At Massage Warehouse we were extremely proud to be a sponsor of the second edition of the National Massage Championships, which took place this year on the 29th and 30th of September at the Olympia Centre in London.
We truly believe that the National Massage Championships are a crucial way of building the massage industry within the UK and demonstrating to the public the skills and value of our profession.
The championships bring together competitors from across the country as well as a team of esteemed judges with decades of experience between them.
Head Judge - Susan Findlay - a specialist in Oncology Massage and author of
Pauline Baxter - the director and owner of the Academy of On-Site Massage.
Sunita Passi - the founder of Tri-
Bhavesh T. Joshi - principal of the London School of Massage.
Jeppe Tengbjerg - CEO of the International Massage Association and
Earle Abrahamson - the chair of the Massage Training Institute, Vice-Chair of the General Council for Sports Tissue Therapists and
Beata Aleksandrowicz - creator of the Pure Massage Spa Training Method.
Meghan Mari - the Co-Director and Founder of Jing Advanced Massage Training.
Mary Dalgleish - the current Vice President of the Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT).
Emma Gilmore - founder and Director of School of Bodywork.
Dympna O’Brien - co-founder of Quantum Metta School of Massage.
Kush Kumar - founder of international professional association ThinkTree Hub.
With 6 distinct categories, the competitors had an hour to wow the judges with their treatment techniques and connection to their clients in the following styles of massage;
Check out our highlights from this year's competition!
We caught up with returning judge Sunita Passi who told us this year had seen a 20% increase in competitors. As well as being great to see more therapists coming together to compete and to network together, a increase in numbers also brought many more massage styles and techniques making it even more fascinating for the crowds to watch!
It was great to see some returning competitors from last year but also lots of new faces taking part. There was lots of love and encouragement in the air and competitor Ian Tennant mentioned that the atmosphere is more of a big team coming together to celebrate a shared interest of massage rather than the tension you might expect at a competition!
Many of the judges also reported that they were seriously impressed this year that more therapists were focusing on demonstrating their connection to their client. Delivering tailored treatments with caring intentions rather than relying on showboating dramatic techniques. The judges were thrilled to see competitors take on the mission of elevating our industry on such a public stage and the public seemed to absorb this message, being seriously impressed with the skills on show.
We often don't get a chance working as independent massage therapists to test ourselves. As judge Bhavesh T. Joshi put it to us "you will never know how good you are unless you compete". The National Massage Championships are a great way to receive feedback from some of our industry's greatest leaders with each competitor receiving a copy of the judge's notes on their performance after the competition. Competitor Georgia Curry told us this was one of her main reasons for wanting to compete, pointing out that this kind of feedback is priceless!
Next year
In massage, applying pressure places the highest demand on your body.
Newcomers to the massage profession often stand still when massaging and rely solely on their upper body strength to generate power - tensing their shoulders to deliver pressure. This puts strain on their shoulders and makes the massage more stilted and less powerful.
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