Tae Bo

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Tae Bo is an aerobic exercise routine developed by tae kwon do practitioner Billy Blanks, and was one of the first "cardio-boxing" programs to enjoy commercial success. Such programs use the motions of martial arts at a rapid pace designed to promote fitness.

The name Tae Bo is a portmanteau of tae kwon do and boxing. Blanks later developed a backronym for the name as well; Total Awareness Excellence Body Obedience.

Blanks developed the routine in 1989 by combining music with elements from his tae kwon do and boxing training to form an intense workout regimen. During the 1990s, some celebrities (such as Paula Abdul^[1]) started using Blanks as their personal trainer and a series of videos were mass-marketed to the public. As a result, Tae Bo became somewhat of a pop culture phenomenon in the late 1990s. Gyms began offering kickboxing-based fitness classes similar to Tae Bo. Tae Bo was mentioned in Train's hit single "Drops of Jupiter".

Tae Bo videos and DVDs continue to rank among the top sellers in the fitness genre and derivative classes are still offered at many gyms.

Tae Bo classes are taught worldwide. Tae Bo includes many of the same punches and kicks as karate, but is not intended for fighting—it was not meant for any combat or self-defense applications. There are no throws, grappling moves, or ground fighting techniques in Tae Bo. Its only intent is to increase health through movement.

Tae Bo also includes aerobic exercises intended to strengthen all muscles of the body with basic choreography.

The high-intensity workout is intended to increase cardiovascular fitness, strength, muscular endurance and flexibility.

Recently, Blanks has offered a line of Tae Bo videos known as the "Believer's" series that introduce Christian elements such as prayer into the workouts. His secular workouts remain the most popular.

Blanks is still currently active in fitness. In 2004 and 2005 he launched another successful program called Billy Blanks BOOTCAMP. These videos dove into combining original Tae Bo moves along with rigorous training he had learned while visiting the troops overseas. BOOTCAMP Elite followed the original Bootcamp with the addition and use of Bands. The bands which wrap on your feet and hands create more resistance for a better workout.

Blanks is currently producing a new line of videos for 2007.^{[citation needed]} The title has yet to be announced.

[edit] Popular culture references

Tae Bo is featured as an ineffective fighting style in the movie Bringing Down the House.
During the episode of the MTV claymation show Celebrity Deathmatch that pitted Blanks against rival fitness mogul Richard Simmons, Simmons summoned a group of overweight audience members with a "hot fudge sundae" card to try to take down Blanks. Blanks turned those audience members against Simmons by training them in Tae Bo, which not only gave them the ability to take down Simmons but also slimmed them down within seconds (thanks of course to claymation techniques). Blanks eventually killed Simmons by literally "Taiing" him into a "Bo", as the show's commentators described, then pulling the ends to dismember him.
In an episode of the television drama ER, a medical student demonstrating Tae Bo accidentally strikes a patient.
In Akon's song 'Smack That' from the Konvicted album (2006), Akon sings maybe go back to my place and just kick it like Tae Bo.
In The Game's song '100 Bars (The Funeral), The Game calls Lloyd Banks of G-Unit "softer than a Tae Bo kick"
Train's song 'Drops of Jupiter,' includes the line, "She checks out Mozart while she does Tae Bo..."
In the seminal dis song "Ether" off his 2001 release Stillmatic, the rapper Nas refers to Jay-Z as a "Tae Bo Ho".
In the first episode of The Boondocks tv series, Robert Freeman was seen watching the tae bo infomercial but not ordering the tape