I've been running Sports Massage Leeds since 2009. What started with my son's diagnosis became 17 years of studying, practising, and refining one thing: how to find what's actually causing someone's pain — and fix it properly.
It all began in 2008 when my son was born with a condition called torticollis — a neck muscle disorder where the muscles on one side contract continuously, holding enormous tension. We could see Sebastian struggling to move. There was no time to waste.
I still remember the day we went to our GP. My wife was in tears on the drive home. We had gone hoping for help — real help — and left with nothing. No suggestions, no referral, no options. And I knew that untreated torticollis leads to scoliosis and chronic pain. We had to act fast.
I found a connection — a friend's mother, a specialist paediatric physiotherapist working abroad. Five days later I was on a plane with Sebastian. At that first session, she told me it would take at least three months of daily treatment. We couldn't stay abroad for three months.
So she offered to teach me. Everything she knew. Every technique, in detail, with the science behind it — so I could treat my son myself when we got home.
I was scared. And then I started learning. And then I realised I could actually do this — not just for Sebastian, but for everyone in the same position I'd just been in.
Martin, founder of Sports Massage LeedsOver the following week I learned specific deep tissue massage and stretching techniques. I came home and kept working with Sebastian every single day. I was researching — reading everything I could find about back problems and soft tissue treatment from around the world — while simultaneously treating my son.
Four months later, Sebastian's neck was straight. We had done it.
And I knew I had something I could use to help other people. I could see how many people suffered from chronic back pain, poor posture and muscle tension — and I could see that so much of it was treatable if you just knew how to look for the cause. I went to college, qualified as a Sports Massage Therapist, and opened my clinic in Leeds in 2009.
Since 2009 I've been running my clinic in Leeds city centre. The people I treat have changed — from professional bodybuilders and MMA fighters to estate agents, teachers, taxi drivers and soldiers — but the approach hasn't. Every person who comes in gets the same thing: an honest assessment before anything else, followed by treatment targeted at what I actually find.
That commitment to the assessment is the direct legacy of treating Sebastian. I learned very early that treating the symptom without understanding the cause is a waste of everyone's time. The assessment is why one session with me often achieves what months of other treatment couldn't.
The clinic has grown, the protocol has been refined through thousands of sessions, and I've kept learning. But the reason I do this — and the standard I hold myself to — hasn't changed since that rainy Monday in 2008 when I decided the system had failed my son and I was going to find another way.
I never begin a treatment without first understanding why the pain is there. Back pain rarely originates where you feel it. Sports injuries involve secondary compensations. Neck pain has thoracic causes. Treating the symptom without the assessment is how people end up feeling better for three days and then back to square one.
The assessment protocol I use has been refined over 17 years and thousands of clients. It combines structured history-taking, postural analysis, movement testing and hands-on tissue examination. By the end of it, I know what I'm treating — and so do you.
After your assessment, you leave with a clear explanation of what's causing your pain, what the treatment plan is, and a realistic timeframe for recovery. Never vague, never open-ended.
Torticollis — neck muscle disorder. NHS offers nothing. I fly abroad, learn specialist techniques, and successfully treat my son over four months.
Complete Sports Massage Therapist qualification. Open the clinic in Leeds. The assessment protocol is there from day one.
Professional bodybuilders, MMA fighters, rugby players alongside office workers and tradespeople. Every type of body, every type of pain — the assessment handles all of it.
Move to 30 Park Pl, Leeds LS1 — two minutes from the train station. The clinic that's been the base of the practice ever since.
The protocol is still being refined. The assessment is still first. The commitment to finding the cause — not just treating the symptom — has never changed.
"Being in the army I carry a lot of weight on my back on a weekly basis and the tension really builds up. Martin's treatment sorts that right out. I originally went with a lower back injury and he helped me recover from it. He is highly competent, very knowledgeable, showed me stretches I actually use. Highly recommended."
"Martin offers an excellent service. I routinely have a sports massage as often as I can — especially when in fight camp for my MMA. It helps speed up my recovery massively. The man knows his stuff. Highly recommended."
"I had months of desk-related neck and shoulder pain that physio hadn't shifted. Martin found things no one else had looked for. Two sessions later and I'm pain-free. The assessment made all the difference."
Appointments within 24 hours at our Leeds city centre clinic. Assessment £40, treatments from £45.