Victoria O. CA, CA 9961099494 Jul 19, 2020
This review is for Hunter only.

I'm 48 and I have been getting massages for 30 years. As a dancer and exercise teacher /gym rat, I've always needed bodywork. Over three decades, I've probably seen 75 therapist and Hunter ranks in the top 5. Usually, I tell a massage therapist what I want. There are two exceptions to this: Moses at Voda Spa who is so intuitive, we barely speak. And a woman I saw once (very expensive but it was a group event and we got a discount) at the Bacara in SB, which I think is called something else now. Mayra, a Brazilian genius who did some deep and painful structural work that increased mobility in my shoulder 50%. I told Hunter that my traps and shoulder/neck plus calves were the priority and the gentle, very easygoing man from Ireland told me about his approach. This gave me so much confidence, I just let him do what he wanted (though he is a "deep/sports massage" therapist). His approach is based in part on the nervous system. Hunter doesn't use his elbows (some therapists are lazy and use elbows to get at deep tension because they don't know how properly to use hands; others use elbows strategically on large muscle groups). He does not knead. He presses strategically and somewhat forcefully in slow and deep strokes. I coughed when he got to the chest/lung because he was so deep that I was releasing stuff held in for months. I also drained for an hour after the massage (meaning lots of snot releasing from my body, which always happens with deep bodywork). I couldn't believe how much released, in conjunction with my deep breathing (ujayii). I ended up extending the massage for 15 minutes. Note: I was going to drive to Carmel that day after the massage but I had to sleep for two hours. I was reminded of the Denis Leary bit about Nyquil in No Cure for Cancer: "May cause drowsiness" should read "Don't make any f'in plans." I was wiped out afterward and not because he was whaling on all my tight muscles from hardcore exercise with no steam or sauna or jacuzzi. The Bay Club opened but no steam and I'm working out hard to lose the Coronaweight. The Massage Place closed on 7/13, just two days before I planned to see Hunter again. Unlike the Chinese places in NYC I usually go, TMP has individual rooms. My room at the Montana location was quite small. The PP room was three times the size of my New York apartment. The whole place is immaculate and there is a barrier between the front desk and the customer. All locations of TMP take your temperature upon arrival. You use a clean pen to fill out forms and then they sanitize them. Massage therapists wear a mask and shield. P.S. TMP is cheap. Their business model: cheap massage and heavy tip. 54 for an hour, 69 for 75 minutes. I tipped 30.