Scott Sonnon is a martial art expert, creator of The Saddle SAMBO System,

fitness coach A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

advocate and wellness speaker. He has worked with movie stars such as

Peta Wilson Peta Gia Wilson (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian actress, lingerie designer and model. She is best known as Nikita in the television series '' La Femme Nikita''. Biography Early life Wilson was born in Sydney on 18 November 1970. She ...

and fashion designer Donna Karan as well as

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

fighters such as

Alberto Crane Alberto Lewis Crane (born July 14, 1976) is an American former mixed martial artist, submission grappler and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor. He has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a former King of the Cage and Ring of ...

, Jorge Rivera, Andrei Arlovski, and Elvis Sinosic. He currently leads Human Performance for the United States Department of Energy and United States military special operations research in breathing techniques to improve performance and selection rates. Scott Sonnon was voted one of "The 6 Most Influential Martial Artists of the 21st Century" by ''

Black Belt Magazine ''Black Belt'' is an American magazine covering martial arts and combat sports. The magazine is based in Valencia, California, and is one of the oldest titles dedicated to martial arts in the United States. History and profile The magazine was ...

'' in 2010.''Black Belt (magazine)''. February, 2011, page 57 As a

dyslexic Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

, institutionalized as a child, Scott Sonnon became a

TED Fellow TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

speaking on the nature of multiple learning styles being misdiagnosed as learning disabilities, and now travels the country giving talks advocating congressional legislation (House Resolution 456) for dyslexia educational support in public schools. Scott Sonnon was named one of "Top 25 Fitness Trainers in the World" by "Men's Fitness Magazine" in 2011."Men's Fitness UK (magazine)". November, 2011, page 51 He was named by Men's Health Magazine, the creator of the "World's Smartest Workout" (called TACFIT) in 2014."Men's Health Australia (magazine)". November, 2011, page 51 He is a global staff trainer for the 2014 Nike Academy. His fitness system, Circular Strength Training, has been adopted by members of the United States military and law enforcement community. He is also a published author, a public speaker, and an advocate in the fight against childhood obesity.

Early life

Sonnon was born in 1969, in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, USA. His family emigrated to the United States two generations before him from the town of Sonnon, district of

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

, Bavaria, Germany. He overcame being legally blind due to myopia and Thygeson's disease, spending his youth in pain with Osteochondrosis and

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

, and suffering learning disabilities such as

. Sonnon is a member of

Mensa International Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test. Mensa formally compr ...

and has been a keynote speaker for the High IQ organization.

Training

Sonnon is credited as having reintroduced

Indian club Indian clubs, which originated in the Indian subcontinent, are a type of exercise equipment used to present resistance in movement to develop strength and mobility. They consist of juggling club shaped wooden clubs of varying sizes and weights, ...

s in the form of clubbells to strength training. By 2007 he had been inducted into three

halls of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

: the

National Fitness Hall of Fame National Fitness Hall of Fame is an American hall of fame for notable fitness professionals. It includes notable figures involved in fitness instruction, training, education, fitness management and product development. The mission is to recognize ...

, the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame and the Personal Trainer Hall of Fame, and is known to the

Sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , oly ...

and

Russian martial arts There are a number of martial arts styles and schools of Russian origin. Traditional Russian fist fighting has existed since the 1st millennium AD. It was outlawed in the Russian Empire in 1832. However, it has seen a resurgence after the break-up ...

communities. It has been reported that he is so highly regarded in Sambo training that people have been known to fly thousands of miles in order to attend one of his workshops.

Career highlights

Bibliography

*''RMAX Magazine'' (2003–2008) ISSN 1555-7723 *''Mastering Sambo for Mixed Martial Arts'' (2008) *''Free to Move: The Intu-Flow Longevity System'' (2008) *''Prasara Yoga: Flow Beyond Thought'' (2007) *''The Big Book of Clubbell Training'' (2006) *''Clubbell Training for Circular Strength: An Ancient Tool for the Modern Athlete'' (2003) *''Body-Flow: Freedom from Fear-Reactivity'' (2003)

References

External links

Scott Sonnon, the Flow Coach

How we suppress genius and create learning disability
talk at TEDxBellingham, November 2013. (Also o
YouTube
) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnon, Scott American male mixed martial artists People from Hershey, Pennsylvania 1969 births Living people Mensans