Forza The Samurai Sword Workout by Ilaria Montagnani

For a $30 DVD this is horribly made. There are three important sections on this DVD; the Warm-up, Left Workout, Right Workout, and a couple non-important sections. There is no way to easily navigate directly to the one you want. You can''t even start at the beginning of the warm-up because you have to watch the "Forza is amazing" and "Forza changed my life" commentary from the participating workout girls and then the "how to hold the sword" first. You have to manually scan through 6 minutes of fluff to get to the workout/warm up. 2 Stars for the DVD itself. For the price I definitely expected a better quality Product.

On the flip side, for $30, this is an excellent workout that gets better the more you do it. 5+ stars for the workout, I was amazed at how hard it was, but it still kept me wanting to continue and finish and feel strong!

Overall 4-stars because this is a great and FUN workout. I don''t know that you can get much better than swinging a wooden sword in your living room and sweating like crazy! (Keep in mind this IS a workout DVD not an instructional Japanese sword DVD) Definitely would be five stars if the DVD had been chaptered and formatted in a more user-friendly format.

I loved this workout! I work out at home a lot, . . primarily with Cathe Freidrich, Mindy Mylera, and Elements (ballet, yoga). I also run/trail run, and hike. To me a good home workout really depends on the instructor and in my opinion Ilaria delivers. She is ripped to the core and just seems like someone who knows what she''s talking about. This is not a heart pounding high cardio workout, but it is a workout that focuses on form, and core strength. Most importantly it is just fun. The other reviews on the fact that the DVD does not navigate well is true, but I am willing to look beyond that. I would also reccomend buying a cord wraped wooden sword for comfort but if you don''t care then it really isn''t a big deal. Keep in mind it is a 60 minute workout though. I can only see with more time that doing this workout will improve my core and help with my kick boxing form. You have to hold your core in the whole 60 minutes. I REALLY hope she comes out with more DVD''s. Because I am truly hooked. Oh I do have to say that the queing is sometimes not that great. It isn''t off or anything I think that she just forgets to tell us sometimes what is coming up next. I don''t mind though because I find that it really forces me to use my brain. Despite anything negative I may find regarding this workout it was way to much fun to give it anything less than 5 stars. Oh and one other thing I didn''t like was that whoever was filming kept doing close ups of the girls abs. That was a little frustrating when you needed to see the full body shot to get the form right. I also would have liked to see side shots. Anyway, buy this DVD it makes for a great addition to your fitness library.

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I take her classes in New York City and let me tell you,Illaria is a real one-of-a kind instructor. She takes time to really demonstrate how to utilize the sword to acheive amazing results to your body. This DVD is a great back -up when I can''t make it to her Saturday or Monday class. After three times using the DVD,(I missed the class for 1 month) I finally noticed those sexy muscles on my back & shoulder blades! And not to mention my flabby triceps & biceps..not hard, but toned,I swear! Its such a powerful and strengthing workout. I was sweating like crazy in just the first few 8mins. I love it and HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

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This is a very effective arm, shoulder, and whole-body workout. It should appeal to folks who want something different, especially if picking up a bokken (Japanese style wooden sword) for the first time. You will have to concentrate, which helps the hour fly by; you will get sore; you will have the fun of swinging a sword. (''Ware blisters, the first time or two.)

Sword nuts be forewarned: this one goes in the "inspired by budo" category. She actually get this SWITCHES HAND GRIP at intervals, moving the right hand down and the left nearer the tsuba. There''s a wide-stance squatting movement (somewhat horse-stance-like) with a shomen cut that also spoils the illusion that you''re practicing real technique. Other things that drove me nuts (the wide-open left elbow of the horizontal cut...) might be legit style differences, but after a while staring head-on at brisk, repeated shomen cuts and aerobics-derived footwork, I began practicing counter-movements in time with their attacks, instead of mimicking.

If a great workout with a unique flavor is what you''re after, go for it. If you practice Japanese sword especially its aiki variety, which is what most bokken-owners probably do in the U.S. be aware that this is a very original, and clearly conditioning-only-oriented, interpretation which will not reinforce what your sensei is teaching you (although it ought to give you a great physique to walk onto the mat with).

Final note, though: COOL pants. No, really! And much less hassle than hakama, I''m sure.

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This is a great DVD, but really difficult. I just tried it for the first few times, and let me tell you, it is going to take me a long time to be able to get through the whole thing; my arms were jelly after just the warm up.

The DVD is about an hour, the warm up is about twenty-five minutes, and very intense, then there is a left hand routine, followed by a right hand routine, each are about ten to fifteen minutes long. There is a brief cool down which consists of the right hand routine without the sword.

I absolutely recommend this workout, but keep in mind that this is not Carmen Electra''s Striptease, or a QuickFix video, this is very different. You''ll probably need a Boken sword (wooden practice sword, there are several options here on Amazon) and a pair of good sneakers. I also recommend high ceilings in your excercise area.