The secrets of animal fitness

Ok, this will be a revealing post. Some people have asked me, “how do you maintain that skiny-weak -look trought the years, even when you seem to eat like a total pig??” Well, part of the answer is obviously kettlebell training, but in the video below, I’m revealing the real secret…

… kettlebell training in a Bear suit, that’s obviously!

Here’s Steve’s account of the Figth To End All Fights we had in Oulu:

http://www.fullkontact.com/WordPress/spanning-the-globe-for-the-best-in-training-entertainment.htm

BTW, since Steve, Nazo and John  are linking to this blog, I’ve decided to tag all the english language posts, so they can be rrsdt and mashed up and all that.

You can find all the english posts trought this link:

http://marksgs.wordpress.com/tag/english/

And the RSS feed for the english posts will be:

http://marksgs.wordpress.com/tag/english/feed/

(will start tagging the old posts soon, so Bear with me)

Making sense of all the kettlebell mess, part 1

What is the big picture of kettlebell sport and fitness organisations in the world? I wil try to make some sense of  them but it’s not easy…

The big picture

I’m trying to sort out all the different kettlebell related international organisations. Just typing about them is a mess, so I decided to “draw”.

This pic above is a simple version of the current international organisations. And by international I mean an organisation that operates somehow in several countries. There are several more fitness orgs and I’m not really sure if AKC should be in both fitness and GS?

It doesn’t help a bit that it’s quite hard to get info on the actual events of all these. Sure, all of them have websites but there’s no one view to see all the events of different orgs.

I didn’t list all the country organisations for two reasons: I don’t know all of them and they would not have fit on the pic.  IKSA is mentioned separately because it’s a distinct entity, as it offers certifications and is not a country org. I’m not really sure if it should be under fitness or GS or both, and if it is a company or non-profit. Well, doesn’t really matter for this drawing.

So there’s at least one problem. There’s no way to quickly find out all the member orgs of the international GS federations and their contact info. I think of all these three, IUKL has the most up to date website, but it has parts that are very old. You can get in contact with IUKL and WKC people by email in english if you are not in a hurry.

Also, a second problem: Who to contact? Which is the actual governing body? They all say that they are but what makes an org more powerful than the other? They are all separate entities.

I have two wishes for the future of international GS: just one federation, with an up to date website of the activities. Maybe some day. It will take time for sure but I don’t think GS will go to the Olympics with several Governing Bodies

Finland

Also, below is a picture of the finnish Girevoy Sport “scene”.

So, The Finnish Weightlifting Federation is the governing body of GS as a sport in Finland. Governing body means that they regulate the official rules, records and championships competitions. Under that federation there’s clubs and committees. All of these orgs are non-profit. I listed only things relative to kettlebells, so there’s only the three currently operating kettlebell clubs.  Each club can arrange unofficial meets, but all need to apply for a permission from the federation if they want to arrange national championships for example.  So far, meets have been organised in here by Finnish Kettlebell Association and Girevoy Sport Lieto.

The Finnish Kettlebell Association (where I’m at) also is the representative of the IUKL in Finland. This means that we can participate and vote in IUKL meetings and can compete in their competitions.

Also, there’s the kettlebell committee, which operates under the federation. They have members of the kettlebell clubs and the federations and their job is to work on the rules and other national kettlebell sport issues. Here’s the committee’s current members (in Finnish):

http://painonnosto.fi/portal/fi/liitto/liitto___toiminta/johtokunta_ja_valiokunnat/kahvakuulavaliokunta/

Thougths on the different orgs

So, why not join also IGSF and WKC? Well, being a member of an international federation costs money and it also requires you to actually take part in the meetings. Also, I’m not really sure if WKC and IGSF are active in working in western Europe, which is something that is interesting for the growth of the sport. So far, IUKL has been very open about us competing in their competitions, and we have received invitations from all of the orgs to compete. And, I also really wish that in the future there would be only one international federation, so maybe there’s no reason to join all of them.

Right now, in my view it looks like IUKL will “win” the battle of Europe with IGSF, because they have so many new countries and very good old ones also. Of course, it all depends on open communications with all the countries, to really push the big competitions and the sport from the east to the west.

There’s also many kettlebell related companies in Finland, at least 5 that sell kettlebells and many others who also sell courses, workshops and private lessons. But, I’m not starting a drawing of those

Mixed up?

