All Articles

The 80% Rule

by Max Shank, Senior RKC

Feb 28, 2012 05:30 PM

I feel fortunate to have gone through many different phases of training. Bodybuilding, Crossfit, HIT, running, kettlebells, etc., and each phase has taught me different things about training, good and bad. I currently have many students who take group classes at my facility so it was important to give them simple instructions to achieve their goals in the best way possible. I realized along the way in my own training that lifting as heavy as possible, while staying as...

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My Quest to Pull 600lbs

by Lou Eleuteri

Feb 28, 2012 05:00 PM

The following training cycle and kettlebell workouts are what I used in my quest to pull 600 lbs. A little background information is probably in order. I am 55 years old and compete drug-free and raw. After injuring my lower back in 1993, I had to give up powerlifting. I was told that I would never lift again. After reading an article on Pavel, I decided to get some kettlebells to get back in shape with no thoughts of ever getting back into powerlifting...

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Managing Injury, Improving Fundamental Movement and Building Strength—Through Tai Chi, FMS and the RKC

By Adrienne Harvey, RKC II

Dragon Door interviews Senior RKC, Dr. Mark Cheng

Jan 24, 2012 07:00 PM

Dragon Door: Dr. Mark Cheng, it's good to talk to you. How did you first discover kettlebells? Dr. Mark Cheng: I first discovered kettlebells through one of my patients, a gentleman by the name of Dan Inosanto. He's the senior most student of Bruce Lee. One of his senior students (an RKC) set up a training session for him to train with Pavel. Inosanto asked me, "Doc, would you mind coming to this workout—one of my students arranged a workout with a Russian weightlifting coach...

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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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