Flit Like A Butterfly, Kick Like A Bull

080
Wellness
Feature

Flit Like A Butterfly, Kick Like A Bull

Cardio kickboxing is all the rage these days amongst those seeking more excitement in the daily exercise regimen.

Bored with your aerobics class? Looking for a workout that totally kicks butt? Want to increase your stamina, flexibility, and strength while listening to your favourite dance mixes?
If this sounds good to you, then cardio kickboxing may be your ticket to wellness.
Kickboxing combines the best of a variety of different exercise disciplines to provide an overall workout. It combines self-awareness and control of martial arts, the focus and strength of boxing, and the grace and rhythm of dance. Martial arts and boxing develop strength, speed, balance, coordination and awareness. The dance moves give the workout energy and rhythm that improves coordination and body awareness and provides a workout for the heart.

What is Kickboxing?
Cardio-kickboxing (aka aerobic boxing, aerobox, boxercise, boxaerobics) is a high-impact cardiovascular workout that blends elements of boxing, martial arts and traditional aerobics into a 30 to 60 min exercise routine to provide overall physical conditioning and toning.
The roots of kickboxing date back to the Far East 2,000 years ago. Kickboxing as we know it today developed under various influences. But modern competitive kickboxing was actually popularised by Billy Blanks’ in 1998.
Kickboxing is a unique way to improve endurance, confidence and strength. The one-hour sessions offer a great workout focusing on developing general fitness and body tone. It improves fitness, flexibility and stamina - an excellent workout. Essentially it is boxing with kicks - combining western and eastern techniques.

What’s the workout like?
Kickboxing classes usually comprise of 10 to 15-min warm-ups, which may include stretching and traditional exercises such as jumping jacks and push-ups, followed by a 30-min kickboxing session that includes movements such as knee strikes, kicks, and punches. After this, at least 5-mins is devoted to cooling down, followed by about 10-mins of stretching and muscle conditioning. Stretching is really important because beginners can strain their muscles, and slow, proper stretching helps relax muscles and prevent injury.

What can you expect?
- Cardio kickboxing does not involve physical contact between competitors.
- Classes vary but generally feature a variety of punches, kicks, knee strikes and other self-defence moves interspersed with a bouncing base move.
- Some cardio-kickboxing classes spend a part of the time kicking and punching weighted, padded targets or engaging in actual sparring.
- The class may also incorporate traditional exercises, such as jumping jacks, abdominal crunches, leg lifts and push-ups to create a total body workout.
- Unlike weight training programs, kickboxing uses your own body weight for the workout.

Why Kickboxing?
- Besides keeping your body fit, kickboxing has tons of other benefits.
- It is an ideal vehicle for physical, mental, personal and emotional development.
- Its rigorous workout - controlled punching and kicking movements carried out with the discipline and skills required for martial arts can do wonders for feelings of frustration and anger.
- Practicing kickboxing moves also helps improve balance, flexibility, coordination, and endurance.
- Unlike the complicated moves of aerobics, kickboxing is very easy to learn and follow. The moves in cardio-kickboxing involve dance movements, which make you feel energised and explosive after the workout.
- Kickboxing reduces and relieves stress. Which is why even people with a cardiac problem, can do a kickboxing workout, with the help of a personal trainer.

How many calories does cardio-kickboxing burn?
- With 600-800 calorie burnout per hour, kickboxing has been rated as the highest calorie workout by Muscle & Fitness, America.
- A 60-70 per cent pulse rate is essential for weight loss, which can be achieved by everyone. If you want to increase your endurance and stamina, a 85% pulse needs to be reached. An 85% pulse workout is not for everyone and can be achieved with gradual increase in the intensity of workout.

You may not acquire fame as Jean Claude Van Damne did in Hong Kong for his kickboxing stunts, but it is surely a great way to get a total body workout. And in the bargain you will also learn simple self-defence moves.

