Body Language helps fight flab, build self-confidence

Body Language helps fight flab, build self-confidence

By Sadie Mah

JAKARTA (JP): Susan had been trying to lose weight for years.
Dieting and exercising did nothing to alter her body shape. Four
months ago, she started taking Body Language classes. Today, she
is nine kilograms lighter, and the proud owner of a curvaceous
body.

Like Susan, those who have taken up Body Language are wildly
enthusiastic about its benefits, claiming it has helped improve
their body shape, and enhance their sex life.

"Taking Body Language classes has made me less inhibited
sexually," said Kate Irani, a 38-year-old housewife from India.
"I feel more bold now." She also finds find that her stamina has
improved a lot, which has helped her tennis games.

Susan and Kate are just two believers in a movement that has
taken Indonesia by storm, displacing other exercise fads like
aerobics, step aerobics and even Tae Bo. Local celebrities tout
it as their secret to having an attractive figure, inspiring tens
of thousands of housewives and teenagers to join in the quest to
attain the body beautiful.

Body Language has enjoyed phenomenal success in Indonesia. In
Jakarta alone, it is estimated that there are 1,000 studios
offering these classes.

"Indonesian ladies only want to do Body Language," said Otto
Permana, an instructor at the Puri Bugar Health Club. "They don't
like to have bulky muscles. Besides, Body Language enables them
to lose weight quickly," he said. And in the right places.

While international fitness experts have struck down spot
reduction as a myth, Body Language is claiming it can do
precisely just that. One can lose inches from areas where
undesirable fat has accumulated, without dieting, claim Body
Language enthusiasts.

Choreographer extraordinaire Roy J. Tobing, who created Body
language 13 years ago, explained: "Body Language works by
focusing on the breathing, movements and posture simultaneously.
By concentrating on the intense contract and release movements,
one can burn fat from those areas."

Since traditional situps don't focus enough on feeling how the
abdominal muscles work, he said, they fail to burn fats from the
area. "I tell my students that they can burn fats in the abdomen
while standing up."

According to some, the combination of deep breathing and the
intense movements cause a high concentration of oxygen to flow to
a specific area, facilitating fat-burning in that area. "You need
oxygen to burn fat, and with Body Language, you concentrate on
taking in oxygen," said Otto.

During the initial stages of his creation, Roy noticed that
Indonesians, compared to women from other countries, such as
Singapore, tended to slouch.

Later, he incorporated the maintenance of a good posture into
the exercise. "When you stand up straight, you will feel proud
about yourself," he said. "I wanted to give that to my people."

Sometimes, those around you will notice changes in you, but
they can't pinpoint what it is, said Roy. "A woman could suddenly
become more confident with no make-up on."

While men can benefit from the exercise, Roy said that it is
women who will benefit most from it. Besides being beneficial for
labor preparations, it is also a gentler form of exercise. "High
impact aerobics are not suitable for women, especially if they
are above the age of 40, since they are jarring on the joints,"
he said.

Esthetically, said Roy, all that jumping will also make a
woman's face sag. What's more, he said, the muscles developed
will look "more natural, more feminine". "And since the muscles
develop gradually overtime, unlike with weight-training, they
will not turn flabby if they stop the exercise suddenly," he
said.

With such benefits in sight, it is no wonder why so many women
have stuck to it. Its popularity has spread to smaller cities and
even to villages. In Bogor, for example, there are 20 known
studios, and even more if private classes are counted.

The cost of such popularity is the problem of controlling the
quality of instructors. "I'm happy that it has taken off so
successfully, but it has also become a problem," said Roy with a
sigh. The high demands for Body Language classes has created a
host of "instructors" who have started offering classes after
only taking a few nominal lessons or reading about it in
magazines. Some celebrities, without adequate training, have
opened studios to cash in on their fame.

"Anyone can start a class," he complained. "Without proper
training, the principles of Body Language may be misunderstood."
To deal with the problem, he now offers strict instructorship
courses and ups the prices of these courses. A basic certificate,
costing Rp 5 million, is issued only after a two-month tutorship
with him. "In future, all health clubs will only take in
instructors with these certificates," he said.

A 20-day program costs between Rp 250,000 and Rp 400,000.
Measurements are taken before and after beginning on the program
to allow participants to see where the changes have occurred.
Roy's studio in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, charges Rp 800,000,
but for that price, you get to gyrate along with celebrities
under the watchful eyes of the creator.

Next month, Roy will be launching a book in Indonesian and
English, which he hopes will help promote the exercise overseas.
This will be followed by a series of promotional tours starting
in Malaysia and Singapore where, he said, the exercise will most
likely be accepted, due to culture similarity.