RKC School of Strength

Official blog of the RKC

workshop experience

RKC: The Community of Fitness

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RKC-II NYC at Catalyst With Steve Holiner

I recently assisted at an RKC Level Two certification in New York at Catalyst Sport with Master RKC Steve “Coach Fury” Holiner. This was a unique event—of the ten candidates in attendance, Steve knew all but three of them. Seven had attended the previous RKC with Steve or had worked with him in the past. In a matter of minutes, Steve approached these three new faces and made them feel as welcome as if they were long lost friends. I love and admire the sense of community and belonging in the RKC.

The workshops offer more than just a learning experience for candidates wishing to understand how to coach and teach kettlebells, everyone also has the opportunity to learn from other coaches. The RKC is a great way to grow your network and learn from other professionals in the field. Each time I have either assisted or attended an RKC workshop, I have always been able to learn something useful from someone else in attendance. I’ve learned new drills to help correct common flaws, or a different cue to coach an exercise. Everyone will have a different perspective on teaching, even if the end result is the same. Learning from each other is very beneficial because it gives you more tools to add into your coaching tool box.

Along with the coaching aspects of the weekend, strong relationships develop between all the candidates and instructors. The instructors and assistants are at your side throughout the weekend to help better yourself. We are never intentionally trying to fail you, we want to make sure we are delivering the best possible education. We want to help you become the best teacher you can be, so you can better serve your clients. I am always amazed at how willing the instructors at RKC certifications are in giving candidates opportunities to ask—and answer—any questions they may have about coaching, programming, client interactions, business and more.

The RKC is a mentally and physically challenging weekend, but what stands out is how supportive everyone is of each other. During the snatch test you will be encouraged by your colleagues, because they want you to succeed. Then, during the coaching drills, you will interact and help each other learn, which is great since backgrounds range from coaching, training, physical therapy, chiropractic, and sometimes even psychology. Regardless of these different backgrounds, the setting allows you all to interact as equals—we are all here to learn and become better. This is an environment of great knowledge and solid support. This is what we should bring back with us when the weekend is over.

When I went through my first RKC in 2014, I specifically remember going through the graduation workout and hearing one of the candidates I had worked with that weekend yell out “Keep it up guys, you can do this, we are in this together!” (Cue High School Musical soundtrack). Those words have stuck in my head since that day. That challenging rite of passage was tough, but knowing that everyone else was experiencing it too encouraged me to succeed. Even before the grad workout, hearing the encouragement from my peers during my testing was comforting. If I hadn’t passed that weekend, I would have been completely okay with it because I would have still left with a lot of knowledge and many new friends.

William Sturgeon's First RKC Workshop

Many people still think that the RKC has a military style of training, but we have separated ourselves from that image and now have a greater emphasis on education and practical purpose. Our focus is to educate and help people. Instructors and assistants will not be impressed by a 3:30 snatch test or a 44kg kettlebell press, but they will be impressed by how well you demonstrate an exercise and how well you can coach. The other feats are impressive, but they do not show us how well you can teach.

There is a greater sense of belonging when you treat the candidates as family, just like Steve did with the candidates he didn’t already know. Most new candidates come in with big knots of fear in their stomachs because of the testing. But when the instructors take the time to get to know the candidates while being sure to teach in the areas where they need help, the stress of testing lowers automatically. When you find a community that welcomes you with open arms and a willingness to give you everything in their power to help you succeed, you know that you are in the right place. We want to set up all of our candidates for success, so we take the extra time to review techniques or drills so everyone fully understands.

The RKC community has some of the nicest, most helpful people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. When I started the process of opening my facility, Restored Strength, I reached to some RKCs who own their own businesses, and they were willing to take the time to answer my emails and phone calls. Some of these people I have only met on social media, but I also knew them as a part of the RKC community. Without hesitation, everyone I reached out to responded to my questions, and shared what had and had not worked for them when opening their facilities. Where else can you speak to nationally known coaches and get advice like this?

When I assisted at the RKC-II Steve taught, he offered to host me at his place for the weekend. We’ve known each for a few months because he has been coaching me online. He invited me to assist him and offered to let me stay with him. This is the type of community that’s a family with the same goal in mind: helping others. It really connected with me when he said, “It’s amazing how many people I get to reach. If I work with ten coaches and they each work with thirty people that means I have connected with 300 people in some way”. The power to teach and influence this many people is tremendous.