Thoughts about the kettlebell certs I’ve been to

Last weekend I was assisting in the IKFF CKT cert course in Oulu, Finland. I was attending the same course in Barcelona last year. This time, I had the change to follow from “the outside” how Steve and John taught. The emphasis of the IKFF cert is how to teach the basics to other people, not so much on refining each lifter’s own tehcnique to the fine details. They teach the fundamental issues, like how and why and where power should be produced and what are the preferred body positions for safe lifting. These principles apply to any lifts and any stunts. This is good stuff for someone who wants to teach kettlebells for fitness to anyone, for example in personal training, in gyms, etc. because there’s emphasis on how to break down the exercises and what are the typical problems.

I’ve been to some other certs and compared to those, this gives a person more tools on working with others. I think all the certs have has a different approach and different goals, so it’s actually pretty hard to compare them one to one. But, I will post my thoughts and opinions on them anyway . Last year, I attended the IUKL 1st and 2nd level Girevoy Sport coaching course in Ventspils. (since then, the course structures have been changed). It was led by Vasily Ginko, and the goal was to teach how to coach kettlebell sport athletes. So, we went trough the basic lifts in detail, and covered also massage and nutrition issues. The mindset was in Girevoy Sport, and how to increase performance in that. Good stuff. These courses have now changed to IKSA GS courses.

Before that, I also attended a finnish cert, which taught a variety of exercises with kettlebells and also mobility. The way of teaching was giving the person a huge amount of exercise examples, not focusing on any lift in detail. This was like a catalog of different exercises and their variations, good maybe for someone who thinks “you can do only this and that” with weights. This course is now the IKSA fitness kettlebell course. A fun course but too much variety for variety’s sake in my opinion.

I haven’t been to the RKC and AKC certs, so no idea how they approach kettlebell lifting. Well, I have some idea of course, based on friends’ experiences but not personal experience.

For the, all of these have given me some tools on how to approach my own teaching and training. IKFF CKT has been the most beneficial for me on teaching to others, IUKL was beneficial for GS and the third one gave some new ideas about mobility exercises.

As for recommendations, before attending any cert, I would recommend practicing the basics for many months to a year and getting in good (not necessarily great) shape. Think about what you want to get out of the course, why you are going. All of the courses have a great deal of physical work, so it’s good to be in such a shape that you can work a lot and still focus. For GS, the primary learning tool in my opinion is one’s own lifting and especially competing. If there’s a change to be reviewed by a more experienced lifter, use it. Ginko is a good teacher, and if he’s doing a full GS course, it will be good stuff. For general fitness and teaching others I recommend the IKFF CKT.

For one’s own personal training, I recommend getting together with other kettlebell enthusiasts and just training. The basics aren’t that hard, it is really the common man’s or woman’s sport. Learn the basics well, add in variety from DVDs and/or youtube for fun, mix and match according to your goals. Just my opinion.

So, to sum up my recommendations:

I know the basics, want to teach others in a gym, a group, my own personal training business -> IKFF CKT

I train GS, know how to lift but want more details and info about program design -> Ginko GS international level

I mention these because they are generally accessible as buyable producs. Of course there are other GS coaches in Russia for example and you can travel there and try to find someone. In general, I think if one’s a GS athlete or a coach, the significance of a cert is minimal. I mean, for a sport, performance and getting better at the sport mean something, papers don’t. I think the IUKL cert is aimed at us westerners, who really have no idea about GS, to learn the basics in a good way. So, while the papers are not important, the information about the history and time tested approaches of the sport indeed are. In the fitness industry, the papers are probably more important. I think the IKFF has a good reputation for offering quality courses, so that’s why it can be valuable to have that sort of certs if you are thinking training others and charging money from it. Of course, even in that, the personality and skills are more important than any papers.

Well, it all depends on so many variables that all the ranting is pretty much meaningless in the grand scheme of things anyway Accept no bullshit, train hard and have fun are good principles for kettlebell certs too!

Kanahyppy kahvakuulalla – The Kettlebell Chicken Jump

Alla kuvattuna uusin ja hienoin kahvakuulaliike, suoraan toiminnallisen harjoittelun huipulta. Valitettavasti kuvan laatu ei päätä huimaa mutta tulevalla DVD:llä näette kyllä varmasti kaiken ja vieläpä monesta eri kulmasta. Tämä liike on nimeltään kanahyppy kahvakuulalla, ja se on siis nimenomaan kahvakuulaliike. Käsipainolla ei kannata yrittääkään.

Aika hämmästyttävää itseasiassa että yhdellä liikkeellä voi samaan aikaa harjoittaa tasapainoa, vartalonhallintaa, hyppyä, vetoliikettä ja älykkyyttä! Kannattaa ottaa tämä ohjelmaan mutta ei missään nimessä ilman ammattilaisen ohjausta.

