2007, $1.99 at the Goodwill on Colorado, Eagle Rock
First impression: Oh, yeah, I remember when everyone was doing Tae Bo.
Get this from a library! Billy's bootcamp. Ultimate bootcamp. Billy Blanks; - Bill Blanks instructs a fast-paced Tae Bo workout combining cardio, upper and lower body toning, and abs. Edition/Format: DVD video: English. Billy Blanks, instructor. Tae-bo Ultimate upper body Ultimate lower body Taebo.
Second impression: Why are Billy Blanks’ hands all taped up if he isn’t actually going to punch anything?
This DVD has an 89 minute Ultimate Tae Bo routine, which I haven’t done yet. I did the 23 minute Turbo Charged Fat Burner routine instead.
There is also a short demo of Billy Blanks demonstrating each move, assisted by his stepdaughter Shellie. I appreciated the opportunity to practice the moves at half speed so I could figure out how to do them without kicking over my priceless Ming vase.
This video is fun to do and I especially enjoyed pretending to punch annoying people while I was uppercutting and jabbing into the air. Forget meditation, this is the path to inner peace!
Billy Blanks is backed by a squad of disciples who obey his orders with cult-like devotion. He really is a charismatic presence and his rhythmic chants of “Work it! Work it!” to the off-beat are practically hypnotic. I’m so glad Billy Blanks is using his powers for good instead of evil.
The Turbo Charged Fat Burner Workout features intervals of the moves done at double speed, to get your heart rate going. I could do most of these okay, except for the ones where you’re supposed to rotate your torso back and forth in a rapid, whiplike motion that is sure to injure your low back, I mean, really sculpt your abs.
The Fat Burner workout also features an optional piece of equipment, the Amplifier, which looks like a curtain rod. You hold it in both hands while you are pretending to punch people, and then you can pretend to smack them with a metal pipe also. Yes!
At the end of the video, everyone gathered around for a Power Moment, where Billy Blanks made a speech about being truly blessed to come into my home and work out with me. I’ve stopped the DVD right before that part in subsequent workouts because, you’re welcome, Billy Blanks, and thank you for allowing me to punch and kick in a socially acceptable way.
Anybody living in the ’80s had to hear of the fitness phenomenon called Tae-Bo.
The part boxing, part martial arts and part fitness routine that had everybody and their mama jumping, kicking and sweating with its creator, Billy Blanks.
Blanks, who at 64 still wakes at 4:30 a.m. to train and teach his new Tae Bo-inspired multilevel fitness program, Billy’s BoomBoxing. “We’re talking to people about nutrition and exercise—and how to find a good workout because the workout has to fit your personality.
Everybody wants to be healthier and stronger, and feel good about themselves.”
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Blanks began his study of the martial arts at the age of eleven, attending karate and tae kwon do classes.
He was born with an anomaly in his hip joints that impaired his movement.
The resulting clumsiness caused taunts from Blanks’ siblings and led his instructors to believe that he would never accomplish much.
Blanks found the answer to these challenges in karate. When he saw Bruce Lee on TV, he decided he wanted to be a world martial-arts champion.
Starting out as a bodyguard for lead actress Catherine Bach during the filming of 1988’s Driving Force, Blanks was in Manila while the actress was filming.
Blanks impressed the producers so much that he was written into the script in a supporting role. This led to Blanks’ work in several martial arts films, including King of the Kickboxers and Bloodfist.
Blanks also appeared in the opening scene of Tony Scott’s The Last Boy Scout, where he plays a doomed pro-football player. Blanks played Ashley Judd’s kickboxing instructor in Kiss the Girls (1997).
Billy Blanks Tae Bo Extreme
Blanks developed the Tae Bo workout while