Becoming an RKC is more than just earning a certification, it’s about becoming part of a family with a common goal in mind: educating the world with proper kettlebell training. We spend hours with strangers who become friends with the shared experience of becoming educators in strength. You are never alone while earning your certification, you have the support of a strong community which wants you to succeed more than you know. We all return from these weekends with many memories and stories to share. Each time I have had the privilege to assist, I end up with more friends to add to this extended family.

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William Sturgeon, RKC II trains clients at his gym, Restored Strength. Contact him through his website at RestoredStrength.com or follow him on Facebook: facebook.com/restoredstrength

Finally, I’m an RKC Instructor

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RKC Haarlem Holland 2016 Group Photo

Finally, I can say I am an RKC Instructor. It’s official—my name is in the register! From the moment I picked up my first kettlebell, read my first book about them, and first visited kettlebell websites, I realized that the RKC is the golden standard in kettlebell lifting and certification. First, a confession: I had already started training people before I joined the RKC family. My presumed authority came from studying lots and lots of DVDs, books, YouTube videos, and a half-day kettlebell instructor course, where I was taught the CrossFit style swing and the windmill. A few hours later I walked out with a crispy clean certificate with my name misspelled on it. I thought I was ready to conquer the kettlebell world!

How wrong could I be? I knew how to keep my class busy for an hour and yes, they were all sweaty, worn out, and satisfied afterwards. But, I felt unsatisfied. I saw what they were doing wrong, but had a hard time correcting them. So I searched the trustworthy kettlebell sites for more info—and every time, I saw announcements for RKC Certification Workshops. But, they were always hosted in the US or Canada, and occasionally in Asia or Europe, but still too far away. The certification isn’t cheap, and adding a flight and a hotel would definitely make it non-negotiable at home. This winter, it all came together because the RKC was coming to Haarlem, Holland, about ten minutes from where I live. The same day I signed in. No negotiations necessary, and I got a huge discount!

Fast forward to July, 2016. Two RKC Instructors, Master RKC Andrea Du Cane and Senior RKC Martijn Bos, and nineteen wannabe RKC instructors were gathered in a well-equipped training center in the heart of Haarlem. Some of them had only started training with kettlebells a few weeks earlier; others looked like professionals who do a hundred snatches as a warm up. But, even the simplest moves can be performed better, as we learned in the following three days. Andrea and her team had every detail covered. They were strict but approachable, professional but always friendly and positive. The atmosphere they create is amazing! It’s so much fun to train with people who have this mindset. We started every move from scratch and slowly built them up until our form was flawless. No YouTube video can do that!

RKC Holland 2016 Workshop

Day two is snatch test day. Personally, this test had been like a monster hiding under my bed for two months. I just couldn’t master it. Of course there’s a lot more to the RKC than just doing one hundred snatches in five minutes, but the test still must be done. My fellow participants and I had been whispering about it ever since Friday morning—no matter how many times Andrea emphasized that it’s not the only test that is evaluated. While that’s true, we also knew that if we did not pass the RKC Snatch Test, we wouldn’t qualify to be an RKC Instructor. It’s as simple as that. And it is a struggle! But it is also a moment where the RKC family comes together. We are in this together. People cheered for each other, taped each others hands, congratulated the ones who succeeded, and of course consoled those who failed. Luckily, most of us made it.

Anyone who didn’t pass on day two could try again on the last day. Also, on the last day, we must have mastered the six moves we had been training—the swing, clean, press, get-up, squat and snatch—for a technique test in the morning. All the details needed to be in order, no matter how tired we were after two days of hard work. Andrea and her team were closely watching us; but nobody hears whether their performance is RKC worthy. We did hear a few tips and corrections here and there. It was tense and nerve-wracking for some of us! That afternoon, we had to design a workout for a fellow RKC participant. Then a group of unknown volunteers entered the training center. Each of us trained one of them for a full hour, while we were closely observed by Andrea and her team. As soon as the training sessions were over, it was time for the graduation workout. Personally, I’d never heard of it. The buzz in the gym was that if you could survive this grueling workout, then you’re RKC proof. As an extra motivation, the volunteers who we had been training were watching us. That made us want to hang on even more!

Finally, after the workout, we were called forward one by one to hear if we made it or if we needed to test again within three months to prove we’d really mastered the moves. I was greatly relieved as I left Haarlem with my hard-earned diploma in my bag. I even got misty eyed for a moment. Finally I can say I am an RKC Instructor!

 

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Erik Van Der Veen, RKC trains at Body Upgrade in Zwanenburg, Netherlands. Follow him on Facebook: facebook.com/bodyupgrade.eu/

RKC: An Equal Opportunity, Self-Improvement Program for Fixing Flaws and Enhancing Function

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Milwaukee RKC 2016

Adrienne: You recently hosted a second RKC at your gym in Milwaukee. What inspired you to host the RKC again?