Tässä videossa yhden kahvakuulan versio.

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In the video below, you can see the lates ultimate kettlebell exercise, straight from the top couches of the kettlebell functional training world. I’m sorry about the video quality, but I promise it will be a lot better in my future DVD and there will be multiple angles too. This exercise is called The Kettlebell Chicken Jump, and it should be done with only a kettlebell or two for optimal results.

It’s completely amazing that one exercise can develop balance, body awareness, jump, pulling and intelligence. I recommend taking this movement to your training routine but not without consulting a pro first.

In the video below you can see the one kettlebell version.

The Basics, and Fun

Today after the IKFF workshop, I was talking to the others and thinking about the stuff we did and will teach. At first, when I started with kettlebells 4 years ago, I was dying to find out all the possible movements and excercises there were. I thouth, that a training session needed to have as many different exercises as humanly possible.

Then, I got to the GS world, with a very detailed approach to the 3 basic lifts. There’s and endless array of details about each position of each lift. Just like there’s probably a thousand different kettlebell exercises.

What these have in common are the fundamental issues, like good mechanics, safe technique and body awareness. So, when you know the basics well, you can jump into any variety of the Turkish Get Up and just do it. (btw, I think that it’s funny that there’s so different “styles” of the get up, because it’s essentially just getting up with some weight. But whatever rocks you yacht).

Right now I think that the basics are the key to progress, and it’s also good for the head to fool around with stuff like lifting other humans, doing Chicken Jumps and just having fun basically. Mentally, it’s very enjoyable to laugh and lift heavy stuff in between intense timed set sessions.

Putting the fun back in functional and the fundamentalism!

IKFF CKT in Oulu, Finland, day one

Today was an interesting and intense kettlebell experience in the Oulu course. I got to meet the gigantic and very nice Jonh Wild Buckey, and had a good learning experience when being as an assistant instructor in the course.

Afterwards, we saw some crazy swings and I got in a friendly but deadly serious Bear-MMA-Fight with Steve Cotter. Good times, good people. Tomorrow, day two, looking forward to another many hours of training.

In Finland we have this thing called “the best kettlebells ever”.

In Finland we have this thing called “the best kettlebells ever”.

Cross World – finished

It’s done. Almost a hundred lifters from many countries. Some insane lifters did many lifts on different days, which is very positive. Great job people!

All the raw data of the results are here:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pPs1SJ-FjryEhHUZOTweeGA

I’ll do some ordering of the results later this week.

Functional training for Golf

Check if out, and be careful out there!

The ultimately best magical way to train for GS

As far as I know, kettlebell sport aka GS aka Girevoy Sport is about long sets with kettlebells. That’s because the aim is to do as many reps as possible in the 10 minute time limit, without setting the bell or bells down. Every rep requires a fixation, which means the bell or bells must stop. It also requires a lockout, where the elbow and knee is locked. So, the lifter and the bell pauses for as lomg as it takes for the judge to count and approve of the lift. You must snatch or jerk, no pressing is allowed.

How to get the most reps with a distinct fixation in ten minutes? Well, the lifter needs to have the fixation and lockout down, before he/she can have even one rep. Then, he/she must be able to perform the jerk or snatch, with a proper fixation and lockout several times during those 10 minutes. He/she must also have the ability to rest between reps, because setting the bells down is not an option.

There’s at least:
- technique – for getting the bell overhead with fixation and lockout
- strength – enough to make the lift
- endurance – enough to make the lift several times
- ability to relax – so that the lifter can recover between reps

The amount of possible relaxation depends of course on the pace. If one lifts at 15 rpm, there’s not many seconds to lift between reps. This also means that the work capacity of the girevik must be pretty good, in order to last the 10 minutes.

Anyway, I seem to get lost in looking at the point of this post. There are several ways of training for the sport event, which is the competition. One method suggests that we do 6+ minute sets with different paces, to build the ability to do 10 minute sets. Other methods advocate doing multiple shorter sets, building slowly to a smaller number of sets and making hem lonnger. There’s also methods where we count kilograms, and build volume trough that. There’s also different opinions on how to build different periods in a training year, where some of the time is devoted to building volume, and some of the time is about building intensity.

Which is the best way? i have no idea really. I believe in SAID, which means that if I want to be able to do long sets with kettlebells in the classic lifts, I need to practice doing long sets in the classic lifts. It seems unwise to push balls to the wall every training session, so maybe a some sort of variety in RPE and actua work done is in order? Also, maybe it’s a good idea to sometimes to long sets and sometimes shorter?

