In a word, STRENGTH.
Recognize that speed, endurance, and even balance are types of strength. Strength means the ability to exert force and does not have anything to do with physical size. Since force is exerted in the world, strength is always exerted through technique. We say that technique is the medium through which strength is displayed. Explosiveness, for example, can be expressed as a reverse punch or a vertical jump or a slap snot.
As you become stronger, what will you notice in your training and daily life? That is, how will your strength manifest itself when there are no weights around?
Improved proprioception. You will notice that you are more aware of your muscles and joints and how they move; I sometimes refer to this as internal awareness or internal body control.
Your balance will improve. You will pay attention, perhaps for the first time, to the muscles in your feet and how they interface with the ground.
You will learn to protect your joints with muscle tension. Consistent kettlebell lifting leads to increased tendon and ligament strength as well as bone density. Users often comment that they feel as if kettlebells have made them more dense and compact.
During grappling and joint locking, you will be more resistant to injury and stronger at extreme positions once you are aware of how to compress and strengthen your joints with maximum muscle tension.
You will become denser, physically harder, and more resilient.
You will be harder to move.
You will notice an improvement in your ability to tolerate high-intensity exercise such as sparring, wind sprints, high-rep calisthenics, etc. Kettlebells allow you to safely generate what we refer to as 'high-quality fatigue', or breathing so hard that your back teeth hurt. Ultimately this feeling of lactic acid flooding the system to the point of feeling panicked, or even poisoned, is the reality of a physical confrontation. Kettlebells are perfect for martial artists because they condition the hard to measure but vital
quality I refer to as 'discomfort tolerance'.
High-rep swings alternated with easy jogging or rope jumping are the working person's cure for excess body fat. Quite simply, there is a number of kettlebell swings that you can achieve on a regular basis which will dramatically increase your metabolism, stripping any excess body fat you are not still feeding. In my experience, most clients show significant weight loss at 1,000 reps per week, and it becomes dramatic above 250 reps per day. To put this in perspective, 10 sets of 25 reps, while taxing, only last forty seconds per set. This means that the total work time in this 'heinous' schedule is 400 seconds-less than seven minutes. Be honest with yourself about how your body composition affects your health and your martial arts practice, and decide whether you
have ten minutes of 'discomfort tolerance' per day. If not, you might want to play Ping-Pong. Think about it.
©2007 by Brian Petty, RKC
For more information:
Dragon Gym
267 S Whitford Rd
Exton, PA 19341