Nick: We’ve had several HKC workshops at our gym as well. I think the RKC is the coolest, it’s the full package, and it’s good for everybody. At the recent workshop, the group included gym owners and professional athletes as well as “nine-to-fivers” who’ve never played a sport in their life! But, everyone can equally benefit.

The athletes signed up for the RKC to learn and enhance their performance in any future event—while often experiencing the hardest physical challenge of their lives! There’s a yin and yang to the RKC, you learn a ton while still experiencing a serious physical challenge in the process.

Adrienne: In your opinion, who should sign up for an RKC Workshop?

Nick: Anyone who is interested in improving themselves should sign up. At the recent RKC in Milwaukee we even had two people who signed up because they wanted to learn, even though they didn’t think they could pass the testing. A chiropractor who came to the RKC we hosted last year signed up again and fully retested, even though he didn’t need to recertify yet.

The RKC is great for anyone who wants to learn about kettlebell technique, functional strength training, and to see how hard they can safely push themselves. There’s a kind of safety net with the RKC—you’re pushing yourself to new limits while simultaneously correcting your movement patterns.

Essentially, you’ll spend three days finding everything dysfunctional about yourself and your students, then learn functional ways to fix and improve the issues. So anyone who is interested in learning how to replace dysfunction with function should go to an RKC Workshop.

Milwaukee RKC Jared Squat Coaching

If I hand my beginner clients a kettlebell, the weight can anchor their joints so they can learn to wedge. A kettlebell can pull their hips back so that they can learn to hinge. Nearly everybody can get involved with kettlebells on a pretty equal playing field. I can easily teach a group of ten people kettlebell swings and watch as the professional athlete and beginner both improve.

Adrienne: That’s right—and with an appropriate weight for each, they can all practice the same basic movement patterns.

Nick: Yes and it’s kind of freaky how hard we can make kettlebell training—we’re not sure if it’s even possible to max out one’s potential. At the same time, kettlebell training can be regressed to beginner movements. We’ve even seen Prof. Stuart McGill, back surgeon Dr. Roth and Milwaukee RKC attendees Dr. Jon Duris and Dr. Christina Ronchetti trust the kettlebell with their patients. Kettlebells can work with a full spectrum of people and that’s why I think it’s important to host and be part of the RKC community.

Adrienne: The recent RKC workshop you hosted was taught by Master RKC Phil Ross. I had the pleasure of recertifying for my RKC-II with him last year. He brings so many useful cues from his experience in martial arts and as a highly experienced teacher. Did you learn anything particularly unique from Phil this time?

Nick: Absolutely! I liked a lot of the old school stuff that he taught. He went over a lot of really applicable and functional drills with kettlebells—things that people can start using in their own training and with their clients immediately. I had forgotten about some of the ideas and also learned some cool new ways to use kettlebells.

Milwaukee RKC Phil Ross Instructing

He brought so much to the table—I think it came from so many years of actively working in the fitness industry and his experience as a fighter. He’d also experienced debilitating injuries in the past, has healed and worked himself out of it. I think that experience has lead to a whole lot of learning.

Adrienne: Even though you’re an RKC-II and a Team Leader, did you learn anything completely new at the recent RKC Workshop you hosted?

Nick: We went over some RKC armbar variations I hadn’t done before. Phil had everyone moving quickly in them, but with the number one safety rule: maintaining the wedge. We started on our backs with both legs still straight with heels flexed to get ready to move into the arm bar position. We were to keep the toe pointing towards our faces the whole time on the foot on the same side as the kettlebell. That leg then raises up and all the way across the body. Every time that leg moves though, your shoulders are packed, you’re pressing your lower back into the ground—and the same is true when you come out of it too.

Personally, as someone born with a congenital spinal defect (and I’ve avoided surgery) I’m cautious but open-minded about ways to safely strengthen my core. After that exercise, I felt like my whole body was put together really well. Normally twisting exercises with weight seem like we’re begging for injury, but because of the emphasis on the wedge and tension—even while moving quickly with it—everyone agreed they felt really good afterwards. I get something new every time!

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Video and Photography by NickNikPhotography

RKC Team Leader Nick Lynch is a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Milwaukee School of Engineering University (MSOE). He owns Superb Health Milwaukee, a kettlebell studio in Milwaukee, WI. He has 13 years of full-time training and coaching experience and a lifetime of wellness education. Nick lives in Milwaukee, WI with his wife Natalie and son Weston.