BUT, I am an amateur lifter, with a limited time to train weekly. My schedule is full of family and work related events, and it makes me wonder should I really care about any kind of bigger periods? If I can do good reps and good number of longish sets in a year for example, I think I’m learning and progressing. The only way to really tell is going to competitions and test the ability for real. But, I like the idea of working in a simple way. I mean, to dig a ditch, you must dig a ditch.

Kettlebell organisations in the world, as of beginning of 2009

Kettlebells have been repopularized in the western world for 10 years now. There’s many stories how things came about and why, but the important thing is that now we have some level of exposure to the tool and how to train with it.

There’s many organisations who sell kettlebells and kettlebell related products and training services. There’s some fighting over what’s the best way to use the tool, and what is the best model of kettlebell.

A new kettlebell related organisation has been formed, called IKSA. I don’t have much details about it yet but I know that it’s director is the world famous GS lifter and coach, Vasily Ginko. The organisation offers training programs related to kettlebells. There will be a site soon, I’ve been told.

Non-profit orgs

Ok, so now there are several kettlebell related organisations. As far as I can tell, there are two international federations, for Girevoy Sport:
IUKL – International Union of Kettlebell Lifting
IGSF – International Girevoy Sport Federation

Also, related to Girevoy Sport, there are several national and local associations that organise competitions and promote the sport. Such as Girevoy Sport Australia and the NAKF and Finnish Kettlebell Association. Some of these national organisations are members of the international ones. Both of the federations organise world championships and such big events.

Commercial orgs

Then, there are several organisations that offer training, kettlebells, instruction, certifications etc. Such organisations are:
IKFF – International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation, Steve Cotter
AKC – American Kettlebell Club, Valery Fedorenko
RKC – Russian Kettlebell Certification/Challenge, Pavel Tsatsouline
IKSA – Vasily Ginko

There are countless others but these are the most well known. Also, Rmax International is offering something related to kettlebells as well, and Crossfit offers a kettlebell certification. If one wanted, he/she could have many certifications from different organisations.

Also, in many countries, there’s countless of kettlebell coaches, teachers etc who offer one to one and group training.

So it seems that there’s at least good changes of getting some kettlebell related education

Who would have guessed that there would be this much organisations ten years ago?

Personally, I have been involved with IUKL trough competitions and a training course, and with IKFF trough certification training. My love is in Girevoy Sport, but I like IKFF because they take the classic lifting skills from Girevoy Sport and teach them so that a ordinary person can benefit from them.

Statisticals and general ramblings

Here’s some data from WordPress, the page views per month since the beginning of this blog.

Months and Years

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2006				209	1,227	1,023	1,412	1,112	1,086	2,166	2,865	2,683	13,783
2007	3,319	4,162	4,145	3,649	4,042	3,070	3,696	4,606	4,716	4,465	5,346	5,366	50,582
2008	6,030	6,672	6,785	8,922	6,657	8,068	5,337	5,623	5,761	7,090	7,175	6,658	80,778
2009	2,208												2,208

And here’s some other data:

Total views: 147,347

Busiest day: 535 — Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Total

Postst: 1,131

Comments: 1,654

Categories: 60

Tagit: 52

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Ok, doesn’t say nothing about quality of course I guess the beginning of the year is a time for checking what’s been happening. This year, don’t know much about what will happen,  I have training goals and some workshops planned but the calendar is pretty open and I like it that way. Last year was full of courses and traveling and teaching. This year I will teach or co-teach some workshops, for example assisting Steve Cotter in Sweden in May and teaching KB lifting basics under he Finnish Weightlifting Federation in February. Other highlight of the year will be the Ventspils Atlants tournament in Latvia in August. Other than that, training, writing and doing some video.

I’m open to suggestions about workshop or private teaching or co-teaching Until now I haven’t made much commitments because the year’s schedule has been kind of “open”.

Finland´s Girevoy Sport History – Karl Fazer Challenge

Info originally found from the blog of Caestus (Finland´s Girevoy Sport History « Caestus: The Extreme Girevoy Sport Records Blog) and also in the book Raskasta Rautaa by Finnish Weightlifting Federation (http://www.painonnosto.fi/portal/fi/liitto/verkkokauppa/kirjat_ja_oppaat/raskasta_rautaa/)

“Karl Fazer wins weightlifting competition in 1888 with two new Russian records in Saint Petersburg, Russia (Finland was part of Russia). Karl Fazer Jerks with one hand 16,4 kg (1 pood) kettlebell and winning results was right hand 112 times and left hand 85 times.”

