If you've ever fancied yourself a nimble ninja (you know, in your other life), this new sword-fighting class may be just the trick to keeping you fit.
The New York Times' latest Gym Class video report sends reporter Karen Barrow to a Forza class, which "takes the motions of sword fighting and packages it into an hour of muscle toning, endurance building and mind conditiong."
"It was sort of a mind workout in additional to a physical workout," Barrow says in the video, noting that even a second of distraction throws her focus off.
"Everybody can benefit from this workout because physically there is no impact," Forza instructor Ilaria Montagnani says in the video. "None of the movements are violent, although it may seem a scary kind of workout because you have the weapon in your hand. But it's actually very gentle on your body. The moves are authentic, the moves that are used in samurai sword training."
The class was at an Equinox Fitness Club on the Upper West Side.
To read Barrow's ratings of Forza, visit the Well blog at nytimes.com.
