Why INTU-FLOW?

[Coach Tran]

Multi-Planar Mobility (MPM) is the pain-free and full range movement of your joints and connective tissues in all three possible dimensions: frontal, sagital, and transverse. MPM came from various related sources but make no mistake it was Scott Sonnon, founder of CST and RMAX, who made it into an incremental and sophisticated system of health and fitness. CST was the first to stress the importance of MPM and integrate it with all our modalities found within our system of health and fitness. Unlike some of our copycats they cannot show where they were innovative, how their joint mobility is incrementally progressive toward sophistication, and how it is integrated as a whole with their health and fitness model, strategies, tactics, and tools. This is why if you want the authority of MPM then CST is that complete system. MPM may be found all three main wings of CST such as Intu-Flow, Prasara/BodyFlow, and Clubbells. It is often recommended to many novices to start with Intu-flow as a primer into CST. Because we want them to clean their previous conditioning, make sure they have complete pain free and full range of movements in their joints and connective tissues, and prepare them for more further sophistication.

There are several good reasons why we train MPM. Because all dynamic movement and real world performance occurs in three dimensions. There is no real world task that is isolated in one or two dimension. This is so very clear when you hold or move a clubbell. Failure to train in any one dimension will create a weak link in your performance and the likelihood of joint pain and immobility. This why you should prime your joints first with Intu-Flow first before you start training with the clubbells. Besides developing rotary and angular/diagonal strength to assist the primary movers, it also increases stability, enhances injury prevention, multiplies force production abilities, and stimulates the neuromuscular patterns required of athletes.

Most people do not know that joints are not fed through blood but through synovial fluid that can only come from movement. When joints are fed daily in all six degrees of freedom they attain youth, health, and stability. MPM training bathes your joints in synovial fluids, which help to remove scar tissue and calcium deposits. If you don’t move your joints in all three dimensions, your joints don’t get fed, they grow hungry, develop scar tissue, and build up nasty hard material and then they grow weak. However if you practice the three wings of CST, you will not have to worry about these things and your health and fitness will drastically improve over time.

Even as experienced CST athlete, I still benefit from MPM and will always keep this as my daily practice. Through my years of wing chun training, I developed many overcompensations in my hip, neck, and thorax region. On top of these things I added more trash with conventional linear strength training and kettlebell training “believing” this would help me be a better wing chun student. My head would stick out forward, chest concaved inward, and my hips were slightly turned inward. This came from years of technical specification of my fighting style. However through my daily Warrior Wellness (my favorite), Intu-Flow, and now Prasara I have learned to counter-condition these overcompensations. My posture has improved and I have more freedom in my chest and hip region. I do not know any other system that could have done this for me except for CST and that is why I believe in it.

[Nick1974]

Thanks Bao. Great post. Always good to be reminded of these things, helping us to stay on track in our practice.

[Coach Tran]

Nick,

Best wishes with your practice.

Yours in CST,

[champagne]

Bao
Great article on why MPM. May I use it to help explain what we do to people I'm just introducing to CST?

[Coach Tran]

Jeff,

Of course, bro. I added more depth to this essay when you compared it to my old published article called, "Why Multi-Planar Mobility?" My main motivation in this essay comes from my anger of our copycats. I have personal trainers at my gym who are copying MPM on stability ball and cocktailing it with crap that has no relationship with CST. Trust me, I have placed my clubbells down in order to speak with these jokers. :wink: Another health and fitness company even has a cocktail and primative joint mobility program which me to is a waste of paper and plastic. One of their pundits even wrote an article about value of joint mobility, but make no mistake we are the leaders in this department. For example, how does this company explain the scientific explaination and logical relationship of their joint mobility program with their number 1 exercise equipment? It is pretty clear MPM is found in all our services and products.

Yours in CST,

[champagne]

Bao,
I'll put it to good use. I totally agree.

[Joseph David]

Good work :D

[TonyB]

Bao,

Well said!

[SAB]

great article.
Must save this one.

[Coach Tran]

Brown and Tony,

Thanks for reading this article and for encouragement. It is your encouragement that inspires me to do my best.

Yours in CST,

[TonyB]

Bao,

I just thought of something (and it's a constructive idea).

I notice that all of us experienced CST folk who put all this information together on the forum do a pretty darn good job.

But....I thought "what if I print some of this stuff out and show it to clients, potential clients, or strangers..would they understand it clearly (definitions of some words or ideas)?"

You did such a great job piecing together CST's MPM. Seriously. I'd love to see a futher explained version for people/clients who yet don't know "saggital, transverse, primary movers, thorax, etc".

I personally understand and totally dig what and how you wrote and even printed it up and put it in my personal CST scapbook of golden nuggets of discoved information! You'd save me some time if you could make me a user-friendly version with some tweaks. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit, if I just re-do it myself in Microsoft Word, I'd feel like I'm cheating/stealing your words, so my conscious insisted that I ask you to do it. :)

If you don't have time now bro, I respect it. When you can. Unless I get your permission to para-pharse your text myself. I like to keep a clear conscious, you know?

Thank you so much for great work. I truly enjoy your work. I'm watching you!

[KD Jones]

Tony -

I've been thinking about this too... a sticky post somewhere, under the control of someone very knowledgable, which would be directly edited (rather than being tweaked bit by bit in a thread, and therefore requiring hours of reading to get to the final point) which includes definitions of at least the clear physiological/anatomical terms, and as many CST terms as could be hacked clear to date.