Karl Fazer is most well known in Finland because he’s the founder of the chocolate company Fazer. But, he was also the first finnish girevik!

To honor his record, made 120 years ago, here’s a challenge named after him:

The Karl Fazer Challenge:

16kg (women 8kg):

one arm jerk, one hand switch, unlimited time, no setting the bell down

only the reps after 197 are taken into account.

Please, post your scores to the comments

In finnish:

miehet 16kg, naiset 8kg

yhden käden työntö yhdellä kädenvaihdolla, kuulaa ei saa laskea välillä alas. Pisteitä aletaan laskea kun 197 toistoa on tehty. Ei aikarajaa. Voit laittaa tuloksesti kommentteihin

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Also, don’t forget to eat that good blue chocolate after your work is done!

EDIT: Päivitetty sivu Karl Fazerista suomeksi: http://www.fazer.fi/Pala-Fazeria-Blogi/Dates/2012/1/Tiesitko-taman-Karl-Fazerista/

http://www.fazermakeiset.fi/en/KarlFazer/History.aspx

Free world, with celebs too!

Thrierry writes down some very major good points in his post:

“The more I learn, teach and practice, the more I tend to disagree with kettlebell purists, and think that whatever way you use a kettlebell is a good enough way.  It still beats the hell out of sitting on the hip abductor machine or on a spinning bike. The fitness world is a sad joke when it comes to functional training.

So OK, maybe a good enough way is not an optimal way, but as long as you are enjoying yourself, getting some exercise without getting injured along the way and getting results, who gives? It is still a free world we live in!”

..

“Your goal, not somebody else’s, should be the focus.”

http://kettlebellfitnessdk.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/celebrity-kettlebells/

Those are very good points in my opinion, and also the point about a one true way. People will do what they want anyway, but sharing what you think is good is a good way to go. I traing GS but don’t have illusions that everyone likes it or is even remotely interested. I still love it and keep doing it

Also, Thierry mentions that Jennifer Aniston from Friends is using kettlebells to sculpt her physique

Positiivista palautetta … ja The Blacklist

Sain Steve Cotterilta tosi mieltä lämmittävän palautteen, laitoin sen tietty hei myös tuonne SKB -saitille.

“Marko Suomi to me represents what is great about kettlebell lifting and kettlebell sport, embodying the most important principles and habits that one looks for in a coach.

First he has a sincere love and passion for the sport, this passion is contagious! Second, he has a sincere interest to improve himself and to serve others. Third, he is hard-working and humble. Lastly, he is talented and dedicated. He has all the ingredients to lead you on your path toward improved health, fitness and high-end performance.”

– Steve Cotter, Director IKFF
www.ikff.com

Suositukset – Endorsements « Suomi Kettlebell

Tuollaisesta tulee kyllä hyvä mieli. Päinvastaistakin on toki tullut, esim. se huhuttu 40 liikunnan ammattilaisen kirjoittama lista siitä että yhdistyksemme toiminta ei ole heidän mielestään kahvakuulaharrastusta edistävää tms. No, toisaalta on hyvä että löytyy ihmisiä, jotka ovat huolissaan välineen ja lajin tilanteesta mutta väittäisin silti että olisi ehkä hyödyllisempä tehdä asialle jotain sen sijaan että kirjoittelee tuollaisia adresseja Tosin, en ole listaa itse nähnyt, eli voi olla että sitä ei ole olemassakaan? Jos on, haastan tuomaan sen 7.12. tapahtumaan, jotta voimme käydä aiheen tiimoilta rakentavaa keskustelua.

My review of the CKT course in Barcelona 11/2008

A couple of weeks ago I attended Steve Cotter’s and IKFF’s CKT (Certified Kettlebell Teacher) course in Barcelona. I was honored to be there with a top finnish kettlebell lifter Kukka Laakso. It was two full days of kettlebell training, basic movements broken down and practiced with long timed sets. The couse was hosted by Michael and Natalia from BCNMA, and it was held in their cool gym. The group was very fit and international, there were attendees from Italy, Spain, UK, Belgium/Philippines, Ireland, Finland and France. Steve C was the teacher and Susanna Baxter was there to assist and teach as well. It was a very memorable weekend.

