All Articles

Complex Training: How To Transfer Strength To Skill

by Prentiss Rhodes, RKC Team Leader, DC, CSCS

Jan 19, 2012 11:30 PM

You need more power! You need more running! Sometimes, the words still ring in my head from my training partner at the time, Kestutis Arbocius. He was a world class Shidokan fighter from Lithuania who came into the gym to train. He would always say this to me after we had just finished sparring a few grueling rounds after which we would strike the focus pads for a few more rounds, and later finish with some heavy bag work. Always thinking I needed to dig deeper, I did what any fighter...

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The Art of War, Sun Tzu: Ancient Wisdom for HardStyle Martial Artists

by Gary Music, RKC

Jan 19, 2012 11:00 PM

The nature of my work, bouncer and bartender through college and 22 years in the military in dangerous places all over the world unfortunately put me in many self-protection situations. I am still here so I did something right. What was it? I used defense to protect myself. Sounds simple but I think you will discover in the following article the concept of defense is more complicated than most martial artists understand. I began my martial arts training like most in the early 1970's...

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HardStyle Training and Muay Thai: The RKC meets the Science of Eight Limbs

by Steve Milles, RKCII, CICS, CK-FMS, and Emily Bearden RKCII

Jan 19, 2012 10:30 PM

“Simple but not easy.” We've loved that HardStyle motto since the first time we heard it. It is an accurate -- if deceptive -- way to describe RKC training. It is also a template for training properly for the combat sport and martial art of Muay Thai. Also known as "the Science of Eight Limbs" for its use of kicks, knees, punches and elbows, the techniques of Muay Thai are simple but not easy to perform correctly: with speed and power...

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I Was The Problem…

by Dan John, Senior RKC

Dec 29, 2011 10:30 PM

It turns out that I was the problem. Yes, this is true: I had great ideas, excellent programming and some nice technical tidbits that worked for everyone. For the squat, I had progressions that I humbly think changed the world of lifting forever. Well, at least, I thought they were working. I discovered a disconnect: I was saying “this” and people were hearing “that.” I thought I was making a point, but my people were hearing another point. This reminded me of math class...

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Easy Strength… For All Ages

by Andrew Read, RKC Team Leader

Dec 29, 2011 10:00 PM

If you want to know if a strength training program works don’t give it to a twenty-year-old kid who plays football. Give it to a forty-year-old basketball player. The difference in body type and testosterone levels will help to really isolate what works and what doesn’t. If your forty-year-old basketball player gets stronger you’ve hit pay dirt. Well, what do you get when you test a program on a seventy-year-old woman and it works? You get a program so rich in benefits that it makes you look...

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Keeping the Goal The Goal

by Danny Sawaya, RKCII

Dec 29, 2011 09:25 PM

I received my first weight set at 14 years old for my birthday. I remember setting the bench press up staring at it and felt that I was becoming a man. Honestly, that is exactly how I felt. I didn’t ask for a toy that year, or a new video game system. I wanted a weight set. In my head I would have 6 pack abs and a massive chest and arms by the end of summer and just in time to start my freshman year of high school. For over 22 years I have not stopped lifting weights...

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Mastering the Hardstyle Swing: "The Workouts"

by Tracy Reifkind, RKC

Dec 19, 2011 05:02 PM

In 2006 after successfully losing 120lbs the previous year, I earned my RKC at the age of 42. It was training the Hardstyle Kettlebell Swing that helped me lose the weight and develop the conditioning to endure the RKC’s three days of intense physical training. Although both of those accomplishments are impressive, even more miraculous was how training the Hardstyle Swing brought out my inner athlete, transforming my body and helped erase the signs of former obesity...

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Learn to Swing: the RKC Way

by Mark Reifkind, Master RKC

Dec 19, 2011 03:00 PM

The working title of “Mastering the Hardstyle Kettlebell Swing” was “Learn to Swing”, because that was the intent when we made the video. After we produced Tracy’s “Programming the Kettlebell Swing” DVD to show her unique methodology for doing hundreds if not thousands of kettlebell swing variations, we were struck by just how many people really didn’t understand how to do a proper kettlebell swing. At least well enough to handle serious high volume swing training...

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Swing with Intent

by Fawn Friday RKCII

Dec 19, 2011 02:00 PM

Imagine your exercise plan for the day includes five sets of 10 two-hand swings with a medium weight. You’ve done these sets many times before and will have no trouble getting through another five sets without much effort. You can put in your reps, and punch the clock. There is nothing wrong with this approach if your goal is merely to complete the sets. If you want to get better at swinging, though, you should take a different approach. When I do barbell squats, I have a setup ritual...

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How to Get Stronger and Stronger and Stronger—By Building a Safer, More Scientific Foundation for Effective Movement

By Adrienne Harvey, RKC II

Dragon Door Interviews Master RKC, Brett Jones

Dec 14, 2011 11:00 PM

Dragon Door: How did you first get involved with fitness and movement? Brett Jones: I have a Bachelor of Science in Sports Medicine from Highpoint University, and was a graduate assistant athletic trainer (and an ATC certified athletic trainer through the NATA) at Clarion University in Pennsylvania. I completed my graduate degree in 1995 and took my first job as an athletic trainer at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia. That’s Gray Cook's hometown. He had just moved home and...

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