Girls with Gloves
CARDIO KICKBOXING TAKES CONTROL

By Bylle Dopps

Girls are gloving up, to take on each other as well as men with the latest workout craze. But, while you are punching, kicking and striking your way to a better you, there is a war raging between fitness and martial arts professionals to keep you safe.

With no final authority on the subject, and no definite requirement for many instructors, some health club owners and members often are misled by self-promoting instructors who can injure you and misrepresent the facility, the exercise and the sport of kickboxing.

Kickboxing ... Craze or Chaos?

Billy Blanks, creator of the Tae-Bo® workout, gives all glory to his Christian faith for his phenomenal success while some fitness experts should praise Blanks for their own. Tae-Bo has pushed group fitness full speed into one of the most popular, yet controversial, subjects ever witnessed by fitness professionals. It is the subject of monitoring and new safety guidelines in overflowing fitness classes.

As the public watched Blank's inspiring leadership move sedentary people to their feet, Tae-Bo quickly became a household name and health clubs witnessed an explosion in customer demand. As more and more videos were sold, the number of loyal Tae-Bo junkies grew, as did their search for the same emotion they witnessed in their videos. Blank's energy and spirit successfully was captured on tape as he led groups of fanatics kicking and punching to upbeat music. Motivated buyers were rushing to health clubs and martial arts studios in search of a leader like Blanks, thankful for their new inspiration to exercise.

To keep up with the demand for classes, group fitness directors were forced to add classes to their schedules for which they had no trained staff. Health clubs were hiring martial artists to teach these new classes, while martial arts studios were hiring aerobic instructors. Some members began suffering injuries, while others were reaching their weight-loss goals, creating both hype and criticism in one spectrum.

Mike Miles, a pioneer for full-contact kick- boxing in Canada expresses concern about the legitimacy of teachers in most facilities. "Many trainers are using the kickboxing fad for self-promotion, sprouting millions of new claims of 'World Class Kickboxers' who have never seen the inside of a ring," he says.

He also expresses his respect for the honesty displayed by Blanks through his video career. "He has never claimed to be a kickboxer, but yet has used his martial arts career to develop his own approach to fitness and inspire others. He has never misled anyone to believe they were learning self-defense or kickboxing like so many other instructors are doing," states Miles.

Inside the Industry--How The Battle Affects You

To gain a better understanding of this dispute, it is necessary to take a look at who is training the trainers. For instance, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) has been a pioneer in pushing injury prevention in health clubs and is a leading instructor education organization with more than 80,000 certified fitness professionals.

This general certification, and others like it, assists an instructor in job placement by letting directors know that the instructor has a basic understanding of safety and injury prevention. Instructors then are required to take ACE-approved continuing education courses to keep their certification current, all with the intention of keeping you safe.

Providing continuing education has been big business for ACE and other leading organizations, as well as for approved providers since the popularity of fitness kickboxing exploded. Once a person is certified by ACE, they can become providers by submitting two letters of reference with a provider application and biography, paying a provider fee and submitting an outline of the course they plan to present. Approval is determined based on the paperwork, but no video or visual audition is necessary. If approved, they are capable of teaching other instructors and trainers how to teach courses while providing continuing education for ACE. With the issue of fitness kickboxing, and the demand for it, this process is a problem.

When the Tae-Bo infomercial and video library were launched in 1998, ACE had approximately six continuing education programs that offered training in kickboxing. There are now 98 ACE-approved kickboxing courses available all competing for business to train instructors and trainers. These courses can cost an instructor anywhere from $135 to $265 for an 8- to 10-hour session. Since no guidelines have been set by ACE for kickboxing, many of these programs contradict one another in teaching methods. While instructors usually go to more than one for knowledge, training can cost them hundreds of dollars.

"Group fitness was waiting for the next trend," says ACE Spokesperson Lynn Brick. "After step-aerobics, we needed something to excite and motivate us again, but I don't think the health club industry was ready for the huge demand that came with Tae-Bo. Unfortunately, there were not enough quality training programs on kickboxing for instructors to get training and keep up with the member demands for classes. This left many instructors teaching classes with little knowledge about martial arts, and martial artists were teaching with little knowledge of fitness standards and guidelines."

