...Tae Bo kicks butt!

What is Tae Bo?

When I used to work in the Yonge & Eglinton area, my boss introduced me to a local fitness studio which was then called the Toronto Tae Bo Centre. The classes were led by a certified Tae Bo trainer, Chantal Craig-Bisson. She is the wife of Yannick Bisson, an actor who currently stars on the TV crime drama series Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye as Jack Hudson.

I'd seen the corny Tae Bo infomercials and thought it was yet another hokey Hollywood fitness craze like that of Yoga, Pilates, and Cardio Striptease. Anyhow, I started taking the classes in June 2001 and was surprised to find myself hooked! Since the Fall of 2002, the gym became Studio 4 Fitness and no longer offers Tae Bo classes, although they do have something similar. I stopped attending by December 2002 because when it comes to Tae Bo, I'm a purist. I want the REAL thing!

My pursuit of the REAL thing reached it's pinnacle during my June 2002 California vacation. My cousin, Selena, lives in Pasadena with her husband Rob and I wanted to visit them. She asked me what I felt like doing while I was there. Having never visited L.A., there were plenty of novel ideas floating in my head...go to a taping of The Price is Right and meet Bob Barker; go to Disneyland and meet Mickey Mouse;...go to the Billy Blanks World Training Centre and meet Billy Blanks!!!


Shamelessly starstruck by fitness guru Billy Blanks at
The Billy Blanks World Training Centre in Sherman Oaks, California.
(Photos taken by Selena: June 22, 2002)

HURRAY, I MET BILLY BLANKS!

There's an embarassing story behind the above photos. Selena and I had just finished a one hour class that began at 7:30am. The class was so tightly packed that if you missed a step, punch, or kick you were liable to get stepped, punched and kicked! So when the class finished at 8:30am, it was a zoo - crowded and noisy. When I asked Billy if I could have a photo taken with him, he was kind enough to accept. He even helped suggest different ways we could pose together while Selena took the photos.

For the photo on the left, Billy held out his arms and shouted his suggestion, "*#&@!".

So jump on him I did! But he didn't catch me...

"Kick! I said kick!", he exclaimed.

Yikes! That's not what I thought I heard! Too bad Selena didn't catch a photo of me JUMPING on Billy Blanks! This was DEFINITELY one of my most embarassing moments! Needless to say, I think I frightened Billy because for our second photo he decided he would just stand beside me.

***sigh*** Atleast he had his thumb UP and not DOWN!

By the way, my super-cousin Selena, took me to Disneyland AND got tickets to the Price is Right as well! Unfortunately, the CBS studio was full by the time we arrived in the morning (5am? 6am?). Can you believe that? So with great disappointment...we went SHOPPING on Melrose!!!

See the rest of the photos from my 2002 California vacation.