Recently we had the privilege of having Jun Ko Agus- the “Pelopor Zumba Indonesia” at FIT Malaysia during the 2nd Group Fitness Innovative Teaching (GFiT) Course. Here we have him sharing his passion, his work and his captivating hopes and dreams for the future fitness professionals. Lets get familiar with Jun Ko and get to know him better shall we?
Tell us about your background
Junko: I have a computer degree in graphic design. Even back then, I have already fallen in love with fitness and workout but it was only to keep my body in shape. However when I was working in States, there was a gym in my apartment. I wanted to work there part time, so I decided to take an education course to be a gym instructor. But well, it didn’t happen.
What was your first step into the fitness industry?
Junko: I started with going to a lot of workshops on teaching group exercise. From the beginning, I have always love group exercise. I love interacting with people. I believe that you can impact more people by doing group exercise class.
I definitely agree with that. You are the FIRST male Zumba Instructor in Indonesia and also the FIRST who took ACE (American Council on Exercise) Group Exercise Leadership Specialty Certification in Asia. Can you tell us more about that?
Junko: Yes that is right. I took the ACE GEL with Lawrence Biscontini and also just got GFiT certified recently in AFC 2013. I discovered Zumba in 2000 when I live in Miami and Beto Perez (founder of Zumba) was there. I went for the classes and I loved it. From there, I want to know more about Zumba. And in 2009, Zumba went to Asia Fitness Convention and since then I was the first male Zumba instructor in Indonesia. In 2010, I got my ZIN license and I launched Zumba in Gold’s Gym Indonesia. I even received an award from the government for being the first person to bring Zumba to Indonesia.
Let’s talk about fitness education. We can see that you really believe in pursuing education as a fitness professional. Do you agree that fitness professionals, group exercise instructors and leaders in particular should educate themselves before others?
Junko: Yes I strongly agree on this. Everyone can teach but most of them are not sure what they are doing. And that is when education comes into the picture. By attending a proper workshop, a course just like GFiT they can take back more than just a course. In GFiT, they include the exercise science component in the course together with choreography and programming. This is very important because anyone can choreograph, but with proper cueing, alignment, and right muscle activations, the class will bring more impact and bring a new experience for the participants.
What do you think of GFIT? How will it benefit the group instructors and give them more values?
Junko: Like I said previously, if you want to make yourself a better or even EXCELLENT group exercise instructor then you should go for this one. The anatomy, exercise physiology is an important part in being a knowledgeable instructor. The more science you know, the better you can program and conduct your class.
Any last words?
Junko: I really want to see group instructors in Indonesia continuously learn and teach. Getting certified would be the very first step. Fitness industry is growing especially here in Indonesia. More and more people are engaging in exercise. We can make this better if we know the stuff that we are doing.
So there you go, a solid interview with Jun Ko Agus on why professional courses are important for fitness professionals, the benefit of learning the science behind the movements, and what group exercise is really about.
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