Adrienne Harvey is a Senior PCC, RKC-II, DVRT, CK-FMS, and author of the upcoming Dragon Door title, Eat Strong, Lift Strong, Move Strong: Proven Secrets for Strength, Power and Robust Energy. She has been RKC Certified since 2010, RKC Level 2 certified since 2011, and a core member of the PCC team.  Adrienne loves sharing her knowledge with small groups and individuals.

 

Dan John, Dr. Chris Holder and Chris White instruct at the San Jose RKC

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SanJoseRKCGroup

I recently saw a terrific movie at one of our local Indie theaters, called Tangerine by Sean Baker (who has now become one of my favorite directors).

Tangerine is about transgender prostitutes in Los Angeles. Shot in a raw, neo-realistic, “street-doc” style, it’s funny, endearing, soulful, sad and enlightening. And beautifully shot. I loved it!

All very wonderful…but what has Tangerine got to do with kettlebells and the RKC?

Answer: it inspired me to start filming RKC and PCC events that I attended…

Why?

Because Tangerine was filmed entirely on an iPhone—and still looked fantastic on the big screen!

So I bought an iPhone 6 and shot with it at the recent San Jose RKC, taught by Dan John, Chris Holder and Chris White. I handed over all the footage to Adrienne Harvey and asked her to compose an initial short video—to give you a taste of the RKC culture in action.

Here it is:

You can see that Adrienne did a fantastic job editing from the mass of footage I dumped on her… 🙂

We hope to use more of the footage in future blogs and articles. But this is a start…

The Journey Doesn’t End with the Title

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Shari Wagner RKC Team Leader
My RKC workshop was in April 2009, and I didn’t pass at the workshop due to a failed snatch test. I submitted a video one week later to earn my RKC title. I recently stumbled across that fateful video and of course, I watched it.

I watched it with a little bit of shock and awe at the poor technique I displayed. I also watched it with a lot of pride. Pride for the hard work I have put in to improve my technique since then and pride for all I have accomplished over the years.

When I first learned the snatch, it was in the days of first learning the high pull. This caused me to have a very significant corkscrew. I worked and worked at fixing this corkscrew before attending the RKC to no avail, and it was one of the biggest worries I had going in to the workshop. It wasn’t the typical worry of not completing the reps, my worry was all about the technique.

I did improve my technique at my RKC workshop, but I still had some of that darn corkscrew. At the time, while not ideal, it was still considered passable technique. I kept plugging away at the technique, but that corkscrew still remained.

I eventually sought out some additional instruction, which helped quite a bit. I also started watching videos of other instructors doing the snatch. I watched the timing very intently, along with the arm position and the path the kettlebell took. I noticed that when they snatched, you could see the bottom of the kettlebell as it flipped over and it looked so smooth and effortless. When I snatched with the corkscrew, my arm was turning out the side, therefore the bottom of the kettlebell was turning out to the side. It also looked anything but smooth and effortless. It certainly felt like a lot more effort too.

I took all of these visual and verbal cues and turned them inward, so I could feel it and visualize what it should look like. I snatched in front of the mirror because at the time I didn’t have a way to video myself. The short story is that it worked! I was finally able to snatch without a corkscrew. However…

I still had work to do to improve my technique. I was now keeping my arm a bit too straight and casting the kettlebell out a bit too much. More training and more work ahead, but I took it all in and worked hard because I was determined to get better. Being a type-A perfectionist and a Capricorn served me well in this case. Not only would this extra work help me get better, but it would help me help my students.

I later assisted at an RKC for the first time and it was the first time with the new RKC. When I tested my requirements for Keira Newton, she gave me a few additional tips that added to the improvements I had already made.

Then I witnessed how we now teach the snatch from the top down. I was amazed at its simplicity, yet it was extremely effective. It seemed so much easier to learn and to teach others this way. I even told the participants how lucky I thought they were to now be taught this way.

Each of these improvements I learned and made over the years has helped make the snatch feel more fluid yet more powerful. My big a-ha with the cumulative effects of each of these improvements is in how much it has helped the efficiency in my movements. I was expending so much additional energy in the way I was snatching before. Watching that video from 2009 now, I can see that so clearly. It honestly looks painful to me.

My moral of this story is that our journey of learning and improving doesn’t stop once we earn our RKC. The RKC helps give us our foundation and our starting point for teaching. But there is so much more to learn and so much more to do after we become an RKC. What makes us really good instructors is our quest to always do more, always be better and always serve our students.

