Is tae-bo a good workout? I was thinking about getting some tapes and modifying, if need be, the stances, kicks, punches, etc., to do when I don't have my tae kwon do class. Good or bad idea? I don't want to pick up bad habits if I'm doing something incorrectly and no one is around to point it out to me.... should i just do yoga instead?
Tae bo is a good workout but that's it. It will improve your cardio but be warry that it is not a MA (despite the way that it is marketed) Also beacause you are a white belt (and so I'm assuming relatively inexperienced), I'd concentrate on technique first.
Yeah, I know it's definately not martial arts. I'm just looking for something to get a workout on days I don't have classes. (And I live in the middle of nowhere, Hicksville USA, so when I went to Walmart to look at the exercise tapes, all they had was tae-bo and yogo. Not much choice.)
I teach "cardio kickboxing" at our TKD school and it will give you much more of a cardio workout then will Yoga ... although Yoga has its own benefits too! It also compliments your TKD training which is more anaerobic. If you can get yourself a wavemaster bag, I would recommend not air-kicking to these workouts. I would suggest you look online for some good quality martial art based cardio/aerobic kickbox tapes. Check out these reviews here ... Video Fitness.com Read the reviews ... they are dead-on and quite helpful in choosing what to look for in a kickbox fitness workout.. some tend to be very choreographed )dancy) while others too simplified and less physically challenging. I recommend "XKO (Extreme Knockout) Kickboxing Workout" ... and "Cardio Karate-Kickboxing for Fun and Fitness" (I was certified by John Graden )
They are two, nearly opposite, types of workouts. Yoga would help enhance your flexibility, and act as a type of calming meditation. Tae-Bo, or any equivalent, is an anaerobic, cardio workout, usually geared towards fat loss. So it depends on what you want to get out of the program. As for the specifics, I've never taken a tae-bo class, but I've seen some tapes. With these hour long, cardio kickboxing-type classes (which I've also taught), you need to keep in mind that the emphasis is on quantity over quality. Over the course of one class, you may do close to 1,000 punches. I'd suspect that's more than some martial artists do in class during an entire month. The idea of tae-bo is to get a workout, not to teach a self-defense method. Since you're just looking for a workout to compliment your training, however, I'd say it would be fine to try it out. Just watch that your technique doesn't get to wild, and like KickChick said, if you can find a bag, it's an even better workout. Try starting with 1 or 2 "classes" on days you're not training TKD, or weight-training. (You are weight-training, right?)
As I understand it, its a very good workout. No MA aspects to it though. Although Billy Banks was an incredible MA in his day.
I need to weight train. (By the time I get off work it's 10pm, so I'm going to use my bro-inlaw's weight set once he brings it down. We live in same town, but it's at his parents' house currently.) I also need to work on endurance/cardio and some on flexibility. I can do full splits and and stand on one leg and pull my other leg up to my head, but my kicks aren't super high. I figure I'll start with one (which was the opion tae-bo or yoga) and then add the other in gradually. I don't want to burn myself out starting everyone at once and then just hate working out.
Tae Bo is garbage I hate it yes it does give a good workout But considered a Ma no hahahah please Any Tae Bo person in tape challanges one of us we will destroy them in a minute
tae bo is good but i wouldnt combine it with tkd... well thats just me cuz you might get confused or wutever. do yoga its alot of relaxtion and you'll feel good and ready for your next tkd class than feel worn out by your tae bo workout.
Why don't you just practice your techniques and/or katas at home? If you want to buy something why not a heavy bag? It's a better investment.
I'd be careful with Tae Bo. I did it for a while and found that the stuff they use isn't "solid", it won't work in a fight, so it might just give you a bad habbit of doing things differently, since you've just started TKD and good things haven't hard wired themselves into your brain yet. PL
Hey listen up people! Tae bo is a cardio exercise program in which you jab/hook/uppercut/backfist and front/side/roundhouse and back kick in different combinations which increases your cardio endurance, leg strength, balance... and if punching/kicking to bag offers resistance training. NO ONE EVER SAID IT WAS A MARTIAL ART OR THAT YOU WOULD USE IT IN A FIGHT!! I would highly suggest all of you try a good quality cardio kickbox class in your area.... heck if you're ever in CT come to one of my classes. Like I posted.... there are some good quality cardio kickbox workouts out there designed to make you sweat and not fight!
Yes. It's just too bad that there are people who think of it that way. Funny how people get confused when it is obviously marketed as a workout plan and not as a fighting method.
Yes, I know. It's just that the strikes they do in Tae Bo (can't say for any other cardio kick boxing), are extremely half-assed, and you'll get bad habits if you do it for a long time without knowing how to do it right. PL
Yeh. I'd recommend against Tae-Bo etc for a martial artist. I did a kickboxercise for a while ... um... which I'd started because I was misled by the add and thought it was Muay Thai..... anyway, good workout: yes. Likely to lead to bad habits: yes. In an MA training context, it is like doing too much shadow sparring, only worse because it lacks the spontaneous fluidity of shadowboxing (being either repetative or 'called' by the tape. both are abstract from real fighting). as an MAist it is hard to seperate the pathetic punches of your Tae-Bo (or whatever) from your proper training. So the bad habits of the Tae-Bo will carry across and distort the balance of your training regime away from 'fighting' and towards dancing. Yoga is generally great. As is health-only Tai-Chi (if not trreated as an MA) IMO. But why not just put some motivating music on an do an MA workout yourself keeping it bnalanced with your training needs? Impact training if possible.
