by Chris Watts

Hard core travellers will love Saudi Arabia! There are numerous obstacles and  hitches involved in  attaining your entry visa so that when you finally pass that 4th police check-point and are firmly inside the kingdom, a veritable Aladdin’s cave of exotic people, destinations and lifestyles open-up. The hassle is really worth it!

My 9 hour Cathay flight from Hong Kong to Bahrain allowed me to catch-up with the few Saudi passengers returning from the WTO conference where Saudi Arabia just became the 149th member of that global trading club. Their oil revenues will last them at least a further 70 years but diversification and liberalisation is on everyone’s lips. You can’t have liberal trading rulings without loosening the political reins. These are the growing pains that China is dealing with right as we speak. The changes there are coming from the traders and business people who are driving the markets. Certainly from my small perspective there is quite definitely a palpable feeling of optimism in the air and people have taken a real shine to the new King Abdullah. The days of myopic politics and micro-economics are surely on the wane here in KSA. The tangible influences of neighbouring Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar, their big lights and big city feel with all their impressive futuristic strategic thinking is changing Saudi by the day.

I am in Al Khobar, a relatively new city in the eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia right off the causeway that leads to Bahrain. I am a friend and guest of Ziad-Al- Turki who has miraculously arranged and organised, against all odds, the first International Squash tournament and first major sporting event in the Kingdom. A very ambitious feat in a country that knows nothing about Squash!
Ziad’s family have been in business in Saudi since the 1950’s. His company (ATCO) is modern and forward thinking and they happen to be passionate about Squash! 12 months ago Ziad came to my ‘Stretch’ clinic in Hong Kong to solve a chronic back pain from playing squash with an asymmetrical posture. My team worked with him for 10 hours over a 5 day period. To this day he has not even a twinge in his lower back. The doctors were keen to fuse his lower 4 vertebrae! So he kindly asked me to up-route myself from my new ‘Stretch’ project in London and come and look after the  aches and pains of the 33 elite squash players from all corners of the globe. Little did I know how injury prone squash players are! I have never worked on so many ankle and knee problems in such a short space of time. Boy, were they all tight and muscle bound!

We converged on the luxury resort of Sunset beach, Al-Khobar, a pristine retreat designed and owned by Prince Faisal bin Fahad bin Abdullah al-Saud. (I had the great good pleasure of working on his chronic back aches whilst I was there.) The event organiser, Robert Edwards, is a veteran of over 200 of these international tournaments. He was as anxious and concerned as any man would be trying to plan all of the myriad details in a place that has no experience in International people, events, transport, timing etc. He was glad to see me as he was told there would be no doctor, physio or massage therapist on site! I was one less pain for him to worry about.
So all my well-laid plans of camel riding, scuba-diving in the red sea, dune riding and visiting an oasis were now all well and truly on the back burner!

On our first night Saudi hospitality revved-up with a stupendous traditional Samri dance usually reserved for visiting kings and princes. The sound of the ‘Taar’ drums made of camel skin which need to be re-heated every 15 minutes to tighten the skin and the almost trance like (possessed) dance routines that went on for several hours. The ceremony was held in a Bedouin-style tent with traditional woven carpet and a huge U-shaped dining area so low to the ground that you had to crouch or squat to eat your food. You should have heard the squeals of pain form the squash players as they tried to kneel at the table. Their quadriceps were so tight that they couldn’t sit on their heels any more! My work will be cut-out for me over the next 5 days!! The groaning board of spices and exotic delicacies from kabssa to majji soups, hot and cold mezzah’s with the traditional boiled goat dish starring right at you. What a welcome!

Back at sunset beach-
Over 13 tons of equipment was shipped out from Belgium and erected in the open plan sports arena. It looked like a Dr. Who tardis or space capsule had landed in the middle of Saudi. It was really an impressive sight. This event will be broadcast to over 370 million viewers worldwide via Sky TV.
For me the great personality, specially flown out to Saudi was Jahanghir Khan from Pakistan. Undoubtedly the worlds greatest squash player, the Mohammed Ali of the game. He is chairman of the world squash federation and to me the event was now complete. He too, received the royal Stretch from me in the Meridien hotel Gym. What a pleasure and honour it was to work with him.

The Professional squash association’s live web-site was manned 13 hours a day by 2 dedicated individuals from Birmingham, UK (Russell Flinn and Sean Smith). They filmed and streamed live video and commentary throughout the event. Saudi was wired to the planet for 5 solid days. This must be a way to draw Saudi closer to the global village and help it to shed some of its introversion and ‘exclusiveness.’ I was glad to be there to witness this quiet revolution taking place.

I had only one bone of contention from this land of extremes. The fear associated with talking, flirting or even meeting members of the opposite sex. It is rare that one sees such beauty as in the eyes of the women here. Those large, green, expressive and outreaching gazes which happens to be the only feature one can see. If only I could find out what they really feel like, behind those sombre dresses. I wanted to go to a nearby shopping mall but couldn’t as it was reserved for families only. This seemed to me to be an unnecessary hindrance. I am sure in 5 years from now all that will have changed.

Ziad arranged for me to lecture in front of 30 doctors and physiologists at the King Sultan Rehabilitation centre in Dammam. The proceeds of the profits of the squash tournament will go to this centre. My theme was ‘changing posture, changing function’
Most of their patients had cerebral palsy. We showed them how active but gentle bodywork techniques can speed-up the neuromuscular function to re-educate the reflexes helping to remove extreme spasms in their patients. The psychology of treating them more like people and less like patients made a huge impact on the team. It was an exciting reaction for all of us. I have been invited back here to continue this theme.

I felt that this is a land ready to burst into the world arena, but it is holding on if not clutching on to its tribal and stately traditions. They all know that times are a changing. But who is going to be the first one brave enough to let go and let the markets dictate the future! Only the future knows that answer.