Una Tucker is the designer and CEO of Kneads Must. Here she talks about how her unique massage tool came about and how it is a vital tool for elongating careers as well as using in a Covid-19 world.
I designed the Kneader massage tool in 2005 and have been an advocate for tool use in massage ever since. Originally, I designed it for my own clients to use in-between their regular treatments with me. However, when trialling it with massage professionals (pre-manufacture) and then demonstrating it at wellness tradeshows (post-manufacture), I realised it was a great supplemental tool that therapists could use in treatments to help save their hands during deep or repetitive moves.
Back then, I was a bit of a ‘lone voice in the wilderness’, because massage tools were not a main (or even secondary) feature on the majority of massage courses. The reasons for this were varied but, there was a strong mindset that therapists who used a massage tool during a treatment were somehow “cheating”. How times have changed. Our industry has grown massively, embraced technology and finally faced-up to the reality that RSI and therapist strain/injury were limiting many massage therapists’ careers to an average of just 7 years. As a result, hands-free techniques and massage tools are very much on the menu in treatments today.
In 2015, I promoted the Kneader from a supporting player to the main role. Of course, it remains a successful supplemental tool for therapists of many disciplines, but I wanted to create a routine based entirely on the Kneader. In the back of my mind, I always had my eye on chair massage because I knew it and loved it, but also because – unlike hands – the Kneader moves incredibly well over clothes, even with deeper pressure. I always got chair treatments whenever possible, especially when I visited or exhibited at tradeshows, because they were so convenient. I loved the pressure points, the compressions and the stretching, but I alwaysmissed the relaxing effleurage and petrissage moves of holistic massage and craved a fusion of both disciplines. I knew there were chair therapists using the Kneader in their routines, and vainly hoped that one of them would create such a hybrid routine for the Kneader. Well, as they say, if you want a job done….
Once I created the Kneader Chair Massage routine in 2015, it evolved quickly and went from strength to strength – clients loved it and so did I, because it’s so easy and effective. I went on to win silver in the World Massage Championships in 2017 and bronze in the UK National Championships in 2019, both in the chair massage category and with the Kneader routine. Such recognition brought the confirmation that I needed to pass the routine onto therapists far and wide so, in 2019, I started creating an online training course for it. Massage courses can be costly in terms of time, money or travel, so I firmly believe that online learning is a great option for today’s therapists and that this format will continue to grow in popularity.
We launched the online Kneader Chair Massage course into the world in June 2020. Of course, the timing of the online Kneader Chair Massage course’s launch has occurred at a very controversial and challenging point. COVID-19 and its restrictions has turned the massage industry upside down, with hand to skin contact now being viewed with reticence. Speed and convenience were always selling points for clients choosing chair massage, but now safety and cross-contamination are also mitigating factors. Massage therapists are officially back to work but at what capacity? There’s no doubt that people need massage more than ever, but what treatments will clients be opting for in the post-lockdown world? Could clothed massage routines that are hands-free and/or use tools become more attractive options for clients? Only time will tell. Our industry will adapt, evolve and grow into something new and more viable. I’m confident that the Kneader Chair routine – done over clothes and with two easily-cleaned massage tools – will have a place in this brave new world.
The online Kneader Chair Massage course is available as a short course to all qualified and insured Level 3 (and above) massage therapists. Please visit the Kneader Chair Massage Course page[https://kneadsmust.thinkific.com/courses/chair-massage] to find out more information.
Una Tucker
To see Una’s recent demo of the kneader for ThinkTree go here: