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Massage therapist healing those in the dragon boat racing sport

A fellow Cochranite was invited to Thailand to be the exclusive massage therapist for the dragon boating team.

A new Cochranite needs a warm welcome from the community. After six years in Hong Kong and marrying his long-time girlfriend and a couple of children later, Brett Enns settled in Cochrane last November. He brings with him an impressive resume in the massage therapy industry and has opened his own mobile studio Touchstone Massage Therapy.

Graduating in Vancouver in 2012, Enns would work locally for a year before setting eyes on Hong Kong. While working, his practice would see many dragon boating clients – a sport native to the country. The sport requires 18 to  20 participants in a standard boat and eight to 10 in a small boat, not including the steersperson and the drummer. During the competition, the boats are usually decorated with Chinese dragon heads and tails.

Earlier this year (Aug. 16) Enns was invited to Thailand to be the Massage Therapist for the British National Team for the IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships.

"In Hong Kong, somehow my practice evolved almost exclusively into dragon boat clients. It's huge there obviously being the country of origin," said Enns. "I just had dozens if not hundreds of dragon boating clients and a lot of them are British expats, and one of my regular clients she ended up becoming the captain of the team and I think a good dozen of my old clients were on that team as well so she's like 'well if we're going to the worlds, then Brett's coming.'"

Enns spent 10 days in Thailand being the only massage therapist for the team, kneading and manipulating the kinks and knots of 76 paddlers. He has already been invited back for the 2021 World Championships which is in Hong Kong, a rather familiar place to him.

"They did pretty well. Their juniors picked up a bronze medal in one of their races, and I think overall - there's a bunch of different races, 200 m, 1,000 m, 2,000 m etc. I think overall they are sixth to eighth in the world, which is nothing to complain about," says Enns. "They're medal hungry for next time though."

Enns is no stranger to the different types of massage and can fix just about anyone with his talent, he is fairly seasoned in sports having worked with professional rugby teams, ball room dancers, runners, and of course, dragon boating teams and clients. He has also branched out to pre-natal as well as chronic orthopedic conditions like frozen shoulder and scoliosis.

"The things a lot of people don't like to touch, I like to touch," jokes Enns.

Enns and his family will call Cochrane home now and he will continue to work in the field that he is dominant in.

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