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franzsnideman: October 04 2005
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Congratulations to new RKC's
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Just wanted to congratulate all the new RKC's that embraced the pain over the last weekend. Overall the group that came into the certification was more knowledgable, better skilled and prepared. My only advice for people who plan on coming to the next one is to prepare yourself well for the snatch test. With training, everyone should be able to get the required numbers, no problem.
Also - it was fun getting to spend time with the senior instuctors and of course my fellow assistant instructors. Sean is an absolute animal, Thomas Phillips is pound per pound one of the strongest guys I have met. Zar is so ripped and vascular it makes me sick :) John from seattle - very srong dude. Ken, he like to flip tires. I enjoyed meeting Lisa Shaffer as well.
It was great seeing Gus, Jon Engum, Missy, Steve Knapstein and David Whitley. David - you are a beast - I can call you that because I saw you toying around with the 106 Beast like it was a toy. You also bent pressed my wife - I'm still working on that one.
Excellent Job!
Franz Snideman
http://www.revolutionlajolla.com
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John Du Cane: October 04 2005
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Franz,
I wish I had got a photo of David bent pressing your wife. Sigh... But maybe you got a photo... it would be a fun one to have in the catalog and on the site.
Oh, and I agree with you about Zar -- amazing abs, a true testament to how well KBs and Pavel's abs techniques work. If I saw a pic of Zar's abs in a mag, I would have thought they did it with lighting and tricks!
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Jennifer Morey: October 05 2005
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Well, a little about the RKC (slightly long of course)
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Like everyone has been mentioning, this weekend lived up to being one of the best and most rewarding in my life. I couldn't have hoped for more.
It was so exciting being around these elite people all weekend. Hearing about you all before hand was slightly intimidating, I must say. But after seeing you, it made me want to do what you all do. You are all such awesome people.
A couple of tidbits:
Pavel, thank you for helping me enjoy the pain. You make hard work fun. Wh
Jeff, my idol and group leader: check this out, check this out, I was like hanging out with this dude named Jeff and he was like.... doin all kinds of swings and....like it was cool stuff. haa haaaa. Jeff is awesome. I may have scared him a little bit with how much I admire him. Sorry
Dave, you will always be my hero. Thank you for all of your kind words. You rock.
Brett Jones, his teaching style is amazing.
Steve Maxwell, you as well have this way with the group... I will never forget the bear crawl. Getting to the end of that field was my most proud moment all weekend. Thank you.
Mike Mahler, you are a true example of what the code is all about. Not to mention, you are pretty strong too.
Lisa and Andrea, as the two top women you also inspired me to do things most women don't. It takes a lot to keep up with all those crazy guys.
John DC, if it weren't for you my intercostals wounldn't be sore. It's really cool! I'll be checking out some more of your stuff soon.
As for everyone else I made connections with:
Man, so many....
The couples with the accents, (tee hee) my partner in crime BJ, Amy, Frank, Missy, Zar: can't count how many times someone yelled out "let's see the abs" Ben: you are hilarious.
I don't know who else I forgot right now.
Overall, this weekend ROCKED. You are all so freakin cool and I cannot wait to see you all again. Ill keep you updated on the whole Russia thing. If you want pics email me. I took just a couple ;)
JEM.ROX@gmail.com
Oooh, now I can change my name....
Jennifer Morey RKC WOO HOO!
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John Du Cane: October 05 2005
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Great to meet you Jennifer and you did an awesome job.
Wonderful also to see you show up at the Iron Shirt Qigong class and I'm glad to hear your intercostals took a beating!
Now, there will be no stopping you in Russia...
When you become the new World Champion, don't forget us....
Good luck!
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Question
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GnrX: October 10 2005
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Com. John DuCane question about SPIRALIC RECHARGE exercise
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Hello Com. John Du Cane,
I got the (Qigong) Recharge manual and I love it! I've just started, but I already notice the difference in my degree of relaxation and calmness.
I have a question about performing the proper movement for the Spiralic Recharge movement.
