Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1191154
World Championship in Massage Since 2017, the World Championship in Massage has been an annual event in Denmark. The championship is primarily a competition, but at the same time, it's also an opportunity for MTs to find professional inspiration and networking possibilities. By participating in the World Championship, bodyworkers have the opportunity to strengthen and improve their skills. According to Tengbjerg, "Everyone needs inspiration. Tournaments attract many different massage therapists with many different massage methods, including methods they have invented or developed." In 2017, approximately 80 participants from 30 countries participated in the World Championship. In 2018, participation increased to approximately 127 from 37 countries. In 2019? An impressive 200 participants from 42 countries. "Even more if you count the judges," Tengbjerg says. Registrations for the 2019 event had to be cut off due to space limitations. Since the World Championship takes an enormous amount of planning, it has only been held in Tengbjerg's home country of Denmark to date. Once Tengbjerg finds the right people to organize the event in other countries, though, he envisions the competition being held in a new country each year. His dream is one of unity. "I hope national massage associations use this opportunity to meet to discuss massage education, rules, and laws, and, in this way, help each other." The most amazing aspect of the World Championship to Tengbjerg has been social development. "We now see that participants travel around and teach each other, and have fun together," he says. "The same will happen in the United States." Building a World Community Tengbjerg's competitive nature keeps him moving forward to new challenges. His current goal is to grow the IMA world community one country at a time by broadening the scope of the World Championship in Massage. To do this, he has been promoting IMA- sanctioned National Championships (such as the upcoming American Massage Championship and the Canadian Massage Championship in October 2020) and maintains championship consistency by personally training the judges himself. Because of the success of the IMA World Championship in Massage, other countries often contact Tengbjerg for IMA approval for their events. "Many of these organizers want to be part of the IMA family," he says. "We try to work with everyone to create the same guidelines and rules. I want to give all massage therapists the opportunity to not only participate in the World Championships in Denmark, but also to participate in open national championships, in order for them to improve their massage skills and experience other cultures." The expansion of the IMA-sanctioned National Championships is exploding, according to Tengbjerg. "This year alone," he says, "I have been to [several] countries, teaching selected judges, [including] Lithuania, Italy (European Championships), Moldova (EURASIA Championship), Ukraine, Russia, England, France, Greece, and Romania." Next year, Tengbjerg plans to visit Norway, the United States, Canada, Switzerland, and Thailand. "We are very close to closing agreements in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Belgium as well," he says. 88 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 2 0 The championship is primarily a competition, but at the same time, it's also an opportunity for MTs to find professional inspiration and networking possibilities. Jeppe Tengbjerg, CEO of International Massage Association. Image courtesy of Ryan Hoyme.