Keeping our certification current is not about paying money to re-certify and keep the letters behind our name. We must improve our own skills, which in turn helps make us better instructors. We can only help our students improve when we help ourselves improve. We can also better help our students when we have access to the most current teaching standards, combined with all the tools we learned before.

If I had never learned the current way of teaching the snatch and if I had never corrected my own technique, I certainly could have still taught people. But I believe that I wouldn’t be serving my students to the best of my ability. That is, after all, the reason why we seek out those 3 letters in the first place, right? Never give up, never stop trying to improve and don’t let the journey end with the letters.

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Shari Wagner, RKC-II, CK-FMS owns Iron Clad Fitness in Denver, Colorado. She can be contacted through her website at IronCladFit.com, email: info@ironcladfit.com or by phone 720-900-4766. Follow her on Facebook: facebook.com/IronCladFitness and Twitter: twitter.com/IronCladFitness.

New Fury. New RKC.

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NewRKCCatalystInstructors

I am not tactical. Though I’ve done some work with the Marines, I’ve never been in the Armed Forces. I’m not an operator. The closest I get to tactical are my 5.11 backpacks.

Do tactical pull-ups make me tactical? Nope.

Recently, I taught an RKC Workshop with Master RKC, Josh Henkin at Catalyst SPORT in NYC. The group bonded quickly and in a fantastic fashion. Early on, it was obvious that something special was happening at this certification but I couldn’t quite place it at first.

My first RKC was five years ago. That experience had an incredibly positive impact on my life, and it’s what got me here. I wouldn’t change it for anything. I loved it. But with all of that said, I wouldn’t do an old RKC again. Current day Coach Fury would have walked out the moment someone told me to take my kettlebell to the bathroom. Yes, that happened.

As a middle-aged father of two, what does carrying a kettlebell to the bathroom teach me? Punishment swings and carries? The polite version of what present-day Coach Fury would say about that is “No thanks!”

I can only imagine how actual present/former military personnel felt about these drill sergeant tactics. The RKC is a system of strength and education, so why were we trying to be some faux-military group? While I don’t have an answer to that, I fully admit to buying into it at the time. Fortunately, I’ve grown as a person—and so has the RKC.

Punishment swings, carries, and taking the kettlebells to the bathroom haven’t happened in years, and that’s a testament to the growth and evolution of the RKC. Due to the continued efforts of the entire RKC leadership team, we are purposefully blazing a new path. The NYC RKC is exactly the type of event I would want to attend. The new RKC community is exactly the type of group where I want to be a member.

Education comes first, not intimidation or fear. From a psychological standpoint, the former style of intimidation does bring a certain amount of respect to the material and the course. However, I think there are better ways to achieve the same effect.

RKC Workshop at Catalyst SPORT

The participants at the RKC workshop we held at Catalyst SPORT were an incredibly diverse and open-minded group. This group included local coaches, enthusiasts (like I was at my first RKC), a pack of DVRT instructors, and people who had previously certified with a different group who wanted to see what we were teaching. Josh Henkin and I quickly set the tone for the weekend. People came in nervous and scared. After all, we still have the snatch test, and we still work hard—we’re just not jerks about it! We do our best to get people to relax so they can focus on the material, instead of just thinking about the five minutes of snatches.

Our hosts and assistant instructors, Jason Kapnick, Joe Boffi and Kathy Dooley were stellar as well. All of us freely answered any questions and delivered tips, cues and suggestions without ego or intimidation. We used to wonder why people used to be afraid to ask questions… well the old days of 100-swing punishments may have had something to do with it! But, this RKC weekend was all about the candidates, not about us. In return, the attendees gave so much more back to us. There was so much heart in the room—it was honestly emotional!

RKC Workshop at Catalyst SPORT

I never assume myself to be the best coach in the room. And if I am the guy who knows more about kettlebells in the room, that doesn’t make me better than anyone else. All the attendees registered, paid and spent their time to be there. So, I’m going to deliver a positive experience and do my best to show them why I love the RKC.

I know that I am not alone in this, the RKC is more than a system, more than an organization, and more than a team. We are a family.

We are the new RKC.

New RKC instructors at Catalyst SPORT

I’m very proud to be a part of this change. John Du Cane, the entire leadership team, and all the new RKCs are part of our progression. I want to thank everyone for their role in our growth. It’s exhilarating to see it happen. The RKC has evolved and so have I.

Sign up for a course near you.

I hope to see you there.

