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This article has been reprinted from the Kettlebell Training Articles archive on Dragondoor.com

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The Third Red Scare!

Will Williams, Senior RKC

The third red scare! But for real this time It's a book!It's a certification! Wait, what is that thing he's lifting? Asteely personality projected a path to the upper hand inphysical conditioning. The siren of strength was a bigblack kettlebell. I did not know what to make of it. Theadvertisement I saw certainly was not camp by anystandard. It looked like training with Russian Kettlebellswould really vault me to a stasis that would make themen around me wilt. That's right.

With the information availability factor, thanks to theworld wide web, two people I knew were ALL aboutPavel. One of the two guys I spoke with, the youngerguy, now a gym owner in Arizona [yet to get his RKC,c'mon Emmet!], owned bells and built a spot in thegarage to lift them. This kid audibly demonstrated powerbreathing to me, another skill of kettlebell lifting that I

was teased into learning from the pages ofMuscle Mediain 2001. The older of the two informed guys was all

about Pavel's flexibility material. He gave me TheRussian Kettlebell Challenge on VHS, and a 30 pound kettle-stack. In my apartment inVegas, I was humbled, thankful, and stoked beyond compare! I got my first bell thatChristmas, 2003. So many, many moons ago, the Russian arrived to assimilate my softvessel into a high powered tower of tissue and attitude.

Here I am now with verbal commemoration. I set some skills straight on my own end, byshowing up in Vegas, and forming an understanding of how heavy 24, 32, and 40kgs trulywere. Going to the cert a month later was locked, as I had already registered. The crowd Icertified with was flecked with cops, Jarhead & Squid alike, training alongside SEALs,physical therapists, chiropractors, team trainers, gym teachers, personal trainers, and clients

of RKC Instructors who were down for the challenge. The Russian Kettlebell Challenge.

As I write this today, having taught fourHard Style Kettlebell Certifications (HKC) sinceDecember, I can tell you that the RKC as a culture has not invalidated the material we teach.The squat as a mobility drill, the swing as our foundation of loaded hip hinging, and theoverhead duo of pressing and getting up deliver a blanket of general physical preparednessthat welcomes all forms of sport and competition-level strength events as further disciplines.

Powerlifters and martial artists would no doubt be the most prime candidates for the

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kettlebell as their go-to representation of reliable, proven training, yet a tennis player, soccermom, and a frumpy guy of big belly should also pick up a bell. Snatches and jerks provideunlimited benefit once the get-up, press, swing, and squatting are established asfundamental elements.

I spoke with David Whitley, Senior RKC, two summers ago, and we reflected upon thejourney to and through the RKC. As top level instructors we certified, assisted, led teams,

and released products for the Dragon Door student body. I commented to him that when Iused the Forum to promote the idea of a rotating cast of established instructors who wouldserve the function of a 'Senior' at the certifications, after the departures of several seniorinstructors, it was in the interest of taking stress off of the existing senior staff and to allowthe certifications to run smoother.

I offered that after the Team Leader position was created, we began to see a streamlineprocess emerge, stripping the RKC weekend of unnecessary elements and clarifying theprocesses we teach the RKC candidates to enable their students with Hard Style. He spokein the drawl we've come to associate with a gentleman and Tamer of Iron and told me that"instead of the course promoting personalities, it has become all about the material".

Spoken so well from a man who is ground floor Dragon Door. Instead of the shock-and-awe

the advertisement in Muscle Media magazine delivered to me, and in contrast to the photosof the Senior RKCs in action that would ornament Hard Style magazine, we now couldpromote the slickest & sickest system that endorses movement and strength over musclesand sex. Yeah, the kettlebell body will stop traffic and people l ike Fawn Friday and MikeDavis look very nice and display gruesome strength, but they are also capable of teachingthe course material to their students in fine fashion.

Anyone who attends an RKC weekend is going to leave with memories that will last. SomeHollywood trainers will leave the camaraderie and grad workout sweat behind, utilizing theirdiscount and appreciating the hands-on training their 199.00 On-Line PT cert did notprovide, and other students who pass will tattoo a kettlebell on their body, use the RKCsystem to move a power lift to 20% above previous personal records, and dominate thecompeting trainers in their place of employment. What you put in you get out.

