Tamica Jean-Charles/Entertainment Director
Joshua Mendez wants to exhaust the hell out of you.
Through the intensive workout he has planned for the Wellness and Recreation Center at Modesto Maidique Campus’ new Krav Maga and Muay Thai classes, Mendez will strengthen attendees mentally and physically.
Krav Maga is a fighting tactic primarily taught to soldiers within the Israeli Defense Forces. They are taught high-stress leveled fighting, yet the mental and training aspects of this workout is what sets it apart from others, said Mendez.
“I’ve seen people completely flip from being introverts to all of sudden walk, speak, move with more confidence,” said Mendez.
Mendez, the head trainer at the WRC-MMC, has been practicing Krav Maga for over five years now and was recently certified under a Krav Maga organization to teach the form of defense. He said Krav Maga is the most up-to-date form of martial arts.
“It’s definitely a different take on different things, a lot of people will teach self-defense techniques, but [WRC-MMC] train it at a whole different level of self-defense,” said Mendez.
Mendez aims to address the adrenaline dump, the period after an adrenaline rush in which the body is fatigued after no longer demanding large amounts of oxygen for proper breathing and blood flow, as the he plans to stimulate as much as he can out of his clients.
“It is under those conditions you see people. They’ll hear your instructions, but they don’t know what they’re doing,” said Mendez. “They heard you right, they just can’t process it right. That is when the training starts.”
Mendez intends to make the workout as intense as possible by infusing screaming and music with high beats per minute. The trainer will conduct a status test at the end of each month to test the client’s’ heart rate and their knowledge on both workouts by “exhausting the hell out of them.”
“The feeling you get when you finish a test, it’s such an accomplishment,” said Mendez.
Muay Thai, the art of eight limbs, originated from Thailand. Muay Thai is a form of kickboxing that includes elbowing and kneeing; whereas American kickboxing includes different forms of punching and kicking, Muay Thai relies strictly on power.
Mendez’s class will not delve into elbowing and kickboxing, but clients can expect to still learn the reflexes from lunges thrown at them, he said.
“Muay Thai, you’re looking at straight power. You’re looking at everything to knock out and destroy. Whatever it is, you want to destroy it,” said Mendez. “It’s about power, it’s about speed, it’s about technique and a lot of other things combined.”
The Thai-born martial art requires Thai pads, or flat padded boxing pads, and punching bags.
Mendez’s teaching styles, he said, will be authentic, as he will travel to Thailand in February to become officially certified to professionally rank Muay Thai.
Krav Maga will be offered every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and Saturday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Muay Thai will be offered Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Each class costs $90 for the semester until Jan. 23 before rising to $120. Attendees will be required to purchase equipment which they can do through the WRC.
Photo by Tamica Jean-Charles.
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