mushtaq
01-14-2004, 12:26 AM
This is the body of a messaga that I han sent to Coach Sonnon so here it is.
Hi Coach Sonnon,
I wanted to drop you a personal note to thank you for the warm welcome on your forum and to thank you also for the advice you gave me.
I don’t know if you remember, but a few months ago when I found out I was being posted to Tanzania I passed a question to you through Steve Barnes to the effect of “If you were going to train a bunch of people who have never been in an exercise program or even much used their bodies, and you had very limited resources, what would do?”
You recommended your Clubbell book, and so I took your advice and arrived here with your book (and tape) as the foundation of the program I was to set up.
You were dead on with your advice. Folks here have taken to club swinging like fish to water.
I have had to adlib a bit in developing our program. The average income here is something like $500.00 a year so purchasing Clubbells from the States was out of the question. I managed to produce serviceable clubs from local materials that work OK and are not unsafe to use. (Nothing to go flying off, ok balance and reasonable grip).
One thing that I have found is the unlike many weight programs, people actually find club swing to be both pleasurable and somewhat addictive. Everyone looks forward to training with them and will train on their own without prompting.
I have also incorporated as much of your “Warrior Wellness” and “Be Breathed” programs as I have learned from Steve into what we are doing here. I have found this to be an essential part of our program, and I can’t even begin to say enough good things about what you have developed with these programs.
One of the things I discovered when I arrived here is that the Mullahs (Islamic clerics of a fundamentalist ilk) have been telling everyone for years that God hates music, and that dancing or other forms of rhythmic physical expression, including sports, are sins. (It is a truly weird planet we live on).
Consequently, my students here actually get feelings of shame and fear when they move. Most of them also breathe paradoxically. (I have seen this a couple of times but never to this extent). Their residual muscular tension was incredibly high at the start of the program.
Your “Be breathed” and “Warrior Wellness” material have been invaluable in countering these problems. In just over a month’s time I have seen remarkable improvement.
So I just wanted you to know that the work you have done is improving people’s lives at a greater distance than you may have expected.
If you ever get the wild notion to climb Kilimanjaro or to go running with the wildebeests please remember that you already have friends here.
Mushtaq Ali
Hi Coach Sonnon,
I wanted to drop you a personal note to thank you for the warm welcome on your forum and to thank you also for the advice you gave me.
I don’t know if you remember, but a few months ago when I found out I was being posted to Tanzania I passed a question to you through Steve Barnes to the effect of “If you were going to train a bunch of people who have never been in an exercise program or even much used their bodies, and you had very limited resources, what would do?”
You recommended your Clubbell book, and so I took your advice and arrived here with your book (and tape) as the foundation of the program I was to set up.
You were dead on with your advice. Folks here have taken to club swinging like fish to water.
I have had to adlib a bit in developing our program. The average income here is something like $500.00 a year so purchasing Clubbells from the States was out of the question. I managed to produce serviceable clubs from local materials that work OK and are not unsafe to use. (Nothing to go flying off, ok balance and reasonable grip).
One thing that I have found is the unlike many weight programs, people actually find club swing to be both pleasurable and somewhat addictive. Everyone looks forward to training with them and will train on their own without prompting.
I have also incorporated as much of your “Warrior Wellness” and “Be Breathed” programs as I have learned from Steve into what we are doing here. I have found this to be an essential part of our program, and I can’t even begin to say enough good things about what you have developed with these programs.
One of the things I discovered when I arrived here is that the Mullahs (Islamic clerics of a fundamentalist ilk) have been telling everyone for years that God hates music, and that dancing or other forms of rhythmic physical expression, including sports, are sins. (It is a truly weird planet we live on).
Consequently, my students here actually get feelings of shame and fear when they move. Most of them also breathe paradoxically. (I have seen this a couple of times but never to this extent). Their residual muscular tension was incredibly high at the start of the program.
Your “Be breathed” and “Warrior Wellness” material have been invaluable in countering these problems. In just over a month’s time I have seen remarkable improvement.
So I just wanted you to know that the work you have done is improving people’s lives at a greater distance than you may have expected.
If you ever get the wild notion to climb Kilimanjaro or to go running with the wildebeests please remember that you already have friends here.
Mushtaq Ali