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I do evening and weekend cover work in the UK, and the message I seem to receive everywhere I go is that participants liked the old Jam format of six or seven shorter dances in every release.  The Zumba I have seen is mostly latin (always popular) and the dances are shorter.  My guess is that more particpants feel able to join in as there is less fear for them about retaining lots of information learned over several tracks/keeping in step with everyone else.  For me, it doesn't have the pizzazz and variety of Jam.

Uni of Birmingham are introducing Body Attack and Pump in September.

danielrogers03:

Uni of Birmingham are introducing Body Attack and Pump in September.

 is that true dan?? this is a first, i mean having LMI classes at university gyms. i'm studying at southampton university and i really feel like going up to the sports centre there n suggest they should introduce LMI classes n jam in particular since i'm teaching it

That's interesting about the Uni of Birmingham, might pop along and see if they are interested in getting Jam on the timetable too.

Funny about this discussion, as I remember not long ago everyone complaining about Les Mills/BTS taking over the timetable and how freestyle classes were being dumped in favour of the cookie cutter classes.  I guess everything comes in swings and roundabouts.  The gyms will always go for the cheaper option and that is where Zumba comes in.  However, Bodyjam is fantastic, its just a shame that the gyms aren't behind it as one of the harder formats to sell.

I am currently Zumba certified. While there are some things I like about Zumba, Jam is still my favorite. Yes it is mostly Latin based but you are free to choreograph your own routines and use your own music. However, I still love the complexity of Jam.  Zumba is much easier to catch on too than Jam and the moves are extremely repetitive.  So for someone who can't handle changing up moves or handle the levels of Jam they will do Zumba.  Our clubs are not phasing out Jam.  We have 3 clubs that had Jam and initially Jam was taken out of two but the demand for it made them bring it back to one of the two that was intially taken out.  I think at the end of the day it just depends on what the person wants.

As far as I can tell, (I've only done the one Zumba class) they are only as good as the teacher that you have.

In my opinion the class I went to was weak, it wasn't that much fun, the moves were very simple and I barely raised my heart rate. 

I have however watched some amazing Zumba classes on YouTube which looked much more fun (and harder work).

The beauty of Jam is that you can (should) be able to go to any class in the world and you know that you will get a certain level/standard of both teaching and workout level, hence why the Les Mills stuff will probably stand the test of time.

SamR:

The beauty of Jam is that you can (should) be able to go to any class in the world and you know that you will get a certain level/standard of both teaching and workout level, hence why the Les Mills stuff will probably stand the test of time.

I hate to say this because I have already discussed basically the same thing in another thread, but I doubt that we can get a certain level/standard of teaching anywhere in the world.

Here in Japan, as most BJ instructors are employees of KONAMI SPORTS, costs to get/sell new releases are covered by the company and such instructors are not likely to endeavour to reach or go beyond the certain level.  On the other hand, Zumba instructors seem to be independent ones here, so they are more likely hard workers.

As the population in Japan is huge, a half of the US pop, if BJ instructors fail to get as much market share as it deserves while Zumba instructors are successful, it may easily become the cause of shifting the balance between BJ and Zumba in the world in a few years time.  (If China enters, the situation cannot be the same, though.)

I do not understand why LM (or G even) don't check the performance more strictly where most instructors are employees of the sole EXCLUSIVE licensee in one country, especially in the case of a company having strong economic power such as KONAMI.  LM may only know the peformance of really good ones, I doubt.

Sorry to keep on saying such a complaint, but I can see that the time is really a turning point in Japan.  As I am just a participant, there is not much that I can do.  I just want you to know, at least.

well sadly my morning Jam class just got the axe and is indeed being replaced by Zumba. Numbers have always been up and down at this club in the morning for most thing so we'll see if this works for TPTB. In the meantime, I'm now one of the statistics.

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shimarella:

well sadly my morning Jam class just got the axe and is indeed being replaced by Zumba. Numbers have always been up and down at this club in the morning for most thing so we'll see if this works for TPTB. In the meantime, I'm now one of the statistics.

Gosh, I'm so sorry to hear this

Yeah it makes working on 50 right now rather pointless and de-motivating. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

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That's too bad shim :( Very sad to hear it. At least you got to teach for a while. I'm such a Jam freak that I went on training, been to all the quarterlies and have bought all the last 4 releases DVD/CD and still don't have a regular class yet :) I guess I'm just nuts.

I have enquired about getting the licence myself though and it looks like it could be an option which is the silver lining!

I hope that works out for you!

I am in the depressed stage of receiving this news, I was pretty angry yesterday. There is a small possibility that I will be allowed to try it in a different time slot but I'm not sure I am motivated to do so:

•What if I still don't get any support from the club in drumming up numbers

•My schedule is such that it might not be worth it to re-arrange it just for this experiment

•What if it's true that nothing BUT Zumba will sell at my club? I can't believe it's true because that would put paid to any other kind of dance class I might want to teach anyway but all evidence points to this being true.

Guess it makes me the fool for sticking with the certification expense and process when almost all the other Jam trainees I knew gave up almost immediately and went to Zumba!

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Have the members been told yet? Might be worth something getting their support to keep it? Also, has your club actively promoted Jam? If not but they're hyping up Zumba then maybe ask about getting the same advertising support for your Jam classes?

Don't feel bad for sticking with the expense as you can still teach anywhere in the world! Maybe another club nearby will bring it in?

Well, we've had Jam threatened and even temporarily pulled off the schedule before and the faithful have rallied. But the e-mail I received was very cut and dry with no room for negotiation. I'l certainly let members know that they should lobby for another time slot and get Jam back on the schedule. I feel kind of battered and exhausted from my previous efforts.

And no, the Club has not actively promoted Jam. It doesn't actually really market any of the GGX programs well, IMO. The marketing department focuses on selling memberships and on generic motivational print materials. Yes, the LMI giant posters are up in the gym ( except Jam unless we are launching).The last time this happened I suggested a bunch of PR strategies and got nothing but radio silence. I did go to a few other GGX classes to promo Jam but I didn't get much response from that.

I don't know if another club not part of this franchise will bring Jam in...it seems to do well enough at the other locations. Then again, the instructors who teach it were able to commit to more high-profile timeslots and teach other formats as well, so they can build a following. 

Zumba sort of sells itself, which is in the club's interest, I suppose. 

We'll see what happens. Right now, in order to get a better slot I would have to potentially sacrifice higher-paying gigs in order to be available, without any guarantee of longevity or marketing help. I love Jam but I don't think I love it quite that much.

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Anyone else think it's ironic or possibly an intentional cheeky wink in the direction of Zumba with Track 3 in BodyJam 50? ;)