Expert Speak:
Prakash Kumar, Director, Indian Fitness Academy
I introduced Tae Bo Do, commonly know as kickboxing, 5 years ago in Bangalore. My 26-year background of boxing and martial arts has definitely helped me train my students better.
Kickboxing is a stress reliever, since the workout demands a high amount of concentration, which involves the right level at which the kicks and boxes are aimed. Kickboxing requires strength, endurance, technique, and focus; it mandates your mind and soul as well as your body.
I insist that a fitness test should be taken before any person is enrolled onto the kickboxing programme. The fitness test decides the level of workout to be prescribed.

Karuna Horo, Fitness Expert, Talwalkars
Being a combination of martial arts and boxing, kickboxing involves several combinations of movements, which can be experimented with. This ensures that the workouts are not boring. It has also helped people feel more empowered and confident.
Women tend to put on weight on their mid-section and the lower body. Kickboxing helps target these problem areas and lose weight quickly. You can see the results within the first 3 months.

The Basics
Before you decide to jump in and sign up for a class, you should keep a few basic guidelines in mind:
- Know your current fitness level. Kickboxing is a high-intensity, high-impact form of exercise, so
it’s probably not a good idea to plunge in after a long stint as a couch potato.
- When you do begin kickboxing, allow yourself to be a beginner by working at your own pace and not overexerting yourself to the point of exhaustion.
- Check it out before you sign up. If possible, observe or try a class beforehand to see whether it’s right for you and to make sure the instructor is willing to modify the routine a bit to accommodate people’s different skill levels.
- Start slowly and don’t overdo it.

‘Tis The Season To Be Really Cool

Cover Story
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CityInfo - Dubai & India (Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata)

‘Tis The Season To Be Really Cool
What will you be gifting this season? Ties? Scarves? Soap on a rope? A toaster that can send emails?

Technology does not have to be dull. In fact, after dipping toes into the techno world, you will see why it’s so vital to a man’s existence. Take a peek at our wish list and see if any of these goodies will catch you his eye.

Garmin Street Pilot 2610
‘It’s right around the corner honey.’ Does that ring a familiar bell? If you want to reach from Point A to Point B without circumventing the entire city, gift your man the Garmin StreetPilot 2610. It will sit pretty on the car’s dashboard and guide you to your destination. It’s got a sensitive touch screen with four buttons for easy one-hand operation. Makes sure you reach the next baby shower party before the baby has been named.
Available at: www.garmin.com


Nokia 8800
He may not wear jewellery, but he will not mind being spotted with the Nokia 8800 adorning his palm. With a sleek and sexy stainless steel body, it slides down to reveal a deep black keypad beneath the shield. And if that hasn’t impressed him enough to junk his Smartphone, dim the bedroom lights. Fire it up. When the phone is on charge, it gives off a cool blue light. Didn’t you always want to do a blue light?
Available at: www.nokia.com

Exilim EX-S100
She’s sleek. She’s sexy. She’s a camera. Casio’s Exilim EX-S100 is the world’s smallest optical zoom digital camera. And don’t be misled by the size. It comes packed with powerful features such as 1.4 sec start-up speed, 0.01-release time lag and 7-point Multi Auto Focus. He will have eyes glued on its 2.0” LCD where he can see you through its 2.8x optical zoom lens.
Available at: www.casio.co.in

Casio Privia PX-500L
If your nephew gets butterfingers on the keyboard, let him paint by numbers. The digital lighting key function on Casio PX-500L will make playing Flight Of The Bumblebee child’s play. The key lights will make him master at the piano on the first go, as they show which key to play along with over 100 rhythms. He can now bid goodbye to his tutor.
Available at: www.casio.co.in


Oakley Thump
If his idea of a jog is plugging on an MP3 player, a smart pair of goggles, and a bottle of fresh lime on the hip, that’s what he ought to have. Oakley Thump is the world’s first digital music eyewear. It has flip-up lens, which filters out all UVA, UVB, UVC and harmful blue light while seamlessly pumping out 120 songs. So don’t wait for him to come back for breakfast; he ain’t gonna be back for another 6 hours.
Available at: www.oakley.com

