P90X Series: Kenpo X

Tony Horton
Year Released: 2004

Categories: Boxing/Kickboxing/Martial Arts


This workout is part of the P90X set, which includes 12 workouts. I shared an order with another Vfer because most of the strength work did not interest me, and I am quite happy with the purchase. All of the cardio is gym-style, very accessible to someone like me who has only the most basic grasp of choreography and is a huge klutz to boot.

Of the workouts I have, Kenpo X was the trickiest for me to master. It is a wonderful drill-style routine where you focus on pretty much one thing at a time for set intervals. What tripped me up was the combo sections where they would put the previous few moves together. I tripped over myself the first time, but after two or three passes through the workout I was able to keep up.

The routine begins with s standing stretch cycle and a few yoga moves for warm-up, then starts slowly with a punch section. First you do a pivot with no punch, then you combine the four main punches (jab, hook, cross, uppercut) into various combinations. There were two or three of these which, as I said above, got progressively more complicated: first a job, then a jab/cross, then a jab/cross/hook, then a jab/cross/hook/uppercut. Each was in its own little section, with the usual beachbody countdown clocks counting down the reps.

There is a cardio break of running on the spot, jacks etc. and then a kick section which, as above, builds in complexity. It culminates in a three-direction kick and some moving lung-type moves with punches. Then there is another cardio break, and a block section. You practice several blocks one at a time, then there is a “star block” which combines all of them.

There is another cardio break, then the last section has several different moves. There is a knuckles thing where you twist out, then come back and do kicks. This is done twice, with side kicks and then with back kicks. Then there is an “elbow series” which is like punching up and out but leading with elbows, not hands. Then there are vertical punches, another cardio break, then a short cool-down.

It took me awhile to get to know this workout, to both get the hang of it and then decide I like it. But I am glad I gave it a chance. I really like Tony, I like his other cardio workouts, and I am happy to have enough quality Beachbody routine in my collection.

Joanna

08/14/2004