MUBA

MUBA - Manual Unified Body Assessment

Posture, movement and body use are evaluated in Power Ergonomics using a manual loading technique, that very quickly sorts out the strategies that work well from those that work less well or not at all.

The method resembles Manual Muscle Testing (MMT) as used by chiropractors, physiotherapists and neurologists, but with one major difference. While MMT is geared to testing individual muscles, and a weak response to a test indicates the possible origin of neuromuscular dysfunction, MUBA is geared to testing the way the whole body is working.

Responses to MUBA tests are either unified (i.e. returning a feeling of immense solidity, immovability, calm power and relaxed control) or disrupted (i.e. returning either a feeling of aggression, instability, increased tension and over-control OR a feeling of weakness, instability, collapse and inadequate control, OR a mixture of both).

This evaluation technique offers considerable time savings in individual and group training settings, as it helps accelerate learning and understanding at a practical level.

MUBA overview

MUBA is based on the premise that good posture and good body use is a reflection of unified effort made in real-life dynamic situations. This contrasts with conventional assessments that focus on judging how straight the back is, how much the chin is held in or neck lengthened, how well points on the side of the body are aligned to make a line, etc.

MUBA is a modification of the testing method that is integral to Ki Development (Mind and Body Unification), adapted to western thinking and improved to satisfy teaching demands and conditions in commercial environments.

The logic behind testing is incredibly simple: whether your posture or movement is good or not (elevated/unified or oppressed/disrupted) becomes immediately apparent the moment you are subjected to small to medium physical (or at a more advanced level psychological) loads applied manually. It is the way you deal with these loads (calmly controlled or by struggling to regain control and balance) that determines the quality of posture and movement.

Unified effort is defined as effort that is clearly felt to come from the whole body acting as one cohesive unit (mechanical cohesion) and not just from isolated muscles or muscle groups. Unified effort is associated with the ability to generate great power, relaxation, calmness, and concentration – all in one undeniably solid experience.

MUBA involves practical (manual) evaluation of unified effort. When tested individuals feel immediately in their own bodies whether the effort made to maintain a given posture, movement or the power extended in an action (e.g. through the arms) really is unified or not.
The feedback returned by testing is solid and indisputable, and this is of immense value when sorting the ideas that support and strengthen elevation and unity (good posture and body use) from the ideas that cause or support oppression and mechanical distortion (poor posture and body use). Postures and body use that tense up the spine and hips and that threaten to weaken the lower back are also easy to identify and challenge.
MUBA is quick and easy to apply to any posture and most movements in most situations, thus saving time for everyone involved.
MUBA can be used to evaluate healthy individuals or to help people with disabilities in the development of training programs that are designed to restore elevation and unity.
MUBA accelerates posture improvement because it helps individuals identify and avoid postures and exercises that lead to oppressed use. Suggested changes in posture or body use can be quickly evaluated and accepted or discarded. Exercise programs and sports techniques (golf swing, tennis serve, etc) can also be evaluated according to the way they affect individual’s posture and body use – i.e. do they encourage elevation or oppression?
MUBA helps strengthen self confidence as individuals gain ever increasing control over their bodies and are able to identify and avoid with confidence oppressive postures and body use.
MUBA strengthens adherence to training programs, which is a known issue among physiotherapists and chiropractors. Improvements in body use that are immediately self-rewarding become desirable, to the extent that users want to re-experience them and will make effort to do so.
MUBA can be used in individual or group settings. For groups the use of MUBA provides an excellent way of getting things moving and of generating interest and curiosity.