Here comes the time of the year, when we start looking to lose weight; or start to gain weight due to the holiday festivities, which in turn, leads to ur desire to lose weight. The approaching new year is another reason to make those resolutions of weight loss and staying fit. Internet is filled with suggestions and programs for weight loss, and so is your neighborhood gym. But how much motivation do we really have to commit to this seemingly HARD goal of weight loss and staying fit & healthy. Even though we all want it, it seems quite difficult to do it. Right?

Well, the same goes for me. I've been going to gym for 15 years, on and off. And I've had almost 30 lbs weight fluctuation from peak to minimum. Last few years have seen a fluctuation of around 15 lbs as well. I'm not kidding. But every time I'm not at my optimum weight, desire to lose that weight is high. I do crash diets (my favorite being General Motor Diet Plan), workout programs from bodybuilding.com, cardio and weight training at my gym, lot of walking and whatever else I can. And it all seems to work, but only to a certain extent. And I keep looking for a more efficient way to achieve my weight and fitness goals.

Then I landed at CKO Kickboxing, near me in Jersey City. What's kickboxing? It's not really boxing. Kickboxing is a group of stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from Karate, Muay Thai, Khmer Boxing, and Western boxing. You can read more on wikipedia or CKO itself.

After talking to Charles Torres, the manager and trainer at CKO Jersey City, I decided to give this a shot. Charlie has been a practicing martial artist for over 20 yrs. He is a World Taekwondo Federation, certified black belt and trained under Olympian, Master Kevin Padilla. Charles holds numerous titles in Olympic Style Taekwondo ranging from state, national and international competitions from 1994-2008. In 2004 Charles was selected by the New York State Taekwondo Commission (NYSTC), to join their athletic program. An organization designed in mentoring and sponsoring top athletes for international competition. Charles served as an assistant instructor and coach for Padilla's Sport Taekwondo School instructing Traditional & Olympic style Taekwondo, Cardio Kickboxing, Boxing and coaching Elite Junior Athletes.

So, I started my Day-1 this past Monday, with another trainer John Wilson. John became a member of CKO when they opened in February 2013, having moved to Jersey City from Brighton, England. He was hooked instantly and really honed his craft by taking many classes and with many different instructors. He joined the team of instructors the following December, bringing with him a few tasty drills and phrases from across the pond. It was an exhausting but fun hour working out with a class of motivated individuals.

Before your first class you need 15-20 mins to learn kickboxing basics, like jab, cross, hook, kick etc. And then you're ready. The classes are geared towards everyone, from beginner to expert level. How? You'll have to see yourself to understand. But it's pretty cool. I took classes with John and Charlie. Both are amazing trainer, with different style and different flavor. Another great thing is that even with same trainer, every other class felt different. It was hard, it was rough, but it was also exciting and fun.  I doubt that right now I'll be able to do that much on my own, without that class setting or without doing kickboxing. So it was pretty cool.

I went to the class continuously for 5 days this week. I do feel kinda body ache and stuff, but I guess it's pretty normal. But I also feel lot more energy and stamina with each class. And I have managed to lose few lbs as well. It's all not easy, but it's not hard either. The key is self-motivation and commitment to your fitness and health.

I would strongly recommend checking out CKO Jersey City (follow @mynewyorkeye on Facebook & Twitter, and reach out to us for a SPECIAL KICK-OFF DEAL at this location). Or look for a  CKO Kickboxing near you this winter to start your fitness regime for the holidays, into the new year. It' never too early to start, and it' never too late. Happy Holidays!!!