Keep Kickin' Advanced

Hi, I've never submitted a review before, but ever since I discovered this site I have been reading all of yours voraciously! I'm completely addicted to kickboxing videos. And these factors have inspired me to attempt a review.

I thought I'd pick a video that I haven't seen reviewed and think is worthy of mention. I notice there's a review of KK for Kids, but not for this one. I found to my mild surprise that this video really grew on me. I think it's a nice add for the Tae-Bo/Kathy Smith camp of kickbox exercisers. Karl's got those goofy striped tights and the cheesy Keep Kickin' logo in the background, but he really is a good instructor, IMO--along the lines of Cathe, being very professional and measured in timing but able throw out a few breezy, humorous verbal jabs along with the multitudes of physical ones. Not too chatty, not too serious. Very cute!

After an extensive warmup, about 10 minutes of arm swings, leg stretches, some pushups, squats, he goes into 25 minutes of a simple but well-arranged workout. You start off with squats and knee raises, and go right into front snap kicks. He does each move slow for sets of 8, then goes into double time, but never makes you go superfast like Savidis in Kickbox 2000 or even Billy Blanks.

You segue into roundhouse kicks and alternating side kicks, jack-and-jabs in sets of four, two and one and knee raises plus punch plus roundhouses. He's very methodical about starting off with a basic pattern and rhythm and adding on until you're doing a combo of simple moves.

There is a killer section of pure jabbing, fast and slow. Somehow his mellow humor makes the sequence go by fairly fast. He does hooks and double hooks, uppercuts and cross punches, all in a bob-and-weave stance. There is also a front kick, step back and touch the ground, which I haven't seen in other videos. It's good lunging work. Your final combo starts off with jab-squat-squat-squat, building up eventually into jab cross jab knee-raise as the finale. For a 25 minute workout it's pretty good cardio, on a par with Kathy Smith's Kickboxing--maybe even a little more strenuous.

The group behind him seem to me like Tae-Bo regulars doing a guest visit. I get that deja vu feeling looking at some of them. Not a bad thing--they're all fit and have good form. The set is almost too bright and glossy and the music is sort of muzak rock jazz like you'd hear in a department store trying to evoke hip.

All said and done, I must say this is a good solid workout--a nice alternative to have for your collection.

Cheeena