"Kickboxing" -- more than just a workout, self defense, self defense, self defense.

Kickboxing is a popular group fitness workout class that more and more men and women are discovering. Kickboxing, usually set to music, is an all over resistance and cardio exercise class that is fun and exciting. In Traverse City, members of the Seung-ni Kickboxing Gym, located on 3 Mile Road, attend kickboxing classes at 5:30am, 9:30am, after work and on the weekends -- 7 days a week. Most kickboxers begin training for the well known health and fitness benefits. But, kickboxing offers a tremendous amount of self defense benefits as well:

1. Powerful Kicks - Legs are the strongest part of the body and give a person the greatest reach. Kicks are great for keeping an attacker beyond arms reach. And, kickboxers learn specific pressure points or weak spots on the body to target for maximum damage. Using the heel, the instep, the ball of the foot and the shin...kickboxing students develop a number of different weapons they can employ if needed in a self defense setting.

2. Strong Technical Punches - Jabs, crosses, hooks and uppercuts when developed properly with great form can have significant stopping power against a would be attacker or rapist. Kickboxing reinforces habits of rotating the hips for optimal power and where to strike with the hand for safety and significant impact. Doing these punches and combos literally thousands of times not only results in sculpted muscles and chiseled abs but also provides the kickboxing student with tools that they can count on in the street.

3. Elbows and Knees - When the fight goes inside, then a kickboxer will switch automatically to short range durable weapons like knees and elbow strikes. Elbows to the jaw, nose and ribs and knee strikes to the groin, abdomen and face are real game changers in the realm of self defense. In a kickboxing class partners use hand mitts to simulate body parts so that aim and precision become secondary.

4. Strong - Kickboxing makes you strong. Muscular endurance and a cardio engine that is use to going full out for an hour long kickboxing class makes kickboxers uniquely adept at being able to mount and continue offensive striking in a self defense situation for minutes or as long as necessary.

5. Defense - Kickboxing classes are great for learn kicks and punches. But at the Seung-ni kickboxing gym, clients also learn how to duck, slip, block and use footwork to be elusive. Just not learning how to hit but also learning how not to get hit and how to absorb strikes is a key element of the class. With real black belt martial artist instructors teaching the kickboxing class - Seung-ni members have the advantage of superior training.

Kickboxing is fun. Kickboxing does have develop a strong physique. Kickboxing makes fitness exciting and totally unlike the boring treadmill and weight machine alternative you get at most gyms. But, Kickboxing's secret advantage is that it also makes you self defense strong!!!