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What is MACUMBA® Fitness
Macumba® is dance fitness.
Macumba® is a type of aerobic discipline meant to tone, burn calories, and generate excitement. It is infused with Caribbean rhythms, African energy and Latin dance. It was created by Max Imperoli, who is credentialed with an advanced degree in Physical Education from I.S.E.F., a state university in Italy. Macumba® as a sport is designed to be so much fun that you don't remember you're exercising, but thanks to the education of it's creator, it's also designed to tone your body while staying within safe guidelines and the limits of the human anatomy.
The word "Macumba" is actually of African origins. The early Brazilian mystical-religious groups that were identified by the word "Macumba" used a form of dance as part of their rituals. The dance form was so unique and interesting that over the years it became more well known than the mystics that began it. While the word may have an unusual history of usage in Brazil, today it refers to the dance form upon which we have based this fitness system.
In a Macumba® class you will use simple yet alluring dance steps to burn massive amounts of calories. The routines are choreographed not just to maximize the energy used during a class, but to move from muscle group to muscle group so that you get a complete workout without over extending any single body part. The choreography is fun and sometimes provocative, but always in good taste. If you've ever danced to Brazilian or Caribbean rhythms such as Mambo, Cha-Cha, Merengue, Cumbia, Salsa and Reggaeton, then you've probably already tried some of the elements in Macumba®. Naturally, being a cutting edge fitness system, it's not limited to those musical styles, but we can almost guarantee that you will hear some of those Caribbean and Brazilian sounds during a Macumba® class.
Where did it come from?
Founded in Brazil by Max Imperoli, Macumba® exploded as a fitness sensation when it was introduced in Italy. A premier attraction at many of the largest fitness festivals, it always draws large crowds in a country known for it's celebration of the human figure and physical fitness. With scores of Macumba® Fitness studios all over Italy alone, it's no wonder that Macumba® has gained such popularity in other countries like Brazil, Tunisia, Kenya, Bulgaria, and China.
Macumba® is just getting started here in the USA. We've already been contacted by dozens of groups that want to get in on the ground floor of a new fitness system that is bound to explode. We launched in July 2009 and will participate in another exciting event at a well known fitness festival in Miami in December 2009. You are bound to hear about Macumba being taught near you very soon!
Max Imperoli, the creator of Macumba
Max
Imperoli began his career in dance at the age of 4 when his older sister, a
professional dancer with the Italo-disco group "the Crazy Gang", began his
training and introduced him to the world of professional dance. At the age of
18 he was hired in what was then the newest and best Fitness Center in Rome:
"The Roman Sport Center", owned by the F1 racecar champion Eddie Cheever. The
Roman Sport Center a Fitness Center boasting over 23,000 square feet of modern
fitness equipment, is still one of the most upscale facilities in Italy, and is
a landmark on the well known Via Veneto near the American Embassy. Max
eventually left the Roman Sports Center to study fitness full time as a student
at I.S.E.F.*
European
universities have a different system than their American counterparts. However,
the degree that Max earned - with a grade of 110/110 and honors - is equivalent
to a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education, and entitles him to teach fitness
in public schools. Not to discredit the value and effort involved, but most
American fitness instructors only obtain a basic certification. Fitness
certification courses are typically equivalent to taking eight or nine credit
hours and can be gained in three or four months from a private association on a
pass or fail basis. A degree in Physical Education generally includes over one
hundred credit hours and takes years to obtain from an established university.
Max Imperoli's education at the Italian State University ( I.S.E.F.*
) qualified him to develop a system that will be both challenging and safe.
There are many popular dance aerobic methods being taught at fitness facilities
nationwide today, and each of them has a founder with some type of dance and
athletic background. But how many of them have the can demonstrate a good
creative balance of dance and science and verify that the science is
based on years of university study?
Once
Max returned to Rome he began working as a personal trainer. With his education
and background, he was soon in high demand by the elite and famous of Italy.
Film and television stars depend on their appearance to earn an income and
remain popular. It's no accident that they soon came to rely on Max to keep
them looking fit and healthy.
While successfully managing his career as a fitness trainer, Max took a renewed
interest in his roots with Brazilian and international dance styles, and began
to develop a unique afro and Pan-American dance fitness method. By 2006 his
system was well defined, and required instructors to have a broad repertoire of
skills since it combined elements of many cultural dances, including Jive,
Italian folk song, all the sexy varieties of reggaeton and of course, salsa,
merengue
and cumbia. With his extensive fitness training he developed a system that also
required instructors to master almost all of the movements of classic aerobics,
increasing the participants stability, flexibility , balance, strength and
endurance.
He had begun teaching his new fitness system and demonstrated it in 2006 at the
world famous Fitness Festival in Rome. That's where the Festival owner and
talent scout immediately spotted him and requested that he formally bring this
effective class to all of Italy. Max chose to call it Macumba®.
Today, Max stays busy teaching Macumba® and holding instructor seminars. He is in very high demand in Italy and is actively working on certifying instructors worldwide.
*
This is an acronym for the Italian University
"Istituto Superiore Scienze Motorie", or -in english, Superior Institute of
Physical Education. It is the best school for Physical Education in Italy. Due
to many differences in the way high school and college semesters are grouped in
Europe and in the USA, European universities offer three year programs that are
equivalent to American four year programs. Max has a three year university
degree at I.S.E.F. that is equivalent to a four year Bachelors in the U.S.A. A
few years after Max earned his degree, the I.S.E.F. changed its name and became
IUSM (Istituto Universitario di Scienze
Motorie) or, University Institute of Physical.Education.
Who Supports and Choreographs Macumba routines?
Macumba® Fitness has several supporters
including Crunch Fitness and Fitness Festival in Italy. Some of their
Master Trainers including Ailton Andrade and Lena Pereira (world renowned
dancer/choreographer/former Master Trainer for another Latin fitness program)
support, back and choreograph with Max Imperoli. Both of these Master Trainers
have just completed a Macumba DVD with Max Imperoli.
Visit www.macumbasport.com for more information!