iLoveKickboxing Gym Soon to Open in Montgomeryville

Penny and Jeff Toren did not plan to open their new iLoveKickboxing gym in Montgomeryville during a global pandemic. But based on what the couple learned from their clients in the new locations’s sister boxing studio in Jenkintown, this might just be the perfect time.

“This pandemic has been so hard on everyone, physically, mentally, and socially,” Penny Toren said. “Within days of the state closing gyms, we offered virtual kickboxing classes to our members, but it soon became clear that wasn’t enough.”

iLoveKickboxing isn’t just where members go to exercise. It’s where they meet friends, socialize, celebrate accomplishments, get support when they need it and offer their support to others, she
said. “This pandemic has been so isolating. It was clear our members needed their kickboxing community as much as their kickboxing classes.”

By early March, both virtual and safe in-person cardio kickboxing classes, along with nutrition and accountability coaching, will be available through membership in the Montgomeryville location. And new members can also join existing ones in a variety of regularly offered online classes and events, including meditation practice, virtual coffee klatches/happy hours and yoga. Membership in either the new Montgomeryville kickboxing studio or the Jenkintown location
allows classes at the other, and there are special deals for those who join now. Details at Ilovekickboxing.com/montgomeryville.

Gym Closings Spark Innovation, Grow Community

When Gov. Tom Wolf announced that gyms across Pennsylvania would close on March 12, the Torens already had a lease on the new 3,400-square-foot space at 165 Witchwood Drive, next to Party City in the North Wales Target Shopping Center, and work to transform it into a state-of-the-art kickboxing studio where 72 people can box simultaneously was underway.

That weekend, the Torens announced to their Jenkintown members and staff that they would switch to a virtual environment that Monday. Even some of their best in-person coaches had to learn to teach to a camera, Toren laughs.

They started with a few classes, then over the summer updated their audio and video systems and now offer 40 classes a week, which members may attend in person or virtually from home.

“We do the classes through Zoom, which means not only can kickboxers see their instructors, their instructors can see them and give the same encouragement or gentle nudges they would provide in person,” Toren said.

iLoveKickboxing has long had an active Facebook group, but when members said they needed more ways to break their pandemic isolation and stress, Toren added:

• A weekly meditation class.
• Yoga classes.
• Coffee Talk – a virtual coffee/tea/wine happy hour where members talk about everything from how their kids are dealing with virtual learning to how they are coping with spending so much time at home to missing their elderly relatives.
• Trivia nights.
• Cooking demonstrations.
• A virtual kickboxing class for kids – designed to engage them and give their parents a much-needed break.

“These are the kinds of things that go much deeper than the physical aspects of our studio,” said Toren. “This is our heart.”

Flexible Approach Allows Boxing at Home, or in Either of Two Studios

Now that restrictions have lifted, small, in-person group classes are available in Jenkintown and will be in Montgomeryville also, Toren said. Personal training and small-group training are also available, along with remote classes for those who prefer to workout at home or for those times when life gets in the way of going to class. All safety precautions are in place. In-person class attendance is

limited to allow social distancing. Hand sanitizer must be used by all, and the facility is frequently cleaned and sanitized. Everyone must wear a mask, but that is no obstacle, Toren said.

“At first our members were concerned about working out with a mask,” Toren remembered, “But then one of our coaches put out a video and said, ‘Come on, guys! We’re kickboxers! We’re not
going to let a mask get in our way!’ The response to that was phenomenal. One person later said they would wear a Hazmat suit to class if they had to, because they needed their gym.”