Ilaria Montagnani holds a black belt in Karate and has trained in kickboxing and sword fighting for over ten years. She is a regular fitness instructor at Equinox Fitness Club in New York City, where her workout was voted best exercise class two year in a row by New York Magazine and one of the "Top Ten Workouts" by Shape Magazine. She has taught throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Japan, Russia, Sweden, Spain and Italy. Ilaria has appeared on numerous television shows, including "The Today Show," "Good Morning America," "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." Her Forza workout was featured on "ABC News," "Inside Edition," and "The CBS Evening News."

"Meet the Lara Croft of Manhattan . . . with higher-than-Buffy the Vampire Slayer kicks." -- The New York Post

"Meet the Lara Croft of Manhattan. With her slicked-back hair, six-pack abs and higher-than-Buffy the Vampire Slayer kicks" -The New York Post

"Grab your weapon (a broomstick will do) and try sword-fighting, the hottest new way to get slim. Fitness guru Ilaria Montagnani shows you how." -Marie Claire

"Her sword-wielding Forza class has become red hot" -New York magazine
(from an article naming her one of the city's top fitness insructors)

"It's Kill Bill to a techno beat" -Conde Nast Traveler

"Inspiring women to balance femininity with an ability to kick some serious ass" -Fashion Magazine (Canada)

Publisher: Ulysses Press

Pub date: 2005-06-28

Length: 100 pages