P90X Series: Kenpo X

Tony Horton
Year Released: 2004

Categories: Boxing/Kickboxing/Martial Arts


This is a Kickbox workout with a minimum of choreography. It seems to me that Beachbody was NOT trying to create a workout for people who have lots of different styles of kickbox tapes, but for those that have never done kickboxing before.

This workout is a warmup plus 45 minutes of drills and then a cooldown. The drills aren't very creative. Some are just kicking, some are just punching, some are blocks, a few are combinations, but it's not fancy in the least.
He has 4 cardio breaks sprinkled throughout that had you doing jumping jacks and plyo jacks to keep/get your HR up.
I found the intensity to be very uneven because there were lots of places that you used your arms only. My HR plummeted during these parts of the workout.

I would compare it to Aerokick with Silk Manning in terms of intensity, but would say it's even less choregraphed than that workout is.

If you are looking for guaranteed intensity from your kickbox workout, and own Cathe's Kick, Punch and Crunch--I'd say that might be a better choice. Having said all that,I used weighted gloves when I did it and I had light DOMS in my back and arms for a couple of days. The blocking moves are new to me and really work your arms in a different way.

I really did enjoy the workout though and the background exercisers were really fired up and into it.

As a cardio workout I'd give it a B-.
As an alternative arm workout with a bonus cardio effect, I'd give it an A.

Instructor Comments:
Tony is Tony, but I like him just fine.

Janet Frost

04/21/2004