What's Happening MoCo?

What's Happening with Fitness Options in 2026?

• Derrick Kenny • Season 12 • Episode 109

Share episode

Send us a text

Ready for a fitness reset that’s real, local, and doable? Kayla Kavoukas with Montgomery County's Department of Recreation dives into how Montgomery County residents can use free Rec Fit Pass access for gyms, open courts, and family-friendly spaces across 21+ recreation centers—plus rotating free offerings like indoor cycling and urban line dancing. 

We explore movement that matters with Bando chief instructor Lon Walls, a sixth-degree black belt who translates a centuries-old Burmese martial art into modern fitness and self-defense. 

Then we map a sustainable path with Soldier Fit founder and Army veteran Danny Farrar. His Core Four—workout, meal plan, accountability, and education—cuts through the noise and gives you a simple formula to win long term. 

Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a nudge, and tell us the one small habit you’ll commit to this week.

unknown:

What?

SPEAKER_02:

Good day and welcome to What's Happening Moco, an authentic, unscripted podcast from your Montgomery County government. Now, here's your host, Derek Kenny.

SPEAKER_04:

Good day, and welcome to What's Happening Moco. Uh, today's episode, we are going to talk fitness, health. We just enjoyed the holiday season, all the food, fellowship, fun, gifts, and spending. But right now, the What's Happening Moco podcast is going to give you the gift of information and free resources from the county government to help you on your fitness resolutions. I'm here with Kayla Kabukis, the outreach specialist with Montgomery County Department of Recreation.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_04:

And you have something to talk to us about, that's free.

SPEAKER_00:

It's free. Free. I know. What a good word.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. Well, free is a wonderful word, especially after we spent so much money loving on our families and friends and coworkers. But now we're we're focused now. We're focused. It's the new year. Yeah. We may or may not, I may not have. Uh accomplished my fitness goals last year.

SPEAKER_00:

Be kind to yourself, dear.

SPEAKER_04:

I'm I'm gonna be kind to yourself out there as well. Yes. Be kind to myself, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_04:

And one way to be kind to myself is to be healthier. Yeah. Uh find a plan for fitness uh in ways that we are interested. They're interesting for us.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Now, what what do you do with the Department of Recreation before we start so people know who's telling them this great information?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, absolutely. So I am a community outreach specialist. Okay. Um, my colleagues and I, we travel around the county and we just inform residents and Montgomery County employees about all of the free and low-cost benefits that they have through Montgomery County Rec.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. Now, um, now what's the Department of Recreation? I know it seems simple. Everybody should know who you guys are.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_04:

But what is the Department of Recreation?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, there's a couple things to debunk. So we're one of the only counties in the country, actually, where parks and recreation are separate departments.

SPEAKER_04:

It's one TV show, but two separate departments in the community. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So a lot of folks often confuse us with parks and confuses parks with rec.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, we are separate entities. So we have over 21 recreation facilities around the county. Um, and that's outside of the city of Rockville and outside of the city of Gaithersburg. Um, we have our indoor and outdoor pools, and we have senior centers, eight senior centers across the county dedicated for our 55 plus population.

SPEAKER_04:

And what can we find inside of these recreation centers?

SPEAKER_00:

So many things. Um, so every rec center is unique and special in its own way. None of them look the same. Um, you'll find arts, you'll find music, you'll find dance and uh karate, basketball, pottery. You'll find such a variety of things. All right. There's a lot to explore.

SPEAKER_04:

A lot of different ways to be active in the county. Um, today we're talking about getting fit.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_04:

What resources are there in these fitness centers that can help people get fit?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's a great question. Um, so since 2023, uh Montgomery County Recreation has instituted what we call our free rec fit pass.

SPEAKER_03:

Whoa.

SPEAKER_00:

A rec fit pass is simply like a little swipy membership card like you would get at any gym. Um, but for county residents, it is absolutely free to walk into the center, ask the front desk for your rec fit pass, and then utilize that center. So we have our open gyms. You could do drop-in basketball, you could do drop-in pickleball, pickleball, pickleball, pickleball, pickleball. I know there's so many pickleballers out there. Okay. Um, our fitness rooms are free. So there's a gym on site at every rec center that is free to utilize.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, as well as our game rooms. So if you and the family want to have some fun, shoot some pool, air hockey, play games, all of that is free to county residents, free to county employees.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh, wonderful, wonderful. So if your family or you're a the head of the household and you want to come to a rec center to work out, you don't have to leave the kids at home.

SPEAKER_00:

No, it is a family endeavor. A family that I think the family that sweats together stays together personally.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. And there's so if you want to go to the fitness center or you want to play pickleball, the kids have a game room to go play in. Yeah. Or they could join you in the fitness center, they could go play pickleball or racquetball or uh basketball. I'm not sure if anybody's playing racquetball anymore, but I mean, yeah, maybe.

SPEAKER_03:

Bring it back. Yeah, bring it back.

SPEAKER_04:

You know, I will I would bring it back. Old school, old school, the high speed and the violence wings of uh racquetball. Oh my gosh. Sounds wonderful.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Now, there's also aquatic centers. Is that part of recreation as well?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So our aquatic centers are a membership fee.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, so they're not free. They're free to county employees, however. Wow. I know. So county employees. Yeah. Come to the pool, come swim. And uh for county employees, it's a 20% discount on a family pool pass as well.

