Pak's Karate in Bunnell switches program, name to Hybrid Muay Thai and Kickboxing Gym

The new program caters to a much broader audience, owner Vince Maccherone said.

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Pak’s Karate Academy in Bunnell is now Hybrid Muay Thai and Kickboxing Gym.

The martial arts gym, at 2323 N. State St. No. 7, has been in business since 2008. After 16 years as Pak’s Karate, owner Vince Maccherone decided it was time to go in a different direction.

“We feel like we’re modernizing the program,” he said. “We made the changes in the last quarter of last year. We phased out running a karate school and started showing new drills. On Jan. 1, we decided to move with this new idea.”

Pak’s Karate had built itself into a kid’s program, Maccherone said, but as an instructor he felt he had more to offer.

“I can work with adults, I can work with athletes. Since the informal switch we have up to 20 adults now,” he said. “We had no adult classes a couple of months before. Our program should cater to everybody, not just limiting who we can help.”

Both the kids and adults like the switch because Muay Thai emphasizes self-defense, Maccherone said.

“It’s a defense style that uses all weapons we have on our bodies — knees and elbows and you can grab in a clinch. Now, the kids are moving more during class, learning more real-life-suited techniques for real-life self defense,” Maccherone said. “The drills we do now compared to traditional style martial arts are way more engaging and way more fun. Kids who have been with me for five years are saying, ‘Wow, I like this more.’”

Maccherone was introduced to Muay Thai several years ago by a friend he knew through karate.

“I thought it was really fun. For someone who had been in martial arts my whole life, I never heard of it, but I really liked it,” he said. “When you do karate, you spend a good amount of time practicing hand forms. Now, instead of forms, it’s, Are you blocking when you punch? Do you know how to defend certain moves? This caters to a much broader audience.” 

A grand opening is planned in April, Maccherone said. For more information, go to https://hybridmuaythai.com/

 

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