Monday, February 28, 2011

" Now the hard work's starting"


SO proclaimed John DuCane at the 10th hour of our 12 hour shoot for our new DVD, produced and directed by DragonDoor on Mastering the Hardstyle Swing. And he wasn't kidding. We had two more hours of swinging and posing for the cover art for the DVD with the still photographer.

I know. High quality problems

What became very apparent after we finished Tracy's Programming the Kettlebell Swing DVD is that while it was perfect for those that knew how to do a proper kb swing and needed to know how to train it, SO MANY just did not know how to swing and wanted us to point them to a resource that would give them the best instruction.

While there are, obviously, many great DVDs that teach the KB swing( Pavel's original Russian Kettlebell Challenge and Enter the Kettlebell, Brett Jones and Michael Castrogiovanni's Kettlebell Basics) the swing sections were often buried, sometimes very deeply, in these more advanced resources or there was too much advanced instruction for true beginners.

One of the great things that has happened since the inception of the HKC last September was the incredible organization of the progressions in how we teach the three basic swing forms in both the RKC and the HKC. After many many years of certifications, workshops, in depth email discussions and debriefs amongst all the Master and Senior instructions the progressions have reached their zenith, imho.

I really, really, really wanted to make this video and share with as many people as possible the best and most logical way for them to learn the most important of all the kettlebell exercises. Pretty much the exact way they would learn it if they went to an HKC or an RKC.

But, with the unique cues, drills and workouts that both Tracy and I have come up with after so many years of teaching everyday people this incredible skill everyday. It's the cornerstone of our training methods and teaching.

While learning anything from a DVD is never a substitute for one on one instruction I wanted there to be the next best thing; a template, if you will, a reminder of what one would have learned with an RKC/ HKC instructor or after coming back from a cert and wanting to be able to access the details of all the things they learned.

All the subtleties and nuances, mistakes and corrections that they need to know to learn this most basic and most important of kettlebell exercises safely, effectively and quickly. And how to do it Hardstyle, of course :)) With Power.

I haven't, of course ,seen the finished product but I am already proud of the job Tracy, Fawn Friday and I did over the weekend and I know people will love and appreciate this video.

While I didn't get my regular swing workout in I did hundreds and hundreds of all the progressions for the two handed swing and it's variations and really got some serious work in! I even decided to train my own swing on Saturdays with these progressions again as I got quickly re acquainted with just how incredibly powerful they are; and how they can provide so much quality work in so little time.

The RKC focuses on practice first, before training and it became even more apparent just how well this works this weekend.

Not sure whose quote it is but "the difference between the Elite and the rest is that the Elite are better at the basics", and I know that's true. Just practicing the basics will be all the workout 99% of most regular people need.

I think this DVD will help bridge the gap for any that want it and to be able to pause the information, study it, and then go forward to the next step when you are ready will be such a great tool for so many.

I can't wait to see this take shape over the next few months.

Tomorrow I will be 54 years old and I think I will do a special press workout to acknowledge and honor of how good things are now and physical restoration that has been taking place these last few years.

The fact that I am even thinking about doing this just illustrates precisely just how far I've come.And all because of that cannonball with a handle :))

datsit.

7 comments:

Cfnobrasil said...

Rif and abou Girevoy sport? I really like read more about girevoy sport.

thanks

Diana said...

I'm confident this DVD will be a great addition to anyone's video collection. Can't wait to see it!

Happy Birthday Mark and have a super fun day lifting something heavy!

Mark Reifkind said...

CF

I have great respect for GS but do not train for it myself. there are plenty of place to learn and read about it.

start here:

http://orangekettlebellclub.net/

Mark Reifkind said...

thanks Diana
read about your day yesterday :((
hope you are feeling better now. I really don't know how anyone can do these types of jobs, so tough but so important.

Roland Denzel said...

Good luck on the new DVD and have a happy birthday, Mark!

Diana said...

Mark,
Thank you. It is a tough job and it's one I love to do, sometimes it gets hard. People just need to know that we as health care workers care more than you think and to not take it home sometimes is very hard.

Tracy Reifkind said...

happy birthday to the love of my life.

195 x 1 x 11 , 20 kg swings 5 x 8/8, floor pushups 35, 25

  Not great sleep and a bit sore ( no aspirin for last three days) so all in all it was a strong day . Just definitely not 'fresh'  ...