Both days started out with a full body warmup and a joint mobility session, and I especially enjoyed those brandy glass movements Then, we went over the basic kettlebel lifts, which include th swing, clean, presses, jerk, snatch and squats. There was also a bit on TGU on the second day and some ab work. The movements were basically familiar to me from previous training and courses but I learned a lot about breaking them down when teaching them to others. I also learned some fine points on the jerk and snatch, thanks to the assistance drills and Susanna’s good explanation about the snatch.

Steve has a great ability to communicate why to do things in a certain way. A very rational and a down to earth approach, even though the man himself is very exceptional in his ability to move. I also appreciate the fact that Steve and Susanna trained with us the whole time, did the same long sets.

I just enjoyed every minute of the weekend in Barcelona, the training was great and the people in the group even better! I really don’t have anything bad to say about the experience. IKFF’s system and the way to teach stands well on it’s own feet, and even before this course I felt that this was the one to go to, if I would ever attend a western kettlebell certification. Before this I have attended IUKL’s 2nd level Girevoy Sport instructor course with Vasily Ginko, one workshop by Steve and 2 finnish kettlebell related courses.

Personally, I like instructors who can “talk the talk and also walk the walk”, and people like Steve Cotter, Susanna Baxte rand Vasily Ginko are like that. There’s ability, eye for technique and experience, which makes a very good combination. Being a student in that kind of environment is very rewarding, I get an answer to every stupid question and help for my technique.

What I got out of the course? Well, at least new ways to teach, new drills to try in my own training, good practice of the basics with comments from talented coaches and warm memories of the group and the beautiful city of Barcelona. Only downside about Barcelona was the fact that I didn’t have the time to really look around the city.

And, so I am a Certified Kettlebell Teacher in the IKFF. It feels good! I’m glad to be a part of this.

Thanks a lot to the group, the hosts, Susanna and Steve for the great experience! I hope to see you again soon.

Cross World 10/2008 results are coming in

I’m compiling all the Cross World results here:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pPs1SJ-FjryHehaZVIKKOBw

After the 21st of October, I will make a final sheet, but until that you can send in your results from Saturday or from your virtual tests.

So far, there’s results from Sweden, Finland, USA and Denmark. I’m expecting more results from Norway and Germany, and have some Finnish virtual results in my email waiting to be processed.

Good going lifters!

BicepsPistol = Huge Guns!

Here’s something for you, the Biceps Pistol(tm)! I invented this drill in the early 2008, when I was limited for time and had to train both my biceps and legs and of course core at the same time. Well, what is a better way to do that, than to a one legged squat aka the pistol, and combine that wih the most importatnt upper body drill, the biceps curl? Yeah, thats right!

Below is a video of the only true way to do this exercise. Please, watch it in slow motion for the optimal results.

Remember the old saying: “Don’t shoot yourself in the foot, instead do the Biceps Pistol for bigger guns!”

IUKL in scandinavia

IUKL is spreading trough the scandinavian countries in a pretty fast pace:

Finnish representative is the Finnish Kettlebell Association

Swedish representative is Alexander

Norway’s representative is Christian Velle

Denmark’s representative is Thierry Sanches

So, all the scandinavian countries are in!

You can get 1st level certificate from Latvia, Finland and Norway currently. A 2nd level IUKL coach can give the instruction officially. Just contact any 2nd level coach from this list, if you are interested in getting taught in the basics of kettlebell lifting, from a Girevoy Sport perspective. Personally, I think the first level is a good base for kettlebell lifting, because it contains the basics and assistance exercises, rules of competitions etc.

For the second level, you should contact Vasily Ginko directly.

Please note, that getting a certificate is not the same thing as being a representative of IUKL. It’s just a course. Being a representative means that you or your organisation is a member of IUKL. Then you can vote on the federation matters in the meetings etc. Only one representative per country is allowed by the IUKL rules.

Learning all the secrets?

When I started training with kettlebells, the full body movements were a new world to me. I had never snatched anything, and it felt very good, so good I was mad that no one had taught me that before. My only reference point was the bodybuilding type activities. So, as I saw it, the kb methods were the ultimate stuff. Also, I had more fun that I had ever had with weights.

I was happy, but I wanted to know more, to know all the “secrets” people were blabbering about in different ad copy. So, I started searching and found a lot. Went to the roots to see the really good lifters, and then compared that to the western stuff.

I had more info, but I was not so happy anymore. I didn’t find any secrets, instead I found rational explanations to wth effects, I found the basics again. But, there had to be some magic method! If the lifts were going to be basic, at least I wanted an ultimate program to boost my physical being trough the wall, bare chested, with t-levels that would blast the blood tests!

