Fitness Kickboxing: Nyack’s physical conditioning secret

BY MICHAEL RICONDA

Nyack is a village which is no stranger to fitness establishments, but for almost three years, Fitness Kickboxing on Hudson Avenue has been one of Nyack’s hidden gems.

Founded in 2011 by owner Amir el Amir, Fitness Kickboxing has served as the only kickboxing location in a local fitness community dominated by yoga and crossfit studios. Though personal fitness is the main focus, a big part of the self-improvement Amir hopes to encourage comes from breaking away from excuses and negative focuses through martial arts trainng, repetition and constant physical conditioning.

“In the martial arts aspect there’s a lot of discipline,” Amir stated in an interview with the Rockland County Times. “It’s just the discipline of bypassing the story you tell yourself on how you can’t achieve something.”

Classes at Fitness Kickboxing follow a standard but flexible format of warm-ups which ease into work with focus mitts and bags. Stretching and flooor exercises are commonly incorporated before a final four minute drill.

In spite of its fitness focus, Fitness Kickboxing is still a martial arts studio. The teaching style reflects Amir’s stated focus on “mind, body, and spirit,” with a strong emphasis on fortitude and determination, but fun is by no means forgotten and classes are meant to be open and welcome to adults of various ages and fitness levels.

“Eighteen to 62 is the age range we have in the studio,” Amir said. “There is no set image of an individual who comes in here.”

Aside from regular fitness kickboxing, classes which incorporate both yoga and kickboxing into a single routine are also available. Members are also encouraged to be active outside the classes by taking part in charity runs or high-intensity obstacle courses such as the Spartan Race.

The studio is also involved in its own charitable work in the local community. They have participated in programs with the Red Cross, fundraising for improvements to the Memorial Park playground and have held workout sessions for children at Jawonio.