Suzie Clifford and Amy Liang have come a long way since they met at a Wilton Newcomers dinner over 10 years ago. Not only have they become great friends and earned their 3rd-Degree martial arts black belts together, they are now realizing another one of their dreams. Suzie and Amy are opening a high-intensity interval training (HiiT) kickboxing studio and they couldn’t be more excited. HiiTKICK Fitness Studio’s grand opening tomorrow, Saturday, September 8th.
Everyone has dreams but how many people actually fulfill those dreams? The two friends’ goal is not just to create an insanely fun, ever-changing hour of power workout that torches calories. But beyond that, they want their studio to be a social space that brings people together, where everyone supports and cheers one another while improving physical and emotional health. Suzie says, “We want HiiTKICK Fitness to be a place where people come to feel good about themselves, get in shape and have fun doing it.” It will be the kick-butt version of Cheers.
The two Moms started practicing the Korean/Chinese martial art of Tang Soo Do, soon after they met. “We wanted something different. We wanted to exercise our bodies as well as our brains,” says Suzie. After many years and earning three black belts together, they decided to look for another, comparable workout, “To take it up a notch,” Amy explains. “Practicing martial arts is enjoyable but you’re not in there just letting loose. If you let loose in martial arts, it’s on another person and that’s a bit unacceptable.” [They laugh] They landed in a kickboxing class and fell in love with it. “Kickboxing has the same amazing physical workout, but adds great stress relief and is really fun,” says Amy.
When their favorite kickboxing gym closed, the two were left searching for another kickboxing option. “Time is precious. We’re all super busy and I just won’t drive further than 20 minutes to work out,” Amy admits. This is when the two friends decided that if they couldn’t find the kickboxing gym they wanted, they were going to have to create it.
Always fitness enthusiasts, neither came from the professional world of sports. Amy’s experience is in marketing and Suzie was in advertising and design. Their backgrounds will serve them well as they want to not just build a studio, but create an understanding and lifestyle around kickboxing. “Boxing is a very unique sport. It’s a massive a calorie burner that really forces you to focus and works you on your core strength, which is essential to success in all sports,” says Amy.
The pair plans to offer motivational teen classes as well. They explain that no local gyms offer teen kickboxing classes and believe that teenagers would benefit from the workout whether they are cross-training off-season or just want to add fitness to their lives. “We would love to help motivate kids who want to become fit. We’d also love to attract any teen athletes who want to train off-season. We provide a great space and awesome playlists. Teens can have a lot of fun while training off-season here and they’re also learning a new skill,” says Suzie.
“Our goal is to create a friendly community around kickboxing at our studio,” says Amy. “And if our clients make new friends, enjoy coming each time and get in shape, then we’ve done our job.”
The dynamic duo hopes to eventually expand into other locations, but keep one common community. They intend to create a studio where people feel comfortable and empowered, support each other and get a sense of reward not in only achieving their own goals but when others achieve theirs. Suzie concludes, “when someone succeeds, we’ll be cheering for them and celebrating their success together.” Three cheers for HiiTKICK Fitness!
HiiTKICK Fitness is located at 27 Danbury Road, in Wilton.