I think it would be helpful, but it would be something on someone's plate, and open and dependent on the head coaches and Coach Sonnon's "nihil obstat."

[Coach Tran]

Bao,

I just thought of something (and it's a constructive idea).

I notice that all of us experienced CST folk who put all this information together on the forum do a pretty darn good job.

But....I thought "what if I print some of this stuff out and show it to clients, potential clients, or strangers..would they understand it clearly (definitions of some words or ideas)?"

You did such a great job piecing together CST's MPM. Seriously. I'd love to see a futher explained version for people/clients who yet don't know "saggital, transverse, primary movers, thorax, etc".

I personally understand and totally dig what and how you wrote and even printed it up and put it in my personal CST scapbook of golden nuggets of discoved information! You'd save me some time if you could make me a user-friendly version with some tweaks. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit, if I just re-do it myself in Microsoft Word, I'd feel like I'm cheating/stealing your words, so my conscious insisted that I ask you to do it. :)

If you don't have time now bro, I respect it. When you can. Unless I get your permission to para-pharse your text myself. I like to keep a clear conscious, you know? This weekend, I will tweak it Tony....

Thank you so much for great work. I truly enjoy your work. I'm watching you!

Tony,

If you can use my words to help you, then do it. I thank you for reading my article and seeing some value of it, bro. This weekend, I will tweak it for you.

Yours in CST,

[Coach Tran]

For those who do not know what "Nihil obstat" mean in the vernacular here is a definition.

"Nihil obstat is an official approval by a delegated censor of the Roman Catholic Church to publish a work dealing with faith or morals. It signifies that the publication is free from Catholic doctrinal or moral error.The phrase is Latin, meaning, "nothing hinders" or "nothing stands in the way." The Nihil obstat, along with the Imprimi potest, forms part of the Catholic Imprimatur."

KD,

Coach Sonnon's one number "Nihil obstat" is himself, then headcoach staff, and finally the CST cadre. Each of us will do our best to protect and maintain the integrity of the CST system. This does not mean we are perfect but we are all learning from each other's experiences. I know I am learning much from my own mistakes, but thank God I have good friends to rebuke me when I needed it the most.

Yours in CST,

[TonyB]

Thank Bao! :)


The tweaks are for others who I would like to share your text with, in printed form. I feel better knowing its still in 'your voice', so to speak.

After you tweak it, would you mind if I smooth it out futher if I need to (based on feedback from stangers & clients)? I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for a team effort to put CST in more user-friendly words.

CST truly is awesome and I enjoy daily. I'm excited about the idea of many of us polishing the text when and where we all can so that it extremely understandable to everyone! :)

Thanks again bro. I appreciate every minute of your time. :)

[Coach Tran]

What is MPM?

One aspects of health that is rarely taught in the gym culture is called Multi-Planar Mobility (MPM). MPM is the pain-free and full range movement of your joints and connective tissues in all-possible directions such as right/left, top/bottom, and front/back. MPM came from various related sources but it was Scott Sonnon, founder of CST (Circular Strength Training) and RMAX International Production, who made it into an incremental and sophisticated system of health and fitness. Circular Strength Training system was the first physical culture to emphasize the importance of MPM to the public and integrate it as a whole as a unique health and fitness discipline. MPM may be found all three main wings of CST such as Intu-Flow, Prasara/BodyFlow, and Clubbells. It is often recommended to many novices to start with Intu-flow as a primer into CST. Because we want them to clean their previous conditioning, make sure they have complete pain free and full range of movements in their joints and connective tissues, and prepare them for more further sophistication.

Why should you do MPM?

All dynamic movement and real world performance occurs in three dimensions. There is no real world task that is isolated in one or two dimension. Many people fail to understand this concept when they exercise. Failure to train in any one dimension will create a weak link in your performance and the likelihood of joint pain and immobility. This is why within the CST system, we recommend our athletes to prime their joints first with Intu-Flow first before starting their clubbell training.

As you know, joints are not fed through blood but through synovial fluid that can only come from movement. The lack of movement will cease the body’s production of synovial fluid, which in turn causes joint pain and other degenerative joint related conditions. However when the joints are fed daily through six degrees of movement they attain youth, health, and stability. Therefore, MPM training bathes your joints in synovial fluids and prevents joint pain and other degenerative joint related conditions, which helps improve the quality of movement and general well being. Now if you don’t move your joints in all three dimensions, your joints don’t get fed, they will grow hungry, develop scar tissue, and build up nasty hard material and then they grow weak. However if you practice the three wings of CST, you will not have to worry about these things and your health and fitness will drastically improve over time.

Even as experienced CST athlete, I still benefit from MPM and will always keep this as my daily practice. Through my years of wing chun training, I developed many overcompensations in my hip, neck, and thorax region. On top of these things I added more trash with conventional linear strength training and kettlebell training “believing” this would help me be a better wing chun student. My head would stick out forward, chest concaved inward, and my hips were slightly turned inward. This came from years of technical specification of my fighting style. However through my daily Warrior Wellness (my favorite), Intu-Flow, and now Prasara I have learned to counter-condition these overcompensations. My posture has improved and I have more freedom in my chest and hip region. I do not know any other system that could have done this for me except for CST and that is why I believe in it.

Tony, if you want to change it to fit your needs, then do it.