Dave Kennedy, who operates the Rec-Mode Fitness and Boxing gym in Wheaton, Maryland, tells his clients to “get comfortable being uncomfortable,” and is firm about how everyone is to be treated in the space he’s created with his wife, Maxine.
“This is a safe, welcoming and positive space,” Kennedy said.
Flags from 39 nations ring the gym, and Kennedy said he’d like to have a flag from every country represented one day.
Kennedy said one client pointed out there was no pride flag representing the LGBTQ community.
“I said, ‘Bring it in … and that’s the big flag that you see back there.”
Kennedy’s been very active in a variety of youth-oriented programs and his space will be hosting workshops on opioid awareness and anti-violence. While crime in the area is a concern, Kennedy said his business is not affected directly.
“We don’t see it,” he said.
But Kennedy is aware of some of the challenges faced by kids who come to Rec-Mode. He rejects the term “at-risk,” and emphasizes “positivity” to the young people who come to his gym.
“We have a quiet saying that says ‘Leave your devils outside, leave your drama outside,” he told WTOP.
The number of girls who come in for fitness and training has increased, which has become a point of pride for Kennedy.
“We actually have a lot of girls now,” he said. “We started with one.”
Now there are 22 enrolled in activities at the gym. He credits social media with that growth.
“Because they went and told their friends, and then they looked on Instagram,” he said with a smile.
Kennedy runs the gym along with his wife, Maxine Bravo-Kennedy, and his mother works there as well.
“It’s a family business,” he said.
Kennedy, a veteran and retired Montgomery County firefighter, said it’s great when a student decides to go on to box competitively, but that’s not his sole goal for the young people who come to his gym.
Instead, he said, watching young people grow and focus on school and their future is the most rewarding thing. Recently, several students brought in report cards showing improved grades at school.
“That’s better than them becoming amateur champions or anything. That’s success,” he said.
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