Karobics - The Next Kick

I have mixed feelings about this workout. The workout is fun; the instructor is good; but (once again for Sara City workouts), the production quality is mediocre and detracts from the workout. The workout is low impact, but you will sweat if you perform the moves with even half the intensity of the instructor, Faye Stenerson.

The workout is almost an hour long and begins with a warmup section where Faye goes over some of the karate moves used in the workout. But she doesn't go over all of them, so the before you even do the workout, you should fast forward to the section after the workout where she goes over more of the moves (the video has a 15-minute lecture after the workout). The warmup is great and the stretches are long enough to be effective. The workout is fun, intense, but low impact. Which threw me at first - a karate-based aerobics video without a lot of kicks! There are limited front kicks in the workout and many of the karate moves used emphasize the upper body. Faye and both of her cohorts show excellent form on all of the moves. Faye begins with a basic sequence and then adds on different segments. By the end, you're doing front kicks, side chops, groin pulls, ankle smashes, and blocks - great fun! There is a cooldown and a nice stretch section to finish up.

There's one point in the workout where Faye messes up. I usually don't care about things like that. But the action stops for several seconds. It annoys me that it wasn't reshot - it really interrupts the flow of the workout and makes the tape seem amateurish.

I have several boxing/karate aerobic videos. I've had this one for 3 months now and use it on days when I need an easier workout. I haven't gotten bored with the tape yet and don't feel like I've mastered all the nuances of the moves. I like KI Aerobics and Aerobox better, but Karobics is definitely better than some of the other stuff out there. The workout is unusual because it's low impact and doesn't have a whole lot of kicking. The workout emphasized self-defense techniques, but was not overly serious. I would give the tape a B or B+ and am considering buying Faye's Karobics Step video. The only thing that holds me back is knowing it's from Sara City Workouts.