Some Kettlebell Art...

The workshop in Tokyo with RKC Taikei Matsushita was great! He has some wonderful students. We did a lot of mobility work, in addition to kettlebell basics and finished with a short timed snatch session. I will do a full write up this weekend.

For now, I'll leave you with my six year old's painting of a red kettlebell...


...and a glimpse inside dad's one-track mind.

Presentation

My father can be very social, but he's not exactly a let's-share-feelings kind of guy. He doesn't really 'open-up'. Occasionally however, nostalgia will grab him and he'll relate a story or two. One of them involves a barbell... no, let me rephrase that - the barbell that he bought from a company called Eleiko in the late 60s. Whenever he tells me that story his eyes get a faraway look and a faint smile spreads over his face. He tells me about how balanced it was; how smoothly the sleeves rotated on the bar. He tells me how much it cost. He tells me about how it eventually snapped from misuse at the local university gym.

And, he tells me about how his Eleiko olympic barbell came in a box... a wooden box - like Cuban cigars, or a fine wine.

In the story he retells, the packaging the barbell came in is given as much attention as the barbell itself. And with good reason - packaging and presentation are as important as the product itself. Think of this in terms of food: if an inmate with a cigarette hanging from his mouth ladles some swill into a paper bowl and tosses it at you, will it taste worse or better than if a soup is served to you by an attentive and good looking waiter or waitress in a gourmet restaurant accompanied by pleasant ambiance and company you enjoy?


Pork chops. Which would you rather eat?

Packaging, in terms of training and coaching, is framing - rebooting or rearranging background knowledge and schemata so that new lessons can be learned, new skills practiced, and new strengths developed. Proper packaging helps the trainee to see the value and purpose in a program, exercise, or tool. It is not marketing per se, because some degree of buy-in is assumed here. Rather, it is an integral part of the lesson - previewing and priming the main course yet to come.



The following short list has ideas for packaging a training lesson. Modality is not fixed and mixing things up from time to time is recommended - using bodyweight or bands or freeweights, for example, or using a white board, chalk, or Power Point. The techniques, depending on time, content, and audience, may be the frame through which a lesson is viewed, or the bulk of the lesson itself.

Anecdotes
Pictures, Charts, Graphs, Visuals
Demonstrations
Video of Athletes
Activation/Isolation Exercises
Mobility Drills & Stretches
Analogies
Cues
Slow Motion
Reverse Engineering
Slogans/Sound Bytes
Success Stories
Statement of Purpose
Outlines
Pose A Problem
Simulation
Real-life Application

Coaches, how are you packaging what you are teaching? Are you ladling up swill? Or, are you sending an Eleiko olympic barbell in wooden box?

Happy Father's Day!

I've probably posted this before, but I could post it everyday and never get tired of it...

Happy Father's Day!

Kettlebell Workshop In Tokyo

I'll be giving a kettlebell workshop in Tokyo on June 28th. RKC Taikei Matsushita is the host and it should be a great time. Main exercises to be covered will the Swing, the Turkish Get-Up, the Jerk, and the Snatch. In addition, we will also cover a lot of shoulder and hip mobility and activation drills, as well as many supplemental exercises as time permits.

I'm expecting a small and, relatively, well-practiced crowd - Taikei and I will be able to give a lot of personal attention. For three plus hours, it's a bargain if I do say so myself. I haven't talked to Taikei about it yet, but I'm hoping to do some Karaoke afterwards!!!



Details (in Japanese): http://www.kettlebell.jp/seminar/
(in English): http://swingsnatch.blogspot.com/2009/06/kettlebell-workshop.html

"Enough"

True story, Word of Honor:

Joseph Heller, an important and funny writer now dead, and I were at a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island.

I said, "Joe, how does it make you feel to know that our host only yesterday may have made more money than your novel 'Catch-22' has earned in its entire history?"

And Joe said, "I've got something he can never have."

And I said, "What on earth could that be, Joe?"

And Joe said, "The knowledge that I've got enough."

Not bad! Rest in peace!"

-Kurt Vonnegut
(from Bob Sutton, the author of "The No Asshole Rule")

The gym scene in Japan, overall, is terrible. Especially in rural settings, finding a gym with free weights is difficult. Even when you do, olympic barbells and squat racks are almost non-existent. Often gyms will require initiation fees; it's rare to find gyms with a reasonable daily fee.

Once again, I find myself in the land of the rising sun, trying to stay in shape. Space is a precious commodity here. Even in rural areas, you'd be hard pressed to come across unused floor space or ground.

