Flash Academy takes a Beating

It’s a place where title-holding boxers train side by side with grandmothers and 3-year-olds, a place where mothers can learn martial arts while their children are at school, a place where career professionals can kick a little butt before going into work for the day. It’s a place where discipline and honor turn weakness into strength.

The Flash Academy, at 4030 South 2700 East in Holladay, has been training students in the art of boxing, kickboxing and martial arts since 1992 and is run by Eddie Flash, a four-time kickboxing world champion.

“We train all ages. Our oldest member is 82 and our youngest is 3,” Eddie says. “You’re never too young or too old to train.”

The Flash Academy has classes for every person in every stage of life. There’s the 6 a.m. class for working professionals, a 9:15 early mom class and a 12:45 “little ninja” class for 2 to 4-year-olds. For $85 a month you can attend any or all of the martial arts classes available during that time and for $100 a month, you can attend any or all of the boxing or kickboxing classes available. Private instruction is also offered for kids who fall behind in their classes at no extra cost to parents so the students can keep up.

 “We have a lot of doctors and lawyers who come to our early class and a lot of moms who come in after they drop their kids off at school,” Eddie says. “For the mom’s boxing and kickboxing classes, they train on the speed bag, jump rope, do table work -- it’s the same thing as if they were training to be a professional.”

Along with Eddie, other instructors at Flash Academy also hold impressive titles. Instructor Camille Deloch is a nine-time martial arts world champion and Chris Fernandez is currently the number 10 ranked boxer in the world in the junior featherweight division. Both have studied under Eddie.

Eddie grew up in southern California where he received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Long Beach University. During Eddie’s rise in the martial art world, he spent time fighting beside Chuck Norris in the early 1980s in the karate competition World Games in Long Beach. He was also a world class track star and former body guard for such names as Michael Jackson and Sharon Osborne. Eddie first came to Utah after being injured to work with Deloch. That’s when he noticed no one was really teaching boxing or kickboxing. He decided to stay after seeing how family-centered the community was. There are now over 37 schools throughout the nation under the Flash Karate Federation umbrella.

“We specialize in discipline, respect, honor and self improvement,” Eddie says. “I ended up doing this because I could help kids, could give them the art of fighting without fighting. A lot of people teach but don’t teach [what it means to be a fighter]. I found a great location in a great neighborhood and I just love it here.”
 To enroll in the academy or find out more about the class schedule, call 930-5194.

This Business Highlight provided courtesy of The Valley Journals, written by: Crystal Liechty

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