Learning To Kickbox

By Enrique Komara

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Kickboxing is one of my favorite martial arts books in my library. I really like this book because it is great for beginners and advanced students and is jam packed with topics to take your game to the next level. This book, authored by Karon Karter and Guy Mezger takes you through the stages of preparation, covers techniques, and gives you complete workouts. So why listen to Karon Karter and Guy Mezger? Well, Karon Karter is a fitness guru and author who wanted to learn more about kickboxing (and started doing it) so she could teach cardio kickboxing classes. Guy Mezger is a kickboxing trainer who has experience in the ring. He holds four world titles and also has experience in karate, judo, and freestyle fighting.

If you are interested in kickboxing or have ever had any interest in the sport then you need to pick up this book. In part one this book helps you explore the reasons why kickboxing might be for you. You will also get a brief history of the sport and learn what you will need if you should decide to pursue your kickboxing career.

If you can't find a kickboxing gym or qualified instructor then you will definitely want to pay attention to part two of this book. Here is where you will learn the basics of kicks, punches, knees, elbows, stances, blocking, moving, and combos. This is by far the best part of the book, because of how well it is laid out. If you have never read one of the Complete Idiot's Books then you don't know how this series differs from other martial arts books. I have read many books and none has incorporated so many extra tips for beginners and put the material in such a way that you don't have to struggle to understand it. You can literally go from cover to cover and not have to skip around to find things in the order you need them in. Each section segues into the next one and really makes it easy on the reader. Part 2 is great because the fundamentals are broken down with wonderful explanations and pictures. My favorite chapter is 7 and I think that a lot of readers will like this one, because it only contains combos. It covers punching combos, kicking combos, and a mixture of both for kickboxers to incorporate into their workouts.

The final third of the book covers 3 levels of workouts and gives readers and 8 week plan to get them in fighting condition. If you are interested in becoming a fighter or just want to train like one this book will help you out. You will find nutrition tips, weight lifting exercises and routines, and detailed work out plans that will be of great benefit to you. This book is an all in one resource and once you have it you will need little else to get your workouts going.

There are only a few features I don't like about this book. I don't really like the fact that they put a section on aerobic kickboxing in the book. Cardio kickboxing and kickboxing for sport are pretty different and they should have excluded that topic since it hadn't been introduced into the book earlier. The only other thing I would like to see different is a workout schedule for people who can't devote 100% of their lives to training for fighting. Lets face it, most people have to work and training (or fighting) is secondary so they need to account that and cater to those types of readers too.

Overall if you are looking for an excellent kickboxing resource then The Complete Idiot's Guide to Kickboxing needs to be in your library. This book retails for $18.95, but if you have no problems with used books then you can find it for less.

About the Author:

Boxing Site News: mma conditioning