SPEAKER_04:

Wonderful. Wonderful. Okay. Um, so what what type of machines do you guys have there? Um, and what types of do you have uh uh cardio equipment? Is there a resistance training? Uh what types of equipment can you look forward to if you're starting your fitness journey uh in the new year?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's a really great question. Uh we have all of your standard machines, all of your, you know, push and pull machines, your universal machines. Uh you want a chest press, you want a leg curl, we got you covered. Uh, we're gonna have dumbbells, we'll have mats and balls for um, you know, free space in the corner. We have treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, so high impact, low impact, everything that you need. Uh at our Wheaton Center, we have an indoor walking track.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh it's our only indoor walking track, but it's worth pointing out that if you're a county resident, you're not bound to the rec center in your zip code. You can go to any rec center across the whole county. That's great. Yes.

SPEAKER_04:

And when you get your your your free pass, what do you need to present to um get your pass?

SPEAKER_00:

Proof of residency. Okay, does it have a lot of it? So it could be a driver's license, uh, power bill.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh, awesome. Awesome. All right. Um, before we go, uh, what is the best way for people to get more information about rec centers in the county or where to go or how to get there?

SPEAKER_00:

Mocorec.com.

SPEAKER_04:

All right.

SPEAKER_00:

And there you're gonna find not only our standard offerings like the fitness centers and the open gym schedule, but you'll find special events and activities as well. So every rec center all season long has such a variety of offerings. Right now at our White Oak Center, we have free indoor cycling.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Free. Indoor cycling. I mean, you pay a pretty penny for indoor cycling in the world.

SPEAKER_04:

What is the thing called out there? Was it a poly or whatever? Peloton. Peloton.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04:

You pay all that money for Peloton, you can go and do cycling for free. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

So if you um if you go on our socials or if you go to mocorec.com, you'll see flyers, you'll see announcements. So every center has all different things free and and low cost all the time.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh, that's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00:

Urban line dancing.

SPEAKER_04:

Urban line dancing. That sounds like a fun way to get it.

SPEAKER_00:

I think that this is what I'm gonna explore in the new year: urban line dancing. We'll have a few moves.

SPEAKER_04:

I think I'm gonna try that as well, though. That might be nice. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Thank you so much to Kayla Kabukas and the Department of Recreation for being here today and for offering free resources to the residents of Montgomery County, Maryland. Before you go, let's talk about class sizes or classes that you offer. You mentioned briefly that there's a cycling thing. What other types of classes are there? And tell us a little bit about the class types and um how many people you generally get.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I mean, with this many facilities, there's an endless number of classes and opportunities for our 55 plus population, for example. Uh some of our centers have senior neighborhood programs, which is special programming for our seniors, um, obviously at a senior center. Those are the only folks who are uh in attendance. Uh and we have, you know, chair yoga. We have Zumba. Um, we have a class called chair yoga? Chair yoga. Gentle yoga. Yeah. So you're in your chair, you're able to you're stretching, you're posing, um, you have the support of the chair. Wow. So, you know, it minimizes risk of injury, it gives you more stabilization and support. So, you know, for our seniors who are looking for light, gentle movement, they want to keep their mobility, things like that. I love when the seniors set up their chairs all in a circle and they're doing it all together. Right. It's really lovely. Okay. Yes, awesome. For adults, um, you know, lots of dance-based fitness. Oh. Lots of Zumba.

SPEAKER_04:

I like Zumba.

SPEAKER_00:

Lots of Zumba.

SPEAKER_04:

No, no, what's Zumba? Just for the people that may not be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00:

Now, listen, this doesn't give Zumba. Zumba is not my sweet spot, but I love uh those who embody Zumba. They're moving, they're grooving, they're having a great time. The music's loud, they're sweating, their feet are moving fast. Oh, wow. I know it's all in the hips, I think is what they say.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. Well, Zumba sounds exciting. It does. And what other types of uh dance programming do you or programming do you guys have?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh we have line dancing, we have urban line dancing. Right, sorry. That's just a change of music and some funkier steps, which I think is fun. Um yeah, lots to explore. For the kids, we have karate, uh, we have youth sports, so like volleyball clinics. Uh, I know.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, lots lots to offer to the entire family. Lots to offer for the whole family. The programming are free as well, free and low cost.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it depends on what you want to sign up for. Come visit us. There's great community to be had there, lots to explore, no excuses. All right, it's just fun.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. And what do you normally see uh intake, uh uptick in people coming to the rec centers in the in January?

SPEAKER_00:

Of course we do.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. Is it a pretty welcoming environment for people of all ages and sizes and fitness levels?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04:

All right, so there's no re no reason, no barriers to entry. Get out there, enjoy yourself, get fit. Thank you so much again.

SPEAKER_03:

Of course.

SPEAKER_04:

Kayla Kavukis Outreach Department of Recreation.

SPEAKER_03:

Nailed it.

SPEAKER_04:

Thank you so much for all that you do. And again, thank Moco Rec when you're thinking fitness in the new year. Please. It is free for county residents and another great resource from your county government. Yes. And up next, we have the Lawn Walls, six-degree black belt and bondo to talk about Bondo aerobics and yoga.

SPEAKER_00:

That sounds cool.

