Fitness Factory In Irvine.

[Oldguyoutofshap]

Hi Everyone, I found this website by googling how to tell if a martial arts school is legitimate. This is a new chapter in my life and I am looking to see if I am headed on the right path.

As my name states I am an old guy who needs to get back into shape. A friend of mine's wife recently got back into shape by going to a Muay Thai Class at a place called

http://www.fitnessfactory.us/about.html


Well I looked at some information on the internet, and I'd like to give this a shot before the athletic part of my life dwindles to a close ( I am 39 years old)

I thought it would be great, when I read this guy's bio, to learn from him.

A three time World Champion in Muay Thai could surely help me out, especially since I have so much to learn and not much time to learn it.

Then I started looking at the guy's website. He says He was born in 78, and retired from competition in 1999......

So he retired at 21?

Is that common for Muay Thai Champions?

His website states the following on linked in:

* 1998 International Taekwondo Champion
* 2 time World Muay Thai Kickboxing Champion

Then it states:

Muay Thai Kickboxing
3 World Championship Title Belts in Muay Thai Kickboxing
Senior Kry - International Muay Thai School (Bangkok, Thailand)

* Competed nationally and internationally, representing the USA Olympic Taekwondo team

Taekwondo (WTF)
4th Degree Black Belt - (WTF) World Taekwondo Federation
1998 European Champion ( Moscow, Russia) , representing U.S. Olympic team

I couldn;t find the 1998 WTF championships. I couldn't find out what a Senior Kry was, and I couldn't find any world championships for Muay Thai kickboxing.

Is this person a fraud? Am I just really naive and don't know what to look for?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[waxeater]

It's common for Thais to retire at such a young age as they also begin their fighting career around 7-8 years old, but this guy ain't Thai. And I don't know anything about the International Muay Thai school other than the fact that it exists (and I've trained in Bangkok on four separate occasions.)

Sorry that's probably not the kind of information you're looking for. I am curious as to which organizations or stadiums granted him his multiple championships.

[andrewa]

His full name appears to be "Armen Keledjian". I can't find any references to him or his 'championships" other than his website.

[jnp]

The term used in Muay Thai is "Kru". So unless that's a typo on your part, that is not a good indication of legitimacy. Most likely he's a TKD guy looking to cash in on the MMA craze of which Muay Thai is an integral part.

39 is not old. I'm two years older than you and I'm not dead yet.

[waxeater]

I didn't even notice the Kru bit -- I just glanced over it like he trained under someone named Kry or something. It's not even pronounced that way, so I have no idea how he could **** that up.

[pauli]

have you looked at a keyboard lately?

39 is not old. I'm two years older than you and I'm not dead yet.

not that you're aware of. nobody's had it in them to tell you.

[ReverendClog]

I don't think there was an Olympic team between '96 and 2000, or at least TKD didn't feature at the Olympics. Is he supposed to be a fourth dan?, even Sofranko is on a 2nd dan, and he is the real thing when it comes to TKD.

[Oldguyoutofshap]

Thanks to everyone who commented. I appreciate the help. While I'm not looking to be the next Muay Thai Champion, its been my experience that if people will lie to you about a few things then its best not to trust them with your credit car.

It's common for Thais to retire at such a young age as they also begin their fighting career around 7-8 years old, but this guy ain't Thai. And I don't know anything about the International Muay Thai school other than the fact that it exists (and I've trained in Bangkok on four separate occasions.)

Sorry that's probably not the kind of information you're looking for. I am curious as to which organizations or stadiums granted him his multiple championships.

Well that's pretty crazy starting out at 8. I e-mailed him and got a very fast response that he was a 3 time IKBA world champion.

I've never heard of the IKBA, but I did find this link, and I have no idea what it is because I don't read German!

http://www.ikba.de/home.php

The term used in Muay Thai is "Kru". So unless that's a typo on your part, that is not a good indication of legitimacy. Most likely he's a TKD guy looking to cash in on the MMA craze of which Muay Thai is an integral part.

39 is not old. I'm two years older than you and I'm not dead yet.

He wrote he was a Senior Kry, and probably meant that cru thing. It's real sad that he's misleading people, its too bad there is not a BBB for things like this.

I don't think there was an Olympic team between '96 and 2000, or at least TKD didn't feature at the Olympics. Is he supposed to be a fourth dan?, even Sofranko is on a 2nd dan, and he is the real thing when it comes to TKD.

Thanks, and to be honest I don't know much about TKD which I assume is Taekwondo, but if its anything like his Muay Thai stories its probably fake.


Here's the bio from his website, does this help?

About Armen K:
Armen was born in Ukraine Odessa in 1978 and immigrated to the United States in 1988. Inspired by Bruce Lee, Armen took up the art of Tang Soo Do because he was tired of getting picked on in school. After getting his black belt, Armen wanted a real challenge. Hearing from a friend that Muay Thai Kickboxing was the most brutal combat sport out there, he decided to try it. A firm believer of cross training, Armen believes it is best to know multiple martial arts styles. As a result, he also started to study Taekwondo (WTF) and Kali/Escrima weaponry at one of the top ten martial arts schools in the nation, California Taekwondo Training Center. In high school, for extra endurance he was on the football, wrestling, track, and cross country teams.

In 1996, Armen started his professional career in Taekwondo and Muay Thai Kickboxing. He has traveled to Hawaii, Canada, Puerto Rico, Spain, Italy, Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Thailand and Japan for competition.
After hundreds of trophies, medals, and three world championship belts, Armen felt he had achieved his competitive goals and he retired from competition in 1999. Since then, he has dedicated his life to educating, inspiring, and training young people through fitness and martial arts.




Armen's Experience:
Muay Thai Kickboxing
3 World Championship Title Belts in Muay Thai Kickboxing
Senior Kry - International Muay Thai School (Bangkok, Thailand)

Taekwondo (WTF)
4th Degree Black Belt - (WTF) World Taekwondo Federation
1998 European Champion ( Moscow, Russia) , representing U.S. Olympic team

Fitness
Former Master Instructor for Cardio Kickboxing in Bally Total Fitness
Certified by (AFAA) Aerobics and Fitness Association of America in Personal Fitness Training and Group X Classes


Tang Soo Do
1st Degree Black Belt - American Tang Soo Do Federation
Trained with 1978 World Champion Master Julian Chan in Tang Soo Do


Other
Fluent in Russian, Armenian and English
Over 20 years experience in Taekwondo, Muay Thai Kickboxing, Kali Escrima and Tang Soo Do
Competed nationally and internationally, representing the USA Olympic Taekwondo team
1st Degree Black Belt - (IKF) International Kali Federation
Trained in Wild Card Boxing Gym with world renowned trainer Freddy Roach

[Oldguyoutofshap]

39 is not old. I'm two years older than you and I'm not dead yet.

Hah! I get what you're saying. My body just snaps and creaks in new ways every morning it seems.

[ChenPengFi]

Whatever the case, i am fairly certain that he lifted the images here:
http://www.fitnessfactory.us/stretching.html
from this book(the hat's a dead giveaway, the author's wife made it or something iirc):
Amazon.com: Stretching (9780394738741): Bob Anderson: Books
and i see no credit given.