Although I've been a regular at VF for about four years now, I'm ashamed to say that this is my very first review. But I had to break the embargo and post a review of this video because it absolutely ROCKS!!! To me, this video is what Tae Bo should have been but wasn't. It is intense, fun, and all together awesome.

This video is very different from the many other kickboxing-oriented videos I've tried in the last couple of years. It is not "kickboxing-inspired" hi/lo, a la Cathe Friedrich, on the one hand, nor is it like the typical Tae Bo workout (i.e., "OK, let's do 4 sets of 15 roundhouse kicks on the right, now on the left, now march in place while I tell you what comes next"). It strikes a happy medium between those two "extremes." It satisfies my need to "dance," but in the way a boxer "dances" in the ring. Debbie puts together combinations while keeping you moving and working, so your heart-rate stays elevated, but she's not throwing in any "fluff" (which is one of the things I cannot stand in Tae Bo - if I pick up a boxing or kickboxing video, I want to do kickboxing, darn it, not the twist or rockette kicks!).

As others have said, this video has three main sections - round one is pure boxing, round two is kickboxing, and round three is standing ab isolations and leg work. Although Debbie and her crew model great form, there are no form pointers offered before or during the workout itself, so I would not recommend this to somebody who has never done any boxing or kickboxing before. The background exercisers (two men and two women) also are really talented - it's always distracting to me when the background folks can't or don't follow what the instructor is doing, but this group stays with Debbie and shows proper form throughout.

Since no one seems to have done this yet, I thought it might be helpful to break down the combinations in this video. The first section, boxing, is my favorite. Here's the break down:

1) Jab 2 slow on the move, then 4 fast in place; hold and switch sides

2) Duck-jab-duck-straight (this is what she calls a cross punch), slip twice and switch sides (this is probably my favorite combination)

3) Move up, jump switch, jab 2 (L), move back, jump switch, jab 2 (R)

4) Jab-straight (slow) 2 times, drop back duck 4; jab-straight (quick) 4 times move in; 4 jacks to switch sides

5) Hook-jab-straight-duck, jump switch; punch in (jab-straight), duck and jab back 4

6) Jab-jab, straight 2, hook 2 (R/L), slip 2; retreat 4, move in 4

7) Hand-speed drills: jab-jab, jab-upper, jab-hook

8) Jab-hook-straight 2, upper cuts move in; jab-hook-straight 2, upper cuts move out; slide in with 2 slow jabs, slide out with fast jabs, then "Tyson" (lateral slip); "Ali" (scissors) & jacks

9) Jab-jab-lean back, jab-jab-lean front, jab-jab-duck, jab-straight-jab-straight (1-2-3-4)

As you can probably tell, this section features pure boxing, no kicks. But if you've got good form and know how to put power into your punches, you will get an awesome workout during this part. Plus, you're still using your legs constantly to move and duck and slip (Debbie gets incredibly low in her slips - it looks as if her butt is almost touching the floor!) and she intersperses plyometric drills between each new combination. Throughout, Debbie does a great job of keeping you motivated ("move in like a truck"; "the bell hasn't rung yet"; "look 'em right in the eye"). Towards the very end of this section, during one of the plyo drills, she yells out "Yo, Adriene!" I would laugh, but I'm breathing too hard. The music for this part is really fantastic also. It seems to have a boxing "flavor" to me and fits the workout perfectly.

The only thing I don't like about this section is that after combo # 5, she stops going back to the top to put the combinations together. Usually, I don't care for too much TIFTing, but the first two combos in this section are my favorites and I miss them!

Section 2 is kickboxing. The music slows down for this section, and it's probably more like other kickboxing videos. Although this section is good, I actually don't like it as well as the first section because you're not moving as much. But don't think that means your going to lose your heart-rate; it will definitely stay up there, as Debbie intersperses more intense plyo drills to switch you from one side to the other.

There are 5 combinations in this section, and after she teaches each one, you move on to the next and never see the prior combo again. They are:

1) jab-straight-hook-upper; pause, then a quick jab-straight; jab 2, front knee block, back leg front kick; transition to other side with squat-front kick series

2) double jab-straight-hook-duck; back leg front kick; lateral slip 2, duck, back hand upper cut; jab-jab-back leg front kick; retreat with jabs, move in with jabs, scoot to the side, then the other side; plyo jacks to switch sides

3) front knee-front kick (same leg), jab-jab-upper cut; feint (sort of a fake out move - you pretend like you're going to punch but don't), jab-straight (1-2), feint, back leg front kick; front kick with a touch back to switch sides

4) jab-straight-slip, straight-hook-straight; jab-jab-front kick (each time through this series you add a different kick on the end - so the next time it's jab-jab-roundhouse, then jab-jab-side kick); plyo jacks to switch sides

5) jab-upper-hook, jab-jab; back leg low/hi (it's a low front kick then without putting your foot down a higher one - you can also turn this into a pivoting roundhouse kick if you like); jump front kick; lateral jump side to side to switch

I love the feint move and the low/hi kick - never seen these in any other video before.

The one thing that bugs me in this section is that the editing was screwed up during the first part of combination #2, so that Debbie all of a sudden adds on the last part of the combo and you've never seen before. Even though I know it's coming, it always trips me up and it takes me a while to get back into the combo. When you do the combo on the other side, it is put together the right way, though.

The final section is standing ab isolations and leg work. You can really feel the standing ab work. Debbie starts out having you bring your elbows towards one hip and then the other, crunching through the obliques, and then gradually moves you into punches. This is an excellent way of getting you to really feel how your abs come into play with the punches. Then you do a series with two side squats to the left, left front kick, left crescent kick, and then right leg lunge and repeat four times. This is a lot of fun! Finally, you do knee raises and deep squats that you hold for, oh, about three years. Debbie promises that "this is going to make your legs really strong." Yeah, as soon as I can get up off the floor. Then she has you raise up on your toes while in the squat and hold that for a while long. Yowie.

Then it's time for the cooldown, but this ain't no ordinary cooldown. Case in point: there is a (short) series of slow pushups! In the cooldown! Even the stretches (deep side lunges, e.g.) require quite a bit of strength and balance to hold. But they get very deep into the muscles and feel wonderful. Did I mention the pushups?

Whew! I guess it's apparent that I lurve this video, huh? I loved it so much I wrote to Debbie (first time I have ever done this, despite years of vidiocy) to thank her and it turns out she's also an incredibly nice person besides being an amazing instructor. I hope she makes many more videos in the future (hint, hint!).

The verdict? Four snaps in Z formation. A+. Definitely a keeper.

Hazel Porter