SPEAKER_04:

All right, thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04:

All right, and we're back and we're talking Bondo. We're talking fitness, we're talking Bondo the martial art, we're talking Bondo Aerobics, we're gonna talk Bondo Yoga. But first, we're gonna talk to a Bondo chief instructor, D. Lon Walls. Lon, can I call you Lon, sir? Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Full disclosure, Lon and I go back a number of years. Absolutely. And I've known that he's been in martial arts, but I didn't know the level of martial artists that he is. Uh Lon, tell us a little bit about Bondo, and then let's talk about your background and Bondo as a martial art.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure, and it's interesting because uh Bondo actually is a Burmese martial art. Uh Bondo in Burmese terms means a way of the discipline. And uh Burma now is called Myanmar, which is you know it's a change in government or whatever, but it's a martial art that's several thousand years old, as are a lot of the martial arts in Asia are. And so Bondo itself was introduced to the United States in 1960, actually, uh in the DC area at American University by uh a man named Dr. U Mong Ji. Dr. Ji is still alive, he's a grandmaster of Bondo, and he basically um brought that to the United States uh having trained in um Burma. He uh his father was a grandmaster and uh well-known uh person in Burma, Dr. Ubatan Ji, who was the Minister of Education, uh physical education at Burma, and probably was one of the most dangerous men in the world at the time. Oh wow prior to World War II. Uh and Dr. Ji uh himself um trained in in uh several martial arts and he also boxed. He actually participated in 1956 Olympics uh in soccer boxing, both, you know, because you're a small country, so that he did under several sports, but he's trained in Japan and China, and Burm Bondo is like I say, martial art that's indicative to um Burma. So he brought that to the United States and was actually working for the embassy of Burma and uh was training people at American University. And so the first uh I'd say the first generation of Bondo martial artists in the United States uh were trained at American University in 1960. And uh some of those guys were actually some of them were in the military. I had a couple guys in the Secret Service, so uh it's a it's a combat art. Um and it's practiced uh still as a military art. And if you're familiar at all with um military strategy, military history, uh it's uh a martial art that's practiced by the Gurkhas. The Gurkhas are basically a military force uh made up of folks from Nepal, Burma, Thailand, India, and they're part of the uh British military forces. And so they carry these swords, people they call Kukris, Kukris, which are kind of short swords, which are part of our uh weaponry in terms of our training. So uh Bondu is a combat martial art uh that you know it's got several different layers of it, you know, the I say the raw combat, which you have in the battlefield, but you also have you know what I call sports uh martial arts, which people are more familiar with. But Bondo itself is is uh a very interesting in-close fighting kind of art.

SPEAKER_04:

Wow. And how long have you been doing Bondo? You may have mentioned that earlier, but how long have you been doing Bondo? And and it's it's okay to brag a little bit on yourself. Uh and tell us a little bit about some of your competitive um years in Bondo.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh sure. Well, I've been I've been in the Bondo for 55 years, actually. I got into it in 1970. Uh actually, I it was interesting myself. I uh and a friend of mine were playing football. We were on the on the spring, uh, playing spring ball at Ohio University and went to school, and we'd heard a lot about Bondo. And uh after spring ball, you know, you're you're still geeked up, you know, playing ball and everything like that, ready for contact. And so we uh decided to check out a Bondo class. We'd heard a lot about it, and we went down to to check it out on a Saturday, and these guys were sparring and banging, and so you know, as you know, former football players like, okay, we want to do that. So we got involved uh then and I just kind of stayed with it. It was just very intriguing. And then the thing is that people say Bondo is a martial art that's broad as well as deep. You know, some people you look at Taekwondo, you look at a lot of other things, uh Jeek Kung Do, uh Kung Fu. Bondo is an art that has many different layers, many different parts of it. Uh, and so I didn't realize that at the time. I just got involved because I like the contact. And so I was, you know, I just wanted to hit you wanted to say, I want to hit something. Yeah, I just wanted to kind of bang. And so as after I got into it, we realized that what had Dr. G, who a grandmaster uh had indicated, he liked guys that were in, he recruited people from the football team, he recruited guys who played rugby, he recruited wrestlers. So he wanted folks who were kind of full contact oriented in the first place uh to be able, because we were kind of like I I guess we were kind of experiments in terms of him teaching us techniques and then applying it to combat and to competition. And so, you know, through the years, I've fought um on many different levels. I've I've fought what you call point fighting, which is kind of touch sparring. I've done kickboxing, which people are more familiar with in terms of what they see Muay Thai and whatnot. And I've done uh what we call freestyle fighting, which is kind of a combination of kickboxing and freestyle fighting, where you're uh you've you've had pads, but not heavy gloves or anything like that. And you just kind of yeah, and you're hitting each other.

SPEAKER_04:

You're actually hitting each other. All right, yeah. It's like a true match.

SPEAKER_01:

Um it's a match in the and you know, in Bondo, where you know, it was the thing that was nice is that when you go to a point tournament, for instance, and I know people will probably complain about that, you you especially with young folks, you spend your money 25, 30, 40, 40 dollars for to to compete, and you you lose one match and you're done. Well, in Bondo, it's round robin. So whatever number of guys are in your ring, you fight everybody. So at the end of the match, you know at the end of the tournament. You fought everybody right now. But you got if you got five guys or six guys in your ring, you know, if you're heavyweight, lightweight, whatever, you fight everybody, so you fight everybody in the ring, and then whoever has the most wins at the end of that time, that's a winner. So basically, you you you get your money's worth and then some. So you have to be fit as well. Uh you had to be you had to be pretty well conditioned. I mean, it's one thing about Bondo is the fact that you know, f when you're fighting and you're really competing, you're in pretty good, you have to be in pretty good shape. You know, it's it's good conditioning. So it's conditioning is really important. That's one of the things I I try to stress even in teaching now. But he he stressed conditioning with us for without question.