Digital Photo Frame

In this age of paperless offices, and plastic money, memories still last forever. Now capture thousands of these joyous moments in a single frame with the Digital Photo Frame. Compatible with most memory cards, it will sit perfect on his new rosewood table at office. Now he can see thousands of your photos in one single frame.
Available at: www.ceiva.com

OSIM Massage Chair
Doing the salsa after a long day at work might do little to relieve him of stress. But a personal masseuse would certainly be welcome. The iMedic 200 will help him relieve those tired muscles and drive away the fatigue. After a 15-minute massage, you’ll can get down and enjoy a rumba.
Available at: www.osim.com


Tissot T Touch
Its blue, its Swiss and can tell more than just the time. Just a touch on the screen will bring alive its hands to activate one of the functions: Thermo, Alarm, Compass, Chrono, Altimeter and Meteo. This sapphire crystal watch will make sure he neither loses direction, nor does he fly his Micro Light too low.
Available at: www.tissot.ch

Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones
If the cheerleaders in the bedroom give you a headache in the FIFA Cup, then here is the perfect reliever. QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones use state of the art noise reduction technology which dramatically reduces unwanted noise. But remember, if are going to nag, he won’t be listening.
Available at: www.boseindia.com


SoundDock Digital Music System
First iPod put music into the pocket. Now bring home the ideal partner to enjoy its crisp and full sound. The SoundDock system is an ideal partner for his iPod. It’s simple; just dock the iPod and bring the evening to life. And a card-sized remote even controls basic iPod functions across the room. So rock on.
Available at: www.boseindia.com

iMate Jas Jar
Videoconference with him while he hits the road in California. Meanwhile he shoots sights of the city with the same phone. How you wonder? Because the iMate Jas Jar comes with two cameras onboard over a 3G network. And if that doesn’t make his business associate sit up and take notice, the swivel from a conventional PDA-cum-phone into a mini-laptop sure will make heads turn. Besides being the first 3G phone based phone, it also supports Wi-Fi, sports a QWERTY keyboard and a pivoting VGA screen.
Available at: www.imate.com

Digital Camera Binoculars
The coming racing season, the professional photographers will seek help from you and your partner. With these Digital Camera Binoculars you can capture all the action-packed moments.
Available at: www.meade.com/captureview

Sony PSP
Boys will always remain boys. Don’t believe us? Hand him a Sony PSP and he’ll be engrossed for hours. This sleek Playstation Portable comes packed with music, games, video and internet browsing.
Statutory Warning: This gizmo is highly addictive.
Available at: www.sony-mea.com

Creative Zen Vision
Can’t accompany him for his business trip to the Bahamas? Fret not. Hand him Creative Zen Vision. With a whopping memory of 30GB, it can click and store tens of thousands of photos, or up to 120 hours of video. It has a transflective screen that provides excellent image and Video quality even in bright sunlit conditions, ensuring you don’t miss any of the beautiful sights and scenes.
Available at: www.creative.com

Samsung Portable DVD Player
It’ll accompany you at the beach, resort or desert safari. And will make sure you are never bored even for a moment. The Samsung Portable DVD player with an extended 4.2hour Li-Ion battery, 3D sound, 2 headphone jacks and a picture CD viewer is the best companion. Even for a romantic getaway. You can watch your favourite movies take while sunbathing on the beach.
Available at: www.samsung.com

Sony DPP-FP50
He shot them. Now you produce the evidence of the crime. With the Sony DPP-FP50 portable printer, you can hand out family photos right away. You will get perfect lab printing quality, without the hassles of plugging onto a PC for download of images. It comes with an in built LCD, slots for memory stick, compact flash and SD media with PictBridge technology.
Available at: www.sony-mea.com