I’m reviewing this after doing it a number of times since getting it almost a year ago.

General workout breakdown: The 10 minute segments include kickboxing moves that provide a cardio workout. You probably won’t get much toning from this video unless you don’t normally do strength workouts. There is very little warm up (usually 1 min.) or cool down (usually 30 seconds) with each segment, so add in your own when needed.
“Focused Upper Body” includes only punches: jab, cross, hook, and upper cut. Janis teaches each slowly, has you do them at a medium tempo and then faster, and finally combines them into mini routines.
“Focused Lower Body” includes only kicks: front, side, roundhouse, and crescent preparation (knee circles)—no back kicks. Janis starts with the chambers, then adds on the kicks, finally putting them all together.
“Cardio Kickbox Core” focuses on the abdominals, including several standing crunches, combined with punches and kick chambers. This is the least intense segment, and thus would make a good cool down. In my opinion, the moves are a little repetitive in this segment, and the flow isn’t as good as in the other two.
The “Kickbox Blaster” (DVD bonus) is the most intense segment; I would recommend doing it at least one other segment rather than first off. This combines the moves learned in the other segments into quick combinations. The warm up is also longer, including planks and push ups.

Level: I’d recommend this to an experienced beginner; you need to have kickboxing / martial arts experience in order to perform this workout safely. More intermediate exercisers can pick up light weights and/or switch the marches to boxer shuffles, jumping jacks, etc., to increase the intensity.

Class: 2 young women join Janis, with one providing lower impact modifications. All wear Janis’ brightly colored outfits showing cleavage.

Music / Set / Production Notes: The beat-heavy music is nothing special; Janis and Guillermo also use these selections on Hardcore Kickbox Circuit and Kickbox Underground. The bright interior set with hardwood floors has minimal decoration; it’s the typical QF set. The sound and picture quality are very good.

Equipment Needed: sneakers.

Comments: There are some partial pivots, so be careful if you’re on carpet. And you need a bit of space for this workout. You should be able to take a small step and fully kick to each side as well as to the front.

DVD Notes: The DVD has the extra bonus workout, which you have to go back to the main menu to select (under “Bonus”). The introduction is chaptered separately, so you can skip that. The chapters cover each segment.

Conclusion: Definitely a keeper. It’s my least intense kickboxing workout, but sometimes I need that. I like Janis and her style, and the advantage of being able to pick and choose segments is another vote in its favor. It has a place in my collection.
The Quick Fix series are great for squeezing in 10 minutes here or there. If you’d like to do more than one segment, you may want to skip the cool down minute and march in place, do a boxer shuffle, or put in jumping jacks to keep your heart rate up. Intermediate exercisers can increase the intensity by doing more boxer shuffles or jumping jacks, which seems to make up much of the cardio emphasis.
In my opinion, this workout is comparable in intensity to any of the TaeBo Basic series, but Janis includes more combinations than Billy Blanks usually does. Janis also cues better than Billy Blanks and, due to her slower combinations, allows you to focus on form. If you like Janis, check out her Hardcore Kickbox Circuit once you’ve completely mastered this routine.

Instructor Comments:
Janis is upbeat and encouraging, but not annoyingly so, coming across as wanting to be helpful. She cues well but doesn’t count out each rep. She intends for you to mirror her controlled movements. I’m no kickboxing expert, but Janis’ form seems good. She doesn’t include form instruction but does have a number of form pointers.

KathAL79