Even though we are still in the throes of winter, Centre Region Parks and Recreation (CRPR) has released the dates and started registration for the youth martial arts summer camps.  Titan Fitness & Martial Arts and CRPR are proud to have partnered in offering our Youth Martial Arts & Culture Camp since 2005.

The camps give area children an introduction to the martial arts that we teach and some history from the countries of origin of these exciting martial arts.  The martial arts include Jeet Kune Do from China, Kali from the Philippines, and Muay Thai from Thailand.

Each camp meets from Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 11 AM at a cost of only $60 for residents and $90 for non-residents.  The camps take place at our new location, 127 Sowers Street (Lionheart Fitness).  For more information on registration through CRPR, go to the following link:

http://crpr.org/programs/Summer/Camps/Camps2010.html

We invite you to join us for what will be a fun and rewarding experience for your child.

Jordan Katz (on left) and Corey Tilghman in Fight Preparation

Titan Fitness & Martial Arts Thai Boxing students, Jordan Katz and Corey Tilghman, will be competing at a United States Kickboxing Allience (U.S.K.A.) sanctioned event at the Hamburg Field House in Hamburg, PA this Saturday night, October 10.  This event will include kickboxers and Thai boxers from schools on the East Coast.

Katz is competing in his second Thai fight.  He was successful in first bout this past summer posting a TKO in the third round.  Tilghman will be making his Thai boxing debut.

If you are interested in supporting these fighters, contact the gym at 814/235-1015 or via email at info@titanfitness.com for directions to the fights.  Travel time is only a little over two hours.  We at Titan wish Jordan and Corey all the best in tomorrow evening’s fights.

Titan Fitness, located in downtown State College, sent four of their amateur Muay Thai athletes to fight in Philadelphia at the renowned “Evolved Fighting” Thai Boxing event.  Steve Mayzack, Jay Kearns, Mike Putnam, and Tyler Higgins fought some tough competition against opponents from Boston, Philadelphia, and Reading.  Collectively the fighter’s, who have been training with Bruce Lombard at Titan for less than one year, had an impressive showing going 2-1-1.

Mayzack, Putnam, and Kearns are all Penn State University students, as Tyler Higgins is a college student at Lock Haven University.

Titan Fitness offers a FREE lesson to any woman in the State College, Penn State University, and Central PA Region interested in getting an introduction to real kickboxing and self-defense.  Titan wants to allow all potential students to get exposed to the kickboxing art, training facility, and instructor before they make a decision on participating for an extended period of time in the popular class.

Titan Fitness has been teaching women’s kickboxing for over a decade and has proudly empowered over a thousand women to better understand how to defend themselves!  The class not only teaches self-defense techniques in a kickboxing format, but also, provides an alternative and unique workout to rapidly develop cardiovascular and muscle endurance.

Free Lessons are offered throughout the year for all classes offered at Titan Fitness!!  Please call to sign up for this free opportunity before you change your mind and possible regret it later!!  You have nothing to lose, much to gain!!

Contact Titan Fitness at (814) 235-1015 or email, info@titanfitness.com to sign up for your FREE Lesson.

Titan Fitness & Martial Arts is proud to announce its new schedule for the Fall 2009 semester.  The fall schedule goes into effect on Monday, August 24 for existing students with beginning classes to start the week of August 31.

Introductory free lessons for new students will get underway during the week of August 17 and will continue throughout the months of August, September, and into the early part of October.  Free lessons can be scheduled by calling the gym at 814/235-1015 or emailing us at info@titanfitness.com.

The following is a list of changes that have been made to the Fall 2009 schedule.

1.  The youth martial arts classes will meet from 6 PM to 7 PM on Mondays and Wednesdays starting on Wednesday, September 9.

2.  An intermediate mixed martial arts class will meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:00 and will serve as a preparatory class for the advanced mixed martial arts.  All students who have completed the beginners MMA and Thai boxing beginners class qualify for this section.

3.  Speaking of the advanced MMA class, it will move to the Monday and Wednesday 4:30 to 6 PM time slot to accommodate the new youth class schedule.

4.  There will not be a no-gi grappling program due to the fact that we are including the grappling into all sections of the mixed martial arts programs.

5.  Due to the exclusion of the no-gi grappling class, the vacated time slot is now being made available for sororities to have their own sections for women’s kickboxing.  Special rates will be available on a per student basis for the sorority women’s kickboxing.  Interested sororities should contact us as soon as possible as these slots are limited.

6.  The Filipino martial arts class will be moved to 5 PM to 6:30 PM.

The present women’s kickboxing and boxing sections will remain the same for the fall semester.

To see the fall schedule, click here.

If you have questions about the new schedule, call or email us.  We look forward to a great fall semester will our new and present students.  Enjoy the rest of the summer.  See you all very soon.

Titan Fitness & Martial Arts Thai boxing student Jordan Katz won his first fight at a United States Kickboxing Alliance (U.S.K.A.) event held in Hamburg, PA at the Hamburg Field House on July 25, 2009.  Jordan dominated the action for the three rounds leading up to a third round TKO.  We encourage you to watch the youtube video of Jordan’s fight.  We at Titan Fitness & Martial Arts congratulate Jordan on a great effort and victory in his inaugural bout.

After much hard work, two Titan Fitness members are ready to fight in their first matches.  Shawn Slater, 24, and Jordan Katz, 21, are competing in a Muay Thai fight on Saturday, July 25 at the Hamburg Field House, where they will see if all their training and hard work has paid off.