-Fury

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Steve “Coach Fury” Holiner’s superhero headquarters is Mark Fisher Fitness in NYC. Fury’s a Senior RKC, a DVRT Master Chief, and an Original Strength Instructor. He is available for classes, semi-privates, instructor training and programming at MFF. Check out coachfury.com, facebook.com/coachfury Instagram @iamcoachfury and Twitter @coachfury for more info.

My RKC Experience

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Neal DenHartog Snatch Test

Last weekend I had the opportunity to undertake one of the most rewarding endeavors of my burgeoning fitness career. I attended a three day workshop to become an RKC instructor. I knew going in that it was going to be both physically demanding and extremely educational in terms of refining not only my own technique, but how to teach the skills properly to others. The workshop did not disappoint in either regard and it was easy to see why the RKC is still the Gold Standard when it comes to kettlebell certifications.

I had some reservations going in regarding my readiness. A low back injury in February took away a good chunk of my preparation time. I wasn’t feeling fully recovered until just a week or two out from the weekend. I waited until the last minute to not defer my spot to a later date. If anything, I’m stubborn and when I commit to something I follow through. So, despite my less-than-ideal preparation, I showed up in Ohio ready to learn.

As we met that first day and started introducing ourselves I began to feel even more nervous. Our small class of nine people had pretty diverse backgrounds. Many of them had some coaching experience and most had trained with an experienced RKC instructor. I had done neither and was starting to feel like a bit of an impostor. I was self taught with books, DVDs and good old “YouTube University”, and had been programming my own workouts since January. Was I really ready for this?

My fears were quickly quelled as we started receiving instruction on the basic skills. I have to hand it to the trio of great instructors–they were able to present the various intricacies of each skill in an easy to learn, and easy to assimilate manner. I had to treat myself as a blank slate and erase all of the bad habits I’d formed over the past year and a half, and then build myself back up according to their instruction. We were presented with a plethora of coaching cues and drills that allowed the refinements to slowly integrate into our form.

By the end of the first day I had survived the endless drilling, a couple of workouts, and felt like my skills were improving to the point that I may just pass some of the tests on the final day. The second day was shaping up to be even tougher, with the vaunted snatch test to be thrown into the middle of more drilling, learning, and workouts.

Lori Crock coaching Neal DenHartog

Waking up sore and tired that second day made the idea of surviving a little more far fetched. This is where the magic of the group mission started to take over. We were all in the same boat. We were all sore and tired. At the same time we were all striving toward a common goal of becoming a certified instructor and that common purpose raised the energy of the group. The camaraderie and support was growing and each of us fed off that energy to push past the points of physical and mental fatigue that were threatening to take over.

None of this was more evident that when it came time to execute the snatch test. The snatch test is a simple, but nasty five minutes of work. The goal: complete 100 snatches in less than five minutes. I had done it a few times in training, but it’s not a test that ever gets easy. Add in the additional fatigue from a day and a half of kettlebell training and it’s no wonder many of us were nervous going in.

We had each other’s backs though. There was hooting and hollering, fist bumps, high fives, and boisterous cheers as each and every one of us passed our test. It was a sight to witness and a testament to the character of each participant.

My test was a struggle, as I knew it would be. Much like my endurance racing career, I went out fast and struggled to hold on in the latter stages of the test. I set the bell down late and had to give myself a mental kick the pants to fight through the fatigue and pick it up to finish my last few reps. I’m not sure how, but I knocked out rep 100 a split second before the timer hit five minutes. Success!

As ecstatic as we all were, there was still work to be done further refining our skills for the evaluation the next morning. I woke up even more sore that third day, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel, with the possibility of fulfilling a dream by the end of the day.

The skill evaluation was nerve-wracking, knowing every minute nuance of our technique was being scrutinized by our instructors. With that over, the focus turned to coaching, where we designed and took both a class member and a brave volunteer from the community through a workout. It was our chance to apply what we had been taught to someone else. Every skill, assessment, drill, cue, stretch, correction, progression, and regression we had learned was at our disposal to create a helpful session.

Neal Den Hartog Kettlebell Swing

To top the weekend off, we ended with our graduate workout. It was a brutal session of cleans, presses, swings, and squats. Twenty-five minutes of shear work, where we were only allowed to put the kettlebell down a couple of times. It was the single toughest kettlebell workout I have been through, and the perfect test of physical and mental strength and endurance. Again, the will and determination of the group carried us through the workout and by the time we cranked out our final swing we knew the hard part was over.

After that it was just a matter of awaiting our results from the instructors. There were more tears, smiles, and hugs from the group as we learned our fate. Unfortunately I did not receive passing marks on all of my skills. In the end the get-up got me, but it’s not the end of the road. I will have a chance to retest and ultimately earn my certification.

