P90X Reviews: A Complete Review on the P90X Workout System

If you’ve explored P90X as a fitness option, or if you’ve already done the program, then you’ve gone through the Kenpo X routine during one of the recovery periods or you’ve read or seen that one of the workouts is called Kenpo X. What you may not actually know is that Kenpo is actually a unique form of martial arts that pulls together many styles from diverse backgrounds. So why is that important? In order to maximize your workout results, the more that you understand about what you’re doing, the better. With that said, let’s learn a little bit about Kenpo.

Kenpo is traditionally a name used in Japan to refer to Chinese styles of martial arts. However, more commonly, and the way in which Tony Horton references it, it is a term for multiple martial arts forms. The generic term of Kenpo to cover these various forms originated in Hawaii where the diverse ethnic population meant that there was cross-cultural exchange between practitioners of Japanese martial arts, Chinese martial arts, Ryukyuan martial arts and even various other forms. You may even hear it referred to as Kenpo Karate. The style of what has become to be known as Kenpo Karate features hard, linear movements, some ground fighting derived from Jujitsu and a limited number of circular Chinese techniques.

It makes sense that Tony Horton would focus the martial arts section of P90X around Kenpo. If you’ve done any other Tony Horton workouts such as the Power 90 or 10 Minute Trainer then you know that Tony likes to incorporate many types of martial arts moves into his training because of their ability to create cardio burn while also toning muscle and working core strength. Because Kenpo is a combination of many forms of martial arts and, arguably, takes some of the best elements from each of those forms, using a Kenpo base for the martial arts section of P90X seems like a perfect fit for both Tony’s style and your fitness goals.

Kenpo X is widely considered to be one of the most fun workouts in the P90X series. It’s high cardio and also high fun to imagine yourself as a street fighter! The next time you do it (or the first time that you do it if you haven’t started P90X yet), you’ll know where those moves, style and name originated from.