Oliver, 27 and a health teacher in Tewksbury, keeps her legs in trim with an eight- or nine-mile run every day. Duffy, 27 and a substitute teacher in the Woburn schools, ran, worked out at a gym and did aerobics.

But they wanted something more, something that would work on the rest of the body and give increased self-protection skills.

"Its good self defense and its excellent exercise, Oliver said. I run, but this works on different muscles."

Since last November, Oliver and Duffy have taken classes at Ed Melaugh's New England Small Circle Jujitsu Academy.

They tone their bodies with exercise workouts in a martial-arts environment with training similar to tae bo. With high-energy music as background, Melaugh and trainer Mary Beth Smith work with some 65 students each week.

"It's four months now and I've noticed a difference in my arms. My arms used to be flabby. My legs were already in trim from running, but not my upper body," Oliver said.

"It's good self defense and it's excellent exercise. I run but this works on different muscles. I run when I get home and then go to Ed's for a 6 or 7 o'clock workout. Saturday, I go to the 11:30 [a.m.] workout."

Oliver now lives in Wakefield and teaches health classes at the Wynn Middle School in Tewksbury.

"We do the [punching] bags. We use the medicine balls. You use muscles so you get the most strength. It's great exercise; you're using your leg muscles, your arm muscles. He [Melaugh] incorporates sit-ups and pushups. Its like a toning; it's an aerobics workout plus."

Duffy, a 5-foot 3-inch brunette who was co-captain of Woburn's 1990 football cheerleading team, taught high school health in New Hampshire for a year after graduating from college.

She started running when she was 12 and kept running to stay healthy. But a damaged knee forced her to look elsewhere for exercise.

"I belonged to a gym but I needed something new. I did step aerobics but I was getting bored. I'm planning on doing this for a long time because I really like it, the intensity of it. When I come out of class I'm sweating and I know I got a good workout," Duffy said.

"I've noticed that my upper body is a lot more trim. I'm stronger because he makes us do so many pushups. It's just a change in body structure. Now things are tightening and toning. It's pretty intense. We do learn a lot of techniques. Ed keeps it so you're not doing the same thing every time."

Oliver graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell in 1996. She taught for a year in Lowell and last year moved to the Tewksbury system.

"I'm really not that strong but Ed's very helpful. He tells you what you're doing wrong, like using the wrong form when you kick or you punch. You learn techniques so you don't hurt your knuckles or your wrist.

"It's good to get your frustrations out, too, like when you hit the bag. We use boxing gloves with a lot of padding so you don't hurt your muscles. We use the bag every class, for probably 15 or 20 minutes.

"That's my favorite. It gets me into shape, it’s a stress reliever and it's fun. Ed [Melaugh] makes it fun. There's music and we're always laughing. There are about 12 people in class with me. It's mostly female but there are males in the class," Oliver said.

Duffy, along with Woburn classmate and now court officer Merideith McDonough, is forging ahead with Fitness Kickboxing at the New England Small Circle Jujitsu Academy. She takes three to five classes each week, depending on how much time is available. "I'm very conscientious about my health," Duffy said.

But Oliver has had to take a temporary break. There's just so much one person can do.

"I'm training to run the Boston Marathon so I'm taking a little time off. There's too much running. But I'll be back as soon as the Marathon is over. I miss it."

Melaugh, who keeps the Fitness Kickboxing classes separate from his jujitsu classes for adults and children, said KF is a great fat reducer.

"This is the number-one fat burner; about 800 calories an hour," Melaugh said. "We're developing endurance through constant movement; developing good, high heart rates. "

The Fitness Kickboxing classes are for men and women but the enrollment is 90 percent female, Melaugh said. They're ages 15 to 55 and hail mostly from the five town surrounding Woburn. Participants wear regular workout clothes and shoes so no belts or uniforms are required. There's no physical contact with other students and no prior experience is required.

"They're getting an aerobic workout utilizing self-defense skills. The kicks and punches are there -- and It's a great fitness workout. It's different from aerobics. It develops good self defense skills and the ability to use your hands, legs and feet in a coordinated way," Melaugh said.

"You don't get bored the way some people at the gym do lifting weights. There's a lot of fun and motivation. And motivation is the key to losing weight and getting into shape."

You can have a free, no-obligation introductory workout. Call Fitness Kickboxing at (781) 932 9366 and we'll give you full details.

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