Vee
Cathlete
I am the second lucky recipient of a sneak preview of Strike Zone. My early preview copy made it to India thanks to the generosity of Tracey and Carol by FedEx Express! I did the workout today. I think I will do it tomorrow. And the day after. And the next day. After that I will have to rotate other stuff in my workout schedule, but Strike Zone will feature prominently. The music has been playing in my head all day and I've been perfecting the combos in my mind. It is a marvellous, addicting way to get seriously fit.
I was to send Tracey and Carol feedback. I could only gush.
What makes it so HOT?
- It is a tough workout. You could always not squat as low or punch as hard to modify and make it intermediate, but if you put your all into this workout, it is superb value for the time you spend. Unlike some tough workouts, it has no dread factor. I cant wait to do it again.
- The fun factor is sky high. There is a front traveling jump kick that makes you feel dangerous and strong. They mix double time, on beat and half time choreography in the same combo (like for instance shuffle forward double time, punch on beat, retreat by jumping back on the half-time beat). The stretch - I could write a page about the stretch. The music slows down but still has some fight in it. There are fun cool down moves that are very stylised martial arts and then a stretch that hits all the right spots. Very graceful without being girly. The spider web section is tough and a blast. Apart from the move in the clip there are fun plank variations and a cousin of the mountain climbers (dunno what it is called - if Tracey named it I missed hearing). The final fight is superb.
- The chemistry between the cast is top notch. Tracey and Josef do most of the talking and they are cute without sounding forced or artifical. They left in a few mistakes in my early cut version and I hope they stay in the final version. None of the mistakes are such that they interrupt your flow, but it makes the workout so natural. There is a moment where Tracey loses it and then smiles like a three year old in a school play before she starts again. There is another where Josef does not follow her cue and does the wrong side and she exchanges a glance with the girls. The next time she says "I said left!" and he does an exaggerated left on the next repeat. In the stretch, Jill is hidden at one point behind Josef. You see her move to the right like Carol cued her to from behind the camera. Her eyes ask “Is this OK?” and then you see her take one more step to the right.
- The music makes you want to fight with all your might. Strong beat. Driving guitar.
- Some new moves and some fresh ways of putting punches and kicks together. This ups the fun significantly. The choreography is very smooth – nothing feels contrived. It isn’t so complex that you curse, or are slowing down to learn. But it isn’t mindless either. What Tracey says about it feeling like stuff you would do when you are really fighting (but very stylized) fits it best.
- Most advanced kickbox workouts have an interval feel to them. They have a kick-intense drill or combo to really get your heart rate sky high and then a punch-based combo or low-impact cardio to recover. This one has tough-tougher-tough pacing that makes you work hard throughout. You never quite get anaerobic to the point that your lungs scream, but there isn’t any coast-along bits either. I loved how this felt.
- No time to get bored. The 11 segments give you no time to think. even withign a segment, the TIFTing factor is low. Just enough to work on improving your execution, and the combo changes.
This cast should work together on many, many sequels. Tracey is clearly having fun. She too gets serious at times when Josef is leading but her game face is not a patch on Jill's. Jill is the angry housewife personified. I aint fighting her anytime soon. Josef is amazing. If you were impressed in the clips, wait to see the full workout. He is great for any vidiot who wants to seriously imrove kickbox skills. Barbie is WOW! She surprised me. She looks gentle and delicate in the previous workouts. She was born to fight! She is busy doing this workout, and concentrating intently, she is oblivious to the camera or anything else. All four look fabulously strong and fit.
I am nominating Strike Zone to the Kick Box Hall of fame, and I am betting serious money on it for the Workout Oscars for 2008.
~* Vrinda *~
I was to send Tracey and Carol feedback. I could only gush.
What makes it so HOT?
- It is a tough workout. You could always not squat as low or punch as hard to modify and make it intermediate, but if you put your all into this workout, it is superb value for the time you spend. Unlike some tough workouts, it has no dread factor. I cant wait to do it again.
- The fun factor is sky high. There is a front traveling jump kick that makes you feel dangerous and strong. They mix double time, on beat and half time choreography in the same combo (like for instance shuffle forward double time, punch on beat, retreat by jumping back on the half-time beat). The stretch - I could write a page about the stretch. The music slows down but still has some fight in it. There are fun cool down moves that are very stylised martial arts and then a stretch that hits all the right spots. Very graceful without being girly. The spider web section is tough and a blast. Apart from the move in the clip there are fun plank variations and a cousin of the mountain climbers (dunno what it is called - if Tracey named it I missed hearing). The final fight is superb.
- The chemistry between the cast is top notch. Tracey and Josef do most of the talking and they are cute without sounding forced or artifical. They left in a few mistakes in my early cut version and I hope they stay in the final version. None of the mistakes are such that they interrupt your flow, but it makes the workout so natural. There is a moment where Tracey loses it and then smiles like a three year old in a school play before she starts again. There is another where Josef does not follow her cue and does the wrong side and she exchanges a glance with the girls. The next time she says "I said left!" and he does an exaggerated left on the next repeat. In the stretch, Jill is hidden at one point behind Josef. You see her move to the right like Carol cued her to from behind the camera. Her eyes ask “Is this OK?” and then you see her take one more step to the right.
- The music makes you want to fight with all your might. Strong beat. Driving guitar.
- Some new moves and some fresh ways of putting punches and kicks together. This ups the fun significantly. The choreography is very smooth – nothing feels contrived. It isn’t so complex that you curse, or are slowing down to learn. But it isn’t mindless either. What Tracey says about it feeling like stuff you would do when you are really fighting (but very stylized) fits it best.
- Most advanced kickbox workouts have an interval feel to them. They have a kick-intense drill or combo to really get your heart rate sky high and then a punch-based combo or low-impact cardio to recover. This one has tough-tougher-tough pacing that makes you work hard throughout. You never quite get anaerobic to the point that your lungs scream, but there isn’t any coast-along bits either. I loved how this felt.
- No time to get bored. The 11 segments give you no time to think. even withign a segment, the TIFTing factor is low. Just enough to work on improving your execution, and the combo changes.
This cast should work together on many, many sequels. Tracey is clearly having fun. She too gets serious at times when Josef is leading but her game face is not a patch on Jill's. Jill is the angry housewife personified. I aint fighting her anytime soon. Josef is amazing. If you were impressed in the clips, wait to see the full workout. He is great for any vidiot who wants to seriously imrove kickbox skills. Barbie is WOW! She surprised me. She looks gentle and delicate in the previous workouts. She was born to fight! She is busy doing this workout, and concentrating intently, she is oblivious to the camera or anything else. All four look fabulously strong and fit.
I am nominating Strike Zone to the Kick Box Hall of fame, and I am betting serious money on it for the Workout Oscars for 2008.
~* Vrinda *~
