Power Kickboxing

Denise Austin
Year Released: 2000

Categories: Boxing/Kickboxing/Martial Arts


Others have given a good breakdown of the routines, I'll just add some impressions. Not being a fan of Denise Austin's, I bought this video in spite of the instructor and in spite of the fact that I thought that "Power" and "Denise Austin" were pretty much mutually exclusive terms. I love kickboxing so much, and the tape was fairly inexpensive, that I thought I'd give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised by the workouts! Though short, they are fun, interesting, and powerful--especially the second workout. The choreography includes some moves I haven't seen in other kickboxing videos, like a "power jack", and I found the "jumprope-style" moves that are spaced throughout the workouts to be much more fun than actual jumprope moves. I also like the way that yoga moves are incorporated into the stretches. If you like Denise Austin, and want to give kickboxing a try, you're bound to like this workout. If you're lukewarm on both Denise and kickboxing, pass this one up. If you love kickboxing, but not Denise Austin, you might give it a try (depending on how talented you are at blocking out the instructor while doing the workout! I find that some of her annoying characteristics--see below--can be a source of humor, if approached with the right frame of mind).

Instructor Comments:
Denise is very "chatty" in this tape. She continually comes up with supposedly motivating sayings that I find a bit condescending, like "protect that BEAUTIFUL body", and clichés like "squeeze it (your butt) or no one else will". On the other hand, she doesn't do much in the way of cuing, or cues too late. For example, one more complicated segment where you do 4 jumping jacks, then 4 sets of alternating double punches, then 4 jacks, then 4 bob and weaves--repeated in various counts--is cued horribly ("lets go", "come on"!). Also, when she says "2 more", it really seems to mean "2 or 3 more". You pretty much have to "do what she does rather than what she doesn't say".

On a lighter note: it seems that Denise's endorphins kick in about halfway through the second routine, and she REALLY gets into the punching and kicking, though her "karate yell" *oof* sounds more like she just got punched in the *tummy* than a powerful focusing of her chi.

Kathryn

07/04/1999