Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Atlantic Canada
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I have Waking Energy, Volume 1 and Volume 2 -- I lent Volume 1 to my parents, so I don't have the specifics on that one right now. I can't imagine anyone needing all four discs, as there is a lot of similarity/repetition between them. I've tried to trade for Volume 3 so I could write a systematic breakdown of the differences between them all, but I'll do the best I can here.
HBCM Vols. 1-3 have only slight differences between them, and Waking Energy is the most different. The core of the HBCM seems to be Qi Gong, the 5 Tibetans, and Yin Yoga with a grab bag of other segments included. In Waking Energy the "grab bag" mostly involves Pilates Props, while in the other volumes it is mostly Dance Fitness, mat Pilates and Vinyasa Yoga. The segments are cumulative, in that the Jazz Dance segment on Volume 3 is longer and more complex than on Volume 1. That said, the earlier segments tend to be VERY short, and I don't find the instruction so great that you absolutely need to do Volume 1 before 2 or 3. Also, from looking at clips, I'm reasonably sure that (almost?) all of Jennifer Kries' newer releases - Ballet Body, Jazz Dance, Vinyasa Yoga etc. are these segments repackaged together.
Breakdowns
Waking Energy
1. Waking Energy Sitting (28 minutes) - Seated Qi Gong and Self Massage
2. Waking Energy Standing (24 minutes) - Standing Qi Gong
3. The 5 Tibetans (11 minutes)
4. Pilates Magic Circle (15 minutes)
5. Pilates Sculpting Series (10 minutes) - upper body work using light weights
6. Physioball Series (10 minutes) - Pilates on stability ball
7. Yin Yoga and Meditation (34 minutes) - Yin Yoga instruction, but poses are not held as long as on media considered "proper" yin yoga.
Volume 1
I don't have this handy to check times specifically, but based on my memory, and the back of the case pic from totalfitnessdvds, it has the following. Keep in mind that the practices will all be shorter than the Volume 2 versions, so many are very short. I tend to use short workouts, but even I found them too short which is why I opted to lend out volume 1 and keep volume 2.
1. Seated Qi Gong
2. Standing Qi gong
3. The 5 Tibetans
4. Pilates
5. Vinyasa Yoga
6. Jazz Dance
7. Ballet
8. Yin Yoga and Meditation
Volume 2
1. Waking Energy Standing (19 minutes)
2. The 5 Tibetans (9 min.)
3. Pilates (36 min.)
4. Vinyasa Yoga (26 min.)
5. Jazz Dance (18 min.) - TIFT-style cardio
6. Cardio Sculpt (22 min.) - This is sort of dancy-feeling AWT using very light weights. It's taught by one of the background exercisers instead of Kries.
7. Ballet (16 min.) - Classical Centrework
8. Yin Yoga and Meditation (24 min.)
Volume 3
Based on my research, it appears to have the following. Practices will be a little longer than Volume 1/2 versions. Still, probably none will be longer than 35 minutes or so.
1. Qi Gong of some kind - I'm assuming just the seated one, but could be both seated and standing
2. The 5 Tibetans
3. Pilates
4. Vinyasa Yoga
5. Jazz Dance
6. I got the impression, somehow, that this one has a more advanced Cardio Sculpt.
7. Ballet
8. Yin Yoga and Meditation.
To sum up, I would buy:
Waking Energy if you are most interested in the Qi Gong and the 5 tibetans, and like doing prop-based pilates workouts
Volume 1 if you are most interested in Qi Gong, Dance fitness, mat pilates, and Vinyasa yoga but prefer easier, very short workouts, and don't like anything using weights.
Volume 2 if you are most interested in Dance Fitness and mat pilates, but don't like your Vinyasa Yoga to be too challenging.
Volume 3 if you are most interested in Dance Fitness and mat pilates, and like fairly challenging vinyasa yoga.
None of the above if your main interest is the Yin Yoga. I would recommend Paul Grilley's Yin Yoga if you are very flexible and have an extremely high tolerance for constant talking, and Donna Helm Yost's Flow and Yin if, like me, neither or those things are true for you.
Overall, I think the best choices are probably Waking Energy and/or Volume 3 (which is available at totalfitnessdvds.com ). I found the Qi Gong on Volume 1 far less satisfying than Waking Energy because of the short length, and the Jazz Dance on Volume 1 is annoyingly repetetive TIFT-style. With the longer versions at least you have more moves/combos being repeated. With the longer/more advanced segments you just get more from them - more moves, more complexity, and they're more interesting. Jennifer Kries' instructional style can be a little draggy and lecturing for me, so the less she feels she needs to teach me, the better. When I first did Waking Energy, I felt like I was missing something because she referred to things she'd taught in earlier volumes. When I got the earlier volumes, I didn't find that they added anything at all to the Qi Gong, only the variety of other content, like the Ballet Workout.
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