Frank Thiboutot, BS Ed
GHF's Cardio Kickboxing Expert

Martial Arts Teacher and Coach

Well known in professional kickboxing circles, Frank Thiboutot began boxing in high school, started martial arts training three years later, and began teaching karate a year after that. Over the years, including Peace Corps service in Afghanistan and South Korea, he has continued to study and teach karate, Tae Kwon Do, and full contact karate (American-style kickboxing). He has been involved in every aspect of the martial arts as an instructor and coach for over three decades, including guiding the careers of several world-ranked fighters, most notably current world bantamweight and featherweight champion, Danny Melendez.

Award-Winning Martial Arts Professional

Frank is a certified "A"-rated judge of the Professional Karate Association and has traveled extensively in the Far East, Europe, the former Soviet Union, and the Caribbean as well as all over the United States and Canada in various capacities related to the professional side of the sport, including promoting televised fights. In February 1998, Frank was invited by the ShanXi Tackunobo Association to organize the first 5-man U.S. team of San Shou-style fighters to compete against Chinese and Japanese teams in an exhibition meet in TaiYuan City, ShanXi Province, People's Republic of China. And in June 1998, Frank was named Kickboxing Instructor of the Year for 1997 and was inducted into the World Karate Union (WKU) Hall of Fame.

Creating a New Sport: Cardio Kickboxing®

Although much of Frank's work has been with kickboxing professionals, he has always maintained a concern for the fitness of individuals at all levels. From his years of study, teaching, and coaching in the martial arts, he has taken the training routines of professional fighters and the ideas and techniques of leading experts in the fitness industry and created the Cardio Kickboxing® workout, kickboxing for fitness in a circuit-training format. This original program combines cardiovascular conditioning exercises with valuable self-defense training and will benefit people at all fitness and ability levels.

In 1992 in Portland, Maine, Frank brought fitness kickboxing workouts to the general public by opening the first Cardio Kickboxing® Studio; three years later, he moved to a considerably expanded facility to accommodate his enthusiastic clients. He is now at work on franchise possibilities.

Cardio Kickboxing® Videos

As an additional response to the enthusiasm of his clients, Frank has developed and produced Cardio Kickboxing videos. Cardio Kickboxing--The Workout (1993) is for personal fitness and has sold thousands of copies in the United States; it is also distributed in the United Kingdom. The video received a "94" rating from United Fighting Systems, one of the highest ratings the organization has ever awarded.

The two instructor videos are designed to help fitness professionals teach kickboxing as a fitness alternative. Cardio Kickboxing Instructor's Video I (1996), with Frank as instructor, teaches the traditional vocabulary and techniques--with equipment--of cardio kickboxing as well as exercise science and the history of the evolution of this sport into a fitness program. Cardio Kickboxing Instructor's Video II (1999) features aerobics professional Carol Cronin and is designed primarily for instructors who prefer teaching kickboxing classes without the use of equipment.

Cardio Kickboxing® Certification

Interested fitness instructors can also do a Cardio Kickboxing Instructor Certification Program, a self-paced, home-study course for martial arts or aerobics instructors (or fitness enthusiasts, in general) who would like to teach this program in a health club, karate school, or corporate wellness center. Purchase of the package, which consists of a manual and the three videos described above, automatically enrolls the fitness instructor into the certification program; instructors have one year to pass the written and practical tests for official certification. In addition, the instructor may begin using the Cardio Kickboxing® name and promotional materials immediately in their work.

Frank Thiboutot on Fitness:

"It really doesn't matter what you do for exercise as long as you DO something. Exercise has to be incorporated into our lifestyle; i.e., it's not something we do to get ready for the bathing suit season. A program like Cardio Kickboxing has so many components and variations that it would take years to become proficient or bored with this type of workout and boredom is a major reason why so many people start and stop exercising so often or why they ultimately quit all together. Even modest amounts of exercise can have health benefits, and by slowly increasing the intensity and duration of the workouts, greater overall fitness can be achieved."

For information on cardio kickboxing, the videos, or certification program, contact Frank at 1-800-279-5425 or visit his web site at www.wowpages.com/cardiokick.