Many instructors agree that backing by ACE and other organizations for these programs can cause a problem because instructors often believe that the course offers accuracy, legitimacy and authority. However, with no visual audition and no specific way to monitor these educators, instructors are being taught highly skilled moves and left to decide for themselves what is safe and what is not, often leaving them confused and bitter about the exercise as a whole.

"ACE has a quality-assurance program to monitor its educators, but not specifically for kickboxing," says Brick, who shows concern that the monitoring rep may not be educated in this activity. "Keeping up with consumer demands may come ahead of safety and prevention in some cases which may be the reason for some injuries."

So, where should instructors turn when they get frustrated with the education they receive? Of course, back to Blank's videos. Many instructors do their best just to copy the moves and then proceed to teach without understanding of weight distribution, foot positioning or target focus. Sometimes they make up their own choreography that doesn't work naturally with realistic forms of fighting--this can cause confusion to members taking these classes.

"Billy is a great performer, but I don't think he has ever offered to be a spokesperson for the fitness industry," says Brick.

Blanks disagrees, and says he is a fitness expert.

Will Kickboxing Stay In Health Clubs?

There may be some confusion now, but the good news is that every effort is being made to keep you safe. Even Blanks is planning to launch an instructor certification that will thoroughly and properly train instructors all over the country.

"There is a definite need for Tae-Bo certification for instructors," says Dan Bower, president of Century Martial Arts, the manufacturer of a line of equipment and clothing carrying the Tae-Bo trademark.

So far, there has not been a Tae-Bo certification, but Blanks recognizes how important and powerful proper education really is, especially for instructors. "A lot of people are trying to do what I do, and that is OK; however, they need to remember that it took me 20 years to get this out. It is crazy to think you can do the same thing overnight," says Blanks.

The International Sports Conditioning Association (ISCA) is designed to promote and improve fitness through safe and effective sports specific programming. Rather than offering one general certification, it offers certifications in specific programs.

"Our mission is to ensure safety for the consumer," says Thomas Trebotich, the developer and creator of the Box Aerobic^sm program, which is offered by the ISCA, also owned by Trebotich. This program has certified more than 25,000 fitness professionals worldwide in boxing and kickboxing and also offers continuing education for other certification organizations. The ISCA is only one of the many associations constructed to deliver educational programs claiming a similar mission.

ACE also will release its first kickboxing education manual in which leading continuing education providers can be listed for a fee. The manual also will contain information for instructors regarding safety and injury prevention guidelines for kickboxing classes with a goal to develop a universal language for instructors to communicate with their classes.

Instructor training for kickboxing currently is a competitive business and somewhat unmanaged, but this is still a great way to exercise as long as you practice awareness. Most classes offer great music, high-energy teachers, stress relieving moves and friendly participants. The best advice seems to be to use your best judgment and listen to your body. Ask questions if you are concerned and do not participate if you have knee or lower-back problems. Most of the best classes encourage a fighter's stance, which is not necessarily a neutral spine position that traditional fitness classes encourage. This can cause a gradual change in posture and eventually have a long-term effect on the connecting nerves.

Since the hips, outer thighs and rotator cuffs often are overworked in this sport, consider participating in no more than three classes per week and cross-training is crucial. Most fitness professionals agree that yoga activities seem to be the best method of cross-training to lengthen the muscles that usually are shortened in kickboxing classes.

If you are a cardio-kickboxing fanatic, you may be relieved to know that this craze isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and it is the goal of most professionals to have a consistent, universal system of guidelines and movement for your protection and their own.

Bylle Dopps is a former program presenter and continuing educator for the American Council on Exercise and the Aerobics Fitness Association of America. Dopps' KickFit® Kickboxing program, developed in 1995, has certified more than 4,000 instructors and martial artists worldwide. She has made numerous video, magazine and television appearances on fitness-related subjects. Bylle also was the former associate publisher of SunWellness.