... It's not even chiropractors that's being held here. That's all... It's mostly medical doctors, orthopedics, this and that. You know, it's going to be a huge symposium. Sports medicine trainers. But yet every, you know... I don't want to name any particular... You know, no experience or background. Because I can... Right, yeah. But they buy the tape and they slap it on their patients. Well, guess what? I did that too. I went to some store on one of the streets. I saw it being sold at Walgreens. Yep. I've tried at least three top brands and there's only one that I believe in. Mm-hmm. So it is a valid... Because I keep looking at it and saying, well, it's just some other way of trying to sell us stuff. But applied properly with the right... Very effective. ...goal, then it becomes very effective. Mm-hmm. So just don't go down to Walgreens or wherever. Pick up a box. But even like, you know, you may log your chiropractor, but they... It doesn't mean they know what they're doing in this venue. Okay. Right. And it's kinesiology. Mm-hmm. Kinesiology taping. Kinesiology taping. I'm going to Google that when I go home. Yeah. And then... And that's the other thing is, you know, the age of the Internet, everyone's got this much knowledge. Yeah. Which is a dangerous thing. Yeah. Like, you know, it's started... Mine started with the patient actually saying, oh, just go on YouTube. I know you can figure this out. And I'm like, you really think that's a good... I mean... Yeah. So you got to deal with the YouTubers. You got to do with those that feel that, oh, I've had this done and I fixed it before. And I know, you know, like, something like me telling you what to do. Right. Oh, that sounds funny. Yeah. Don't look at that face. I will never do this, Doctor. Don't worry about that. So this is very cool. So anyway, how can people get a hold of you? Where's your website? Where are you located? Can you just give us a quick look at that? Yeah. I am in the first building in Waikiki. It's right at the corner of Kalakala and all the way. It used to be the Pacific news building. Oh, yeah. Right across from the convention center. It's super easy to find, validated parking on the web. There's some pictures right there. We just put up of your facility. Oh, nice. I took those. Yeah. I took them from you. Yeah. And yeah. So there I have what you saw is a, you know, there's a private exercise studio as well as the chiropractic office. Right. And so I can offer all services there. Let's see. I'm on everything now. You name it Yelp. Yelp. Right. Yelp. People help me. And I don't even know where I am anymore. But you know, pretty, I'm not hard to find. Put it that way. And, but my website is ykkiropractor.com. Okay. So don't, don't lose that one. That was easy. We'll put that up on, we'll put that up on the site. Anyway, as we do with every guest who appears on the show, we give them a autograph solo cup, which you can display with great pride at your office. And you're number 133 in the series. And it's been autographed by Angus. And I'll make sure he puts a kiss on it. Anyway, that's for you for coming on our show. Thank you. It's been a pleasure having you here. It's been fun. So this is Hibachi Talk. We're on every Wednesday at one, last I checked. That's what it was today. That's what it was today. So we'll probably be the same time next week. You can also find Hibachi Talk on YouTube. Please check out our shows and have some fun on it. And we have a little thing we say at the end of every show. Oh, that's right. So like we say at the end of the show, for all of our guests that are watching, one, two, three, how you doing?