The Massage World Championship 2017

In May this year over 80 therapists from around the world took park in the first ever World Massage Championship and I was one of them.

The championship was hosted by the International Massage Association in its homeland of Copenhagen, a truly beautiful city with wonderful people. The event was held over two days and therapists traveled from the likes of Germany, Hungary, Australia and the States.

I was one of only 2 Irish therapists participating and to say it was an honor is an understatement. Although I can tell you it wasn’t what I expected. On the first morning you are asked to categorize yourself into whatever group you feel you belong to. I choose to massage in the ‘Free style’ category feeling that this would be most true to myself, I do after all like to cross the treatment barriers, mixing and combining techniques from all my learned therapies. These free stylers were my people, certainly! I had ideas in my head of techniques and moves I wanted to showcase. ‘Let’s do this thing!’ I thought to myself, inwardly high fiving myself.

Once we were gathered and grouped into our various categories we had to split into smaller groups of three, one to massage, one to receive and one to watch. We would rotate then until we fulfilled each roll. I was grouped with one bright and bubbly therapist from Australia and a talented tool wielding therapist from England. Suddenly my nerves betrayed me. My heart fluttered, my hands shook. Oh god, there’s an audience. I asked the ladies if they wouldn’t mind if I massaged first, just get the first round out of the way I thought.

Only 3 minutes until starting, I mentally mapped my treatment. My massage body climbed onto the plinth and settled, I tried to settle too. Breathe in. Breathe out. 2 minutes to start, my massage body turns her head to look at me, “oh by the way” she says, “I have severe scoliosis and have had several operations on my back leaving a lot of scarring” WHAT!?

1 minute to start and I peel back the towel to see the extent of the scarring, there is a lot. The spine doesn’t sit straight. There doesn’t look like there’s much mobility. Well there goes my mental map and all the techniques I was going to show case! I’m in my own head and I’m freaking out. I’m out of time. Start, I put my hands on her back. Breathe in. Breathe out. Connect with this body. Effleurage the back. Connect with the person on the plinth.

As I sank into that connection it hit me, what on earth am I doing? Why the heck am I freaking out? All I have to do is do what I do! Connect with the person under my hands, pull techniques from all the years of study and experience and treat the body I have in front of me.

I danced around the plinth then, gliding from one foot to the other as I used my forearms to loosen her lumbar region. Rocking back and forth as I applied pressure to the Trapezius. I found my flow and did one heck of a treatment. I was so glad that I ended up treating the person I did. Being slapped in the face straight off the bat shook me out of my own nerves and reminded me that I was there to do what I did best; listen, connect, treat.

But as I glanced up at my fellow free-stylers I saw that they were certainly NOT my people. The therapist working on the plinth next to me was dressed in full green silk, blindfolded and massaging the crap out of her clients face. The person next to her had his client folded and bent into a pretzel. Which looked interesting to say the least. It turns out that what they meant by ‘free style’ was new, never seen before, experimental treatments, not my forte. Meaning I was still feeling unsure about how my therapy stood against all the wild and wonderful things going on in my category.

During the interval though, my worries were doused again as my fellow opponents and practitioners came up to me with congratulations and praise! “I like your style elbow-girl” said one of my fellow therapists who went on to win a bronze medal on the final day.

The energy was absolutely electric. Everywhere interesting discussions about the human body and touch science could be heard. Being prone to picking up energy I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the buzz.

That evening, after dragging my towels the 25 minute walk back to my apartment I collapsed on my bed. My head fried and my body emptied. I poured everything I had into the day and I still wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole ordeal. Yes my therapies were complimented but they were so ‘normal’ compared to the things I had seen that day. Was I out of touch with new techniques? Was I lagging behind in the massage world? My world!? Massage is more then what I do, it’s who I am! Maybe I wasn’t as good as I thought. I am a naturally insecure person and in that moment I was battling my demons and battling hard. Only one thing for it, crochet, meditate, sleep, heal (well that’s 4 things I suppose.)

The next morning I was back to myself and ready for day two. The first order of business, switch categories. I may not be a brand new, never seen before kind of therapist but I am a dam good therapist, I have 10 years of experience, clients and my own business to prove it! Stand your ground girl! I requested to be switch from ‘Free Style’ to ‘Wellness’. Maybe I’d find my people there.

It was the same deal as before; into your category and then into groups of three. This time I was grouped with a Swedish massage master from Romania and a young sports therapist from England. Again I massaged first and this time I was able to perform all my favorite techniques, elbow points, stretches, rotations, the works and it was a lot of fun. The vibe in the room was more to my style, these were my people! It was my turn to lie on the plinth then and receive and boy did I receive one of the best treatments on my life. A Swedish massage like I had never experienced before. I have always viewed Swedish massage as a more basic form, a platform for which to build upon but how wrong I was! Having received one and watched the masters at work I saw classical Swedish massage in a new light, as an absolute art.

After the rounds were complete the judges chose 8 participants to compete in the finale. I didn’t envy the task, choosing just 8 out of the 80 plus who worked their butts off couldn’t have been easy. All 8 would have to massage a judge, while being judged, in front of all the other therapists.

The finalists set up as the rest of us took a seat in the auditorium, ready to witness massage history! The passion and nerves flowing from the finalists was immense. They massaged for their lives and it was truly humbling to witness.

In the end a beautiful therapist from Germany performing a classic Thai Massage won the title of Massage World Champion. It was well deserved, every aspect of her treatment was perfect, every twist and motion measured.

All in all the championship was life changing. I realise that there is even more to the massage world then I thought. I realise that I am an excellent therapist but there is always, ALWAYS room to grow and i certainly have grown. I have decided to invest in myself once again by taking on more courses as well as giving myself more time to heal. I have been putting new techniques into practise and I'm inspired to become even more adventurous with my therapies. I am learning to stand my ground, fight my demons and let confidence flourish where it should. I’ll be competing again in 2018 and this time with massage tools and the confidence in myself to wield them!

So to finish with a cliché, onwards and upwards.