Mike (on the left) training with Os (on the right)
Titan Fitness & Martial Arts is proud to announce the addition of Osahon Omo-Osagie (“Os”) and Michael Kowalski. Os will be overseeing the Boxing II while Mike will be running the Boxing I class during the summer semester slated to begin May 17, 2010. The boxing program will be overseen by Head Boxing Instructor and Penn State Boxing Coach, Dave Vacco. Both instructors have ties to Penn State Boxing, one as an assistant coach, the other as a competitor. We invite you to review their bios at the following links.
Two Penn State boxers earned All-American status at the NCBA National Championships at West Point this past weekend. Long-time Titan members, AJ Williams (165 lbs.) and Jay Petraitis (175 lbs.) both advanced to the semi-finals of their respective weight classes to become All-Americans. We at Titan Fitness & Martial Arts would like to congratulate the fighters. Additionally, kudos must go out to Penn State boxing coach and Titan Boxing instructor, Dave Vacco, in guiding his fighters to such an excellent season and result at Nationals that also included two other national qualifiers, Matt Roy and Justin Portal.
Dave Vacco is the head boxing instructor and the Boxing I instructor at Titan Fitness & Martial Arts. He also coaches the Penn State Boxing Team. Dave became involved with boxing as a student at Titan Fitness & Martial Arts five years ago. Since then, Dave has several years of experience competing as an amateur boxer under coaches John Robertson and Tommy Wilt, out of Altoona Boxing Club. Dave has also learned from Walter Kravitsky, Steve Bumbaco, and Walter Blake.
As a boxing coach, Dave has coached dozens of competitive boxers in hundreds of bouts, including four All-Americans, seven NCBA national qualifiers, and one national runner-up. In the 2009-2010 season, Penn State Boxers had 52 fights.
Dave has a life-long love of the sweet science. He teaches the “Boxer-mover” style, which involves slick footwork, out-fighting, and counter-punching. Dave treats boxing as a chess match, teaching his boxers to strategize and out-smart their opponents. The Boxer-mover, commonly called the “European Style,” or “in-and-out” style, is the most successful style on the international boxing scene, most notably utilized by the Cuban National Boxing Team. By taking advantage of the scoring system of amateur boxing, the boxer-mover style teaches a boxer to score and get out, building up points and out-hussling opponents. Dave learned this style from a former member of the Russian Olympic Boxing Team.
Dave also teaches aspects of “pressure-style” boxing, which involves relentless forward movement, head-movement, and attacking combinations. Commonly this style involves steady hussle, trapping opponents on the ropes or in the corner. This is the style Dave’s coach, Tommy Wilt, used to win 6 open-class golden glove state championships, competing on the U.S. National Team, and gaining a 21-7 professional record. Dave’s boxers have the pressure-style in their toolbox, allowing them to “switch gears” when the time is right.
Titan Fitness would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our advanced boxing instructor, Dr. Dave Vacco, on the successful defense of his Ph.D. thesis. The good doctor sealed the deal Monday, March 9 in front of a committee from Department of Geosciences in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Dave’s field of interest is analytical and numerical modeling of glaciers, ice sheets, and related surface processes. Congratulations and all the best in your future, DOCTOR Dave.
For the first time in 12 years, boxing returns to Penn State.On Saturday, February 28, the Penn State Boxing team will host the Penn State Boxing Invitational, “Showdown in the Valley”.The event will take place at the White Building on the Penn State campus.First bell is set for 6 pm with the 13 to 15 fights set to last until 9 pm.Tickets are an affordable $6 for adults and $4 for students (ID is required).Schools from all over the East Coast will be competing in what is sure to be an exciting evening of boxing action. We encourage all of your to bring your friends and attend this great event. Help Penn State Boxing in its re-emergence onto the Penn State sports landscape for many years to come.
Titan Fitness is honored to serve as the principle sponsor for this event. The State College Martial Arts Academy (the predecessor to Titan Fitness) was a large supporter of Penn State Boxing back in the 1990s. Titan Fitness is proud to resume this relationship with Penn State Boxing.
Titan Fitness has several connections to the Penn State Boxing team in that a number of the fighters that will be showcased at the February 28 event got their starts in boxing at Titan Fitness. The relationship between the two organizations goes even further. Dave Vacco started boxing at Titan Fitness three and a half years ago. In that period of time, he competed in a number of amateur boxing events, took over as the instructor of the intermediate boxing program at Titan, and was added to the Penn State Boxing coaching staff for the 2008-09 season. The improvement of the Boxing II program at Titan Fitness and the continued development of the Penn State Boxing program is a tribute to Dave’s commitment to the sport of boxing. We at Titan Fitness feel fortunate to have him as a member of our boxing staff and wish Dave and his team all the best at the Penn State Boxing Invitational and further into the season as they pursue regional and national championships.
