Good questions. First of all, I think some sort of apprenticeship with a respected massage therapist is the best way to “learn massage”. Benny Vaughn is pretty much the father of sports massage in the US but I’m not sure if he even teaches any more. Mike McGillicuddy is good and runs an apprenticeship program in FL where you get to do supervised massage work with athletes at University of Central Florida.
To “become a massage therapist”…many educational massage programs in the US are terrible. Ideally you want to go somewhere where therapy is prevalent in the community (Big Sur, CA or Boulder, CO…). I always felt that Rolfers had the best educational background and knowledge of the body compared with most regular massage school students. That being said some states don’t even have legislation requirements on massage so you can just start calling yourself a massage therapist and go in business. Compare that with NY which requires 1000hours, OH where it’s regulated by the medical board, or some provinces in Canada where you need 2000+ hours.
Maybe someone else can add on to what I have said here.