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.