SPEAKER_04:

Now you mentioned the competitions, but you didn't mention your success in the competitions. You're you're a humble guy here, but I was reading your bio and I noticed that not only did you compete in the freestyle and the kickbox kickboxing, but you were champion. I'm champion. I quite a few times.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh uh I really kind of seven, well, I guess I was like four-time champion. I was a middleweight champion twice uh kickboxing, uh light heavyweight champion twice in kickboxing. And in the freestyle, uh I was light heavyweight black belt champion for a number of times, you know. And so that's they say we again you're doing you're doing round robin. And I actually started fighting in 1975. I mean, I've I've had like over 200 something freestyle matches and probably 30 kickboxing fights, you know. So, I mean, I won some a lot, and I lost some. I mean, one of the things is that our instructor would tell us, you know, you learn a lot sometimes by losing. You know, I knocked a lot of guys out, but I've also been knocked out. Oh, wow. Okay. So you so you've seen you've you've seen the lights go. Yeah, I've seen, I've seen, yeah. My last fight was a knockout. I'm like, okay, that's it. It's time to retire. Yeah. It's a game over. But the thing is, you learn, I mean, the thing is a lot of times in anything, when you you had develop bad habits and you do that when you're fighting, you learn what's good and what's bad, right? But level of competition. And so for me, you know, I remember the first time I lost a fight by knockout. I mean, I fought, you know, the same guy a year later, but I trained because I knew what I did, what I had done wrong. And so the next time I was ready for him, you know. So that's really how you that's how you, you know, so it's it's one of those kind of things, you know, it's a mental piece as well as the physical aspect of it and stuff. And so, you know, I get you know, you learn a lot. I mean, I'm I'm a sixth degree, and that's you you you train for probably a year or two before you get a quote unquote white. We have our belt level is white, green, brown, and black. So you're a white belt for a year and a half, two years, green belt maybe three or four years, and then brown a couple years, and then when you go at the black belt level, you've accomplished a lot. You've you've fought a lot, you've trained a lot, and then from that point on, it's like really a matter of execution, sparring, fighting, and whatnot in terms of progressing to the next levels. And so now you're a sixth degree. Sixth degree. The highest level you can get is ninth degree. I'm six degree.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01:

Sixth degree, wow.

SPEAKER_04:

So so almost to the apex, and the ninth degree would be a master study that considered a master degree.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh well, you you you you you're actually uh considered a master if you've accomplished a lot over the time. You know, like we have in Bondo, you know, there are a lot of different, uh different styles or of of levels of bondo. We have we we study nine animal systems, we study weapons, we have a monk system, we have a a um yoga system. So as you accomplish, and then also we have kickboxing, freestyle. So from a standpoint of say a kickboxer or free fighter, I'm a master as a fighter, you know, because I've accomplished a lot in those areas. And you have guys who are who are masters in Cobra system or Panther, where they've done a lot in those systems in terms of perfecting those and actually training those techniques. But you know, once you get to be a, you know, like was told to me, when you get uh become a black belt, that's really you've just actually achieved the right to learn. And that's when you really start to get exposed, you get exposed a whole lot more in terms of uh bondo and what it's really all about, the metaphysical aspects of it as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's not just a physical thing or mental, it's also a spiritual element as well. There's no, I mean, and the thing is interesting, you know, and I know I probably create a lot of controversy, but when people see MMA and UFC stuff on TV, I mean, it's good for martial arts in terms of exposure, but that's not true martial arts. That's just that's just uh people just banging, getting in the ring in the ring, and just scrapping, and that's fine. But martial arts, I mean, goes back, you know, thousands of years, and you're you're talking about uh people who basically were peasants, uh farmers, fishermen, villagers, monks that really were trying to protect themselves. You're talking about a system of self-defense. And that's you know, really what what we kind of evolved from is from the standpoint of people just trying to defend themselves from the government, from bandits, you know, robbers, and those kind of things. So, you know, the techniques and the activity, you know, is all related to a matter of self, it's self-defense. You think it from that standpoint of in the purest sense is self-defense that we're talking about.

SPEAKER_04:

