Now, don’t get me wrong – these classes can provide benefits for a person who wants to get in shape. (Remember, the term “in shape” is relative to the activity a person is training for. Training is activity-specific – e.g., marathon runners should not expect to improve their race times by training in an aerobic-type kickboxing workout routine). I teach these types of classes, too. These classes can provide beneficial repetition practice for performance of the various physical techniques and movements that may be used in self defense situations. However, there is a huge difference between simply performing movement patterns of strikes, blocks, evasion techniques, etc. in the non-threatening environment of a fitness studio versus the high stress situation of a real attack on the street.