THIS JUST ISN'T RIGHT....

A friend of mine sent me this link. Watch this Combat Fitness Test (CFT) the U.S. Marines are now using. The Marines going through the training are 'stock'. Just your average Marine. PATHETIC !!!! What has happened. I would put any of my students up against this group of soft bodies. I keep telling everyone that the training I offer is the real deal. I don't pull punches or water down the content. You are a Hard-core, hard-style bunch and you need to be proud of that. I hope this link works. Sit back and enjoy.
Class starts Tuesday at Wilshire Park in the multipurpose room. Sign up early, please. The program Director is out of office on personal business so we need to give the office staff a little help and not make special adjustments due to late entry. Thanks for your understanding. Have a great weekend and Holiday!!

If it doesn't open, Just copy and paste to the address bar. You gotta' see this!

http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=174021&page=1

Just to clarify

To view the video I was talking about in the post below, click the ' time lapse ' to get to the video. I tried to link it but...well, I had issues.~Michael

I CAN'T PASS THIS UP!!!!

Here is a guy I hold in high regard. I don't know him (I don't think). He may be a Seawell, they seem to be everywhere. Either way he took the time to rock us and show real potential and possibilities without excuses. Now, get back to the Burpee Challenge. He did this in 84 days!!! Nuf said. (click the link and scroll down to the YouTube video of his change in 84 days..) Transformed

OLD MYTHS WON"T GO AWAY !!

I am not making a reference to anyone. I just need to purge a little. We are so visual when it comes to strength. I can not make this clear enough...the size of the muscle does not determine it's strength. The strength of the muscle determines it's strength. I know that sounds silly and seems obvious especially to the hard-stylers that have been with me a while. But it won't go away. Just recently I was in this discussion again. "Look at my muscle. This arms much stronger." =gasp= No, the other arm is less trained. Simple. Your 'weak' arm will get 'stronger' just by asking it to do more. Start making the new connections with your less dom' arm or leg. It is a little outside the comfort zone. The coordination isn't there...yet. Mentally you know you can't do as many with that leg or that arm so you don't. It's self defeating. You tell me it's your weak side. I tell you 'show me'...pick up the bell and do the movement. I see your movement is poor. The pattern is outside the groove. The wrist and elbow is bent. So your attempt is poor. The other side you do everything right so it is a successful lift. If you could just see what I see.
This has been a good summer for training. We have a great core group that enjoys rolling around on packed dirt and dead grass while dirt clouds pass over us. Rapture. Tuesday, Sept 2nd we are back at Wilshire Park Elementary School. I am really going to miss the extra training days. I would like to see more days available to us but it will not happen through the Community Center. It is a tapped resource. The few extra Wednesdays are just a fluke. I can't make them mine. I am looking throughout the N.E. area for a space. We need 1600-2000 sq/ft and access to a bathroom. That's it. Seems pretty simple. I will have more time to explore this after the holiday. In the meantime, if anyone knows of a warehouse space or something similar...shoot me an email. This winter it would be nice to hand out "cold one's" that we can drink rather than swing. Those bells do get frosty!!

FRIDAY, AUG.22nd TRAINING WILL BEGIN AT 5:00 PM NEXT TO THE COMMUNITY CENTER

See you then!
~datzit-Michael

TURKISH GET-UPS (TGU) and FEMME FATALES

Remember...it's a get-up not a sit up....This rings so true considering the performance of our two femme fatales. Wednesday we played with big weights and the TGU. Laurie AND Sarah did nice, strong controlled TGU's with the 20kg KB (#4). They can't press that weight. They can't do a sit-up with that weight. But they locked it out on their backs and got up with it on a uneven and dimpled surface. AWESOME EFFORTS. Who needs the Olympics. We are breaking personal records every day. This is what it is all about. Staying safe. Getting stronger with nice lean muscle. AND, learning to use your body more efficiently. My friend Smith (that is his first name, btw) was there trying out the KB training for the second night. He is a strong guy and long time gym member. His comment about the TGU, "This is hard." I wanted to correct him with, "No, this is hard-style." But he seemed a little distracted by the weight the ladies were posting. I was humbled during my first contact with KB's under very similar circumstances. I was smoked by bear crawls and renegade rows. I was also between two ladies pulling twice the weight I had been given. I loved it. A door opened and I was shown a new definition of strength.
I am slowly falling in love with the TGU's. The beauty of this motion is clear. The effects are felt with the fist set. No special talent or flexibility is needed. Just a willingness to lay on the floor on your back. For some reason this seems outside the norm. We don't lay on the ground for training in the U.S. Well, we do now and it is proving itself very usefull.
~datzit

WHAT IS HARD-STYLE KETTLEBELLS ??

This is the best definition I have seen. So I stole it from the blogs. Thank you Mr. Walsh.
"Hard-Style" chooses power over effeciency and chooses techniques proven to be most effective for max force application. It uses maximal accelaration in quick lifts and maximal tension in the slow lifts. It is the practice of the skill of compression, maximizing tension in the muscles, compressing the joints, compressing the breath and focusing the body's "scattered" energy into a single directed effort. We work to eliminate power leakages by improving the kinetic linkage from the ground up. We work to master the ability to tense and relax when appropriate (tense-loose-tense). We have an internal focus. The kettlebell is a tool to teach the skill of body mastery.
So having said that...we work and train. It is not a work-out. That happens along the way. Practice is the objective. Lots and lots of practice.
The photo? It has nothing to do with kettlebells and everything to do with America. I took this picture at the FLT 93 Memorial.

BREAKS OVER !?!

Not sure if you need a break or not. My break is over...for sure. While y'all have been hitting it hard I have tempered my approach and my nagging elbow was given a much deserved vacation. But, that was 3 weeks ago. Monday I have to pick up Zane at 5:30 from Karate and then drive straight to the Community Center for training I should be there by 5:40 pm. I forgot Zanes karate was on Monday and Wednesday so I can't get to the training area any earlier. I am really looking forward to it! I have some chocolate 'issues' to work off .

FREED FROM THE RV BONDAGE

Last night was the first night in 13 days that I slept in my own bed. A bed that didn't have wheels attached to them. You know what they say about vacations still holds true. While it was great traveling 2400+ miles in the RV, it's nice to be home.I do not recognize my lawn.
I could not help but notice all the different body types at all the campsites while on vacation. The pools a littered with people. I am not sure why the news keeps reporting that travel is down because of gas prices. These places and the roads where packed. When we were in Ohio we stayed at a state park over night. A very nice Park Ranger by the name of Lynette visited us and we had a great conversation about people and our observations. She was curious about what we did personally and professionally simply because we were not overweight. This was the amazing observation Donna and I had made after a few days on the road. Every campsite was filled with very heavy people. Anyway, we sat and solved all the worlds weight problems and that worked it's way into a kettlebell lesson. Yes, even on the road we are doing the Partys work. Pavel would be proud.
I am putting my house back in order and plan on being up and running soon. I emailed Sarah a few times and was glad to hear that a group was keeping things going... and going and going. This is how we roll. Ya' have to ask yourself, why do we suffer the "beat down" when the rest of the nation is suffering thru the all you can eat buffet?