I won’t lie and say that I’m not a little disappointed, but looking back at where I was at the beginning of the weekend I’m quite proud of what I accomplished. None of it would have been possible if not for the great leadership provided by Master RKC Andrea Du Cane, RKC Team Leader Lori Crock, and RKC Chris Meredith. Their insight, encouragement, and direction over the course of the weekend was invaluable.

My classmates were equally amazing, contributing to the coaching and encouragement as we progressed. Who knew you could have so much fun during such a draining weekend of work?

RKC Group Photo Dublin Ohio

I walked away from the workshop with my confidence at an all time high. Although I still have some work to do on my get-up, I know that I can teach these skills to others, and do a good job of it. I no longer feel like an imposter. It is not a question of “if” I will earn my certification.

It is simply a matter of when.

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Neal DenHartog is an RKC candidate from Ames, Iowa who recently attended the RKC event in Dublin, Ohio. He is currently refining his Turkish Getup in hopes of achieving his RKC within the next 90 days. He can be reached at disturbed275@yahoo.com. His blog is http://iron2ironfitness.com.

From Broken to Team Leader

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Paul Britt Double Press At RKC

I was broken in October 2012 at the RKC-II. It happened because I was stupid and I let my ego get the best of me at the certification. I thought that I only had a minor training injury prior to arriving in St. Paul for the workshop. I had been working on heavy double presses on a day that I was tired, but due to having to attend this particular cert, I stayed with my “program”. In the middle of my final set, I felt a sharp pain on my left hip and back. I dropped the kettlebells and decided to take a few days off. It was still bugging me a few days later, so I went to a chiropractor. The consensus was that it was just a minor strain and that I would be okay to attend the certification. So off I went, with some kineseo tape to hold me together for the three days ahead of me.

I knew the snatch test would probably put too much stress on my back, so decided that I would wait till the last day to take it. I was able to get through all of my Level 1 skills and the half-body weight press on day 1 without too much trouble. But, I had a few problems with stability that I should have paid more attention to during the skills test. I noticed that I struggled with my foot on the left side for the get-up as it did not want to stay locked down as I moved through the different parts of the movement.

I initially started out with lighter weights than normal, just to allow me to get through the certification. I had a past Master RKC give me a hard time about the weight and I let my ego override what little sense I had and I bumped my weights up. Sometime during the day, I felt a pop in my back on the left side. I did not really feel a lot of pain at the time, so I kept on training. I got back to the hotel in a lot of pain and barely slept. When I got up the next morning, I literally had to drag my leg as I walked down the hall to find some Advil. I ended up buying eight packages and using four to get to breakfast and the first half of the cert. I had to take the other four to get through the rest of the day. The last day was even worse, I thought about just quitting, and I should have. Unfortunately, I am a little stubborn and hate to give up. At that point, nobody really knew what was going to happen to the RKC after that weekend, so in my head, I had to get through the weekend and earn what could possibly be the last RKC-II certification. So I pushed through and passed all of the tests except for the Jerk and the Snatch test. I knew that I had 90 days to send the video into someone to pass those two skills. Turns out that was not going to happen for a long time.

I knew as soon as I got off the airplane in Dallas that I was not right. I struggled to get out of the seat, get to my bags and walk to my car. I ended up getting home and telling my wife that I had screwed up and was badly injured. The pain was pretty constant, so I took off from all training for what was supposed to just be November, but it ended up being a nine month break. I had to train my lead coach, Justine Deets RKC, to pass her HKC and RKC skills without being able to perform them myself. She was my gym replacement while I was recovering. I hosted an HKC in January, but was unable to assist because even picking up 12kgs caused me a lot of pain.

I was not healing, so after the first of the year, it was time to see someone about it. I ended up being referred to the top spine doctor in the area. At my appointment he told me that I had herniated discs at L4-L5 and L5-S1, both on the left side. He informed me that it was a lifelong injury and that my days of heavy lifting were over. To say that I was not thrilled by that was an understatement, so I decided to show him that I would be back to heavy lifting again. I went with a non-surgical solution for the problem and had a series of injections into my back that gave some minor relief. While the injections did not allow me to start lifting again, they did allow me regain some everyday quality of life. It was at that time I met Dr. Steve Horwitz, DC (and now RKC instructor). Dr. Horwitz worked with me on my nutrition and showed me how to ease the inflammation and pain with proper supplementation. Once my nutrition was dealt with, I was able to start healing and training again.