Preparation for the RKC may be clouded in mystery, but execution at the weekend takesexcellence in only a few traits: attention to detail and commitment are two. As a UnitedStates Marine discharged in '02, I was sold on the paramilitary aspect of the RKC, and mySenior Instructors that weekend represented the Chain of Command.

When I read the RKC Code of Conduct, it was myRifleman's Creed

all over again. As I say,some will be reborn this weekend, others reinvested. Regardless of the personal goals setby an individual [typically relative to their enthusiasm for passing the course and becomingan RKC], the trainer who racks up certifications and doesn't spend time on the forum will be

just as equipped to better their clients as the Kung Fu teacher who is about to teach hiswhole student body how to swing and press.

As there is a high level of personal responsibility displayed when one registers for the RKC,the candidate gets onto that airplane or in their car a wee bit nervous. Even yours truly, theW2, Big Willy from Philly, Corporal Punishment himself, had a tremble in his guts when the

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snatch test began. And I'll be a nasty boot from Parris Island if the moment I passed thesnatch test [37/37 for all you salt dogs] didn't feel just like standing on the Grinder one finesummer morning. OOH daggone RAH!

Was I ready to work? If Pavel had told the class that we were assuming a tactical bivouac onthe rec-center field that night, I would have been readying my gear and prepping for patrolat sundown. That weekend 5 years ago, I knew I was a part of something that had the ability

to change lives from seemingly every angle. Rif can train with weights again. Mark Toomey'swife has an outlet that nature did not want her to have. Gray Cook's team in Virginia hascome up with a system of screening functional movement that bolted onto the Hard Style ofRussian Kettlebell training seamlessly.

Forgive me for being nostalgic and narcissistic here, but I am relieved beyond words andgrateful for all of my days that my Senior Instructor in April 2005 is still with the program, asMaster RKC Brett Jones helped me check myself into RKC form out there on the field. Theteachers, the students, and the tertiary parties who receive fine point kettlebell instruction atHKC, other workshops and in private session with RKC certified instructors, we have thisvehicle for improvement who's owners manual clarifies and reanimates itself every year, only

in the interest of bringing you the best it can offer.

There is no comedown from the RKC weekend, for those of you about to ask. Two months

after I certified I was back in St. Paul for the Combat Application Seminar[June 2005], andbeyond that I made myself available for every event I could.

And for YOU, reader, traveling to St. Paul is no longer your only option. Denmark, SouthernCalifornia, Hungary, Italy, Philly [!], San Jose, Orlando, and beyond. When the decision ismade to better yourself, and to train for the course in order to test in front of someexperienced, indulgent, and capable instructors, you can pick from several countries andmore cities, and even utilize the junior varsity level Hard Style Kettlebell certification to get afull day of lab work prior to steeping the heck up to our Russian Kettlebell Challenge.

We've made ourselves available to the material that we believe will establish your vessel as astand out among your peers. Dragon Door, as a company, offers the RKC Instructoropportunities to stay certified through the assistant position, as well as the minimal feerequired to re-certify by taking the course again every two years. Product discounts, affiliateprograms, marketing seminars, and The Manual all facilitate growth and development onbehalf of the RKC.

We WANT you to embrace the material, deliver the training, and believe in the products thatwe feel delineate this school of strength from other organizations. We make this trainingavailable to you in preparation for the weekend, and we exact standards that may force youto think about what your representation of health and living strong is. Snatch tests andtesting standard aside, we offer a superior experience that mints teachers in a system whosehallmarks are power, precision, and perpetuation. We are forming a regiment. See your localrecruiter today.

On the west side of Philly,Corporal Will iams, Eric O.USMC 0311

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RKC 2005Senior Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructorhttp://www.rkc2005.blogspot.comhttp://www.dragondoor.com/?apid=0311

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here may not be in agreement with those of Dragon DoorPublications, Inc., Power by Pavel, Inc. and Tactical Strength, Inc., and their employees including

Pavel Tsatsouline. The above parties are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury

or health condition that may occur through following the opinions expressed here. Consult with

your physician before starting any exercise program.

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