Customer Reviews

Cardio Athletic Kickbox II - Play Hard, but Play Safe [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a great follow-up to the first Cardio Athletic Kickbox! That tape showed off Forte's strengths as a fun, engaging instructor in his own right without needing to be in Billy Blank's shadow. It was a good, medium-intensity workout, a bit short, very simple. This sequel offers a workout one step up--longer, a bit more variety in combos and more intensity, with the same engaging charm. Forte is down-to-earth and cheerful, establishes a camaraderie with his exercisers, while leading them through interesting new combos like jab jab hook hook front-kick, roundhouse kick. You also do lots of roundhouse-side kick combos, which really helps differentiate between the two kicks. A unique sequence involves an elbow strike-down and squat--a welcome departure from the jabs, hooks and uppercuts. The music is much better than in the first video, too. Sometimes a beat will coordinate perfectly with a punch-kick sequence. That always helps mentally! A good solid workout with a professional, engaging instructor who really seems to be enjoying himself, and his spirit is infectious!

I was among the first to receive a copy of the recently released Cardio Athletic Kickbox II video. I work out with an instructor who was trained by Eversley Forte, and she told the class about his first video. I got the first Cardio Athletic Kickbox video, it was not too hard and not too easy, great energy and fun. As soon as I heard his new videos were available, I purchased the Kickbox II video. His theme is "Let's Play Hard, but Let's Play Safe." The video lives up to the theme. Some of the moves are challenging, but he explains everything well and encourages/motivates you throughout the Kickboxing workout. The combinations and athletic drills are different from the first video, so expect variety and interesting non-traditional moves. Combinations from a fighting stance is what I really appreciate, and the music is excellent. I give the Cardio Athletic Kickboxing II video a big thumbs up and look forward to future releases from Eversley Forte.

I am on a quest for the perfect, hard core cardio kickboxing workout, and the closest I have seen so far is XKO Kickboxing by Larry Lam (tho I wish it had more kicks in it). I bought Eversley Forte's tape based on the 2 awesome reviews on Amazon, and I was just a tad disappointed since I was looking for an "intermediate to advanced" workout, but this one aired on the intermediate side. The instruction on this tape is superb, both at the beginning and during the workout - Eversley takes the time to remind you what you should be focusing on and what *not* to do throughout the video. I would even recommend this tape to beginners since one of the people in the video does a low impact version of all the moves... As with all exercise, you can/should also modify and work at your own pace. My next challenge will be Dawei: I hear that tape is a *real* killer!

The background and music in this video definately leaves something to be desired and the instructor is VERY in to the workout, but the bottom line- it's a good workout. I bought several tapes before this one- searching for something to use in addition to Larry Lam's XKO Kickboxing (which is excellent!)- now I've found a tape that I can actually use! If Kathy Smith's kickboxing was too slow for you buy this tape. The combinations are fun and easy to master, the instructor is upbeat and it really gives you a good workout. I'm hoping that once I've got the tape down I can turn down the volume and use my own music- that should make it an excellent workout that I can really enjoy and stick with.