Body-Flow: Freedom from Fear-Reactivity [Paperback]

Scott Sonnon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

USA National Coach several times over, Scott Sonnon became an internationally-ranked champion in the fighting sport of SAMBO, a specialized form of grappling which became the 2nd style of international submission fighting. This unique sport has been recognized by the International Olympic Committee for consideration as an Olympic sport. Coach Sonnon served as the International Category Referee in the sport, as well as the International Combat SAMBO Chairman for the Fédération Internationale Amateur de SAMBO (FIAS), the international governing body.

Due to his international record and his contributions to the growth of the sport, Coach Sonnon received the Distinguished Master of Sport in SAMBO, the highest award that can be earned. Having trained many world champions in various sports such as kickboxing, sambo, judo and jiujitsu, he has been inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame three times as a result of his dedication to improving the lives of others through physical culture.

To bring the secrets of his training to the American public, he co-founded RMAX.tv Productions with Nikolay Travkin. The company’s mission is to help you become more prepared than the challenges you'll face. Scott Sonnon is the Head Coach of the Life Enhancement Solutions™ Department at RMAX.tv Productions.

Inadvertantly, a decade ago at the time of this book, Scott Sonnon created a new industry: Life Enhancement Solutions™. He discovered that although groups and individuals requested his services across several industries, his coaching pedagogy remained constant, though tailored to the interpretation of the venue. He discovered that a dedication to organic improvement of the group and the individual within the group proved to be paramount to any field or discipline in which he was asked to provide guidance.

As a result, Coach Sonnon has created over 50 videos and books on various aspects of peak performance psychology, sports performance enhancement, fitness and martial arts. He continues to be invited worldwide to give talks to Fortune 500 companies, Professional Sports Teams, Military Units, Police Departments, Actor’s Guilds, Professional Health Care Institutions and Universities.

Despite his high in-demand status, he spends as much of his time as possible now in what he calls his most important vocation: adventuring with family and friends. As he often quotes Helen Keller, "Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all."

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Aarmacs Inc (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971794936
• ISBN-13: 978-0971794931
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More than a "training" book, more of a "living" book, May 27, 2003

By 

D. Cooke "[e-mail]" (Macon, GA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Body-Flow: Freedom from Fear-Reactivity (Paperback)

This book is similar to some of Pavel Tsatsouline's work in that the author presents theories and techniques on physical training that were developed and studied (at least in part) in Russia/the former Soviet Union, and the material presented is generally unavaiable or scarce in English language sources.
That is about where the similarity ends. Most of Pavel's work is straightforward and user-friendly (think "Power to the People"). You read it, you apply it, and you are stronger.
Mr. Sonnon's stuff is far more theorectical and nuanced, and it covers a far larger range of topics. This is more of a life improvement book than simply "how to be stronger".
The gist of Mr. Sonnon's work is that all people are made to be healthy; strength, agility, and stamina are your birthright. Most people de-condition themselves contrary to their natural state of health, and the result of that de-conditioning is "fear-reactivity", which profoundly affects our health and general performance by interfering with our body's natural flow or "body-flow".
Sonnon's work "Body-flow" teaches how to get out of the way of your body's natural state, or body-flow, by daily practice of various exercises that integrate breath with alignment and movement.
Although the topics covered are huge and complicated, Sonnon addresses each in an easy to understand style. Still, because whta he asserts is so theoretical and encompassing, much of it must be read and re-read to be understood (if I do understand it now).
I gave this book 4 stars because it was thoughtful and well-written. The instructions and photos for the exercises were fairly clear, but to be totally comfortable with them I felt like I should order one of his videos (Note: Mr. Sonnon hosts a website with discussion page, where he is happy to answer questions himself and give explanations when requested). There were a few typos in the book which closer editing would have caught.
Regardless, the proof of this book will be in the pudding. If a year from now I am still using this book and it works as advertised, I will be changing this to a five star review. Based on Mr. Sonnon's success with his personal training clients, and the logic of his explanations in this book, I suspect that will be the case.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It's O.K., May 25, 2003

By 

Colleen Gerber (Anaheim, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body-Flow: Freedom from Fear-Reactivity (Paperback)

As a Yoga instructor of 10 years, and a Pilates instructor for 3, I was much intrigued by some online reviews stating that this was the advancement of many advanced somatic methods made popular by greats like FM Alexander, and Joseph Huburtus Pilates.

I was hoping that the marketing was correct and Scott Sonnon would be joining this crew.

Sonnon has some good ideas, and a great entertaining style of communicating them. The approach, however, was somewhat lacking in depth. It seemed to have borrowed many bits and pieces from the thorough systems mentioned above, and piece them together attempting to appear new altogether. I found that this was not the case.

Although I would recommend it to anyone wishing to gain a beginners understanding of proper biomechanical exercise, I would strongly hesitate to say that it is anywhere near exhaustive or as complete as the marketing would like to suggest.

Happy Hunting.

43 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Incomplete, November 4, 2003

By 

Jason Whooly (Bellingham, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body-Flow: Freedom from Fear-Reactivity (Paperback)

I'm new to all of this, so maybe my rating isn't indicative to what the others have granted. My take on this book is based on what I know from my own personal training for the past 15 years. I believe I've covered as many practices, theoretical ideas, and systems out there as I could.

A friend of mine intoduced me to the idea of circular training from an article he read in Black Belt Magazine featuring Scott Sonnon. I took the plunge and bought this book.

It's not overpriced per se, but the information inside takes a lot of background learning from Sonnon to get a clear idea of what he is talking about. He has a plethora of coined terms that need defining, and if you haven't followed his brand of philosophy for some time you won't understand what the heck he is saying.

A good book on sport psychology should be able to clarify simply that too much arousal or stress is not good for your conditioning, and many exercise scientists will tell you that stress causes mechanical changes in your tissues that will affect your performance. Sonnon seems to write as if he believes that only his movement exercises will take that away from you. I've tried some of them, and remain highly skeptical.

As far as writing is concerned, I'd be more interested in what Sonnon says if it weren't highly ladden with high philosophy and coined terms that require his dictonary explanations.