CIA 9907: Kick It

Janis Saffell
Year Released: 1999

Categories: Boxing/Kickboxing/Martial Arts , Floor Aerobics/Hi-Lo/Dance



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I just wanted to offer a different view on this video. I know that this is a popular workout with a lot of VFers, but for some reason I just couldn't get into it. I usually love complex choreography when I do step and hi-lo, but for me it just didn't click with a kickboxing workout. It looked kind of fun when I previewed it, but when I did the workout, it just didn't work for me. I added wrist weights, so it wasn't just that the intensity is lower than some kickboxing tapes. I wasn't crazy about the conditioning section, either. I do like kickboxing--my favorites are CIA 9902 with Keli Roberts, Kathy Smith's Kickboxing, and the original Power Kicks. I also sometimes like the advanced Tae Bo (Live Volume 2 and the original Advanced) for a change of pace). CIA 9907 just never clicked for me. I think that I should stick to simple, intense choreography for kickboxing and save the complexity for step and hi-lo.

Instructor Comments:
Janis is friendly and easygoing, and enjoyable to watch. Her cueing is decent in this video. She really seems to be enjoying what she is doing.

Kristin Aziz

12/27/1999

Others have broken down the video, so I'll be brief. Overall, I think this is a great workout. Janis gives you lots to work with and it's fairly easy to follow (despite her occasional forgetfulness of which leg she's on). That said, I agree with others before me that there is way too much marching in place going on here. That's pretty annoying, but it's easy to fix by simply adding my own jumping jacks in. I also think she spends a lot of time teaching you the moves (why go at half-speed EVERY time you show us a one-two punch??) and she appears to be easily confused regarding tempo. Still, I do recommend this video simply because I think it's hard to find a decent kickboxing video out there. I think it's great for an "easy" day when I kinda don't feel like working out.

Instructor Comments:
Despite her total goofiness, Janis has kinda grown on me over time.

Paige

12/13/1999

I own all of Janet's CIA videos and each new one she makes keeps getting better. This video has 3 main segments. THe first two are cardiokickbox aerobics and the third segment is toning and strengthening using various kickbox, squat, lunge, etc. moves. In addition the tape features a warm up and cool down. One of my favorite aspects of this tape is the length. It's long. If the first 2 segments are done back to back, it provides around 65 minutes of cardio, which really suits me. It is intermediate/adv. in intensity. The warm up is good, it is more gentle than the warmup in Kickbox Express due to the fact that there is no jumprope. It is not as intense, but still gets you ready for the work ahead. The first section is kickbox drills. This is the most fun of all. It is about 30 minutes long and with 2 lb. hand weights really gets your heart rate up. It is fun because you keep moving through about 8-10 different kickbox "drills." You don't repeat things for too long so there is no boredom. Once you learn a drill, you move on to a new one. The drills are some familiar moves and some new ones. She does pivots, hip raises, side kicks, squat jumps, jab combos, jacks etc. Some of these moves are incorporated in the next cardio segment. The second section Janis refers to as the choreography segment. It is more dancey than the first, but still relies on kickbox moves. It is approx. 35 min. She teaches you 4 routines. After she is done teaching you the second routine, she goes back to the top and you do the first 2 all at once. She than breaks down the last 2 routines, repeats them and at the the very end, starts back at the top and you do all 4 routines for the "finale." This section is fun although a bit less intense than the first. I am kickboxed out by the time I am done with these two segments. The last section is toning and strenghening. I really haven't done this part. It is slower and more controlled than her toning segment in Kickbox Express so your heart rate does drop but the strength moves are reliable and numerous. She does lots of leg work using high reps. I like this video. The music is new and hip and the moves are quite innovative. It is a good tape to add to any crosstraining program.

Robyn

10/22/1999

Kick It is even better than 9809. Janis does lots of long combinations like in 9809, but they seem a little more polished. She really mixes up the punching combos and kicking combos in this tape. She also moves around the room alot - to the side and to the front. You may need to modify if you have a limited floor space. The intensity is about high int. but if you add weighted gloves the workout is much harder. I now have the weighted gloves and they really add intensity to the workout - I feel really strong when punching and hooking with them on. Some people have complained about the intensity but try the gloves they make a big difference! Janis is really motivating in that you can see improvments in her form and figure since 9809. She is obviously enjoying herself and you can't help but have fun too.

