Ilaria Montagnani

'Meet the Lara croft of Manhattan'-The New York Post

Strike, thrust, cut your way into great shape.

Feel the power and exhilaration of a Samurai sword workout with Forza, the full body exercise program based on Japanese sword-fighting techniques. Build muscle and burn fat with this fantastic cardio workout that strings together controlled sword movements into movie-like, choreographed combinations performed at high speed.

Ilaria Montagnani has a black belt in Shorinjiru Karate and over twelve years of martial arts training. She was recently selected as a Nike Fitness Athlete and named by New York Magazine as one of the leading fitness 'gurus' in the city.

Contents

Part One: Getting started
The sword and the warrior
How to use this book
How to hold the sword
On guard
Footwork
Part Two: Warm-ups & exercises
Warm-ups
Basic exercises-Half cuts; Full cuts; Diagonal 1 High cuts; Diagonal 2 High cuts; Diagonal 1 Low cuts; Diagonal 2 Low cuts; Horizontal cuts; Reversed horizontal cuts; Low horizontal cuts; Thrusts; Diagonal 3 cuts; Kendo strikes; Twirl with half cuts; Twirl with full cuts
Advanced exercises-The high diagonals; The low diagonals; High diagonals & horizontal; Low horizontal; Thrust; Diagonal 3; Kendo strikes
Part Three: The routines
Still water
Red line
Black shadow
Panther
No fear
Samurai
Blue snow
About the author
About the photographer and model… (meer)