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Ameris’ Family Creating Legacy in Taekwondo and Fitness
Yinzer Crazy • Sep 08, 2020
Fit 2 Fight is Pittsburgh's fastest rising workout class.
What comes to your mind when you think of mixed martial arts or Taekwondo? Some of the greats such as Bruce Lee, for starters?
In New Kensington you think of one family specifically. The Ameris family.
Taekwondo is under the umbrella of mixed martial arts and it’s what the Ameris’ family have devoted years of their life to perfecting. The name is derived from the Korean word “Tae”, which means foot and “Kwon” which means fist. It is quite literally the way of the foot and the fist.
Philip Ameris and his family put their best foot forward as they brought this concept to life in the New Kensington area almost 20 years ago.
Much of that currently is in the hands of Philip Ameris Jr.
The son of Grand Master Philip Ameris (9th Degree Black Belt, AIMAA Taekwondo) and Master Jeanne Ameris (6th Degree Black Belt, AIMAA Taekwondo) - Ameris Jr. has amassed a lifetime of Martial Arts experience.
A 4th Degree Black Belt in AIMAA Taekwondo - Philip Jr. has competed in the United States and Europe and also served as one of the lead instructors at his family’s Do-Jang.
Philip Jr. didn’t grow up watching cartoons and playing catch in the backyard. He grew up watching videos of Master Hee Il Cho - one of the great pioneers of Taekwondo. Cho has written 11 martial arts books and has appeared in over 70 martial arts magazine covers. He is the gold standard when it comes to the sport and its historical development.
Master Cho was arguably the biggest influence in Philip’s Jr.’s father’s professional life. Ameris trained under the direct tutelage of Grand Master Cho for over three decades - becoming Cho's highest ranking student (8th Degree Black Belt) and served as Technical Director for the Action International Martial Arts Association (AIMAA).
The two will forever be connected.
When I sat down with his son Philip Jr. I asked him what it was like growing up in a household where martial arts was at the forefront of every dinner table conversation. He said that when he would visit a family restaurant he was often more interested in kicking down the doors rather than sitting down and eating a meal.
That mindset inspired him to follow in his father's footsteps as he became an adult. One of his proudest professional accomplishments is starting the hottest new workout class in Pennsylvania. If you haven’t heard of it yet you just might be living under a rock.
In 2010, Philip Jr. created “Fit 2 Fight” - a 12 week fitness boot camp combining Authentic Kickboxing and Progressive Strength Training. Since that time, “Fit 2 Fight” has become one of the most popular training programs in the greater Pittsburgh area based on it’s simple approach and effective results. It involves strength training, with heavy kettle-bell usage and some of the Ameris’s martial arts background involved in the techniques.
Fit 2 Fight is the name. Family is at the root of it all.
Ameris said the concept initially started with a simple idea. After getting married he wanted to make some extra money using his passion for martial arts. The class started as kickboxing on Friday nights with just a handful of people. Now it has grown into a local sensation - with over 60 participants regularly involved.
Philip mentioned that the most rewarding part of the program for him has been the results of his clients. Most are walking around now with more confidence in each step they take, and some have seen significant weight loss and strength gain in just a short time with the program.
Ameris Jr. credits Brett Jones, creator of “Strongfirst”, for some of his kettle-bell specific routines.
Philip Jr.’s brother, Jimmy, is also often seen at F2F and is a first degree blackbelt. The Ameris's wives Hillary and Marissa teach specific classes for women and also have been an enormous part of their success.
For them it’s no secret - it’s all about family and fitness.
Fit 2 Fight is located on Carl Avenue in New Kensington. It truly is for individuals of all fitness levels - from beginner to advanced.
Check out their website http://fit2fight.com/
for more information and to sign-up for classes.
You can also get a first hand look at some of their incredible success stories.
Other contributors to the class include local MMA fighters Cody Law and Dom Mazzotta - who will always credit the Ameris family for helping ignite the passion they have for fighting.
Although the family has a deep rooted history in martial arts and fitness - they still feel like this is just the beginning of something bigger to come for Fit 2 Fight.
And so do we.
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Yinzer Crazy Contributor Baron Dionis. Follow him on Twitter @BaronDionis
Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Harv Aronson
Yinzer Crazy Contributor Baron Dionis. Follow him on Twitter @BaronDionis
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