I really like Janis Saffell. She is even better in Kick It than in 9809 (fewer cueing mistakes). She always comes up with really fun and exciting kickboxing combinations.

Cinnamon Conrad

10/10/1999

Janis' cueing has improved since Kickbox Express, making this tape easier to follow, but there are a lot of rough spots - too much marching in place while explaining the moves. I have to consider it an "interval kickboxing" tape - your heartrate goes up and down sporadically. No jump rope segments in this tape, Kick It is a mediocre kickboxing workout for intermediates. The conditioning section consisted of lots of balance moves and leg kicks, some squats, push-ups and a short but intense ab routine. Personally, I believe that Power Kicks puts more intensity in 30 minutes than Janis' puts in Kick It in over 90 minutes.

maryann parker

08/20/1999


Finally a kickboxing workout I love. Yeah! Not that I hated my other kickboxing workouts, but I have really felt pretty neutral about them. I really want to like kickboxing, because I like doing the kicks and I love that you can often get a fairly intense workout with little impact (especially with heavy legs!) But I am a choreography lover foremost and I can get bored with workouts fairly quickly. The only kickboxing workout that I found pretty interesting previously has been CIA 9809, which is full of things I don't like about it, like a jump-roping warmup, bad cueing, messed up directions, and several portions where she spends a lot of time doing very basic moves (like the X) and not enough time doing/teaching the more complex. Kick It (9907) is so much better than Kickbox Express (9809) in my opinion. Many of the things that bugged me in 9809 are not an issue in Janis' latest.

The workout starts out with an 8 minutes warm-up and stretch. The warmup is kickboxing specific and I feel ready to go after doing it. The first section is a 30 minute drill section. This section is a lot more fun than I expected. The drills are almost all combinations of punches and kicks, so right off the bat you are doing combos instead of just repeating one move 8 or more times. (There are enough tapes that do that already!)

The second section is the choreography section which is 35 minutes. A nice thing about this is that she uses some of the drills we learned in the first section so she does not have to spend as much time teaching. There is teaching of new moves in this section, but it is easier to pick up because you know some of it already. She teaches the 1st combo, then the 2nd and then puts them together. Then she teaches the 3rd combo and then the 4th and puts them together. At the end she puts all 4 together to create a whole routine. This is what I love about the workout. The combos for the most part do go well together, and once you get it is a lot of fun. There is one part in the fourth combo that does not flow. Once you finish one side, you just walk back and march in place before starting the other side. Other than that the choreography is pretty smooth. This part of the workout does take up some space. I don't have much space to move forward and back (without kicking over my TV) so I do have to modify, but I am used to that. The choreography is mostly made up of kickboxing moves. However, there is a shuffle or two, squatting, some pivots and directional changes., but this is not a hi/lo workout with kickboxing moves thrown in.

The third section is 30 minutes of conditioning. In 9809 my heartrate stayed up in the conditioning section (which was only 16 minutes), but in this tape it dropped. I do not mind after 65 minutes of cardio. I even found the conditioning section to be fun. The first 20 minutes is standing work which includes slow and at tempo front kicks and side kicks, punches, back lunges, various knee ups and balancing moves. You move non-stop in this but it is at slow pace. There is about 5 minutes of floor work and 5 minutes of abs.

The final cooldown is Tai Chi inspired and short and it is followed by a fairly complete, but somewhat brief stretch section.

There may be debate about intensity of this video. I felt it was intermediate/advanced and could be either depending on what you put into it (energetic boxer shuffles, deep squats, using the hand weights etc.) She does keep the intensity up with jacks in the drill section and this could be done in the choreography section when needed.

This tape may not be for everyone. I guess some people do not like choreography as much as me! If so, you may not like this tape as much as I do. On the other hand you may enjoy portions of it like the conditioning section and part of the drill section. If you got frustrated with Janis in 9809 because it was hard to follow her, you might want to look at this tape because it really is an improvement in many ways. Not perfect but definitely an improvement.

Instructor Comments:
Janis' vocabulary has improved in this tape, I don't even remember hearing "awesome". Her cuing is also better and she does not screw up the moves as frequently as in 9809. She still does make some mistakes but there are fewer of them. I really enjoy her choreography and am glad that she was able to put together a more organized, smooth and professional workout this time.

Lisa C

08/16/1999