The Kick-Fit Workout is a unique training program designed to integrate elements of an established
kickboxing curriculum with your current exercise lifestyle. It consists of a complete range of
kickboxing techniques and a delivery system that includes focus mitt drills, bag work, martial artsstyle
drills, strength training, and plyometrics (specific exercises designed to enhance quick explosive
movements). Together, these techniques and delivery system form the ultimate training session
offering you:
Exciting ways to enhance your fitness performance
Greater calorie expenditure than the majority of training programs
Increased core development and performance
Accelerated results
Emphasis on proper technique
An individualized program
High stimulation and fun
HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING
The objective of the Kick-Fit Workout is to provide a consolidated training approach that combines
the benefits of cardiovascular exercise with those of strength training. Not only will you receive the
benefits that come from typical training, but also improvement in other fitness areas such as balance,
agility, reaction time, and kinesthetic awareness (awareness of sensations derived from muscles or
movement).
Note: Because results are what the Kick-Fit Workout is about, it is high intensity training. You
should have your doctor’s permission before engaging in this program.
COMPARING THE KICK-FIT WORKOUT WITH OTHER
HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING WORKOUTS
Relative to other sports activities, boxing ranks fourth for energy expenditure (just below running a
six-minute mile). The Kick-Fit Workout expends even more energy than boxing because it utilizes
your legs as well as your arms and hands. The energy expended is on par with, or even greater than,
running a six-minute mile because the high degree of hip flexion in the kickboxing portion is directly
related to heart rate.
A Kick-Fit Group Workout class consists of multiple stations with designated activities—punching,
kicking, rope jumping, focus mitt drills, and weight training—that are visited repeatedly throughout
the class.
A Kick-Fit Group Resistance Training class also differs from other group resistance training classes
in that participants work outside of their comfort zone. Therefore, particular attention to form is
crucial in maintaining a safe and effective program. Participants perform their resistance training in “super sets” of highly functional movements that utilize opposing muscle groups and maximize the
number of calories burned.
Unlike boring training programs, the Kick-Fit Workout classes take place in fun and highly
stimulated environments. It is not uncommon for class participants to say that time just “flies by.”
CORE STRENGTH
Today, every training method focuses on “core strength” and performance. Your core muscles
include: the abdomen; pelvic floor; sides of your trunk; muscles of your spine and back; gluteus
muscles; hips; and, pelvis.
Core muscles stabilize the spine and help transfer force between the upper and lower body. They
stabilize your midsection when you stand, sit, walk, squat, kick, jump, twist, bend, reach, pull, or lift.
Martial arts stress core strength because all power emanates from structural centers of movement of
which “the core” is one.
Many new forms of exercise (i.e., Pilates, gyrotonics, and plyometrics) use a repetitive approach to
exercise because their movements are relatively new. Martial arts movements are not repetitive. They
are dynamic. Martial artists have been working to develop core strength and performance since 1500
B.C. (as documented in Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts by Donn F. Draeger and Robert W.
Smith).
Core strength training is integral to martial arts. Thus, a well-trained martial artist is agile and has a
flat, toned midsection, a healthy, strong back, an incredible sense of balance, good cardiovascular
endurance, and explosive power.
The only practicing Jeet Kune Do (JKD) instructor whom Bruce Lee certified to teach his
methodology is Dan Inosanto. (Jeet Kune Do involves punching, kicking, and much more. It
constantly challenges you to develop physically and mentally). At age 70, Inosanto moves with the
speed and agility of a 20-year-old. Why? Perhaps because he insists his skills continue to evolve right
along with the martial arts he teaches. He is never static. His body is constantly exposed to new
movements which in turn develop new skills that make his core more stable.
