On 6 March, the Department of Rehabilitation of KK Faculty of Medicine organized an international students’ massage championship. The victory went to a student from Latvia. The best massage technique was demonstrated by Valery Knjazhev from Daugavpils University.
This time, traditional winners of the massage championship, masseurs from Panevezys and Kaunas had to surrender. The representative of Panevezys College, Tadas Gustys, won the second place, and Sarunas Rimkus from Kauno kolegija / University of Applied Sciences was the third best.
12 would-be specialists of physical therapy and beauticians studying at various Lithuanian and foreign institutions of higher education had a try at the original championship, which has been held for four year already. The students had to demonstrate their skills in a compulsory programme and perform classical massage, and a free programme, where they could to use a chosen technique. The programme included stone and rose therapy, Lomi Lomi, tai-chi, Ayurveda, bamboo, four hands, Hawaiian, Thai, and Shiatsu massages.
The organisers of the Massage Championship invited a basketball team of 16-18 olds from China to become models and test the procedures. The Chinese basketball players have been training in Lithuania for nearly two months. They have been working intensively on the initiative of the Chinese and Lithuanian Basketball Federations. The Chinese team is trained by the strategist of the Lithuanian Junior (U-18) team, Saulius Stombergas, and the coach of physical training of the national men’s team, Sigitas Kavaliauskas.
Last year the challenge of the massage championship was accepted by some outstanding Lithuanians: the legendary masseur of the Lithuanian basketball team, Juozas Petkevicius; the Kaunas politician, Stanislovas Buskevicius; the dancer, Saulius Skambinas; the tenor of Kaunas Musical Theatre, Mindaugas Zimkus, and others.
The participants of the championship were awarded worthy prizes from sponsors. The award established by Femina Bona Academy was training. The winner will take part in a three-day seminar on osteopathy techniques held for physiotherapists and masseurs by a lecturer from the UK. Spa Vilnius granted two participants two-week internships related to customer service and quality standards in Vilnius. The enterprise ISPADO, which counsels on Spa and beauty business, granted two participants a training for 200 euros.
