Body Combat: A Fitness Phenomenon

As part of a fitness regime, I take a group exercise class called "Body Combat." It is a part of a group of classes choreographed, produced and distributed by the international fitness company Les Mills. These classes have grown in popularity over the past decade and are offered at most upscale gyms. 

Body Combat is the empowering cardio workout where participants are taught a range of martial arts moves. This fiercely energetic program draws from a wide array of disciplines such as karate, boxing, taekwondo, tai chi and muay thai. Some of the moves are extremely violent in nature, such as the muay thai move called "kradot chok" or the cobra punch. In this move, the participant is in a deep sideways lunge and must pull their opposite arm up and back and punch downward forcefully. Whenever this move is done in class, the instructor always says in muay thai, the move is used with the intention of knocking someone out and then crushing their skull!

It occurred to me in this class today that these moves are, indeed, potentially violent if they were to be used in combat. But for me, I only inflict violence (unintentionally!) if someone is standing too close to me in class and I kick them...oops.

Here's a clip of the muay thai move, although these instructors aren't giving it 100%!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnrzMNUDSpw