INVENTOR
INVENTOR
Jürgen Lütke-Wenning –
The background for the development of OSFLOW did not result from the intention to produces another vibration machine. It was at the beginning of 2005, when out of purely personal interest I considered, that it must be possible to heighten “skeletal connection” or the feeling of skeletal connection with a machine. By “skeletal connection” we are referring to the feeling that tai chi practitioners achieve, when the muscles are relatively relaxed, the joints are loose and the skeleton aligns itself under the force of gravity, bio-mechanically optimized in plumb alignment (in the middle) to the earth. I thought, the machine must be a platform that you can stand on in an upright tai chi stance. The standing surface would have to oscillate circularly as well as with a spiral motion so that a sinking to earth effect should be achieved, which would then heighten the skeletal connection and improve the feeling of stability.
When I told my friend and tai chi training partner Thomas Hübner, who is a technician about the idea, his spontaneous reaction was: “No problem, I’ll build you a machine like that!”No sooner said than done! Only two weeks later, the prototype was ready and we began testing with high expectations. After only a couple of tests with varying frequencies, it was clear: There is only a small frequency range that oscillates the body of the user centrally. The optimal frequency is still set today on all appliances and has remained the same for 5 years.The most noticeable effects were caused by the different oscillation directions of the standing surface. First we tried the rotation, right about. The resulting feeling was satisfactory, however when we set it to left about, the feeling was definitely for me, that special Aha experience! When the standing surface oscillates right about, there is the feeling of gently being pushed upwards, so away from the ground. But when the plate oscillates left about, there is a subjective spiral suction down towards the ground. This phenomenon, that was later discovered during research is seemingly dependent on the magnetic field of the earth together with the direction of the earth’s rotation.
A further particular experience was and still is, that the more that the muscles and joints are relaxed, the greater the feeling of balance. With OSFLOW a subjective force can be experienced that is directed inwards to the body centre as in a spiral motion. Now we had actually developed a machine which heightens the subjective “feeling of skeletal connection”, as well as the stability and feeling of lightness of the body. In addition to daily personal training, self-testing and experience collection, we made the prototype available to the course participants during the tai chi seminars at the Scola training academy. In this way our own test results were repeatedly confirmed by the many tai chi practitioners, sport teachers and physiotherapists.
The particular and decisive response that most strongly influenced the future of OSFLOW, came however from our immediate circle of relatives, neighbors and friends, who in fact had no knowledge of tai chi and it’s principles. Among them were also people with typical complaints like muscle and joint pain, balance problems, spine problems etc. More and more frequently comments came like: “Could it be that the pain has gone because of OSFLOW? I feel much better and more relaxed…better balance… lighter… more flexible…!”
We used these experiences and responses as a reason to present OSFLOW for the first time to a wider public at a regional trade fair. The feedback from lots of people, who, in very little time and without any previous experience of tai chi, became aware of the “feeling of skeletal connection” known to us, in addition to the seemingly opposing feelings of lightness and stability, created a lasting impression. The majority of those who tested OSFLOW at this fair, had a positive reaction.The totally positive result of the fair gave us the green light to go into production. By us, I mean myself and Thomas Hübner, whose company had built the OSFLOW up until then and continued to do so in the future.
Since the start of production, now at the end of 2009 a further 3 1⁄2 years have gone by with many positive reviews from users, therapists, doctors and clinics in Germany and in the meantime also in Switzerland and Austria.
What is most important for me as inventor of OSFLOW, is that OSFLOW allows a wide range of people at least physically to become centered, in order to find their natural posture and to detect their hidden resources and potential. Modern brain research reconfirms every day, how body, brain, spirit and soul are working together, influencing each other and are inseparably linked with each other via so called neural networks. By regularly experiencing a centralized body using OSFLOW-training, everyone has, even without knowledge of tai chi, the possibility to develop and strengthen their own internal balance, and self-awareness, as well as their self- confidence, in order to expound their natural occurring internal strengths.
The OSFLOW appliance is no “heal all” and is also not a medical appliance. It can be used though, in our hectic world, which is characterized by many distracting influences, to recenter us, to a place of peace and strength, to achieve a clear view and secure feeling for the really important things in life!I wish you every pleasure and success with OSFLOW and finding your center!
Kindest regards, your Jürgen Lütke-Wenning Lehrtrainer für inneres Taijiquan Physiotherapeut, Erfinder des OSFLOW