13 May 2026, 19.00 – 20.30

Online

Percussion techniques, when done well, can complement and extend the effect of the other common techniques of massage. 

Unfortunately many massage practitioners mistakenly believe that they must be done fast and heavy, so they are too often done poorly (e.g. mechanically or heavy-handed, and without sensing and adapting to the soft tissue responses) or left out of massage sessions entirely - because they are assumed to not ‘fit the mood’ of the rest of the session.

This workshop is designed to open up your appreciation of percussion techniques. We’ll focus on :

• their potential range of effects (from sedating to energising) and how to adapt them to fit  the ‘mood’ of the massage session,
• how to do them well (so that they are not jarring for the client, or tiring or jarring for the practitioner),
• how to sense the soft tissue and the client’s responses as you deliver them and adapt them appropriately, 
• how to transition seamlessly into and out of percussion from other strokes and between different percussion strokes.

Please note that we will spend half this practical session finding out about techniques and trying them on ourselves and the second half of the session trying them on a willing volunteer (clothed) on your table.  So if you’re coming along please have a volunteer and your table at the ready to get the most out of it!

 

Darien Pritchard is a past Chair, and a past Director of Anatomy and Physiology teaching for MTI. He has been a massage trainer for over 40 years (including teaching on a university degree course), and has written 2 massage textbooks. Darien has spearheaded a focus in massage teaching on how practitioners can use their hands and bodies safely and effectively to maintain their careers, including pioneering the original Hands-Free Massage Training (the skilfuland sensitive use of the forearm and elbow to save the practitioner’s hands) 25 years ago.