Slater, originally from State College, Pa., graduated from Penn State in 2007 with a  degree in Crime, Law and Justice.  He’s been training at Titan Fitness since January of 2007.

Katz is currently a Penn State student from Monroeville, Pa. majoring in Information Science and Technology.  

Thai boxing, or Muay Thai, differs from traditional western boxing by allowing eight points of contact; the hands, elbows, knees and shins are used in Thai boxing, compared to just fists in western boxing.

To get ready for his upcoming fight, Slater has upped the intensity of his workouts, and has added extra workouts twice a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays for about the past two months.  During training, Slater likes to see how far he can push himself mentally and physically.

“I’m confident in my abilities, (but) this is my first fight so I don’t completely know what to expect… I’ll do my best,” Slater said.   “When I’m sparring hard, I try to think about nothing and use the openings my opponent gives me.”

Katz also said that “ideally nothing” will be going through his head during the fight.  “Hopefully I will have drilled and sparred enough times that I will just react,” Katz said.

Katz, who’s been training at Titan Fitness for almost a year, has been training between eight to ten times a week for the upcoming match, compared to usually having only three Thai workouts a week when he’s not preparing for a fight.

“I enjoy being part of a sport again; I haven’t had that since high school… Mostly, I enjoy the nature of the sport. It’s one on one, there are no assists.  You’re either to blame or to congratulate, its all on you,” Katz said.  “Knowing that I am prepared is all the confidence that I’ll need.”

Despite their confidence, neither Katz not Slater know much about their opponents, both of who are also facing their first fight. 

Slater is already looking ahead in his career, hoping to have more Muay Thai fights and eventually start competing in mixed martial arts after more training.  Throughout his training at Titan Fitness, he’s said he has had great experience with both Bruce Lombard, martial arts director, and Paul Zelinka, who created lifting and conditioning routines for Slater, as well as being knowledgeable with nutrition.

While training in Muay Thai, Katz is also in Titan Fitness’ Elite Training and said being a part of Titan Fitness has been a great experience and recommends it to anyone interested in martial arts.

When he’s not training, Slater enjoys watching successful fighters John Wayne Parr in Muay Thai fights and Sean Sherk in mixed martial arts events.

Kevin Chan, a member of Titan Fitness, recently had the opportunity to travel to Phuket, Thailand to spend a month training at a Thai Boxing camp. Chan is from Queens, N.Y. and is a recent graduate of Penn State University and majored in accounting.  Chan said the experience of being exposed to a different culture has made him more open minded.

Thai boxing, or Muay Thai, is a form of martial arts commonly practiced in Southeast Asia and is Thailand’s national sport. Muay Thai is different compared to other forms of martial arts and boxing, because more points of contact are permitted. Use of the hands, elbows, knees and shins are allowed, making eight points of contact for fighters to try to take advantage of.

Titan Fitness recently asked Chan, 21, to share his experiences with readers. In this excerpt, he talks about his time training in Thailand.

Titan Fitness: How you got involved with Thai boxing?
Kevin: Since I had been boxing for a while, I wanted to try something different and decided to learn Muay Thai in the country where it originated from.

TF: What is your experience with martial arts?
K: I have been boxing at Titan for a little over a year. I have never fought, but I would like to in the near future.

TF: What has your experience been like belonging to Titan Fitness?
K: I decided to join Titan in the summer of 2008 and instantly discovered that it is a great gym. The gym atmosphere is vibrant and friendly. The instructors have a lot of experience and are very helpful. I also met a lot of other Penn State students and became friends with many of them. It’s the best gym I have been to, and I would still be training there if I was at State College.

TF: How did you get the opportunity to go to Thailand?  Did you have any hesitations about going?
K: I had just graduated and wanted to travel during the summer before I started working. Even though I didn’t travel alone, I definitely still had some hesitations about traveling to Thailand because of the political climate, and because I never had gone to a Muay Thai camp before. All my hesitations went away when I arrived, and I had a great experience.

Kevin Chan, right, with trainer Namsaknoi, who's considered one of the best Muay Thai fighters in Thailand.

TF: Where did you stay while in Thailand?
K: I stayed at a resort that was close to the Muay Thai camp, which was extremely comfortable and convenient.

TF: What did you do on a typical day in Thailand?
K: We trained twice a day from Monday to Saturday. The first session was in the morning and the other was in the afternoon. Each session lasted for about two hours. I also had plenty of time to explore and visit many different beaches and tourist sites within the island.

TF: How important is Thai boxing to their culture?
K: Thai boxing is the national sport of Thailand and plays a big part in Thai culture from what I observed. The Wai Khru is a great example of it. It is a traditional dance that the fighters must perform before they fight to show respect.

TF: Overall, how would you rate the experience?  Do you plan to continue to train here in the U.S.?
K: It was a really great experience for me, as I met a lot of nice people and had a great time. I definitely plan to return to the same camp in the future. I will also continue to train in boxing and Muay Thai here in the U.S.

This past Saturday, five Titan Fitness Thai Boxing students successfully passed their tests and achieved ranks in the Thai Boxing Association of the U.S.A. (TBA).  Emma Vautour, Jordan Katz, and Shawn Slater received their level one rank while Nicole Weatherholtz and Sandi Richter earned their level two rank.  The test was administered by Thai Boxing certified instructor, Jerry Matthews.

In the TBA, a student can receive the rank of apprentice instructor by passing a third test conducted by the founder of the organization, Ajarn Surachai Sirisute at one of his seminars.  The TBA is the oldest and largest Muay Thai organization with an international following.

We at Titan Fitness would like to congratulate these five students on their fine achievement.