Other kickbox workouts?

[careyben]

After about a year and a half, I finally love KPC, Kick Max and Kickboxing from 4DS. It was a long time coming, but the trouble is - I want more! I know MMA is coming sometime in the future, but in the meantime...

Instructor personality is super important. I do not enjoy Billy Blanks or Tony P90X.

Any suggestions?

Ben

 

[Dela]

I love kpc, don't like tae bo, haven't tried p90x. Lately I go to a fitness kbox class with heavy bags, so I have not bought more cathe kickbox dvds.

Here are some others to look into:

I really love Kimberly Spreen's Absolute Kickbox. Great music, fun routines, and she has this great weighted bar section.

I'm torn on the Amy Bento dvds, I want to like them, and sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, she has a few, I think you can get clips at collagevideo.com. I can't keep up with the choreography on the one called Kickbox Xtreme. But the In the Ring dvd is a nice one to work in sometimes.

I love the Ilaria Montagnani power strike, it's an awesome workout to work on your form, and just a great overall energizing workout. She has a new one coming out very soon, the one I have they sell on Amazon and I think advancedworkouts.com or collage.

I do not like Tracey Staehle strikezone at all. Did it once, will not do it again. But others like it.

Oh and of course, Turbo Jam, which is kickbox with a dancier vibe, but I found after one run through it was easy to follow and the music is fun.

HTH

 

[Vee]

Kickbox is about the only cardio I will do with videos. I dont like hi/lo or step. I use Cardio Coach and iTrain on cardio machines for Cardio mostly. Instructor personality is important for me too, but I dont mind basic production quality. I havent tried Kenpo-X but I love Tony's personality and found Plyo-X superb. (I dont like his style of strength training though. I think it is effective and well-taught but just not my thing.)

My Kickbox picks (apart from KPC, Cardio Kicks and Kick Max which I enjoy in that order):

1. Tracey's Strike Zone: Unique moves, high-energy, great music. I love Tracey's personality and this workout has Josef co-teaching as an added bonus. The kick-box choreography is wonderful.

2. Amy Bento's Rumble: Deliberate pacing that really allows you to work on form. Drill-style (no hi/lo or complex choreo worked in). It has a heavy bag section which I love although I dont have a heavy bag.

I have an eye on Illaria's new Powerstrikes.

I like kickbox that has mainly moves inspired from martial arts. Anything borowed from "aerobics" group class must be drill style moves (like plyo) for a workout to appeal to me. I enjoy pacing to be slower so that you can really go low on the lunge-into-kick or squat-into-kick and have enough time to properly chamber your feet for kicks, or throw punches with the right form (not just arm movement, but with the power of your torso behind it).

The one exception I will make is for Kelly Coffey Meyer. I absolutely love her Cardio Kick Step Box workout. The choreo is very clever but uncomplicated and FAST. It took me a few tries to learn it but now I enjoy it so much. I love the music, love the choreo and Kelly's personality.

I have her 30 minutes Kickbox workout (two 30 minute kickbox workouts and a one hour premix plus other premixes) on pre-order. It is more drill-style but it still is fast paced and the clips look superb.

 

[MarieCLS]

I had Amy Bento's Kickbox Xtreme but just could not get used to the workout. There's a bit of a hi-lo flair and I don't have quite as much room as would do justice to the routine. I do like Amy's personality though.

Tracey Staehle's Cardio Sweatfest kickbox portion is mostly drills and reminds me a little bit of Cathe's programs. I enjoyed this workout--and Tracey's personality--but never felt very motivated to do it.

Turbo Jam does have a dance club atmosphere but the choreography was much easier for me to catch on to than Amy's. Not much space used in these either, which is nice. The workouts can be very enjoyable but some might find Chalene's character to be over-the-top. I wouldn't say these have "pure" kickboxing technique but they can be adjusted to be more dancy or more athletic depending on the user. The main objective is to "have fun" here.

 

[gogigi]

Amy Bento's In The Ring is hands down my favorite non-Cathe "kickbox" styled workout. Amy has fresh, fun, challenging choreography with tough med ball intervals. You learn combo 1 on 1 side then the other then combined then do med ball interval 1 and then you do combo 2, interval 2 then combo 1/interval 1/combo 2/interval 2 then combo 3, interval 3, combo 4, interval 4, then combo 3/interval 3/combo 4/interval 4. The music is pumping and there is more of a learning curve then with Cathe but it is a fun, sweaty workout. I did not care for Amy's Rumble (the very FIRST workout by Amy that I haven't liked). It moves way too slow and I had to work really hard to get my heart rate up at all and then keeping it up was impossible for me with this workout. Amy's KBX (Kickbox Extreme) is very hi/lo flavored kickbox with a lot of fun choreography that moves fast. Again, there is more of a learning curve for sure. Kelly Coffey Meyer's stepboxing is a blast. I especially like her Cardio Kick Stepboxing. I've preordered her latest 30 Minutes to Fitness workouts.

I have Tracey's Cardio SF Kickbox. I hated it when I first got it, traded it away, then got it back in another trade. It has grown on me. I do not own Strike Zone but there are a lot of people who love it and a lot of people who dislike it. Some negative reviews have said there are breaks between each strike and some funky camera work and there have been reviews that complain about it being off beat. I am curious about SZ and trying to trade for it, but I won't be spending hard earned money on it.

You can find some cheap Janis Saffel kickbox workouts at Ross just for something different.

Oh, I too love Kimberly Spreen's Absoloute Kickboxing. I like the premix that alternates the kickboxing with the body bar sections. Good core work too.