Right. And today we're talking about fitness. Right. You've taken Bondo and your expertise in Bondo, and not only are you empowering people to defend themselves, but you're teaching people how to get fit, how to get fit.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, one of the things about that, which is interesting, um, and one thing about our grandmaster is that he's laid out the art to us and given us what I say free reign in terms of maybe adapting the what we what we do to modern times, you know, so it's not so stuck in stuck in stone or something like that. But when what the Bondo Combat Aerobics actually uh evolved in the late 70s, early 80s, where he was training us to fight. He was training, training his kickboxers and his fighters to fight. And he kind of came up with this concept of having trained in music. So we, you know, for for a lot of what we were doing, we were training the music and to get your rhythm down. It's like anything you're you're talking you were talking previously about Zumba and some of these other dance things, which basically, and and even when you talk about aerobics, people are learning, you know, dance moves to music, you know, to dance, to move, to step. The difference is that our techniques are done to music. So in other words, you're punching, you're blocking, you're kicking, you're moving to music so that in your head, you have a rhythm in your head in terms of how you move and what you do. So it's kind of locked in from that standpoint. So he used that to basically help us memorize our techniques and to really also in our head, you had kind of a movement machine going on so that when you're in the ring and you're fighting, you you really kind of get your rhythm going. And it's it's interesting because back in the in the in the 60s and 70s, you would go to any kind of ghetto gym in America and where guys are boxing, they'd have music playing. I mean, that's so everybody's got that rhythm, you know, especially James Brown, whatever. You you got that music going in your head. And so what he had for us is the same, sort of the same thing. A lot of it was like music that was kind of popular at the time. For me, I just kind of perfected it because I like funk, I like RB, I like hip-hop. And so I took that music and started to really kind of make my own kind of training routine off of that music. And so when I'd be places where I couldn't find a gym to work out or I couldn't, you know, train like I wanted to, I had that music. And so I had like certain routines and certain movements that I did to this music. And when I first started teaching uh in the in the 80s, uh I just realized it was easier to teach students with starting off with that music. And so basically, my our intro to to the martial arts for my classes were basically students who were training to this music. We'd had James Brown, Rick James, or whatever. And so I would introduce whether it's a block or a punch or a kick or something like that, we'd do it to music, we'd warm up to music. Wow. And so that's how you know it kind of evolved from that. I mean, it was something that the grandmaster had given us, but I just kind of took it the next step, and so basically I just kind of perfected it, and I've used it for several years to train women, especially uh, because you know, women like their the whole aerobics concept. And so we take that and we start off, we do a little, we do our breathing, uh, and then we start, you know, we do a little bit of meditation, and then we start off with RB and just introduce, you know, your your uh activity, you know, whether it's uh kicking or punching or blocking, especially blocking. I mean, I I try to stress defense first. It's all about trying to stop somebody from attacking you or stop an attack, and then we go from there. But basically, it's like I can take a whole class and go through a whole class of music and go through a whole set series of routines for uh for in Bondo.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. So let's let's talk about that now. We're talking about the Bondo aerobics and fitness. What are some of the benefits uh when it comes to the routines and uh fitness when it comes to Bondo Aerobics?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think what happens is that, you know, first of all, you're getting some exercise. And I try to, I'm not trying to like nobody's trying to get ready for the NFL combine. So I'm not trying to I'm not trying to wear people out. I mean, they they but basically, you know, I kind of introduce it in small increments. So in terms of, you know, whether sit-ups or push-ups, you know, at the core, you know, one of the things I stress is core. We do a lot of sit-ups, we do a lot of core music, stepping, you know, moving down up and down, because the base of your strength is really in your core, you know, your midsection. So a lot of power, you don't have to have a lot of big muscles or whatever. Somebody who can flow and move just with a turn or a torque, that's where that's where your power is. So I try to do a lot of exercises where you're moving, you're turning, you're twisting, uh, and you're doing your techniques off of that. And that's where, you know, that you learn, you know, to move in a certain kind of way so that you can you can uh you can really kind of intensify your power. So that being the case, I've I've just kind of perfected that for women. And women like, you know, they like their robots to something new and different, whatever. And at the end of that, I've got you know, I've got five or six women uh students right now, and they've they've gotten really, really good. I mean, they they basically they they can move. Uh, and and one lady is actually a uh has been a dancer. Oh wow, and so she's kind of gotten into it, you know. So she's she was a salsa instructor with kind of a serious background, and so she's adapted quite well. And I see she's probably one of my better students because of her dance background, but they all do the we all go through, you know, the the techniques to music. And so at the end of the day, you know, you have somebody who feels a little more fit, got a lot more self-confidence, and like I say, unlike say aerobics, they're learning something they can put to use.

SPEAKER_04:

Right. You know, so as women, yeah, uh, there's a concern about self-defense, just a self-defense. Safety um and just being able to handle themselves in case a situation arises. Sorry. So one of the benefits might be that, of course, they're learning uh a martial art as well, passively while they're learning.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. You're you're you're they're learning how to how to block, how to move, how to step. You know, everything, all those movements are in a in a kind of a music, musical rhythm. First of all, I'll do like pieces of it, and then I'll put it all together. And the stepping, the blocking, the moving and the punching all in one motion and stuff like you step all. And one of the things we do, you'll see in in martial arts, like in karate, especially, some some styles of martial art is kind of confrontational. In other words, it's like bagging. You get one person in front of the other, and it's the contact, it's like a clash. One of the things we try to stress in our techniques is stepping off the line. In other words, we don't stand right in front of the opponent when somebody comes at you, they attack. We we learn how to step off to one side, one the left or the right, and then block or punch off of that. So we get off, we say get off the line, get off the line of attack, and you're stepping off. So basically you're stepping off your block and you're punching all at an angle. Everything's angled. You look at boxing, same thing. You know, boxing, better boxers are guys who can move on their feet and who are fighting off of angles. And so we we work off of angles. And so that's one of the things that the mainstays of what we train is turn on learning folks to how to move, how to step, and everything all in kind of a in a rhythmic kind of fashion and stuff. So, and then as they they don't realize at the time they're getting pieces of uh a combat technique. And then when you and when you start to work with them, they realize that you know they've got they've they've got techniques, they've got something they have confidence in. You know, you got the video of some of the stuff, you've seen some of the folks, what they do.

SPEAKER_04:

And we're gonna we're gonna show some of those clips. I think we've been showing them uh while we're talking. So if people are listening to the podcast and you want to see some of what um chief instructor uh bondo sixth-degree black belt, uh Lon Walls has been talking about, we'll show a little bit of that. You look at us on Facebook or watch us on cable on Sundays at 6 p.m., uh, you'll be able to see a bit of what Lon was talking about. Um so how do people connect with you uh when it comes to your future classes or even if they want to learn bondos and martial art or if they want to participate in the aerobics?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh a couple different ways. One, um, my phone number, I'll give my phone number out because people can call or text me. And the phone number is 301-996-1669. Again, 301-996-1669. My email address is L Walls W-A-L-L-S at WALS W-A-L-L-S com C-O-M-M.com. They can do that. And then I'm on Facebook, uh, Instagram as well. Um, and also uh I train regularly. I teach regularly at there's a uh Gold's Gym, Van S Gold's Gym at 4310 Connecticut Avenue Northwest in Washington, DC. It's right next to the UDC. And we're there on Tuesdays and Thursdays uh regularly. I have class, except for the holidays. And then also uh occasionally what I've been I've been posting, we have combat aerobics bondo, combat aerobics classes that will be at that particular uh goals gym on Saturdays. We're gonna have one from time to time we'll have them where that's a good way to recruit folks, but also it's an hour, hour and a half where folks are coming in and they they get it. So it's you know, people can come in off the street, whatever, we charge, you know, charge$20 a person, but they're getting you know exposure to combat aerobics. You know, so they'll see a little bit of what we're doing.