But, after being to Ginko’s course, reading trough Cate’s and Smet’s and Caestus’ text, I find no secrets. I know a lot more, and the same time I feel I’m more ignorant than ever. I’ve been circling around the secret but did not see it.

Now I think the secret is in the doing, the training, the day to day stuff. It cannot be sold or bought, cannot really be taught, it has to be done. I can go to a hundred certs, and still it’s me who has to do the same basic lifting if I’m going to move forward. Knowledge might help me understand something but it won’t lift the iron for me.

So, the conclusion? I have none, there’s no final words. I am what I do everyday, like the philosopher said. Words don’t mean anything unless the hand is not gripping the handle

Ogre story part 10 – the final words

The day of lifting was intense. There were VERY talented athletes performing, someone under 70kg didi 135 jerks or so with 2x32kg. It was crazy to see that live. And I had thought originally that GS lifters were just weak and were cheating the bells up Damn, these young guys blew all the “kettlebell superheroes” away. The Team USA did a good job, and looking at their 2008 numbers, I can see the development has been huge.

In the end, I did 10 jerks and 40 snatches with the 32kgs. Guys lighter and younger than me did a hundred reps more. Still, I got applause and cheers and felt more accepted by the athletes because I stepped up and tried to do the same as they did. The Tatarstan’s team took a lot of pictures, and the Team USA was yelling at me all the way. Also my wife shouted louder than anyone for me during my snatch set. Man, it was an awesome experience. I still remember how heavy (too heavy) the bells felt, and still how good I felt standing there. Had I just been in the audience, I would have missed so much.

Back home I thought, how could a regular joe like me go to this big competition. Well, now, after coming coming down from the platform, I still questioned that but knew that it was important to step up. I hoped that someone from Finland would react like this: “hey, if this skinny dude can do it, so can I!”. Well, I was right. Now, there are people who have trained less than me but are much better, and this is exactly as it should be.

After I got home, I got contacted by people who were training, and we got together. Things just started happening, and before I knew it, all these people were with me organising events and being excited about GS. My friend had the idea of forming an association, for making it easier to organise stuff, so that’s what we did. Active people came along, they have even taken the kettlebell sport to the weightlifting federation (safe from vultures in a way), and we’ve had some really good times lifting and being together. My role was to be the joker, the one who makes a fool out of himself in front of all these gifted athletes. Now it’s totally different, for example our team in Ventspils 2008 was no joke. I know some of these active people, and also probably someone I have no idea of, will make real good results in the future.

What I did in Ogre was a small thing, the results were ridicilous, but it was important for me personally. I also got a lot of contacts and met people who are now my friends in kettlebell lifting. I cannot thank the Team USA enough for helping me get started, especially Lorraine Patten, Catherine Imes and Steve Cotter, who have been supportive before the event and ever since. I got so much energy out of that event, that I still carry it with me. I knew right away that I want to do more of lifting and learn what GS was about. And I don’t see any other way than actually doing it.

Later on, I have also learned about the downside about sports and organisations, the politics. It’s part of the deal I guess, but I still feel it’s usually meaningless and more about ego, power and control than the actual sport. Human behaviour, and of course I’m as guilty as anyone else. Anyway, actions mean more that words when working for a sport (or anything else), in my opinion.

The important thing for me is getting to the platform and lifting, and being with people who share the love for the sport. I could care less who is the ultimate guru, or who’s the boss. Because I know that still those skinny russian juniors would lift more, lots more

Ogre story part 9

In the morning of the weighing we all gathered to the team USA’s hotel. Another new GS-person arrived, Peter from Canada. He was the one man team from there, so we had something in common

Also, this morning Catherines Imes and Steve Cotter arrived to the lobby. I was very nervous at first because it was the day to go to the lions den, the actual Ogre competition hotel. Well, as we introduced, I felt very relaxed because no-one seemed to worry that much. People told jokes and were just hanging out, which was unbelievable. But of couse, they had done this before in Moscow.

After some waiting, our bus arrived. At this point it was the correct time to remember that Latvia is famous in Europe for it’s death toll in traffic, which is no wonder seeing how they drive. Matt M told that in Moscow it’s much worse

It was a 3 hour drive to Orge, or something like that. I heard some really funny stories about american kettlebell scene and last year’s competition in Moscow. I felt really good going in with this group, very safe.

Well, when we finally got there, we went to this competition hotel. It was the only tall building in that place, otherwise the town was really small and looked really rough. The hotel lobby was full of people dressed in their countrie’s sports clothes. Young athletes and their older coaches. At this time I started to actually see the roots of the sport, that it goes a long way, trough generations. This was natural to them, nothing like the “KBs will turn your body to a fat burning furnace!” marketing lingo. There was older athletes, whose children had started to train, and very fit looking individuals from eastern european countries.

