SA Massage Championships – My Experience
Some of you may know that, I, Murray van Vuuren recently competed in the 2nd Annual SA Massage Championships. It is due that I report back to my audience with some of the tales that made my experience at this event so vital. I want to share how this all started and hopefully touch curious & wondering hearts in the process. This is not a ‘once upon a time story’, it is impossible to tell without an iron jaw & to understand, you’d have to step right into my shoes which at the moment, happen to be off! I am a Masseur & born from the many hours of practice, was brought into light the inevitable pathway to begin advancing even further! All massage jokes aside, it is true that an opportunity arose for me to decide between one event or another, one I won’t mention due to personal reasons, and the other was to go to SA Massage Champs. Not only did I realize that improvement as a practitioner was unfolding steadily, and the thought that I would ‘compete next year’ began to sit less and less well with me. Soon enough I was facing the notion that In just two months I would be fully prepared for something I’ve never experienced before, competitive massage! Where do I even begin? My practice would soon be turned inside out & brought to the light of discerning professionals & to be put under their experienced diagnostics. There was a wave of brilliance beside & within me that drove me to do this, and I won’t say that I was particularly apprehensive of the path before me, but hard work surely had to begin within the next few hours, and so it did! I trained for 2 months before the event & in the process transformed my practice from linear importance to multi-dimensional! My attention went into hyper-focus & it was time to enter wellness with a new energy. My hands were itching to get to a level that was self-occupying & directly according to the judging criteria. My attitude was that the more I trained, the more I would find my strokes to be of that outstanding and adhesive quality, this is the philosophy I still stand by. If I was humble enough to cooperate with wellness in mind, I would in that short period find the inner thesis that would bring home the gold! Swifty time passed, I had two weeks left and my internal cylinders were singing with passion & focus! Now was not the time to get sick or injured, but somehow, the second last Sunday evening before I left had me feeling like 4 days of recovery from a stomach bug would be just right for me! DISASTER! Fast forwarding to the night before I left (Which wasn’t very warm either, trusting PE weather!) & feeling like a Championere’, It was time to pack after one last therapy session before heading off to Johannesburg.
Travel
With my practice transformed in spirit and now rolling behind me at David Shuur International in a suitcase, everything that had conspired over the last 2 months was due to unfold soon enough & in Johannesburg of all places! Shortly after departure, I made my refuge at however many thousand feet by perusing the scientific information in the inflight magazines, and to keep me as scientifically minded as possible for the scrutinizing judges soon to be faced! It was all a breeze before I was first introduced to the hauntingly beautiful sounds of the departing Gautrain on a lovely Summer day in Johannesburg. After getting supplies not far from the venue, Gibson, my Uber driver, & I merrily waltzed on to the Sounds of House music to the Nt’shonalanga Valley. I was finally at the home of the brave heart!
Nt’Shonalanga Valley – Amongst the Mountains
Friday afternoon was a time to get settled in & acquainted with the lovely surroundings & mind-blowing scenery! Meeting the friendly staff & Niane’, I felt relaxed & confident in that the odds were in my favor! Shortly I was finally introduced to Micki (And other important judges like head judge, Janine Cochrane & judge Devon De Kock (Balancing Touch)), the organizer of the event, and what a heart-felt THUMP in the chest it was to learn previously that Micki is from the little Eastern Cape haven, Known as Hogsback! Here come the tears, memories, and powerful affirmations that not only is it a small world, but sometimes a synchronistic one! It made for easy conversation to reminisce with someone who has regular familiarity with folks who have played a major role in my development into adulthood. The perpetual warmth of the organizers & co. made this event so easy for me to participate in! Saturday came with an early morning dip in the Nt’Shonalanga pool to make things even more relaxing for me! However, still nervous about the upcoming day of competition, I was with big eyes gazing upon the main hall, all clad with Wellness banners & people with semi-familiar faces. Meeting new people is a strength of mine & It didn’t take long for the muscles of service to begin their work! Massage beds, towels, competition admin, meeting judges and fellow therapists, is all of the Saturday morning for me. Then came 9:30 am, the first round of Swedish Massage!
Round 1 – Swedish Massage
Each therapist is assigned a patient who has filled out an intake form. The therapist has a few minutes to communicate with the client about the treatment that will commence, discussing any contraindications and important factors relating to the round. Yes, it was ALL important! Here was a room full of massage beds & massage therapists all conducting professional massage therapy! I was lucky enough to have a receptive client for my Round 1 in Swedish Massage, (In massage language, this means it’s going to go well! When you know, you know!) agreeing to my overall plan for the treatment. It was my time to roll out the Swedish Movements (As I had rigorously trained for over the last 2 months). Before I knew it, I was joyously applying oil to my first client for the SA Massage Championships – 2024! Easier said than done! I was nervous, the shakes were there, and I was in the hot seat! Knowing full well, though, that this sort of thing was to be part of the experience, I let the nerves shake themselves off & on I went with the classical 5 strokes of Swedish Massage. Smooth Effleurage, transition to the front, kneading the trapezius & applying that gracious forearm was my tune for my Round 1 in Swedish Massage! Having previously placed consistent emphasis on this discipline & with the help of the most lovely music played during the rounds, I diligently demonstrated the values of my skillset.
Aho, Receiver!
Just a few minutes after my Round 1 in Swedish Massage, I was assigned to a Sports Massage Therapist, and to be a receiver for a round that I was not competing in (Therapists would receive massage as clients, too!). I was then happily guided into the presence of a mighty woman named Katiana! Katiana and I have shared the privilege of working with traditional healers in a similar, which made our meeting so much more special for me! Katiana is the kind of practitioner that you’d instantly be magnetized into. I was lucky to have everything and more, including a massage by Katiana at SA Massage Champs – 2024! Well done, Katiana!
