Kick It

Overall impressions: This is an intermediate kickboxing video which I thought was similar in style to Kathy Smith's kickboxing video. Overall I thought it was fun and a nice workout for days when you have less time and/or energy (45 minutes overall). Although I got it through the exchange, it's listed at Collage as $14.95, which is a pretty good price. I'm a high intermediate/low advanced exerciser who has studied Tae Kwon Do (ages ago) and has done Kathy Smith's kickboxing video, Power Kicks, Tae Bo and a handful of lesser known kickboxing videos.

Details:
Dorian Gregory from "Charmed" is the celebrity host of this video and does all the intros, but Antoinette leads the workout. Along with Dorian and Antoinette is Jaime Brenkus from 8-minute Abs. The two guys don't talk much during the workout, but once in a while Dorian yells out cheesy words of encouragement.

Warm up Starts with some simple punching drills with steps and bobs. Then there are some knee lifts.

The workout consists of 5 segments with simple combos that are built up slowly: They always do the combo on one side then the other

1. Side knee lift with cross punch
Jab, Cross, Knee

2. Speed bag
Side Jab with Bob (punching up then down)
Front knee pulls facing the side

3. Knee lifts which turn into front kicks
Side taps which turn into side kicks

4. Hops with jab, speed bag
Jab, Cross, Upper-cut punches
Jab, Cross, Front kick
Jab, Cross, Knee pull and side kick

5. Block and cross punch
Front kick, Side kick
4 jacks, 4 front kicks

This was a great, fun way to finish off the workout. By this time I had worked up a nice little sweat and I liked the extra push at the end.

Cooldown - step touches with a jab-cross combination

Leg exercises - these are done with a chair as in Kathy Smith's video and Aaron Lankford's Power Kicks. This section is fairly short and consists of slow side kick drills, then a set done in double time and a set of leg lifts.

Stretch - basic floor stretch - I wish there had been some standing leg stretches for the quads and especially for the hip flexor. Antoinette holds the stretches for a long time, which is good.

Antoinette doesn't spend a lot of time teaching the punches and kicks during the workout because there is an instructional 'Techniques" section at the end led by Antoinette and Jaime. I prefer that, because I have done kickboxing before and prefer to move right into punch and kick combos.

I didn't really notice much about the music during the workout. The set is a boxing ring and seems appropriate for this workout. The production quality is good.