LIHUE – In a quaint but busy room at Wilcox Elementary, the modern woman is, yet again, being refined. This woman is not only active, she’s powerful. She’s not just independent, she’s confident. She can still defend herself, but now
LIHUE – In a quaint but busy room at Wilcox Elementary, the modern woman is, yet again, being refined.
This woman is not only active, she’s powerful. She’s not just independent, she’s confident. She can still defend herself, but now she can kick some serious tail.
Every Thursday, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., third-degree black belt and martial arts expert Patrick Cortez is creating the woman kickboxer, a new brand of female who is tired of Tae Bo air-boxing and Richard Simmons work-out tapes.
These girls don’t just want a fun way to exercise, they want to hit something.
“What’s unique about my program is that it not only involves aerobic conditioning combined with self defense, these girls get to hit something,” said Cortez, who gets help from his 16-year old son and martial arts protege Kris in teaching the once-a-week class. “Of course, they don’t hit each other. They only spar with us.”
From the first to last minute of the one hour session, the girls train in all aspects of kick boxing, using heavy equipment and instructional methods. Cortez puts every type of equipment in the room to use, from heavy bags to reaction balls to ripchords. The class begins promptly and evolves into a fury of drills which keeps the girls constantly active. Every drill follows another drill, each one of them fast paced and technique oriented. Student kickboxers are not only pumping up their heart rate, they’re learning fighting techniques that may help them in their daily lives.
“They enjoy this type of workout,” said Cortez. “It’s a perfect place for the girls to stay fit and get out the aggression that surrounds their daily lives.”
Cortez’ students couldn’t agree more.
“I always wanted to do something like this,” said 18-year old Kayla, who saw an advertisement for the class in the newspaper and is thankful she gave it a try. “I like the energy in the class, all of the girls love it, and along with conditioning we get to learn about self-defense in the process.”
“Self-defense is important for every woman,” said Desiree Fleming, another member of the class.
But Fleming says that self-defense is not the only aspect of the class that’s appealing.
“It’s informal, people welcome you in the program. Really, it’s all about having fun.”
Cortez says he started the class only because he enjoys providing a noble service to the girls he teaches. He charges each member just $8 per month, and normally harbors up to 15 students per class.
Although he says the class is nearing its maximum capacity, Cortez urges anyone who wants to give kickboxing a try to call him at 651-0336.
