Khi Bae

Silk Manning
Year Released: 1999

Categories: Boxing/Kickboxing/Martial Arts



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The Set is nothing special. Bright set with darker colors with a red pillar kind of thing in the back.
He has 3 other people exercising with him, 3 females and a male. The male is directly behind him and he is rarely seen thru out the video. Silk is very big guy and kind of blocks the view of the other guy.

Lay out of video:

3 minutes: Demonstrates proper form for each move that will be done in the video.

5 minutes: warm up
16 minutes: cardio
4 minutes: cool down

A keeper, that I will use as my cardio prior to an upper body work out.

Instructor Comments:
Very much a presence in the video. Well built and has good form. He knows his stuff. Motivating but not annoyingly so. Nice to look at.

Phantom4u

08/17/2004

I am an advanced exerciser and kickboxer, so I found this workout to be way too easy. It consists of 2 videos (beginner and intermediate) which are of comparable difficulty (i.e. both pretty easy). Warm-up and cooldown excluded, the first video consists of 12 minutes of actual kickboxing, and the second video consists of 15 minutes. Because I work out 7 days a week for at least an hour and a half each day, this was unacceptable to me. So, I combine these tapes as a warm-up for my other longer, more difficult kickboxing tapes. I lift weights during his actual warm-ups and cooldowns to keep the intensity up and to not waste any time. The routines are definitely fun (more complicated in actual style than challenging cardiovascularily), but they may be difficult for beginners to follow the first time viewing. One thing that really bugs me about these tapes are the back-up exercisers. The blonde woman is honestly laughable. Her form is shockingly bad, and all that she really has going for her is her looks, which is why I'm sure she was in the tape to begin with. The other two (a man and a woman) don't add anything to the video, but they don't subtract either. As someone else said, these tapes were way too short. If they were longer, the workout could be outstanding. But Silk doesn't allow enough time for anything much to develop. If you're new to kickboxing (or if you like short workouts), then this is a really fun workout. Otherwise, if you're like me (advanced and wanting to be very challenged), don't waste your money.

Instructor Comments:
Silk is definitely a strong presence in the video. He appears to be a body-builder, and his kickboxing form is outstanding. He is clearly in phenomenal shape. In the first video (beginner basic), he was very clear, motivating, and easy to follow. In the second video, however, I found myself distracted by his choice of attire. Silk Manning is clearly well-endowed, and his shorts in the intermediate tape serve to accentuate this fact. I am sure that it was unintentional on his part, but I could not get over it. Even after doing the workout several times, I still find myself in shock. I will say no more about this (and I apologize for even mentioning it)--just be forewarned, as I was not.

Tarra Maria

11/24/1999

I love this video! I've done Tae-Bo, Power Kicks and Kathy Smith's Kickboxing videos and this one is definitely the best. Mr. Manning is very motivating without being over the top. His pre-workout instructions gave me some pointers none of the others had. As I read in another review the music is perfect as well as the cueing. I also agree that the beginner is really leaning more towards intermediate. And the intermediate, well, even though I've been doing this for some time I had to stop and catch my breath. Nothing too complicated, just have to be quick. Excellent stretches, some I've never seen that are really effective. My only complaint is the workouts aren't long enough.

Instructor Comments:
Silk Manning really got my attention. Sure, he's not hard to look at, but that's not it. He really has a "presence" that none of the others have. Somewhat intimidating the first time I viewed it. I imagine if you took a class with him you would willing do whatever he asked, or kill yourself trying.

Sharon

09/10/1999

This is a good package! I'm only reviewing the beginner tape right now, but it's a 2-tape kickboxing set (beginner and intermediate/advanced). This "beginner" tape is really intermediate, and very good. He gives great form pointers -- better than I've seen on any other tape so far. The music is really cool -- I have no idea what you call it, but it's perfect for kickboxing. This workout is only 20 minutes including the warmup and cooldown, but it's invigorating and a perfect "before" or "after" for another tape. Just as a point of comparison, I did not keep the beginner tapes from the Tae Bo or Tai Fit sets. But I'm keeping this one, because I think it's much better (for me, anyway - I'm an advanced exerciser). It's not "killer" but it's not beginner either. The quality of the production is much better than Tai Fit or the Lori Dean HITS tape. Maybe even a little better than Tae Bo.

I haven't done the second tape yet, and will review that one separately later on. But I can tell you I'm definitely looking forward to it after doing this!

I bought my set on ebay for $17.99 plus $4.00 for shipping. There's a guy there who runs auctions for it regularly -- you can just search on Khi Bae and find it that way. I don't know if it's available anywhere else or not.

Instructor Comments:
Very good instructor! He's also a Mr. Fitness Champion (not bad to look at either).

Annie S.

07/06/1999