By Ted Bordelon
Wire Managing Editor
In this file photo, students train at Action Karate. The martial arts school has recently expanded to include general fitness training. Beginning in September, Action Karate will offer a 10-week program designed for weight loss and healthy living.
Solomon Brenner has been training area residents in the martial arts for 19 years. He’s the founder of Action Karate, which has facilities throughout Bucks and Montgomery counties. You’ve probably seen the bumper stickers with a robed shark posing like Bruce Lee.
Needless to say, Brenner has made a name for himself as one of the region’s most popular karate instructors. Now, though, he hopes to make Action Karate a center for general fitness training rather than solely martial arts.
Starting in September, Action Karate will offer a 10-week program designed for weight loss, goal setting and what Brenner calls “attitude adjustment.”
“Everything we do with Action Karate is about making a lifelong change,” Brenner said from Action Karate’s Feasterville location.
The classes will require participants to train as a group five days a week for 45 minutes per day. Three days will be devoted to cardio training and two days will be spent on weight training, with an additional lecture on topics such as healthy eating and confidence building built into each week’s workout.
“In the beginning every workout will seem terrible,” Brenner said. “But by the end I think they’ll start to crave it.”
He said that he thinks that as they progress through the program participants will begin to practice “unconscious confidence,” meaning that they will stop doubting their abilities and stamina.
The program was loosely inspired by the popular P90X exercise DVDs, and Brenner said that he thinks the fact that participants will work out with others will drive their success.
“You need that group environment,” Brenner said. “It’s really all about the culture you create.”
While it may seem that Action Karate is expanding its offerings solely to improve its bottom line, Brenner said that he mainly wants to improve the lives of the individuals who enter his programs.
“If you think you’re the ‘fat guy,’ one of the main things is that you’ll keep thinking you’re the fat guy and not even try to fix that,” Brenner said. “With a program like this with consistent training, eventually you start to see yourself as healthy.”
Action Karate has locations throughout Bucks and Montgomery counties including Feasterville, Newtown, Jamison, Huntingdon Valley, Lansdale and North Wales. For information, visit www.actionkarate.net.
Ted Bordelon can be reached at tbordelon@bsmphilly.com
