Budokon

Citing a statistic that men now make up 23 percent of the nation's yoga buffs, Newsweek eagerly heralded that ''Real men do yoga" in a headline last summer. What the story failed to mention, however, was exercise alternatives for the millions of hypermasculine stallions who refuse to confine their inner Van Damme to a yoga mat and have no interest in sutras geared toward enlightenment.

A former bodyguard to Charlie Sheen and Pauly Shore thinks he has found a yoga-like alternative that appeals to both sexes -- a regimen that features the reflective stretching of yoga and the aggressive chopping and kicking of martial arts. Cameron Shayne, the exercise guru behind a new style called Budokon, has married the two art forms into a hybrid that makes its Boston debut at the Sports Club/LA this weekend.

''I started using yoga as a way to prep people for martial arts practice," Shayne says on the phone during a recent vacation in North Carolina. ''At first it was a very simple fusion, but it gradually grew into its own thing called Budokon."

Budokon begins with yoga-like stretching exercises, graduates to kicks and punches, and concludes with meditation. Shayne, a genial Southerner who now resides in Los Angeles, likens Budokon to a child that has traits from both parents but also possesses his own unique personality. Yoga and martial arts are areas that Shayne, 34, has studied extensively. He started training in the traditional Korean art of MooDuKwon when he was 12. When he was 21, a girlfriend persuaded him to take up yoga. When he returned to teaching martial arts, he started combining the practices.

''Because of the martial arts, Budokon definitely has interest to more men than just yoga would," says Marc McDonald, group exercise manager at Sports Club/LA. ''The kicks and the punches are more about the quickness and the power. Whereas yoga is more about holding posture and endurance, Budokon deals with strength, which is something that a lot of guys get into."

That's not to say that Budokon is an all-male exercise. Shayne's hybrid has gained a reputation as the celebrity exercise routine du jour with devotees such as Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette (and husband David Arquette), Meg Ryan, and Renee Russo.

''Britney Spears is never going to call me. Jessica Simpson is never going to call me," says Shayne. ''They would not be attracted to what I do. Even though Budokon has this celebrity draw, it stands apart quite a bit from something like Tae Bo. The people who place their energy into my art are achievers like Courteney, or Kerri Walsh, who won a gold medal in volleyball in the Olympics. You're dealing with powerful individuals here who are mentally quick and agile, so it doesn't belittle my art to think that these individuals are attracted to Budokon."

But instead of becoming ''a white Jackie Chan," Shayne has found himself disenchanted with Hollywood and is instead focused on exercise.

''Cameron's vision is to create something with integrity," says McDonald, who will teach Budokon in Boston. ''That's why I really don't see this as a celebrity fad. He's created something that's very solid. It appeals to guys, it appeals to celebrities, but I also think it could work well for pretty much anyone."