Years ago now, I bought a 28kg kettlebell and I do the bulk of my training with it while I'm in Japan. My "gym" is right here (between the Nissan and the Toyota):



The view from my training space is, thankfully, not a neighbor's front window, but a small park:



I often do pull-ups off the slide in the park, and I can use the Jump Stretch bands I brought with me for a variety of exercises and mobility drills. Most of my workouts include jerks and snatches, pull-ups, push-ups, bodyweight Bulgarian split squats, or walking swings. I've done the following complex a few times now, and I find that it leaves me feeling good and limber:

1 one-arm kb clean to 1 kb jerk to 1 overhead squat (right)
1 one-arm kb clean to 1 kb jerk to 1 overhead squat (left)
2 one-arm kb cleans to 2 kb jerks to 2 overhead squats (right)
2 one-arm kb cleans to 2 kb jerks to 2 overhead squats (left)
3 one-arm kb cleans to 3 kb jerks to 3 overhead squats (right)
3 one-arm kb cleans to 3 kb jerks to 3 overhead squats (left) etc...

You don't put the bell down at all - any rest is going to be done in the rack and overhead positions. The record (for now) is finishing 5 reps w. a 28kg bell (that's all I have right now). Ten is probably a good goal. This complex is a variation of the clean and squat combo that Dan John introduced in the thread Kbell Dbl Clean to Dbl Front Squat.



I am forced to do, with less. But I find that it is "enough". More than enough actually. And with less distraction from the myriad of options I have at home, I find it easier to notice the small and simple pleasures surrounding my "gym"...

Kettlebell On The Rocks

Breathing

In crucial moments, breathing involuntarily comes to a stop. The circus performer knows this, the athlete knows it, the potter throwing a bowl on the wheel knows it, and so does the cartographer, who unconciously holds his breath when he wants to draw a fine and accurate line. In the tea ceremony, in Noh acting, in judo, and in kendo, the tanden takes the lead in the movements of the body. We have already described how the artist or the calligrapher almost stops breathing when he draws a series of lines and gives new tension to the respiratory muscles every time he comes to an important point. He actually practices what we have called intermittent, or bamboo, exhalation. An elevated type of spiritual activity is manifested in this breathing.
Our contention, then, is that controlled respiration generates spiritual power, and that attention, which is actually spiritual power, can never be exercised without tension in the tanden.

- Katsuki Sekida

Of all the Squat Rx videos I've made, I thought this one, "Breathing & Set-Up" was particularly well done. Except for some notes, I don't script the videos out and it probably shows but, I think the information presented was very good. The idea of breath control in athletics is often overlooked and I was happy I included it in the series. For some people, this is all common sense. For others (like me), it's only after years of unnecessarily painful practice that you come to figure out the subtle nuances. I've had a few people report PRs after seeing this video and that's always nice to hear.



Suggested further reading:
The Naked Warrior by Pavel Tsatsouline
Power To The People by Pavel Tsatsouline
Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy by Katsuki Sekida

Maccha - The Secret Ingredient To The World's Best Protein Shake

Maccha (pronounced "MAH-CHAH") is green tea powder - the kind used for the tea ceremony in Japan. It is a very fine powder, mixed directly into hot water to make tea. It is amazing as a tea, but it is also great as a spice/flavoring. In Japan, it is used in a wide variety of foods from candy and chocolates to meat and rice dishes.



My all-time favorite protein shake is made in a blender with the following ingredients:

*maccha
*vanilla flavored protein powder
*milk
*ice
*vanilla ice cream
*frozen fruit (optional)

Renewal

"Eliminate the old and useless so that the new can be seen. You must wait for the right moment to act, when the snake is ready to shed its skin and the sun is approaching the zenith. When the right moment arrives, act with confidence. You will be linked to the spirits and they will carry you through. This begins a whole new cycle of time. All your doubts and sorrows will be extinguished."

- I Ching

Overhead Squats with Kettlebells

Overhead squats with kettlebells are an interesting challenge if you are searching for a squat variation to pick up.


The double kettlebell overhead squat is DIFFICULT. It requires a lot of thoracic flexibility and, because of the upright upper body positioning, knees and ankles will experience some stress as well. Not all stress is bad, mind you, but if you have pre-existing knee issues, this might not be the squat for you.

There is risk with this exercise. For a barbell overhead squat, it is generally a pretty simple affair to drop the bar and get out of the way. With two kettlebells moving independently, avoiding them if they fall will be more complicated. If you feel yourself getting into trouble, dump the bell(s) and get out of the way! As Pavel says, "Quick feet are happy feet." - words to live by.

Here are some exercises and drills you could include in progressions to build into a double kettlebell overhead squat:

*Lying shoulder girdle stretches

*Dislocates with a dowel or PVC - with time, move the grip closer


*Cross-Bench Dumbbell/Barbell Pullovers with a moderate weight focusing on improving range of motion without loss of shoulder stability

*Barbell Overhead Squats, gradually moving the grip closer with moderate loads

*One-Arm Kettlebell Overhead Squats, without excessive torso rotation

Wear Sunscreen by Mary Schmich

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:
Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine. Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blind side you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't know.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave it before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess around too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

-Mary Schimch

Remember This Movie?

Before Snake Plisken and Jack Burton, there was Kurt Russell - "The Strongest Man in The World".

Anyone besides me remember this gem?