Martial arts use natural movements without any gadgets. They utilize a definitive structure from
which to ascertain knowledge. Unlike most martial arts teaching methods, Inosanto’s method teaches
and encourages you to dissolve the structure and evolve. Without evolution, you will deteriorate
physically and mentally as you age. Neuronal regeneration, which is the development of new
pathways in the brain, will only occur when you form new connections to established pathways to the
brain. (Research proves that established pathways deteriorate with age unless new information is
linked to them.) A simple example of neuronal regeneration is making the dynamics of a “step-up and
step-back” type of movement (as performed when ascending or descending the stairs) into the
delivery of a knee to the midsection, a common martial arts move.
HEALTH, FITNESS, AND PERFORMANCE
Our society has decided that “fitness and performance” only pertain to children and young adults.
You can be age 30 to 70 and of average health yet have poor flexibility and diminished range of
motion due to the current standards for physical activity.
We live in a time in which the rate of obesity is at an all time high and time for exercise is at an all
time low. (The United States has the highest percentage of obesity in both children and adults in the
developed world.) Exercise is paramount if we want to have good health. We need time-wise
exercises specifically designed to develop our lean body mass and cardiovascular endurance as well as
improve our core performance.
Our bodies are meant for resistive work. As we move further into the technological age, we do less
resistive work. This means exercises that enhance normal muscle function are more and more
essential for longevity and youthful movement.
Kick-Fit clients range from 6 to 70 years old. Regardless of age, they all engage in the same exercises.
Their overload and recovery times, however, vary with their age and general fitness levels.Remember, at age 70, Guru (the name given a spiritual teacher or master) Dan Inosanto moves like a
20-year-old. You can too.
A Kick-Fit Workout session can be completed in only about an hour and can maximize your overall
calorie burn, increase your lean body mass, improve your cardiovascular endurance, and enhance your
muscle tone, core strength, flexibility, and stability.
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KICK-FIT WORKOUT GUIDELINES
To ensure maximum benefit from your Kick-Fit Workout, follow these program guidelines:
Build a solid foundation
Maximize force and time
Warm up and cool down
Practice progressive overload
Perform the optimal number of repetitions
Individualize your training program
Keep your workout at high intensity
KINESIOLOGY OF MARTIAL ARTS MOVEMENT
The Kick-Fit Workout focuses on the kinesiology of martial arts movement. Kinesiology is the
scientific study of an individual’s movements when he or she is exercising, participating in sports, or
being involved in other forms of physical activity. The illustrations depict how your muscles work as
they cross the three planes of motion (saggital, transverse, and coronal) while you perform the
following techniques: Jab; Cross; Lunge Punch; Hook; Rear Uppercut; Lead Uppercut; Lead
Overhand Punch; Rear Overhand Punch; Round Kick; Side Kick; Push Kick; Knee; Sapu; and Squat
Punch. (See complete definitions of each plane in the Glossary of Terms). Photographs provide further
reference.
When you cross all three planes in your workout, you gain increased stability, lean body mass,
flexibility, elasticity, explosiveness, strength, and mobility. For example, doing a Bicep Curl may be a
great exercise for strengthening your biceps, but it only crosses the saggital plane and does very little
for the rest of your body. However, when you combine weight training with plyometrics and martial
arts to cross all three planes, you enhance the overall performance of your entire body.
Note the planes of motions crossed during each technique as well as:
The muscles used to perform the technique
Its execution
A prescribed workout
Sports uses
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The efficiency of this type of training program is that it literally provides the greatest calorie burn in
the shortest period and works the entire body dynamically. The Kick-fit Workout is based on the law
of thermodynamics that states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, as
the body executes a technique, for example a punch, it engages specific muscles in order to maintain
form and structure and at the point of impact or retraction, it engages all the opposing muscles to
stabilize those muscles working initially (when the punch was thrown). Dynamic motion means the
entire body is shifting and fighting for balance and crossing all three planes rapidly. Unlike yoga and
Pilates where the structure is preserved, although those workouts are taxing, the calorie burn does not
come close to that offered in the Kick-Fit Workout. The key to the greater calorie burn is in
maintaining a lower stance that engages the lower body maximally as the punches are thrown.
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