Cardio Kickboxing and Boxing Fitness classes are ways of exercising like a cross between classic boxing or kickboxing training drills and contemporary cardio/aerobic workout routines.
Exercise programmes like Boxercise® and Tae Bo® are the same type of thing, but under their own trademarked brand names.
Cardio Kickboxing is so popular as it’s two in one – it’s a way to exercise in a group, and develop some self-defence / fighting skills in the process.
Most people join their local martial arts club because they either want to learn how to defend themselves, or get fit, gain confidence and socialise a bit, or all of the above; and Cardio Kickboxing or Boxing Fitness classes take care of all of this, with emphasis on working out for fitness purposes.
Simply going to a regular gym and using their equipment might be a way to get fit but it would lack the team spirit for extra motivation, and of course the extra prospect of gaining fighting skills in the process. So don’t just get fit, get fighting fit!
But if you’re serious about self-defence / combat training, these classes might not be for you. Cardio Kickboxing usually involves bad habits from a martial arts perspective – lots of defensive gaps for combative purposes and inefficient body movement for moving around in general – but the good news is it’s rarely strict so you’re generally able to do things your own way, where as if you’re told to do some awkward moves in a traditional martial arts class you’ll usually be pressured into trying to copy it all perfectly even if you don’t like some of it.
Even training awkward moves can help you lose weight and gain a strength in some ways, and can give you a heightened sense of balance and physical co-ordination if you don’t otherwise exercise much. Some exercise is generally a lot better than no exercise, irrespective the quality, so long as it’s not strictly forcing you to replicate awkward movements which can actually cause you to develop bad habits that take a toll on your body in the long term, not to mention affect your self-defence instincts.