This two-video pack includes Kick Butt and Kick Butt 2. Each features a celebrity, a fitness expert, and a kickboxing champion. The 1997 Kick Butt shows Kristoff St. John, star of the soap opera The Young and the Restless, holding his own with trainer Jackie Vankatwyk and three-time European kickboxing champion Badrino Kocktane. The scene is a boxing ring in a real boxing club--very austere and macho. You should already know kickboxing techniques to do this workout safely, because it offers very little instruction--participants are supposed to watch and follow Kocktane, who gives a few barely audible instructions, aided by some clear voiceovers from Vankatwyk. The moves are repeated drills without patterns. The camerawork is quite busy, with frequently changing angles. After a 25-minute kickboxing workout, you spend about five minutes with weights, followed by five minutes of abs workout, then a 10-minute stretch. The 1999 Kick Butt 2 is greatly improved by professional kickboxing instructor Antoinette Urcuyo, who cues and leads adeptly, includes plenty of technique tips, and builds combinations skillfully. She is assisted by actor Dorian Gregory (Charmed, Baywatch Nights) and trainer Jaimie Brenkus. You'll probably use this video much more often than the first. At the end is a recommended technique section. Each tape is 45 minutes long. --Joan Price
