Scott Sonnon

Never give up. Never give in. Always get up. Always get going.

February 1, 2012 – 3:51 pm
I walked into the room but was cut off before I sat down. The proctor pointed to a sign which read 'MENSA EXAM'. She said, "You must be lost. This is the examination room for Mensa candidates. The library reading rooms are down the hall." When I replied that I was there to take the entrance exams, she looked me up and down wryly smirking, "To take the exam, you must pass the online prequalifier, and then register for this exam. We don't take walk-ins." Admittedly a bit offended, I suggested she check the list for my name. She asked for ID. This is going to be a long day, I thought. After several hours of various types of examinations, I submitted my test folder to the proctor. It would be several weeks before I learned if I had qualified for entrance ...

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48% Inspiration, 48% Perspiration, 2% Theory

January 31, 2012 – 12:03 pm
Best criticism of 2012 so far: "My god I cant go anywhere on the net without reading your motivational bu}{$&%t. People outta know you only get people all pumped up about their lives so they buy your stuff. Truth is that if your motivated then any kinda diet or exercise works. You just believe your stuff's the best, but dont tell anybody what your really up to when you get everybody all hopeful that they can do things they cant." It's true that I don't need to advertise my courses in print, radio, television, or even "good ole boy" affiliate networking ponzi schemes. People do seek them out. I do indeed believe my books, videos and equipment are among the best in the industry combining time-tested wisdom and cutting-edge science. I do not deny it. But you're ABSOLUTELY correct that (almost) any approach works once you're motivated to begin and follow-through intelligently ...

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You can be a winner once, but a champion only always.

January 20, 2012 – 8:40 pm
Today's Negative Norman - "If you really want to act like Mother Theresa, then donate all your money to a charity rather than brag about your success. Everybody had it tough as a kid so I'm bored with hearing how ya use all that stuff from your past to "inspire" others. Not trying to be an #^^hole or anything, but shutup with the motivational stuff. Whens the last time you won a world championships anyway, like 2 yrs ago or something? Go the hell out and PROVE your stuff to us rather than preach it, reverend." He's correct. I seek to continually streamline my efficiency in helping others, and shore up the bled minutes and dollars throughout the week which could be better used to improve my ability to serve others. I prefer to be quiet about my charities, for ...

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Love anywhere helps love everywhere. Defining a real warrior athlete.

January 17, 2012 – 8:09 am
Just as Martin Luther King, Jr. pronounced, "an injustice anywhere hurts justice everywhere," so too is its positive corollary a moral imperative for me: love anywhere helps love everywhere. Life taught this message over a very hard road, or perhaps... the harder the road, the more opportunities you're given to realize this truth.  There are some who laugh at this message. And even violently oppose it. To them, I say... You laughed at my dream calling me a retard, a loser, a reject, and used your authority, expertise and credential to claim I would never be worthy of greatness. Though hesitating at every turn, I kept going. When I began to knock down one opponent, challenge and obstacle after another, you scoffed at my effort, dismissing my accomplishments as fluke accident and random coincidence. Though doubting the veracity of each of my achievements, I kept ...

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Where do CST and TACFIT “fit” within MMA?

January 14, 2012 – 3:17 pm
What Circular Strength Training (CST) is all about? The CST system evolved to address very specific failures in modern physical conditioning: Warmup exercises were not specific to preparing the joint and tissue movements in the exercises to be trained. Warmup programs generally involved completely unrelated movements and intentions from the conditioning programs themselves, in the hopes that increased core temperature would safely generally prepare the operational tissue for work. Most programs have ineffective if not completely absent warm-up programs. As in martial art, if you only have 5 hours to prepare for a sword fight, spend 4 hours sharpening the blade. Cooldown exercises were not specific to unloading the tension from the exercises trained. Cooldown programs tend to be entirely independent from the conditioning program itself, and merely designed to stretch used muscles while passively awaiting heart rate recovery. Many programs have no cool-down whatsoever. However, if you do not specifically compensate for ...

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Do you REALLY know what the Warrior Spirit is?