SPEAKER_04:

Fantastic, fantastic. Um, what advice do you have for people that want to it's starting a new year, people take on these challenges to themselves to better themselves, whether it's um traditional Bondo or maybe getting fit with Bondo aerobics, what's the first step uh for anyone taking on something new in terms of fitness?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh I think the first thing, and and and it's it's like you you want to be realistic. I mean, sometimes it's kind of a you see this every year, everybody starts the year off with you know, these high goals and and and whatever, whatever. And and that's nice. I mean, the intention is there, but I think people need to be realistic and set realistic goals for themselves so that when they don't accomplish, I mean they got these lofty goals, and when they don't get there, they quit or they get disappointed or they do something to hurt themselves. That's the other thing. People get get all go all out and they pull muscles and do all kinds of stuff and it puts them out of commission. So the thing is you want to kind of start off slow. You want to be realistic about what you're what you're trying to do, you know, set out what you want to go. And then the other thing, I guess we're in such a uh a fast return, return on your investment kind of society that everybody wants to see immediate results. That's not always gonna happen. People have to be realistic and patient and to see what they're gonna see in terms of uh losing weight, cutting down the inches or whatever, and and then try to try to talk to somebody who's an expert or somebody with some knowledge that can give them some some some points or tips on how to best go about what they want to do. And then and the other thing is, you know, intake is just as important. I mean, in terms of what you do, you're you know, you're eating what you what you eat, you gotta eat right. Uh, I always stress, you know, try to cut back on the alcohol and the tobacco and whatnot if you can. I mean, that's that's sometimes a little difficult, but I think the thing is you've got to kind of be realistic if you're gonna do this. People have these, they go on these fasts for like you know, a week or two or something like that, and then they yeah, they turn around and go back to doing what they do before. So and it's even worse than like a rubber band, you bounce back and it's even worse. And it's tough on your body, too. So I think the thing is you want to be realistic, you want to be patient. Uh, you want to also kind of, I mean, we're we're going into you know the holidays where I for some whatever reason it seems to be a national pastime to eat as much and and consume as much as you want. Yeah, that's a good time to really kind of look at monitoring what you can, what your intake is, just because it's all there. I mean you have to eat it all. I mean, it's like people that go to a restaurant, you got to eat everything that's in front of you. Well, there's done wrong. There's no shame in taking stuff home. You know, so moderate, moderate what you eat, what you drink uh to start off with, and then also being realistic in terms of what your goals might be and what you're trying to accomplish in terms of your uh your training, you know, and and and really trying to look long term and be patient. You know, so it's it's um it's not rocket science, but you've got to be patient. You've got to be patient.

SPEAKER_04:

Gotta be patient, uh, start slow, um, and and choose something that that vibes with you, something that you can commit to, like Bondo and Bondo Phobics with Lon Walls. Yeah, that's what's happening, Moco.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. Yeah, that's that's yeah, and the thing is, is I always tell people, you don't have to get into Bondo, you don't have to get into taekwondo or whatever. But do something. I mean, whether it's walking, I mean, some people, you know, you just walking, and and what you can do is maybe walk a block or two and then add on a block as you go along or something. You know, just simple things to get your body moving. That's the thing. You really want to just kind of get movement, get you know, get your movement going, get the adrenaline going, break a sweat. So it doesn't have to be what I do, but as long as you're doing something, that's that's the thing that's more important. And I think that uh Bondo Combat Aerobics, I mean, I I welcome all folks and I try to adjust. I've got some older folks in there. You know, I'm I'm doing this, and this I'm 75. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay, so I can do it.

SPEAKER_04:

All right, yeah. That's all right. So any fitness level, uh, most age age range doesn't that matter. No, no, no. Um, you'll be able to work with most people that come in and um start the training with you.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. I'm not I'm not trying to get anybody with the NBA or NFL or WNBA to combine. I'm just you know take that in moderation and you know, and I want people to try to treat your body. Our body, you know our body's like a car. You you you you take care of it, it lasts long, it'll take care of you. But you gotta you you gotta kind of treat it nicely, you know. That's the thing.

SPEAKER_04:

All right, all right. Well, that's been Lawnwalls, Chief Instructor, Six Degree Black Belt, Bondo, talking about Bondo, Bondo Aerobics. And up next, another treat. We're gonna talk to uh local um business that has four locations throughout Montgomery County to teach you yet again how to get fit in the new year. And we're back and we're talking about getting fit in the new year. We're talking about getting fit, and not only we're talking about getting fit, we're talking about getting soldier fit. And we're here with the founder of Soldier Fitness, uh Danny Farrar. Yes, sir. Danny, you you're talking about fitness, and you have a brand that's called Soldier Fit. You're the uh tell us a little bit about Soldier Fit and um and who you are in terms of uh Soldier Fit. I'll I'll introduce you uh as the founder, but you're also the CEO. Uh what is Soldier Fit?

