January 2004

In an ideal world, we would enjoy the things that are good for us. Brussel sprouts would taste like candy, doing the laundry would be the focal point of an exciting evening, and exercise would just be fun. There's not much we can do to improve the veggies or the dirty socks. However, there's something new that makes exercise and athletic training enjoyable as opposed to a chore -- the Makoto.

Makoto is an interactive fitness system which is deceptively simple but has a myriad of uses. The steel arena structure has three towers and a computerized control box. The Makoto user is cued by light and sound to hit a square box on one of the towers within a specified amount of time, and then to quickly move on to the next cued box -- the control box keeps tack of each player's accuracy, as well as how quickly the player responds. Beginners may start out at Level One for one-minute long sessions, but over time they will likely want to increase both the difficulty level as well as the length of their workouts.

I had the opportunity to test out the Makoto this fall, and found out that it provides a unique workout. I felt like I was in the middle of a live video game, waiting for the light and tone to show me my next target, and trying to reach it in the allotted time. The one-minute workouts were intense, but short enough so that it was reasonably easy to keep my focus as I was hitting my targets with a pole in Samurai fashion. Then I tried the four-minute workout -- as that progressed, my focus shifted to what it's like when I'm running a distance race; not as intense moment-to-moment, but more settled in for the long haul. At the end of the sessions, when the lights went out and the tones stopped ringing, I definitely knew that I had been exercising.

Such workouts have a multitude of benefits. Almost anyone can benefit from aerobic exercise, and Makoto provides an aerobic routine that can be customized for any fitness level. Rehabilitation centers such as that at the NYU/Cornell Medical Center use Makoto for stroke victims and have found that the hand-eye coordination and simultaneous workout of the mind and body actually increase neurons and improve the neurological achievement of patients who use Makoto regularly. More recently, the sports world is discovering that Makoto is a cutting edge tool in the never-ending quest to gain a competitive edge over the competition.

Athletes in a variety of sports have come to appreciate the benefits of Makoto workouts. Race car driver Melissa D'Orso credits Makoto with sharpening her reaction time. Basketball star Carmelo Anthony finds that Makoto, "really helps with [his] focus and concentration." And Rich Tuten, the strength and conditioning coach for the Denver Broncos, comments that, "The players see it more as a game and, as a result, they actually enjoy Makoto training."

Dave Shaw, the CEO of Makoto USA, Inc., explains that professional sports teams such as the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche are using Makoto as a valuable tool in the area of mind training. As Shaw enumerates, the benefits of mind training include improved hand-eye coordination; better peripheral vision; increased focus; and quicker reaction time. Perhaps most intriguing, from a sports perspective, is how mind training helps to develop better first step speed, which is the initial ability to get somewhere. "All sports, particularly baseball, are won or lost in a matter of a fraction of a second," says Shaw. "It's the advantage that everyone is looking for, which is an advantage over every other athlete on the field."

Such sentiments are echoed by Ryan Lotito, who has experience both in sports training as well as in playing professional baseball. Lotito has been involved in organized baseball since he was old enough to play Little League, and he played professionally for the Elmira Pioneers in the independent Northern League. Lotito's business partner, Paul Stabile, also has professional baseball experience -- Stabile played minor league baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, and even participated in the 1998 South Atlantic League All Star game. Lotito and Stabile have developed a program called Chasing the Dream, which is designed to improve endurance, flexibility, speed, power and agility in young athletes, as well as strengthening their minds. Additionally, the duo is managing a new athletic development facility in Spotswood, New Jersey called American Way Sports. With such a background in playing and in sports training, Lotito is in an ideal position to evaluate Makoto's suitability for baseball training, and he feels positively enough about it to acquire a unit for American Way Sports. "I personally think that Makoto is a great piece of equipment," says Lotito. "It provides a break from traditional exercise that keeps you focused, provides stress reduction, and is fun. Most important, though, is how Makoto helps develop first step speed and hand-eye coordination -- these are essential aspects of professional baseball training."

During the offseason, while baseball trainers and strength and conditioning coaches are investigating the latest developments in sports performance training, many of them will be testing out the Makoto. It is likely that, come this spring, many baseball teams will be using Makoto as a physical and mental training tool. At the same time, Makoto is becoming a feature in a variety of other settings such as rehabilitation centers, health clubs, corporate leadership conferences and retreats, and even amusement facilities. Thus, sports fans are in a position to check out and evaluate cutting edge performance technology as it is making it's mark in the world of sports. Whether you're interested in improving your hand-eye coordination, sharpening your focus or simply having some fun during an aerobic exercise routine, remember that when you're working out with the Makoto, you're training the same way as many of your favorite players train, or will be in the near future.