I had scheduled an HKC/Primal Move Certification Weekend with Master RKC, Andrea Du Cane and Senior RKC Jay Armstrong, but was not really doing much in the way of training yet. Andrea knew about the injury, so she would not let me do much during the HKC. I was the ‘go-fer.” While I was finally moving better, I was still in pain with bad movement patterns most of the time. I was able to participate in the Primal Move Certification that weekend and found that it was life changing for me. I was able to go through the workshop pain free. It was amazing how much better I felt just going through the workshop. The one day workshop was like a reset button. It was the first time I was pain free during my day to day activities of living. It improved my movement, eased my pain and that definitely helped my outlook. I had been in a depression since being injured because I was unable to train and burn through my day to day frustrations.

Andrea and Jay also showed me a few drills, including pendulum swings. I also started playing with Figure 8’s as they allowed me to strengthen my posterior chain without moving through painful patterns and positions. I also went to town with Primal Move and added in Convict Conditioning on a daily basis. I would train something every day, but never to failure or into pain. That was my training program for about 3 months and every day I felt better, moved better and got stronger. My focus was on healing and avoiding pain. I spent lots of time on the pullup bar, doing handstand pushups and Convict Conditioning skills on top of daily Primal Move work.

In October of 2013, I hosted an RKC with Andrea Du Cane, Master RKC leading the workshop. She asked to see my skills as an Assistant. I hadn’t trained with any weight over 16kgs in any of the RKC Basics prior to the certification weekend. This was one year after blowing out my back and I figured that it would be ugly. I had not even attempted any of the skills with my snatch test weight prior to this attempt. I was actually scared when I was asked to do it as I knew it was going to be a hot mess. I was pain free and nailed my skills test. After that it was as if I had been freed from a dark hole. Andrea had to keep me reined in all weekend because I was so excited that I was able to train again. She told Shane England RKC, that they had “unleashed a monster”, I could not stop playing around with the kettlebells. I participated in as many of the drills as the attendees did as I tried to fix the bad habits that got me into the position I was in.

After that weekend I continued to train and work on a lot of rehab style work to get back to a decent level of strength. In that time, I was able to host and assist at several HKC’s and RKC’s. I improved my skills and movement at every event I attended. Andrea let me assist at every event and she helped me improve my skills at every certification. If it had not been for her friendship and mentoring, I would not have been able to train or teach at the level I am at now. In July, I was promoted to RKC Team Leader, based in part on my ability to come back as a better instructor because of my injury. It forced me to re-evaluate everything that I was doing as an RKC. Prior to this, my skills were not as good as they should have been. The injury made me a better coach, and I became stronger because of it. I have to use the RKC Principles correctly to avoid being injured again.

Paul Britt Coaching

I was able to get to the point where I was able to press half bodyweight again and knew that I had to try RKC-II again. In October, I hosted the RKC-II at my gym. We had a great group of strong people in attendance. Like the last time, Day 1 was RKC I and our strength requirement test. I felt that it was the easiest and best RKC recert test that I have ever performed. My skills were dialed in and the snatch test was by far my best one that I have ever completed, it was almost easy (the snatch test is never really easy). I passed RKC-II after a long weekend of heavy lifting. I had gone into the weekend with some trepidation, because I had been hurt. It was probably harder for me mentally than physically due to my last attempt ending so badly. I was nervous going into the testing as I did not fully believe that I could get through it without being injured, but I only had a slight issue with my left side pistol stability.

RKC-II Group Photo in Texas

What did I learn from all of this? I learned a lot, though I wish I had learned it without being injured. I was once taught that experience came after you needed it. I hope that someone uses mine to avoid taking the same path. Do not terrain into pain. If you are injured and your life is not in danger, take a break and heal. Do not let your ego cause you to do stupid stuff. There is no certification that is worth permanent injury and we hold a lot of certifications during the year. That is why I am glad that I chose to stay with the RKC. Dragon Door and the RKC’s focus on being a great instructor and their focus on the safe building of your skills is why I am proud to be a part of this community.

What’s next? I am training for the Beast Tamer. The plan is to do it for my 48th birthday at the October 2015 RKC led by Master RKC Andrew Read. There is still room and time to sign up for that certification.

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RKC Team Leader Paul Britt has been an RKC kettlebell instructor since 2006. He trains clients at Britt’s Training Systems, his award-winning Hardstyle Kettlebell Training Facility in Rockwall, Texas. Paul has served as an assistant instructor at many RKC and HKC Courses, is a Certified Kettlebell Functional Movement Specialist (CK-FMS) and works with some of the top Chiroprators in North Texas. Please visit his website brittstrainingsystems.com for more information.