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Oct. 11, 1999
Blanks kicks up fuss with fitness craze
By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY
SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. - "Knee! Knee! Kick! Punch!" fitness fireball Billy Blanks shouts over fast-paced, deafening music as he demonstrates moves before a class packed with 100 sweat-drenched exercisers.
With his shaved head and sculpted body, Blanks, 44, is the self-anointed leader of one of the hottest fitness movements around: Tae-Bo, a hybrid of karate, boxing and aerobic dance.
He's charismatic, driving, with off-the-charts energy. He preaches self-improvement through hard work and determination. He revs up viewers of his exercise videos with chants of "Come on! Come on!"
And during the class here at his World Training Center, the 6-foot, 185-pound Blanks hops off a raised platform and moves among his disciples, getting in their faces and encouraging them to push, push, be better, always better.
His intense program, which includes lots of kicks, punches and jabs toward an imaginary opponent, has won celebrity converts such as Brooke Shields, Carmen Electra and Magic Johnson. And he has sold millions of Tae-Bo videos with his ubiquitous TV infomercials. But his program also has drawn critics concerned about the risk of injuries.
And though he insists his workout is unique, national fitness experts say it is very similar to workouts known as kickboxing, cardio-kickboxing or box aerobics, which are being taught at two-thirds of U.S. fitness centers. Some of the biggest names in the fitness field, such as Kathy Smith and Denise Austin, also have martial-arts-inspired exercise videos.
Still, Blanks is the highest-profile personality in the movement. His career is now hotter than his one-hour workout:
Sitting in his cramped office after class, Blanks is often philosophical and occasionally defensive, especially when asked questions about the safety of his program.
A devout Christian, he has two Bibles on his desk, and quotations from the Bible including "Faith without works is dead" are painted on the wall of his largest exercise room.
Blanks sees Tae-Bo as his mission in life, his way of reaching out and helping others. He says it increases people's aerobic and muscle endurance, balance, flexibility and body control. And as they master the program, he says, it builds their self-image. "If you do something you never thought you could do, it gives you confidence."
Where traditional aerobics appeals mainly to women, his workout also attracts men. "Every guy deep down wants to be a boxer. He can come in and pretend he's doing boxing or karate," he says. For women, "it is martial arts in a fun way."
Blanks knows how accomplishing a challenging feat can change a life. Born in Erie, Pa., he was the fourth of 15 children. His father worked in a steel foundry during the day and drove a garbage truck at night, he says. His mother was a homemaker.
He says his parents raised him with love and discipline. "Not a day goes by that I don't recall my father telling me, 'Billy, you have to work hard for everything.' "
As a child, Blanks says he had undiagnosed dyslexia. He also had short, tight tendons and a limited range of motion and flexibility, he says. "I was so uncoordinated that I literally could not walk and chew gum at the same time."
When he was 12, he saw martial-arts great Bruce Lee in the TV series The Green Hornet, and Blanks decided he wanted to be a world martial-arts champion. By age 16, he had earned a black belt in karate and went on to a spot on the U.S. karate team, becoming the captain in 1980. He competed in numerous national and world championships and won several titles.
He says it was in 1976 in the basement of his home that he began developing what he eventually named Tae-Bo. His wife, Gayle, gave him the Rocky soundtrack, and he started kicking, punching, dancing to the music. Blanks began offering some classes, first in Erie, then in Boston.
In 1989, he worked as a bodyguard for actress Catherine Bach while she was filming Bloodfist. (He also got a part in the movie and has since had roles in 28 films.) She told him, "I think you could do really well in California."
He moved to the Los Angeles area, first opening a studio down the street from here, then moving to his current location. Blanks comes to his fitness center every day except Sunday, when he goes to church, and Tuesday night, when he's at Bible study. On a typical day last week, he taught four intense Tae-Bo classes and two karate classes and conducted personal training sessions with four clients.
Celebrities come and go, but no one makes a fuss over them. In fact, Blanks remembers during one class he was encouraging a woman, "Come on, girl! It looks like you have a good body. Next time I want to see you really work out!" It was only later that he found out he had been talking to actress Angela Bassett.
Despite the rigors of the program, his clients are devoted. Stacy Aldrich , 33, a four-year veteran of Tae-Bo, says, "I feel like I'm training for the Olympics."
Blanks agrees it's tough. "Anything that is easy is no good."
Although exercise researchers know of no scientific study that analyzes the safety of Tae-Bo in particular or kickboxing in general, some experts have raised concerns.
"There is some risk of injury to the back, knees, hips, ankles, elbows, shoulders, any one of the joints that are really active - especially if you don't perform the moves correctly," says Richard Cotton, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise (ACE), a non-profit group that promotes safe exercise. "It's best to learn the moves progressively with the guidance of a good instructor." The problem with doing videos is no one is there to correct you, he says.
Hollywood trainer Keli Roberts, who appears in a Kathy Smith kickboxing video, has attended Blanks' classes. Although she thinks he's a motivating instructor, she believes that his classes include too many repetitions of moves and that the pace is too fast.
You can really hurt yourself with kickboxing, she says. "It's very explosive, fast, and has many large-range-of-motion movements. There is a danger with people doing too much too soon because their ligaments and joints aren't prepared."
Responds Blanks: "Tae-Bo is not dangerous if you have an instructor teaching you proper technique."
Blanks is accustomed to defending his workout and his reputation. He has been accused of inflating his résumé. A former manager charged that he won only two world karate championship competitions, not the seven his résumé claims.
Blanks says that is a matter of defining what constitutes a world title. Several groups sponsor world competitions, and Blanks says he won seven different world competitions and 10 national competitions. "He won the national Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) karate championships many times," says Joe Mirza, chairman of karate for AAU. "He was practically unbeatable. I think he's about the best athlete I've ever seen."
For Blanks, Tae-Bo is a family affair. His wife is his partner. His daughter, Shellie, is an instructor here, stars in his videos and was photographed doing exercises for his book. Son Billy Jr. also teaches Tae-Bo.
His success has earned him a 4,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style house in West Hills and a Hummer. He gives generously to his church and has set up scholarships and a foundation for women and children, he says. Blanks says he's not trying to impress anyone. "All I do is to help other people." And his way of helping others is to teach them Tae-Bo. "I'll do this until the day I die." |
