Scott Sonnon
Encyclopedia
Scott Sonnon is a martial art expert, fitness coach, and wellness
speaker. He has worked with movie stars such as Peta Wilson
and Donna Karan
as well as Ultimate Fighting Championship
mixed martial arts
fighters such as Alberto Crane
, Jorge Rivera
, Andrei Arlovski
, and Elvis Sinosic
.
Scott Sonnon was voted one of "The 6 Most Influential Martial Artists of the 21st Century" by Black Belt Magazine
in 2010.
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.
, USA. His family emigrated to the United States two generations before him from the town of Sonnon
, district of Passau
, Bavaria
, Germany
. He overcame being legally blind due to myopia and Thygeson's disease
, spending his youth in pain with Osteochondrosis
and obesity
, and suffering learning disabilities such as dyslexia
. Sonnon is a member of Mensa International
and has been a keynote speaker for the High IQ organization.
and Russian martial arts
communities. 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.
Wellness (alternative medicine)
Wellness is generally used to mean a healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit that results in an overall feeling of well-being. It has been used in the context of alternative medicine since Halbert L. Dunn, M.D., began using the phrase high level wellness in the 1950s...
speaker. He has worked with movie stars such as Peta Wilson
Peta Wilson
Peta Gia Wilson is an Australian actress and model. She is best known as Nikita in the television series La Femme Nikita.-Early life:...
and Donna Karan
Donna Karan
Donna Karan is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels.-Early life:...
as well as Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
fighters such as Alberto Crane
Alberto Crane
Alberto Lewis Crane is an American mixed martial artist. He currently fights as a lightweight. He has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a former King of the Cage and Ring Of Fire lightweight champion.-Biography:...
, Jorge Rivera
Jorge Rivera (fighter)
Jorge Luis Rivera is an American mixed martial artist who was featured on The Ultimate Fighter 4. He holds victories over five former or future UFC title contenders; Travis Lutter, David Loiseau, Kendall Grove, Dennis Hallman and Nate Quarry.-Military career:19k Tank with A/1-70 Armor at Fort...
, Andrei Arlovski
Andrei Arlovski
Andrei Valeryevich Arlovski is a Belarusian kickboxer, mixed martial artist and a former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion.-Biography:...
, and Elvis Sinosic
Elvis Sinosic
Elvis Sinosic is a retired Australian professional mixed martial artist.-Biography:Born in Canberra, Elvis Sinosic now resides in Sydney, where he practises his martial arts training. Elvis was born to Croatian parents and is proud of his Croatian heritage...
.
Scott Sonnon was voted one of "The 6 Most Influential Martial Artists of the 21st Century" by Black Belt Magazine
Black Belt Magazine
Black Belt is an American magazine covering martial arts and combat sports founded in 1961 by Mitoshi Uyehara. During the early years of the publication, Uyehara was a hands-on owner and publisher...
in 2010.
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 PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, USA. His family emigrated to the United States two generations before him from the town of Sonnon
Sonnen
Sonnen is a small municipality in the district of Passau in Bavaria in Germany. It is located in the Danube forest, lower Bavarian forest and is located mostly in the district Passau at a height of 700 to 900 meters. Sonnen lies 28 km from Passau, 9 km from Hauzenberg and from the forest...
, district of Passau
Passau
Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He overcame being legally blind due to myopia and Thygeson's disease
Thygeson's superficial punctate keratopathy
Thygeson's superficial punctate keratopathy is a disease of the eyes. The causes of TSPK are not currently known, but details of the disease were first published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1950 by Phillips Thygeson - after whom it is named.- Symptoms :A patient with TSPK...
, spending his youth in pain with Osteochondrosis
Osteochondrosis
Osteochondrosis is a family of orthopedic diseases of the joint that occur in children and adolescents and in rapidly growing animals, particularly pigs, horses, and dogs. They are characterized by interruption of the blood supply of a bone, in particular to the epiphysis, followed by localized...
and obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
, and suffering learning disabilities such as dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
. Sonnon is a member of Mensa International
Mensa International
Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test...
and has been a keynote speaker for the High IQ organization.
Training
Sonnon is credited as having reintroduced Indian clubs in the form of clubbells to strength training. By 2007 he had been inducted into three halls of fame: the National Fitness Hall of Fame, the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame and the Personal Trainer Hall of Fame, and is known to the SamboSambo (martial art)
Sambo is a Russian martial art and combat sport. The word "SAMBO" is an acronym for SAMooborona Bez Oruzhiya, which literally translates as "self-defense without weapons". Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army to improve their hand to hand...
and Russian martial arts
Russian martial arts
There are a number of martial arts styles or schools of Russian origin.Traditional Russian fist fighting was outlawed in the Russian Empire in 1832.During the Soviet era the government wanted to create both military hand-to-hand combat systems and combat sports....
communities. 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
| From 1993-1995, National Sombo Coach of the United States Sombo Association | |
| 1995 USA Grand National Sambo champion | 1996 First US instructor licensed in Russian martial art ROSS Ross Ross is a region of Scotland and a former mormaerdom, earldom, sheriffdom and county. The name Ross allegedly derives from a Gaelic word meaning a headland - perhaps a reference to the Black Isle. The Norse word for Orkney - Hrossay meaning horse island - is another possible origin. The area... Systema Systema Systema is a Russian martial art. Training includes: hand to hand combat, grappling, knife fighting and fire arms training as well. Training involves drills and sparring without set kata. It focuses mainly on controlling the six body levers through pressure point application, striking and weapon... , appointed North America North America North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas... n director of Russian Martial Art Federation |
| 1999-2001 Inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame | 1999 Awarded Master of Sports in Sambo by American Amateur Sambo Federation |
| 1999 Received license as an International Category Sambo referee | 1999 Elected vice-president of the American Sambo Federation |
| 1999 Appointed Combat Sambo chairman to the International Combat Sambo Commission for FIAS (International Amateur Sambo Federation) | 2001 Awarded the Leadership Award by International Martial Arts Hall of Fame |
| 2005 International Sanshou champion | 2007 Personal Trainer Hall of Fame Inductee |
| 2007 Accepted position as the conditioning advisor for the International Youth Conditioning Association. | 2009 Appointed Russian Sambo advisor to USADOJO Board of Advisors |
| 2009 Appointed Physical Training and Conditioning advisor to USADOJO Board of Advisors | 2009 Qualified to compete and accepted invitation to coach the US Martial Arts Team for the 2010 World Martial Arts Games |
| 2010 Trainer for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment | |
| 2010 World Martial Arts Games Champion: Submission Grappling Gold Medalist, Sport Jiujitsu Gold Medalist, Mixed Martial Arts Gold Medalist | |
| 2010 Instructor for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Federal Law Enforcement Training Center The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center serves as an interagency law enforcement training organization for 90 United States government federal law enforcement agencies.-Location:... |
|
| 2010 Awarded Special Recognition Award from the Bellingham Fire Department at the 2010 Annual Awards Banquet |