The one complaint I have about this is that you can't buy the tapes separately. This is obviously a marketing ploy to bring in more bucks,(which I'm sure has worked!) under the guise of it being for our own safety- ie; learn the form and the moves before doing the advanced tape. However, the form points on the instructional tape could have been added to the Basic tape, and a warning that the advanced tape is advanced would have been enough, I think. (Cathe trusts complete beginners not to go and kill themselves on Interval Max, after all, she doesn't force us to buy Mega Step Blast with more advanced tapes)

However, that said, this is, IMHO, an excellent set of kickboxing videos, especially for someone of an beginning/ intermediate level who could work up slowly through the tapes and get full use out of all of them. People with a more advanced cardio fitness level won't find the Basic tape challenging enough, and the Instructional tape will only get watched a few times too. (NB the instructional tape, goes through every exercise slowly, and then faster. it could almost be a beginner workout except for the fact that he only does one side, as he is only demonstrating the moves.)

The advanced tape is fast, fun and motivating. My heart rate was well into my target zone throughout the workout (I consider myself an advanced level cardio) and the time flew by. Alot has been made of the fact that Billy often does more on one side than the other, but I didn't really notice this, and if I start to, it's quite easy to even things out. That may really bother some people, It doesn't me. Billy is really playing on his personality- he's playing the celebrity in a big way, with flashy outfits, a director's chair with "BLANKS" on the back, his comments "I'm always watching yuh...Even when my back is turned, I'm watching ...", and loves to show off his abs at every opportunity, but all in all he's likeable and this is an enjoyable tape. The background exercisers are great- more motivating than he is actually. There are two or three of them who really throw everything into it, dripping with sweat and screaming with the intensity of it all! It's all very dramatic and gets me going at 6am, anyway. The tempo is fast and furious, and although it's short,(about 30 mins) you'll work hard. The punching and kicking combinations are easy to learn and fun to do. You can jack up the intensity of the workout simply by putting more into the punches and kicks, aiming higher kicks etc. It's a workout that can grow with you in that sense.

I like the fact that Billy doesn't try to pass this off as "self defense technique". It's punching and kicking, set to music to give you an aerobic workout, and that's excactly what it does. The floorwork is quite intense, it tends to use big, swinging motions rather than small pulsing movements, and all are intended to strengthen kicking moves. A short, but intense ab section (with the infamous lopsided set), a brief stretch, and then for some inexplicable reason Billy decides to get everyone up to do some silly thing using cards, as a way of doing squats, and then start kicking and punching again! I just skip that part- it serves no purpose and just gets the HR up again after it's already come down.

The 8 minute sprint is a cute idea if you wanted to tack on some kickboxing to another cardio workout.

All in all a good set of tapes. Billy's strength lies in his personality, and his teaching. In the instructional tape he comes into his own. He breaks down everymove throroughly and teaches very well.

Instructor Comments:
He is very motivating, with a strong personality and has his whole class (and you) pumped. This is his big selling point, and it obviously works. No, he's not an aerobics instructor,his background is in martial arts, but he can be forgiven this- he's not trying to teach step or weightlifting. I can't forgive his wearing legwarmers, though.

Sarah F