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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well thought out, November 27, 2002
I have tried 3 kickboxing tapes up to this point - Billy Blanks', Kathy Smith's and, tempted by the reviews here, this one. When people are right, they are right. This is a workout excellent for those of us who have never done a kickboxing-based workout before and would rather start from the top as opposed to getting dazed and confused by yes, effective, but rather convoluted moves that take days to get right. Mechelle's routine is challenging yet simple enough to follow, and it seems to me that, contrary to the other two tapes I mentioned, the risk of hurting yourself or cancelling out the results intended due to doing the move wrong is rather low.Although the workout is not hours long you feel like you've worked hard. Mostly because you have - you'll likely find the standing abwork she gives you is just as effective and much more invigorating than the countless crunches and situps you're used to. Like other reviewers have said, the repetition of basic techniques (enough to feel the burn without boring the hell out of you) does become second nature with time, and in my opinion once you feel confident enough to go on to her second tape (which builds on this one and offers more advanced techniques) and stay with it, you might even become capable of defending yourself decently enough. I hope I'll never have to find out if that's really the case, but I think I'll get there. Regarding the quality of the production, you can tell it wasn't expenisve. Commentary was recorded over the original and that's easy to tell. Sometimes she sounds a little monotonous and uninvolved, but these things really won't bother you given how adequate the comentary is. But for those to whom it does matter, the second tape if a considerable improvement in that department. I have to say that for myself, it's a pretty good thing that I own both Mechelle's tapes and also Kathy Smith's Kickboxing Workout, and Tae Bo Advanced. Once you've got very comofrtable with what Mechelle's teaching you, you can move on to the other two, have lots of variety (Tae Bo works you so hard you feel like you'll drop dead, while Kathy's tape is cool and funky) and reap the benefits they all offer.
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