ERROR RG P4 6.3.1999 A story in yesterday's newspaper should have called a new dance and liquor-free club on Par-la-Ville Road The Escape Venue, not the Ecstasy Club.

There is a new weapon of choice in the battle of the bulge -- Tae Bo.

The martial arts-based workout is the hottest exercise in North America and now it has invaded the shores of Bermuda.

Health clubs all over the Island are scrambling to set up enough classes to satisfy the enormous demand from locals who are eager to kick and punch their way to a fitter body.

Several health clubs offer the intense workout, but due to copy-rite and licensing laws, they must give their classes a different name.

Whether it is called Tac-Bo, Kick and Jab or Kick Out, Bermudians can still get the same exhilarating, yet exhausting, workout that is known as Tae Bo.

"I've done a lot of aerobic activity including step and spinning and I find this one the most exciting,'' said one weary exerciser following a class. "I found the others dull.

"It's not girlish, if you know what I mean,'' she added. "It's got an edge to it and you feel like you're learning a little self defence.'' This world-wide exercise craze is the brain child of Billy Blanks who has rocketed to stardom thanks to his creation. Last month the exercise guru even made a guest appearance on the top-rated television drama ER.

The fourth of 15 children, Blanks overcame dyslexia, poverty and an deviation on his hip joints to become a top martial artist in the 1980's.

Blanks, who holds a seventh degree black belt in the Korean form of karate called Tae Kwan Do, boasts five Amateur Union Champion titles and seven world karate championships.

While training in his home, Blanks began to combine music with his Tae Kwan Do moves -- the combination evolved into Tae Bo.

When he realised what the exercise did for him, he began to teach it to others including Goldie Hawn, Sugar Ray Leonard, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Pamela Anderson.

The Athletic Club's TJ Boucher said she was introduced to Tae Bo a couple of years ago when she was teaching kick boxing classes.

"I took a workshop in Toronto, Canada, about two years ago when it wasn't a big deal,'' she said. "For a while I taught it in Canada.

"I was very muscular before I started teaching the classes,'' she recalled.

"I've just really shrivelled up.'' Last month, Ms Boucher, who has taught aerobics for nine years, started teaching jam-packed `Tac Bo' classes in Bermuda.

"The classes are 99.9 percent full,'' she said. "The lunch-time ones are completely sold out, it's crazy! "We are up to nine classes a week now.'' And Ms Boucher had nothing but praise for the exercise world's latest fad.

"It's the new wave in fitness,'' she said. "We are moving away from the choreographed routines.

"It's easy to follow, easy to do, the moves are powerful and it's an amazing fat burner.'' Denny Starr, who trained and worked at Billy Blank's World Training Center in California for four years, recently arrived in Bermuda for a two-week training session with staff at the Olympic Club.

And when he's not training the instructors, Mr. Starr leads sold-out Tae Bo classes for the Olympic Club in the Ecstasy Club on Par-La-Ville Road.

"I will teach 22 classes over the two weeks,'' he chuckled. "When everyone heard that I was coming to Bermuda they said `oh, you're so lucky you'll get to hang out at the beach'. I don't think I will get to lay around too much.'' Mr. Starr said the Tae Bo frenzy which has swept Bermuda and the rest of the world was the result of a number of factors.

"It is a great intense workout,'' he explained. "And it is different, it involves the martial arts and as a result it gives people a lot of confidence.'' Although women are the main participants, Mr. Starr said the exercise was beneficial to all.

"A lot of women attend the classes, in the US about 80 percent of the class are women,'' he said. "I expect it will be the same here.'' But Mr. Starr insisted that Tae Bo was an exercise that could be enjoyed by all.

"It's for everyone, all you have to do is modify it to your ability and stamina.'' However he warned participants to be prepared to work and sweat.

"It is a high intensity workout that involves both upper and lower body,'' he noted. "It's a tough workout.

"And it is a great way to train for the martial arts, it's good conditioning.

You can throw anywhere between three to four hundred punches and kicks in a class, so you can really develop strong technique.'' Mr. Starr also pointed out that Tae Bo's heavy celebrity endorsement has helped to make it the weapon of choice in the battle of the bulge.

"At Billy's place there was a lot of celebrities doing it and people always want to do what the stars are doing.'' Mr. Starr advised anyone who just started taking Tae Bo to make sure they learn the moves.

"If they do the technique improperly at a fast pace, it can cause some pain to their joints and knees,'' he explained. "It is better to go slow and keep the technique than to go fast.'' Olympic Club's Scott Stallard said he hoped to have a full complement of classes up and running by the end of March.

Total Fitness has a Kick and Jab class Thursdays at 7 a.m. and a Kick Out class (but the workout is not set to music) Mondays at 6.45 p.m.

For more information about The Athletic Club's nine Tac Bo classes 295-6140.