Company: Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo
Tape Name: Tae Bo
Tape Cost: $59.85 for
the 4 tape series
Length of Tape: Tape 1 = 40 min., Tape 2 = 27 min., Tape 3
= 57 min., Tape 4 = 14 min.
Number of Moves/Techniques: Not a technique tape
Return
Policy: 30 day Unconditional money back guarantee
Experiences in dealing with
this company: Excellent
The Instructor: Billy Blanks
Company’s Address: 7095
Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA., 90028
Company’s Phone Number: 1-800-637-6632
Web Page: http://www.taebo.com
E-mail: info@taebo.com
Primary Grading Criteria:
1.
Production/Tape Quality: 9
2. Instructors demonstrated skill level: 9
3. Comprehension
Score/Immediate Understanding: 9
4. Degree to which this will make someone a better
Martial Artist: 8
5. Score on delivery vs. Hype: 9
6. Degree to which we would
recommend this product: 9
7. Wasted time (The higher the number, the less “fluff”/repetition:
9
8. Playback Score/Watching it over and over again: 9
9. Would I purchase
more of this company’s product: 9
10. Overall grade based on cost vs. Value: 9
Grand Total: 89% (Fair = 2.25 stars)
Secondary Grading Criteria:
1.
Beginners benefit: Fair
2. Intermediate benefit: Fair
3. Advanced benefit:
Fair
4. Time to benefit: Greatest benefit with consistent workouts
5. The
need to buy additional tapes to understand this one: None
Written Summary:
This four
tape video series is the latest fitness craze to hit the market. Countless people
are jumping on the Tae Bo band wagon and giving it a try. Other fitness guru’s have
come and gone in the past and Tae Bo will be no different, for now it is the flavor
of the month. All things considered though in my mind if Tae Bo gets people off the
couch and motivates them to workout then it is something good. Everybody seems to
be talking about Tae Bo and fitness gyms are offering classes (or similar type fitness
classes) to the general public.
So is Tae Bo worth all the hype? After watching
the video’s and doing some of the workouts I would say that if you are looking for
a good cardiovascular workout, using basic punching and kicking movements, than Tae
Bo delivers the goods. The Advanced workout will get you sweating even if you think
you are in pretty good shape. However if you are looking for a program to increase
your strength or use as a method of defending yourself than Tae Bo falls short. It
is not what I would recommend to increase your strength through body weight type
resistance exercises. A lot of people buy into the idea that Tae Bo can be used as
a means of self defense. Some of the ads that I have seen imply that it can. Let
me tell you right now that Tae Bo is NOT a means of self defense. If you are buying
the tapes hoping that it will give you self defense skills than you are wasting your
money. There are a lot of excellent video tapes on the market that will help to teach
you how to defend yourself, Tae Bo is not one of them. Even the punching form that
is taught in the video is incorrect from a self defense standard. If it gives a person
some confidence than this is a good thing but do not believe that you will be able
to defend yourself after practicing the moves on these video’s. You could do the
techniques on these video’s for 10 years, every day, becoming a Grandmaster of Tae
Bo, and still have no clue as to how to defend yourself.
Other things that
I didn’t care for on the video’s is that during the stretching exercises you can
see some of the people bouncing. This is a mistake while stretching and I was surprised
to see it on the video’s. A word of caution to beginners who have no Martial Arts
experience when first beginning this fitness program. Do not attempt to kick too
high or vigorously until you know the proper mechanics and have practiced them for
some time. I would think that some people could injure themselves if they try to
push things too fast or too hard at the beginning.
Bottom line: If your
looking for something that will give you a good cardiovascular workout than this
would be a good tape to purchase. If your looking for a strength program or self
defense program than I would pass on this and purchase some of the other products
that are available from
different companies.
M.O.
