Keep Kickin' for Kids

The workout portion of the video is approximately 35 minutes long and consists of an active warm up (slow punches, high-to-low blocks for the arms/shoulders, with knee lifts, lunges and jumping jacks for the legs and overall body). He then proceeds into a beginner/intermediate kickboxing workout aimed at children ages 6-11. He demonstrates each move/pattern before speeding it up. Nothing is done at an excessive rate of speed so that the risk of injury is reduced, but it is done at a challenging pace. There are mostly punching combinations and kicking combinations with a few punch-kick combinations thrown in. The video ends with a brief cooldown (no stretch) and the boxer's victory dance. PUnches include: front punch, cross punch, uppercut, hook. Kicks include: sidekick, front kick and round kick.

The workout would be great for those of you with children who want to workout but find that videos such as TaeBo are too advanced for your child and might cause injury. My six year old daughter and I have tried this video together and I found that the warm-up movements and the first several movements of each pattern (which are done at a slow and deliberate speed) gave me time to focus on my form before picking up the speed. Since my daughter and I are both in TaeKwonDo, we found the workout fun and a good skill builder for us.

Overall I rate this video an A. The only thing that is slightly detracting is set which is somewhat dark (black floors and walls) but otherwise quite enjoyable. I would work with my child on form pointers if your child is a beginner since occasionally one of the children in the group tends to lock his elbow out on the slower punches. I would like to try his other videos to see how they are. They show brief clips of them at the beginning of the video, but not enough to get a good idea of the video/workout quality.

Instructor Comments:
Karl Bradford is a karate champion who has created a 4 video series (1 for kids, 1 for adults, an instructional tape and a tape for seniors)of martial arts workouts (kickboxing) designed to challenge the heart and mind of the participants. He is motivating to listen to and in this particular video (Keep Kickin' for Kids) he spends about 10 minutes talking to a group of kids about the importance of a strong mind and body, the importance of school and character, and the avoidance of alcohol and drugs.

NCG