Before the weighing, I had to fill in this application to enter the competition and pay a fee. I had to fill a team name and previous records, and my coaches name Well, I really had none. Trough our trusted translator, Matt G, the application receriver person asked, how did I learn the sport and what was my background. He wondered that I did not have a coach. I said, that I’d looked at some videoclips from the internet and that had asked questions trough email from the american team, and that I was training mostly at home by myself. The man laughed, shook his head and said in russia “Good luck!”

The weighing itself went fine, some people actually ran to get some extra weight off. It was a sure thing that these people took their sport very seriously, it was not a joke. This was a totally different athmosphere that I had got from the DD forum and the finnish forum about GS. Before, I was told that GS was a boring, esoteric and a funny sport, but the feeling I got from the US team, the easter european athletes and the place itself was quite the opposite. I was very warmly welcomed, everyone seemed happy that Finland was taking part for the first time. Could it be that these western folks talking down GS really had no idea what it was about, I wondered?

Well, the next day would be the actual competition, I took off after the official weighing and went back to my family to our hotel. No sleep for sure, NOW I really started feeling the fear of getting to the platform for the first time. Hell, what if I drop the bells right away??….

Ogre story part eight

The competition was two days ahead, the next day would be the weighing in Ogre. Ogre is a small village about 200km from Riga. I was told that the competition is organised by the IGSF. The team USA were repserenting NAKF, which was not a member but they had created good contacts last year in Moscow, so getting in should be no problem.

I found out that there was another organisation in the USA, USGSF, but for some reason they had not sent anyone to compete. Anyway, I was told also that the arranging organisation would be very happy to have competitors from new countries, and that I should not worry about the results.

While walking around Riga with the team, before going back to my family, I learned a lot about american kettlebell culture and the characters involved. The guys and girls from DVDs and forums were coming to life. I felt good, because I was accepted to the group so openly, even though I was a total newbie. Lorraine, Christine, Matt M, Matt G, Marty, Andrew and the guy from California were nice people. Tomorrow, we were going to be joined by the famous Cate and the fitness celebrity Steve Cotter.

Ogre story part 7

Back in Finland, 2006 had been a year of
progress in KB related issues.

In march, there was a first public workshop, which I also attended. It
was pretty much the same as Pavel’s Martial Power combined with Super
Joints and some kettlebell drills. But of course it was a lot better
to learn live than from a book or DVD.

It was the first time I met other kettlebell people, other than those
from my thaiboxing gym.

Later, in August, we had a training session with some people from the
forum. One of that group went on to found a first crossfit-style gym
in Finland. In September, we attended the Cross World with friends. On
another occasion, I met with people who are now my fellow GS lifters
and very active people in the association. But of course I did not
know it at the time.

It seemed that in 2006 there were quite many individual people who
were already training, and had known about KBs for a long time. There
were at least 2 companies selling them, and one of those was offering
private teaching as well. Also, KBs were mentioned in martial art
magazines and forums. GS was not talked about very much, it seemed
esoteric compared to Pavel’s stuff and no one really had any
significant experience yet.

Well, anyway, KB culture was starting to grow slowly on many fronts.
Of course, this is all just my subjective view on the subject. Well,
back to Ogre…

Ogre story part six

I had two 32kg bells, one from Estonia and
one from Latvia. They are very rugged, but comp style. So, I used the
few weeks I had to train with those and asking lots of questions by
email and being very nervous.

Training went well, relatively speaking. The 32kgs were moving me more
than I was moving them but at least there was movement.

The day to travel came really fast. Suddenly we were in Riga, having
no idea what to expect.

I met the team USA in their hotel, well not all of them actually. It
was a strange experience, all these people who I didn’t know, were
very friendly and while I was nervous, it was actually very easy to be
with them. The first day we met had a tour in Riga, by a guide. We
talked about kettlebells a lot of couse also. There was a nice dinner,
and after that a visit to a university team’s gym in a rugged
building. It was a beautiful place, lots of kbs, gymnastics equipment
and barbells.

Marty did a test set of 30 of so jerks with 32ks. I tried the kbs also
but mainly wondered about the team’s very serious and enthusiastic
attitude towards GS and kbs in general. This was no joke to them, even
if they had a lot of humourous stories. I had never seen such a
passion towards kbs, or to the details of technique.