New Trend in Exercise Revolutionize the Industry A new type of exercise program, Cardio Karaticise, has blended the benefits of some of today's top exercise programs. It utilizes the secrets of an ancient Mandarin Kung Fu to give a great workout without the stress on the joints and back associated with typical martial arts programs. Fitness trends are changing. Today's fitness knowledge is advancing at a tremendous rate. Exercises we once thought beneficial have been proven to be dangerous. Foods once thought of as healthy are considered bad for us. Stretches we once thought would lengthen our muscles can actually tear them. For those that are not entirely educated in the field of fitness it can all be very confusing. Since the early 70's, when Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper introduced the idea of maintaining the body's health through aerobic exercise, much knowledge has been gained. Prior to his first book, Aerobics (1968), the idea of aerobic exercise or any exercise at all was foreign to most people. Fortunately for the health of people all over the world, Dr. Cooper told us we should exercise. It all started with jogging. This was the first aerobic exercise introduced to the world. Then, of course, jogging was taken to the next level. New shoes, indoor tracks, and treadmills were developed. The craze was big. Especially in California, where the great weather was great for both giving a good comfortable jogging environment and for wearing little clothing to show of the beautiful bodies gained. Millions were spent on special new shoes and in the development of them. Unfortunately, jogging was not for everyone. Many found it to be too hard on the knees and many developed problems. In many parts of the world the weather just didn't cooperate. And if a person was already very heavy, jogging could be all but impossible, too much impact and too hard for those already in poor physical condition. Along came the Jazzercise craze. Setting aerobics to music was a bit more interesting. Studios were opened and the craze took off. Classes were far more invigorating in a group. It was much easier to push yourself in a group environment. The fear of looking weak made everyone push a little harder. Jazzercise spread across the country. Jazzercise, however, was also a fairly high impact activity. To make the exercise enough of a workout, a great deal of impact was necessary. Low impact classes evolved, but the workout was not comparable. The other drawback was that most men were not comfortable getting into the classes. Next came step and trampoline based aerobics. Both gave intense aerobic workouts. By stepping onto and off of a small block or jumping on a small personal trampoline one could get an intense workout. Workout levels could be altered by how high you stepped or by how high you jumped. Both of these programs caught on with exercise enthusiasts. Both were great workouts with a limited amount of impact. However, both of these had two major drawbacks. The first, routines quickly became repetitive. Not many unique combinations were possible and exercisers easily became bored. Secondly, the workouts were out of balance. The upper body didn't get enough of a workout while the lower was overdeveloped. Finally the late 90's brought us martial arts based aerobics. These were incredible workouts. They pushed exercisers to the extreme. They worked both the lower and upper body and it was much easier to workout while visualizing pummeling your boss or whoever it was who caused you stress. These workouts when taught by a good instructor were far from boring. There was also the idea that they taught you some form of self defense. An idea disputed by most martial artists yet the public bought into it. The media hyped it. Oprah and several popular TV series even promoted it. Martial arts based aerobics proved to be some of the best workouts available. Most other aerobic workout programs could not match the intensity. They worked the body in the right proportions, a very well balanced workout. With the right teacher they are a lot of fun. It's unfortunate that they also proved to be some of the most dangerous aerobic workout on the market. Motions, which were deemed unsafe years ago were used in many of these workouts. Specifically ballistic style motions. These motions use the weight of the leg and it's momentum to carry the leg beyond a safe stretching point. They usually will not hurt you if you are a trained martial artist and have been stretching for years. But if you are not prepared, injuries can occur. In addition, the amount of impact and crunching motions can be very detrimental to the back and knees. If a person is overweight or has any knee or back problems then this type of exercise could be disastrous. The popularity of these programs and the injuries associated with them brought on the next trend in exercise, the softer, gentler programs. Pilate's, an exercise designed to rehabilitate injured dancers, has become wildly popular. And it is great exercise. It'll make your muscles burn and lengthen and condition them. Also yoga, and its new offshoot, power yoga, have grown in popularity. Both of these and several others along the same lines are fantastic exercise, but what about the cardio? Finally, it's possible to get both, soft, gentle exercise and great cardio. A brand new program, which utilizes the soft fluid motions of an ancient Mandarin Kung Fu, gives intense cardio without impact or ballistic motions. Cardio Karaticise is the first aerobic exercise program to give an intense workout without stressing the joints and back. It's been shown that even those that are severely overweight or those that need to protect their knees and back are able to do this exercise. The difference is in the foundation martial art that these programs are based on. All of the popular programs have been based on hard style martial arts. These arts are, by their very nature, high impact. Typically they snap the joints, use lots of ballistic motions and extend the joints to full extension, which can be dangerous. Soft style martial arts rely more on the dynamics of the body for power. They don't bounce or snap to extension. They are fluid and circular in nature, giving them a more graceful look. They are easy on the body. With this new development in aerobics, even those who are severely overweight or those who need to be careful of their joints can workout intensely. It is easily adaptable to the different extremes in fitness levels so that it will challenge everyone. We see people who are in great cardio shape working out right next to people who are severely fitness challenged and everyone is sweating. Practitioners, change the level of the stances and the height of the kicks to moderate this. Information on Cardio Karaticise can be found at http://www.karaticise.com or by calling their toll free number 1-877-643-7179 between the hours of 12 and 10 PM M-F Pacific Time. Author: Phil Weaver Phil And Liz Weaver are the owner's of Sheng Chi Kung Fu in Valley Springs California. A kung fu school, which teaches the rare ancient Mandarin Kung Fu, Shou' Shu'. http://www.mooresshoushu.com They are also the creators of the Cardio Karaticise program, a soft style kung fu aerobic. http://www.karaticise.com They also author an e-zine, which gives free lessons on how to maximize your workout while minimizing the risk of injury. You may subscribe to this e-zine by sending a blank e-mail with subscribe in the subject line to Karaticise-request@kungfuaerobics.com