Husband-and-wife team Max and Ruth Wallace have turned a King Street health food store into a place to help local people.
Health Defence in King Street is on a mission to boost physical and mental health.
The main ingredients are their whole food and organic produce sold in the front shop under the banner Health Defence Organics in Hammersmith, as well as the fitness training offered in the gym at the back.
As a wellbeing centre it teaches boxing and non-contact kickboxing, offers counselling, healthy eating advice and health checks, runs workshops and even has a relaxing dedicated massage room.
There are training sessions just for women – solo or in small groups – teaching self-defence, stamina and confidence improvement all at the same time.
Max, who turns 60 in May, has coached three British kickboxing champions, developing his ‘health defence’ training system, using martial arts “without the cuts and bruises”.
“It all makes for a better world,” said Max, a former light-middleweight boxer with 10 professional fights to his name.
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