The Forza Workout! New Fitness Craze!

The Samurai were known for their swordsmanship but to learning, took many years. One of the martial arts I am considering learning is Kendo,  a Japanese sword fighting. While Kendo does not practice with real Samurai swords, it is still intense training, that can take years to master.

Swordsmanship like boxing or karate, has ancillary fitness benefits that can be practiced like shadow boxing and Tae Bo. Moving with an imaginary opponent while not the real thing, can help the practitioner work on form, speed, agility, stamina as well as gain that all important (for our purposes) workout! I am going to review the merits of Forza as well as speak about possible applications and what I think of stick fighting.

Here is Yvonne Strahovski from NBC’s TV show, Chuck, demonstrating Forza with stunt coordinator, Robert Alonzo!

I don’t know about you but I cannot recall the last time a make up artist did a touch up on me between rounds. I really like that Self.com is keeping the Forza workout real, I mean nothing to buy but using a stick should work fine. Yvonne seemed to pick up the moves easily so I really thing it would be an easy workout to incorporate into any one’s fitness routine – providing they liked it!

Now here is a review of Forza done by Men’s Fitness. Like Self.com, they showed some ways to use the practice sword or stick so you don’t have to go out and buy the DVD (which is available at www.powerstrike.com). I don’t know about you but to be fair, all of these fitness crazes are the same to me.

What you might be thinking? I know I just told you about this one and I even like it. But would I go out and purchase the DVD? NO! Why not? The DVD is just going to show you the “correct” way to do each of the moves… I would question that because Billy Blanks (with Tae Bo) and various karate aerobics instructor’s “dumbed down” karate with their workouts. I mean if you tried to fight with any of the karate aerobics move… you know just about enough martial arts to get yourself hurt!

That being said – practicing, shadow boxing in effect, with a martial arts weapon can be very fun and give one an excellent workout. Case in point, the other day when I discovered this video, I picked up my club (doesn’t everyone have a club next to their bed?) and 5′ staff and decided that I was going to “shadow box” to get my workout! Well let me just say, as Yvonne did – I used some muscles I was not used to using even though I do bag work regularly!

Now the reason I have a staff and club is that I live in California, where most weapons except pepper spray and stun guns are illegal to carry around. If you get used to fighting with a stick – you can always happen to still have that baseball bat from practice last week, in your trunk or pick up a stick and be better off than without. But in today’s age, really – the bad guys carry guns so this just may be wishful thinking on my part (thinking weapons training will help me).

So if you are martial arts inclined and like what you saw with Yvonne’s workout – go ahead and work in some stick fighting techniques into your fitness routine! Just take my word for it – you don’t need to purchase another fitness DVD to gain the benefits.