SPEAKER_05:

So one of the things we love to knock out of the gate right away is we're not gonna yell at you. Okay. Um a lot of people are worried they see Soldier Fit. I'm covered in tattooing, you know. We're not gonna take you back to day one basic training. Honestly, what's kind of really surprising about us, I didn't see this when we started this 18 years ago, is we're predominantly female. We're in uh 75, 80 percent of our clientele is female. Uh typically females between 25 to 65 years old. It's like our sweet spot that we we train people as old as 85, 90 years old.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_05:

Um and we are what's called a prescription-based model. Okay. So when you come to Soldier Fit, what we're gonna do is we're gonna give you what I call the core four. If you want to be successful, if you want a hundred percent money-back guaranteed success, you really need four things. You need a workout, you need a meal plan, you need accountability, and you need education. You need to understand why you're doing it. At the end of the day, if you stay with us for 18 years, like many of our members have, because you love it, great. What I don't want you to do is have to stay because you don't know what you were doing. And so we teach you literally starting day one, how it is that you can do this on your own should you transition and move out of the area. Uh when you're giving those four things, as long as you do the one part that we can't do for you, which is the work, you're guaranteed to have success.

SPEAKER_04:

So you're saying that we have to actually do the work to get fit.

SPEAKER_05:

You do, but honestly, it's truthfully not nearly as much as people believe it is. Okay. Uh, if we look at this, our mission is a fit-free America. A lot of people don't know this, but by 2030, 50% of Americans will be obese. Not overweight, obese. Wow. It's literally listed as a national security threat because our young men and women cannot pass a basic physical fitness test to go into the military. And so what I've seen over 18 years, I used to be 300 pounds myself. Whoa. And one of the things that I do take a great deal of pride in is about 80% of our staff starts off as members on the field. So they've walked the walk. We have a level of empathy that I don't think the average trainer has. But what I explain to people is that you, if you haven't worked out ever, or if you're looking to restart and you want it to be the last time, what people have to get is that in all the games that matter, you can't win the game. Winning the game is continuing to be able to play the game. Uh-huh. You don't get married for the wedding day, you get married to stay married. You don't open the business for the grand opening, you do it to stay in business. You don't get in shape to get in shape, you get in shape to stay in shape. Okay. And so if we want to get there, what we have to do is change our habits. And if we try to do this 180, meaning you haven't worked out at all, and now you're going from the couch to saying you're going to work out six days a week, you're only going to eat chicken and rice, you're never going to have your favorite vice, then guess what? You're going to fail in that. Okay. What I love for people to do is let's start with getting you to understand what feel-good actually is. Let's teach you how to set up your plate. Let's we're not even worried about macro tracking in the beginning. Let's just, this is what a healthy plate looks like. Let's get you moving. Commit to something that there's no excuse on God's beautiful green earth why you can't do it. Give me three days a week. That's only three percent of your week. And what will happen is you start to develop success in that. And I explain to people, there's only two ways you can build confidence. Do what you say you're gonna do and stack wins. Oh, wow. And so if we put that together, you're gonna you're gonna crush it.

SPEAKER_04:

All right, all right. Wow. Okay, you've given us a lot in such a brief amount of time about just getting the commitment and getting the the uh the motivation. I think you're motivating us to take on the challenge of getting fit. Uh, but you mentioned that you yourself was 300 pounds. Um tell us about that. What what uh what was it what was it like um to be 300 pounds? Well, I know what it's like to be 300 pounds, but then to make the decision to get fit and accomplish that, what was that journey like?

SPEAKER_05:

When we see people that find themselves overweight, there are a couple of misconceptions. One of the misconceptions is that those people are lazy. And that's not true. Uh oftentimes you'll find people that are overweight and they work really, really hard at their career. What they have is a very low self confidence about being successful because they've tried to work out in the past and they were probably missing one of those core four. Maybe they had the workout, but they didn't have a meal plan. Maybe they had a meal plan, but they didn't have accountability. And one of the things that is bad about our industry, if I said, let's go look up a video on YouTube on how to change tires, if we looked up 500 videos, 499 would tell us the same way of changing the tire, and the one person just wouldn't be very smart.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_05:

But if I said go look up 500 videos on how to lose weight, you're going to find 500 different videos on how to lose weight.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And so people get paralysis by analysis. What I explain to people is all workouts work, all diets work. The question is, will you stick to it? And that's why I believe in these first four weeks, it's so important for us to set very reasonable and attainable goals. Three times working out per week, eating clean 80% of the time. But the other side of it that comes out to it is when people find themselves overweight, it's like, I don't want to be laughed at. I don't want to wind up on a video on social media. And you, what we do is we create an environment where that's not going to happen for multiple reasons. Number one, it's soldier fit. We give you a shirt and you wear that shirt to class. And there's two reasons for that. One, in the military, you wear a uniform. But what we do is we don't allow girls to come in into Little Sister Sports bras. We don't allow dudes to take their shirts off. And I found that it keeps the jerk level real, real low.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Yeah. Now, now when you say the jerk level, some people aren't familiar with the jerk level in gym. I'm familiar with it. Uh some others might be. But explain to the average person what is the jerk level that might um make it harder for people starting to work out.

SPEAKER_05:

Correct. I mean, listen, I would have loved to have came up with the phrase that Planet Fitness did, gym intimidation. Um, but that really is what happens. A lot of times you go to commercial gyms, and again, all workouts work. If you love commercial gyms, great for you. Um, but a lot of times you go to commercial gyms and it looks almost more like you're going to a nightclub. There's more effort put into the outfit that I wore to the gym than actually the work that I'm doing in the gym. And that can be intimidating to some people. And for some people, it motivates them. The other thing is as you get in there, and I've experienced this as being somebody that's come back from multiple injuries. You go to the gym and now you see these people that you think have it all figured out, and they look big, fast, and strong, and then you're embarrassed to stand in there beside them. But what I have experienced personally, 99% of the people that are in the gym are never going to judge you for going to the gym because we have actual quantitative proof that you're looking to make an improvement. And what you will find more often than not is the people that are actually out of shape, but they're showing up, and we know they don't feel like showing up. Those are the people that inspire the other people to show up. Because if if you're here, what excuse do I have?

