Tae Bo History

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Billy Blanks is the creator of Tae Bo, the number one fitness system in the U.S.A. In 1975, Billy became the first Amateur Athlete Champion of America, a title he later won five times, earning the seventh level at the Tae Kwon Do black belt and black belts in 5 other styles of martial arts.

He was seven times world karate champion and he trained the USA karate team, winning 36 gold medals in international competitions. Blanks invented Tae Bo in 1989 when he had the idea to perform moves in Tae Kwon style on music. He taught the first classes in the garage of his L.A. home. Since then, his method has spread throughout the world, but Blanks still teaches four classes a day. He teaches on tour the USA military troops who move to Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sarajevo, Greece, Africa, Germany and Italy.

The first Tae Bo workouts appeared in 1989 in order to provide boxing fighters with new methods of muscle strengthening. In the 1990s, the Tae Bo workout was defined and promoted by the selling of videos which would render the full nature of the Tae Bo training. In the same period, the Tae Bo training also gained popularity among celebrities, with Paula Abdul the first star to hire Blanks in order to show her the hidden secrets of the famous Tae Bo fitness workout.

Currently, numerous fitness centers propose exercises similar to the famous Tae Bo workout, but there are also gymnasia fully dedicated to Tae Bo programmes.