By this point, if you haven't seen Billy Blanks and his troupe of spandexed followers who live and die by his Tae-Bo prophecy, you probably haven't turned on your television for the past couple of years.
Blanks' infomercials are just one of the forms of media -- fitness magazines and ads for specialized gyms among them -- causing a growing demand for kickboxing classes across the nation.And it's not entirely hype. According to a recent study by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), cardio kickboxing provides a workout sufficient enough to improve and maintain cardiovascular fitness. The study indicates most cardio-kickboxing participants burn an average of 350 to 450 calories per hour -- enough to be considered a good workout.
"Original estimates suggested that cardio kickboxing can burn up to 500 to 800 calories per hour," ACE's Chief Exercise Physiologist Richard Cotton said. "Realistically, only a very large person exerting an above-average amount of energy for an extended period of time would be able to do that."
What the study fails to mention, however, are the risks involved in par-
ticipating in such classes. Many instructors teach the classes when they're not fully qualified to do so.
"They might attend a workshop and start teaching kickboxing, but their experience with it is limited," ACE spokesperson and kickboxing instructor Tim Culwell said. "If they're going to throw a roundhouse kick, they aren't going to have the ability to do it the next day. It's a skill that should be practiced."
He also added that cardio kickboxing moves at a much faster pace, which is more high risk because people aren't always able to perform the completion of a movement. Stress is put on the lower back, feet and hips as a result of trying to carry out the frequently quick, repetitive movements.
Cardio kickboxing, an aerobics class built around punches and kicks, differs from actual kickboxing, which is more akin to martial arts. Mike Stidham at U.S. Blackbelt Academy in Kearns incorporates a medicine ball, jumping rope and sparring with other students in a ring in his kickboxing classes. He's benefited from an increased interest in kickboxing as well; while only one-fourth of his student body used to take such classes, now three-quarters of them are enrolled.
While Stidham is supportive of cardio kickboxing, he recommends taking a regular kickboxing class beforehand to help learn the timing and rhythm necessary in martial arts.
"I think adults are drawn to (kickboxing) because they're leery of wearing karate suits . . . making the funny noises, the bowing associated with martial arts. Now kickboxing offers the exercise without the things that aren't appealing to adults," Stidham said. "It's more of a sport and karate is more an art."
"Cardio kickboxing and kickboxing provide the same type of aerobic activity, although cardio kickboxing doesn't provide you with any self-defense. But, you do have the same group exercise environment, so it's a variation on the aerobic exercise classes, and people do like that," Holly Caldwell of ACE said.
Kickboxing has an advantage over other specific exercises because it offers an overall body workout -- particularly cardiovascular -- regardless of a person's body size. It's a disguised form of martial arts. Students are still learning the self-defense and self-improvement taught in martial arts, they're just not laid out in textbook form.
Only trained instructors who can demonstrate proper kickboxing technique should teach classes. Stidham, who has trained and taught kickboxing professionally for the past 15 years, warns against the danger of taking classes from someone not qualified to teach them. Going into it blindly increases the risk of throwing one's back out, among other possible injuries.
"Unfortunately, I think a lot of people are teaching it who aren't qualified to teach it, so I think it's going to hurt real kickboxing," Stidham said.
"I hurt my back snowboarding and went to a chiropractor, and he said Tae-bo is the best thing for him since rodeo."
Stidham also cautions those first starting out in kickboxing to get and use the proper equipment. This includes wearing hand wraps when using a punching bag and wearing the right footwear on a hard floor.
Most who participate in kickboxing classes at U.S. Blackbelt Academy fall in the age range of 16-30 years, though Stidham teaches a 60-year-old man as well as children as young as 5 years old.
What comes as more of a surprise to Stidham than the influx of his kickboxing students is the obvious gender difference: He's got more women students than men. Before he had only a single female student among every 50. Now he has all types of women participating, mostly younger women.
"(Women) are actually easier to teach. They have a thing called timing that men don't have for some reason."
Burning 350-450 calories, an hourlong cardio-kickboxing session is roughly equivalent to an hour of brisk walking or light jogging. Cardio kickboxing, however, provides additional benefits not associated with walking or jogging including increased strength and flexibility as well as improved coordination and sharper reflexes.
A separate study, pulbished in Media Fitness magazine, rated kickboxing the No. 1 calorie-burning workout.