SPEAKER_04:

Right, right. All right, cool. Now, first of all, um, thank you. A couple of reasons. One, you have four locations in Montgomery County, Maryland, which is great. We love Montgomery County-based businesses, generate jobs, provide resources, of course, to residents. Um, secondly, um, you're actually literally um a soldier. Um, and thank you for your service. Thank you. Um and Happy Bladed Veterans Day, um, where this um podcast will be aired um in mid to late December. People are thinking about the new year and how to get fit. Um, but uh sometimes it means just as much to know the source of the of the information when it comes to fitness. So tell us a bit about your military background because that's it was kind of exciting when you um shared uh briefly um about some of your service. So let's talk about um Danny Ferrar, the soldier, and some of the things that you've um accomplished as a soldier, repetition as a soldier.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I mean, I grew up down south, so we really didn't have a lot of opportunities. Um uh I was uh adopted when I was two years old. I was sexually abused by my brother and sister growing up. And so for me, I didn't have any options. And so I went into the military, uh, spent eight years as an infantry paratrooper. Uh I was stationed at Arlington National Cemetery on 9-11. Uh I was doing, I we was on the Army drill team, I did funerals. I also was at the 82nd Airborne, uh, like I said, as a paratrooper. And when the Pentagon hit, uh, when the plane hit the Pentagon, we were the ready unit. So I responded to the Pentagon. I was at the Pentagon an hour after the plane hit. We secured the Pentagon, and then I volunteered to take the first team in to start searching for remains. Uh that obviously frustrated me. And so I volunteered to go do a combat tour in Iraq. I did over 800 convoy missions throughout the theater of Iraq. I've been Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, Masoul to crit the Iranian border. Um, blown up and shot at anywhere you can get blown up and shot at. I came back from that and transitioned out of the military very poorly. Uh, I honestly got fired from the first job I ever got as a civilian. Okay. Believe it or not, it was selling gym memberships. Oh, wow. Okay. Got evicted, wound up homeless. Uh, mother died in airborne school, brother killed himself six months later. Oh, God. I bottomed out and attempted suicide myself. And I ended up um going, getting locked up in the psych work for a few days and made a decision there that I needed to turn my life around. And I turned to fitness. And this is what I promise you if you want to level up your life, the only thing you do better out of shape is die. That's it. If you get in shape, you become a better parent, you become a better spouse, you become a better business owner, a better employee because you have more energy to give. You have more life to give. And I saw what that did for myself. And so we decided to transition to that. We started Soldier Fit. We also uh raised$3 million in conjunction with Goodwill of Monaco Valley and opened the first ever VSC Veteran Services Center. That is in Frederick County, uh, but it is a resource for anybody, Montgomery as well. Oh wow, okay. And we see probably about 600, 700 veterans through the door every year to help them transit, I mean, ever uh to help them transition uh successfully into civilian.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh, wow. Well, thank you for your service, thank you for all you've done, and um, thanks for sharing your powerful journey. Sometimes it helps others that are dealing with some of the challenges in life to know that others have faced those challenges and overcome and are now present and ready to help others uh become better uh in some way. And that was fitness. Absolutely. And as we look at the new year and as we take on these challenges and move forward with boldness and with optimism, uh, we can look forward to organizations like Soldier Fit. Now, now, granted, we have no favorites in the What's Happening Moco podcast. We don't endorse any businesses in the What's Happening Moco podcast. We do, of course, highlight that the recreation does have free uh fitness resources and all those things, but we do love Montgomery County based businesses or businesses that um serve Montgomery County, Maryland, like Soldier Fit. And we thank you for um offering the classes, but then also the example of overcoming and courage. Uh, what else do you want people to know about Soldier Fit or about Danny Ferrar? And how do people learn more about your business?

SPEAKER_05:

Absolutely. So you can always go check us out at soldierfit.com. Uh, all of our gyms have Instagram and Facebook pages relative to their location. So SoldierFit Gaithersburg, Clarksburg, uh, Silver Spring, Rockville, et cetera. Uh, you can find me on Instagram or as SoldierFit CEO. Um, the hurt, excuse me, the Hertz CEO. Uh, you can also find me on Facebook under Danny Ferrar. And listen, what I tell everybody is this all, like I said at the beginning, all workouts work. We'd love to have you at SoldierFit. We'd love to have an opportunity to help you. But getting up and going left, right, left is free 99 every single solitary day of the week. And people grossly underestimate uh the power of movement. Motion is lotion. And so if all you did was today said, I'm gonna make a commitment that I'm just gonna start where I'm at. I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna go walk a mile. Awesome. Great job. You did awesome. And don't belittle it. Don't say I just walked a mile. Don't say I only did 30 minutes workout. Take great pride in the fact that you walked a mile and you did 30 minutes workout. Because again, we have quantitative proof that you're improving. And if you stack those micro wins over time, I promise if I get you 1% better a week, that's a 52% improvement by the end of the year. That's amazing. You will be happy and you will be proud of what you accomplished.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, Danny Ferrar, thank you so much for being here today. And thank you to Kayla Kabukas from the record department and the Lon Walls, six degree black belt, and Bondo for getting us ready, mentally ready to get physically ready in the new year. And that's what's happening, Moco. Please like, subscribe, and share. And as always, we wish you all the very, very best in this new year.

SPEAKER_02:

Thanks for listening to What's Happening Moco. Please subscribe to be your favorite podcast. And follow us on Facebook. This podcast is brought to you by County Cable Montgomery, your source for news and information from the Montgomery County government. Connect with us via cable, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube by searching for County Cable Moco.