This cat just simply doesn't get us

I pulled this off of the tnation website

“TM: Let’s talk about some of the specific countries. Do Russians really have a love obsession with kettlebells?

MR: The only cult following is the one here. We all know the experts who use only kettlebells and claim it’s all you ever need. Well, I wanted to investigate and what I found was interesting. In Russia, the kettlebell is definitely used, but it’s still just a tool. It’s not a fad or a new-wave type of thing. They use barbells and dumbbells and their own bodyweight, too.

Another thing: these guys aren’t using wussy weights. The guys I trained with were tossing 70-pound kettlebells ten feet over their head. It was amazing to watch. There were no light kettlebells in any of the gyms, either, definitely nothing less than 70 pounds.

But the most interesting thing was how they were doing a lot of traditional moves like overhead presses, rows, curls, and even lateral flys with them. It seems like people here are trying to get too fancy and aren’t using enough weight to put muscle on or build power.

But I guess you don’t learn that from a 1500-dollar two-day kettlebell course, huh?”

and I just have to say this guy simply doesn’t understand the way we do things and why.  First of all nobody ever said that they have a cult following in Russia.  The hardstyle of kettlebell training which is what the RKC was based on came out of the Special Ops community.  It wasn’t meant for “normal” people.  Second of all “the kettlebell is just a tool.”  Well yeah thats what we have been saying all along.  It is the system behind the training is where the kettlebell really shines.  If you are planning on doing curls with a kettlebell you will get no magical “what the hell” effect that everyone talks about.  We use barbells and dumbbells and our own body weight as well.  Well I don’t really use barbells and dumbbells because I don’t have access to them and even when I did I found the important things were better done with a kettlebell.  We don’t encourage the use of light kettlebells unless you aren’t strong enough to handle the bigger ones.  And really we are getting too fancy with them?  That is why we keep things very simple.  We stress perfection of the basics and gpp more then your “sport specific” stuff.  Oh and by the way where you have failed at fixing a fighter’s shoulder one of our own has succeeded with our “fancy” turkish getup.  But I guess you didn’t learn that in your “world travels” did you?

It’s a shame when someone I otherwise would have respected has to go on the record and just talk stupidly.

oh yeah and by the way when expert trainer’s say it is all you need to stay in shape…they are right.  not all of us have access to a million dollar facility so we make do with what we can.  That is one reason it is so popular with our soldiers.  You don’t need to send a thousand dollar bowflex to a base.  An $80 kettlebell is more then enough.

The first step to true wisdom is knowing that you don’t know shit.

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