Rarely do we find time to relax, listen to music or just simply spend some quality time for ourselves while having busy work schedules. On 28th of March, however, students of Kaunas University of Applied Sciences along with participants from Latvija, Poland and Spain participated in the international student massage championship and helped the actors of National Kaunas Drama Theatre to find some time for relaxation.

Kaunas University of Applied Sciences wins for the third time in a row

The 8th annual student massage championship took place at Kaunas University of Applied Sciences, where 13 students from Lithuania and foreign higher education schools showcased Physical Therapy and SPA area knowledge. In the first part of the competition participants showcased classical massage techniques, surprised the judges with variety of skills while performing the open program: anti-cellulite, soothing SPA, legs and other massage expertises. Student abilities were evaluated by such professional judges as Jeppe Tengbjerg – the founder and CEO of the international massage association, Arvydas Balčius – the director of Medical SPA „Eglės sanatorija“, prof. Manuel Gonzalez Sánchez – physiotherapy specialist from Málaga university and Marek Zeman – a representative from Czech Republic.

In this year’s competition first place was awarded to Daumantas Bitinas – a student representing Kaunas University of Applied Sciences. Not only did he win the best classical massage award, he also made the judges very impressed by carrying out the anti-stress ayurvedic massage while performing in the open program. „I put in a lot of work and got valuable experience while doing my internship in Malta. I’m glad that my hard work got me recognized“, – says the soon-to-be physical physiotherapy specialist while barely keeping calm. Kaunas University of Applied Sciences has defended the title for the third consecutive year. Ričardas Kazninėc was the winner in 2018 and Vilius Montvydas was the winner in 2017.

Goda Puišytė placed in second and earned the best SPA massage nomination. Third place went to Līga Freiberg – a student from Latvia.

A gift for actors

This year’s competition happened in collaboration with the actors of National Kaunas Drama Theatre. This collaboration happened on the occasion of the recent World Theatre Day.

„Our goal is to not work for ourselves, but for the people. They are the assessors of the quality of our work after all. We chose actors as our models for the World Theatre Day. In other words they got to enjoy the theatre of massage“, – the reasoning behind the choice for massage models commented by Milda Gintilienė, the head of Rehabilitation Department in the Faculty of Medicine of Kaunas University of Applied Sciences.

Egidijus Stancikas, the general manager of the theatre, appeared as a massage model for a second time. He said that it’s fun to see young, soon-to-be professionals with such love and passion for their craft. „For an actor it is very important to have physical and spiritual cohesion and massage helps to reach this goal. Other types of art such as music and painting have their own instruments that help the artist to express himself. At the same time, an actor has his body as an instrument, that’s why it is important to keep the body healthy, well-balanced and stress-free“, – says E. Stanickas while emhpasizing the importance of massage for a performer and furthermore adding that not only was his body smiling after the procedures, but so was his soul.