Western Freestyle
Soon came the time for my second category round, Western Freestyle Massage. About 8 minutes before my round began, I was a patient for the Therapist who would be my patient in my upcoming round! This played to my advantage as we were acquainted well before the round, giving me an insight into the potential for much less superficial execution of my Western Freestyle Treatment. This Round was a strength to me because this discipline requires almost no preparation (& frankly my plan was to wing it!) , simply a reading of the client’s intake form & whatever the client’s body can receive! Having been the patient for Kyle in the previous round, I felt tremendously relaxed & ready for the austere round ahead. It felt like this round gave me a platform to express my love for massage & particularly in the manner that I have distilled over my years as a practitioner. Freestyle Massage is so ground-shaking because it calls to the graduating practitioner in their progression from novice to professional. It allows for the expression of deeply latent skills that come from the result of determination & repetition, something that practitioners may not know is present within. Only by going all in with the art, may one discover the creativity potentially veiled behind the ordinary strokes of massage therapy. After the round, & seeing how happy my patient was, It hit home that it didn’t matter how well I’d placed. That sense of personal success & overcoming was the chariot of a wonderful mood that I shan’t forget! It came so easy to share with my audience on social media that I was elated by the result of my round. What a delightful feeling!
I made it through!
As the sun began to set on the first day of the contest, I was overjoyed by my Western Freestyle round & decided to take it easy for the evening by taking advantage of the pool at Nt’shonalanga and cooling out with a soft beverage. It was after sunset that I heard my name called from outside my rondavel, and after replying to the call with confidence to the caller that I had had clothes on, it was to my delight that there stood Head Judge, Janine & Director, Micki. They’d asked me about my plans for the next day & without any expectations or intuition about my ranking, I replied, ‘I’ll be watching & going about my day tomorrow.’ It was a brilliant moment when the head judge, Janine, exclaimed, ‘And competing! You’re in the final!’ What a great feeling to have just heard that I would have the privilege of competing for the title of overall best therapist at SA Massage Champs – 2024!
Finals
The day’s competition (Sunday) consisted first of the clinical challenge, then the overall best best therapist finals & after that, prize giving. Being a spectator for the clinical challenge was a proud moment because I could feel the privilege of being part of South African Massage Therapy. Here stood the future of Massage in South Africa, & all serving the Highest Clinical Standard that South African Massage has to offer! It looked bone-crushing, & I could only be of moral support to my fellows as they put forth the fruits of their strength! After the clinical challenge had ended that morning, I had sprung to the task of setting up while the judges delegated with participants of the previous round. The tension was immense for the participants of the clinical challenge during their hot seat Q & A! It was nail-biting to have other therapists begin to strike up those conversations with Me that would potentially make or break my focus as a competitor. I was in a serene zen mindset before the finals, and my patience was distilling only to my advantage! It wasn’t long before in what felt like a few seconds, Micki rounded us up & started the final procedures. Thoughts like ‘What should I start with?’, ‘Should I be bold?’, ‘Feet, face, legs, hands?’!!? Nearly alll my therapist training and personal strength was tested now! ‘Therapists, you have 45 minutes in this Final Round, and begin!’ It wasn’t difficult to enjoy the finals & to take control of my skills in a way that expressed my take on what it meant to be a champion at the massage table. One cannot deny that Finals have a particular magnifying effect on one’s practice & skills. It almost calls for a flowering that only great power can call to action. I am reminded that just beside me are other wonderful therapists and it is such a beautiful thing, I am sure, to have been a spectator of this finals. To be there is to be brought into an atmosphere of cooperation, & perhaps counter to what others may suspect. The sounds are unique to massage, and it is a highly focussed situation in which spectators will certainly judge to have a polite, yet peaceful fragrance, but on the inside, it’s everything one knows and more!
Prize-giving
I could sense the ‘me time’ calling after my finals had ended, and perhaps I was not alone! Many people do not realize how much inner strength is needed for massage therapy in general! Being present at an event like this would be easy in some ways, but superfluous in others. In other words, I was hungry, tired, and ready for a feast of monumental proportions! We all sat together in the main hall and the judges acknowledged the rankings of each round. Excitement began to rise in me as it came to Swedish Massage! To have been awarded 2nd Place in Swedish Massage means more than I had expected! The feeling of transcending one’s expectations is enough, but to have something to show for that is even better! To make things even more interesting, I was awarded 3rd place in the Western Freestyle category! I did not make the top 3 for the final round overall, however, to have participated and to have such a close eye on my practice in such a way as was the final for overall best therapist, means something that remains in the soul!
2nd – Swedish Massage
I cast my mind back to the exciting dance between these two disciplines as I trained for this event. Knowing that there are depths to be traversed and a world of opportunity to be explored in massage, is my ultimate take on what I have reaped in my journey to SA Massage Champs – 2024!
3rd Western Freestyle
This is a shoutout to those folks who were the last to say goodbye to the event for this year! Congratulations on organizing a tremendously beautiful event, and special thanks to Micki who did an unbelievable job as director! I am still in awe about how warm I felt at this event! To the the judges, thank you for your scrutiny & kindness, and for offering us such grateful words of encouragement throughout this harmonious event. A massive shoutout to the sponsors & vendors who were there to always offer moral support! Well done to all the competitors & winners who are now friends! It feels surreal to have been part of this with all of you! To those behind the scenes, Niane’ & Mike, Thank you! To my patronage, I am grateful for your patience and participation in my development as a therapist!
This is a huge shoutout to my Mom who helped make this possible! Love you, Mom!
Finally, to those therapists who will have the opportunity to compete next year, do not hesitate to be part of the SA Massage Championships – 2025!
All the very best & thank you for reading!
Murray