January 14, 2012 – 9:58 am
Two days ago I was asked if I was afraid that the "wrong people" would benefit from training I provide. I replied on my Facebook page that:  There are no "wrong" people, only wrong attitudes. One can have frustration, anger, sorrow, even hate and apathy apathy in one's heart; as each of us faces throughout confronting the challenges with which life blesses us. True training slowly erodes any internal negativity, for only the powerfully-committed Will can overcome the resistance which ego imposes upon development. There are only the "Right" people: our individual growth beyond weakness and ignorance and our collective support to increase our awareness and courage. Love yourself enough to work harder. Then yesterday, a poster stated that instilling positive psychology in physical conditioning 'recklessly ignores the reality that people suck.' No, people don't suck. Attitudes do. And the man who posted the comment needs the approach more than most. Unfortunately, conflict can corrode positive ...

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Revel in the Beautiful Process - Rebel against Quantifying Beauty.

January 9, 2012 – 1:56 pm
Does this photo convince you now, to throw away the scale? You will GAIN weight to shape up! Why are you trying to lose WEIGHT? Are you competing in a sport? Weight is irrelevant if you're not fighting in a weight class. Lower fat by upping muscle. Stop worrying about weight, and start increasing the coals in the furnace: muscle. This is especially true for women, who naturally have less genetically given muscle mass. You cut, and you'll gain (skinny fat.) Build to lose fat. Stoke the furnace, and throw away the scale. If you need a measure, how do your clothes fit today? You are beautiful NOW. What you do to enhance your physical vitality, and the byproduct physique which results, does not define you. Unfortunately, certain media and marketers have nefariously manipulated objective images with such ubiquitously surreptitious tactics, that many ...

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Play with a purpose!

January 6, 2012 – 2:01 pm
Levity aside, there's an important message here. Just because you can approximate something, doesn't mean you should attempt it. The point of all disciplines... is to develop skills to master yourself. Today, I was sent this quote: "Most of the progress you make cannot be measured, only observed or felt." The author's approach involves exploration of outdoor movement with odd objects. He has chosen to not measure what HE does, but that does not mean its immeasurable. He's making a logical error: just because HE doesn't doesnt mean YOU can't, nor does it mean you shouldn't. Perhaps his explorations don't require any collection of data, but one should be aware of both the subjective experience and the objective reality. Otherwise, for example, one cannot see the rampant over-compensations threading through the body. To me, the author's comment is just idyllic fantasy (reflected in the video), and lacks academic rigor. Sure, it's appealing to ...

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Your body knows more than your mind thinks.

January 6, 2012 – 1:13 pm
"My Style is the True Yoga" (Martial Art, Kettlebell lifting, Club swinging, Natural Movement style, etc.) Incorrect. If a discipline enabled your development, it's not THE style but YOUR style, not THE pose but YOUR pose, not THE technique, but YOUR technique, as it remains biomechanically (and energetically) impossible to replicate someone else's style, pose or technique. It's even impossible to replicate your OWN skill twice. Educational systems are vehicles for exploring your physical expression of aliveness, not destinations to observe and worship. Commit yourself to a discipline, surround yourself with the support of your team, and master the basics; rather than dabbling in too many styles and becoming master-of-none. Flippant dalliance causes you to get lost in the wilderness of systems, history, theory, context, politics. None of that drama matters, for it's not truly the system that you master, but yourself. Show me a technique. Where is it? Nowhere. You demonstrate ...

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That’s not your yoga!

January 6, 2012 – 6:27 am
Yesterday, I posted a critique of contemporary yoga education, and the dangerous injuries it holds. One poster remarked that injuries are rare. Yoga injuries in the West are not rare by any means. The Yoga Journal reported that there was a 9% injury rate in yoga in 2007 (9,000 injuries out of every 100,000 practices.) To put this into comparison, martial art owned 7,600 injuries out of 100,000, 1.4% less injuries than the yoga statistic from the Yoga Journal. And to place this in context, American football, arguably the most injurious sport in history has a 14% injury rate. A 9% injury rate is not rare at all. This is not an attack on YOGA. I teach yoga, for Pete's sake; but teach it from a biomechanically incremental, and kinesiologically sensitive perspective. Physical yoga evolved contextually in a culture of people who primarily sat on the ground all day long meditating ...

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