i did turbo kick box (tkb) for 5 years before moving to the uk and then i started with body combat, which i've done for about 3 years. body combat is a good workout, along the same lines as turbo kick box, but i have to say its not as good as tkb.
mainly, bc is too fragmented. first, the music isnt consistent. there's a mix of rock, pop, r&b, classical, techno, etc. if most radio stations dont mix formats, why does combat, apart from stretching at the end, where naturally the music might tone down a bit. i mean the latest track goes from the killers, to some awful 80's rock me amadeus track (it was a horrible single then, why it has resurfaced in combat in 2007...)... then billy bloody idol (is he a shareholder in les mills inc. or something??) then onto what sounds like the three tenors at the end. if bc is supposed to be cool and tough and street smart, how about cool hip hop, rap, urban style stuff instead (eg l.l cool j 'mama said knock u out', etc)
regarding the choreography. it's way, way, way too much of the same movements for too long a time, all the time. there's not enough variation - in other words its not dynamic enough - maybe this suits beginners but it gets so monotomous if youve been doing it for ages. for example, 8 minutes of virtually nothing but mai tai (or whatever its called where you beat up your body by flying up and down raising your knee constantly - is that healthy for the average combatter??). it seems a bit lazily choreographed to be honest.
one thing i really like in turbo kick box that combat doesnt do is the 2 minutes of anaerobic, super fast 'turbo' moves in the middle of the round. this is normally done 2 or 3 times in a row depending on the level of the class and its great for increasing fitness peaks. combat just sort of moves between bouts of boxercise coupled with tai chi - the breaks are too long for middle of the class. the whole point of classes like these is to get a good aerobic workout, but between the tai chi slow moves, the water breaks between tracks, the instructor fiddling with their non working microphone, the body cools down and its not optimum. by contrast, tkb is non stop apart from a water break after the 'turbo' round and there's no slow exercising until the end.
finally, in both of the two combat venues i've been to here, it seems the front row of the class is taken up by clumsy 'veterans' lacking natural rhythym who think they own the space and who never get better. some of them dont even follow the instructor, but do their own thing. i think perhaps thats something the instructors should take control of because when you've got people who dont know what they are doing or purposefully doing their own thing, if you're behind them following them it messes you up, has a domino effect. in my bc class of around 30, there are maybe 3 people with decent form. the rest follow the bad form of the ones at the front and the whole class looks like s**t.
if bc wants more men in class, add more punches and cooler, boxing type moves rather than standard aerobic moves (eg mai tai), and keep out girly music as well as the cheerleader barbie doll type instructors who normally teach step or other notoriously female aerobic classes. they dont belong in bc. isnt that the point?