he popularity of Cardio-Karate and Cardio Kickboxing hasincreased tremendously with the introduction of various fitness programs offered to the public by world renowned martial artists Joe Lewis and Billy Blanks, whose 'TaeBo' has been sweeping the nation. These classes take the music and high energy excitement of aerobics and combine it with the kicks, punches, elbow and knee strikes of the martial arts. The increased popularity is primarily due to expedient results. Cardio Kickboxing burns 800 to 1,000 calories per hour compared to an average aerobic class, which burns 300 to 400 calories per hour. Additionally, Cardio-Karate students also feel more confident since they are learning proven AVK Karate self defense techniques.

This phenomenon has hit full stride and shows no signs of abating. Across the country, you can find classes ranging from full contact kickboxing for black belts down to introductory classes on technique, as well as variations for the aerobically minded, such as the Cardio-Karate classes offered by our staff. Classes teach the kicks, punches and combinations used in martial arts and boxing, together with effective sports conditioning drills to improve agility, quickness, overall endurance and cardiovascular fitness. Class formats, safety, and instructional techniques will be demonstrated to create an invigorating and dynamic cross training workout. Our Cardio-Karate program places a high value on safety, focusing on the basics. For example, participants need to learn how to stand, make a fist, punch and kick before they ever attempt to hit focus pads or the heavy bag. Workouts include warmup stretching, calisthenics, kicks, punches, pushups, and cooldown stretching. Cardio-Karate provides a full body work out, emphasizing lower body balance and power, upper body strength and abs. Cardio-Karate is essentially a sped-up version of AVK Karate set to high energy music. These classes makes for an ideal cardio-crosstraining activity that can give a student the physical shape they've always wanted.