The History of Tae BO
Tae Bo fitness routines--better known simply as Tae Bo--is an aerobic exercise that rose in popularity during the 1990s. The creation of a martial arts practitioner, the name "tae bo" is a portmanteau of tae kwon do (tae) and boxing (bo). It is a routine characterized by martial arts and punching motions at a fast pace to promote fitness.
-
Background: Billy Blanks
-
Martial artist Billy Blanks founded Tae Bo. At the time of the routine's creation, he had been a seven-time world karate champion and won several international gold medals. Also, he owned an eighth-degree black belt in tae kwon do and black belts in five other forms of martial arts. His success enabled Blanks to move to Boston and open his own karate studio.
Founding
-
Blanks discovered Tae Bo by accident. In 1976, while working out in his basement, he turned on the original "Rocky" theme song and added punching to his repertoire. He was surprised that he was easily exhausted within 10 minutes when his regular regimen consisted of hours of workouts, seven days a week. It was then he realized that he can fuse both martial arts and boxing elements for a more fulfilling workout.
In 1982, Blanks began offering Tae Bo classes in his Boston studio. In 1989, he moved with his business partner, daughter Shellie Blanks to California, eventually opening the Billy Blanks World Training Center in Sherman Oaks.
-
Popularity
-
The young business relied on word of mouth to get clients. However, it was when pop star and choreographer Paula Abdul started attending the program that Tae Bo began to garner wider recognition. In 1998, Blanks released the first Tae Bo workout video, which was heavily marketed with infomercials and astoundingly blossomed to about $75 million in sales within a year. Also, his celebrity clientele mushroomed in size. Such success made Blanks a millionaire, arguably making him the most famous fitness trainer since Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons.
Drawbacks
-
Tae Bo's peak in the late 1990s, though, attracted dozens of imitators, including Rique Uresti's Gotham Box. Jan Moss, a lawyer for Blanks, claimed that she had to send an average of 60 cease-and-desist letters a week to fitness centers using the Tae Bo name without submitting a licensing fee. Also, around the same period, several legal claims began to cripple the Tae Bo business, the most famous of them being a suit brought forward by boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard. Though a friend of Blanks, Leonard complained that his name was used in Tae Bo infomercials without his consent.
Celebrity Endorsement
-
Today, Tae Bo is nowhere as popular as it was in the late 1990s. However, the routine has racked up dozens of celebrity endorsements and/or participation over the years, including those from Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson, Wayne Gretzkey, Bruce Jenner, Carmen Electra, Pamela Anderson, Farrah Fawcett, Vivica A. Fox, Goldie Hawn, Queen Latifah, Brooke Shields and Sinbad.
-
