Kettlebell Training for Martial Artists
Mondays at 6:00 PM
What is the RKC™ system?
The Russian Kettlebell Challenge™ is the elite certification created by ex-trainer to the Soviet Special Forces, Pavel Tsatsouline. The complete story is available at dragondoor.com. The RKC™ has been described as a "system of strength" because it is a comprehensive set of principles, techniques, and applications that accelerate human performance. The Russian Kettlebell is the equipment, but the RKC™ system is the instruction manual. Without instructions, you've got an iron ball with a handle. A kettlebell without an instructor will improve your performance as much as a punching bag without a martial arts instructor would improve your ability to fight.
Why is kettlebell training ideal for hard-style martial arts?
The RKC™ system is a 'hard-style' training method, in the same way that TKD and Hapkido are 'hard-style' martial arts. That is, both emphasize using focused muscular tension to generate force. The underlying principles of force generation are similar in both systems, so the kettlebell conditions the body while the training method conditions your nervous system. The combination will improve your physical fitness as well as your ability to control your body. Your instructors and I feel that the addition of the Russian kettlebell to your existing martial arts practice will safeguard your health and accelerate your technical improvement.
Whether the perfect strike or the ideal kettlebell snatch, the ideal technique is the most motor units within a muscle activated the fastest with the maximum synchronicity and the optimum sequence which transfers all possible forces up the line at the point of impact-every bit of force that all of the muscles in your body are able to generate driving against the ground.
How is kettlebell training similar to martial arts practice?
The goal is perfect technique. The method of achieving this is constant mindfulness during training. Constantly striving to perfect your technique is the first principle—we say that technique is the way in which strength is displayed.
What RKC™ principles will enhance your martial arts practice?
• Strength is expressed through technique
• Rooting—better awareness of your connection to the ground (Two Hand Swing, Single Leg RDL)
• Linkage-to sum up forces generated from legs and core (Turkish Get-Up, Snatch)
• Joint compression-balance and injury prevention (Military Press, Single Leg RDL, Windmill, Turkish Get-Up)
• Safe ballistic exercises-including swings, pulls, clean, snatch. Most weight training is slow, unlike the extreme forces generated during a violent encounter. Sports medicine has generally recognized that specificity of training is important so the kettlebell allows unprecedented gains in explosiveness and the 'sharpness' or 'crispness' of movements.
©2007 by Brian Petty, RKC