1. When I am 'spiraling/circling upwards, does the spiraling originate in the wrist joint or the elbow joint?
2. (for both arms) When I spiral upwards, do i spiral in a clockwise motion and when I spiral downwards do i spiral in a clockwise manner as well? or do I spiral downwards in a counter-clockwise manner?
3. How big/small are the spirals supposed to be?
Thanks in advance John, i look forward to your response
bye for now!
GnrX
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John Du Cane: October 10 2005
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Good to hear!
1. The arm is spiraling as a unit, with the wrist and elbow spiraling simultaneously. There is some sense of additional origination in the elbow.
2. The right arm spirals up clockwise and down anti-clockwise.
The left hand spirals up anti-clockwise and down clockwise.
3. The spirals go through 180 degrees, with the arms moving up from the waist to opposite the shoulder. Keep the arms well away from the torso. Imagine you have a grapefruit under each armpit.
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Question
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GnrX: October 10 2005
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Com. John Du Cane, Qigong in Toronto?
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do you know of any good (Qigong) centers of teachers in Toronto, Canada?
thanks
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John Du Cane: October 10 2005
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I don't.
However, I recommend you visit the National Qigong Association's website at www.nqa.org where many qigong teachers list themselves.
Check the local Tai Chi schools also, which sometimes have qood qigong programs as part of what they offer.
Good luck!
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shaunc: October 11 2005
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RKC Weekend
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I have just returned to South Africa from attending the RKC weekend. Thanks to Brett Jones and fellow assistant instructor Thomas Phillips I learnt a lot and had a great time. To the team that I worked with. You did an excellent job. The improvement some of you made from the first to the last day was fantastic (reminds me of me when I did the RKC!).
Brett and Thomas thanks for competing with me in the beast challenge. It was awesome to compete with you guys and I wish you all the best in your journey into the beast hall of fame. To those who could have competed but didn't, don't pass up the challenge next time!
To all those who certified, congratulations! To those who didn't persevere, but if you don't you have to admit that you are better for the experience!
Cheers
Shaun Cairns
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John Du Cane: October 11 2005
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Keep an eye on our site... we will shortly be getting a page up chronicling your exploits in becoming the first official BEAST tamer.
Great job, great to see you and your wife Marlise again and nice to see South Africa leading the way with the BEAST!
Of course, being South African born myself, I expected no less from you... =)
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rifstonian: October 22 2005
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Marty's Gallaghers blog account of Pavels meet.
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As usual, Marty has perfect insight into the powerlifters mind.And I wish I would have seen Pavel pull.
http://www.martygallagher.com/
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John Du Cane: October 22 2005
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Pavel Tsatsouline is my closet fitness cohort insofar as how we think. We are sympacato all up and down the line. We come from two different worlds yet agree on nearly everything insofar as strength philosophy goes. Pavel wanted, as Picasso put it, “to be jerked from his torpor occasionally.” Nothing puts a fire into training like having a date with athletic destiny looming on the near horizon. Pavel weighs 170-pounds at 6-feet in height so his muscle density per inch of height ratio was going to be pathetically low compared to the staggering density-per-inch ratios of elite powermen. Still, he was on a mission. Pavel is a lifting machine and his deadlift technique goes past ‘technician’ onto ‘clinician.’ He is actually constructing a conventional deadlift technique that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen – and I’ve seen all the best deadlifters lift up close and personal…Walter Thomas, Lamar Gant, Danny Wolheber, Doyle, Heisey, Kuc, Chaillet, Vince Anello, the Great Ed, Cash…on and on. I really think Pavel is on the verge of perfecting a new style of deadlifting that, if teachable, could make its way into deadlift orthodoxy: the conventional, the sumo, the Pavel. Basically the technique requires the lift (using conventional stance) is commenced in standard fashion but when the barbell passes the knees the hips are shot forward in synchronization with a savage, martial-art style “KI!” breath. The net effect ends with the barbell locked out somehow without having to muscle the shoulders back into place. Quite extraordinary to observe and the more attuned the person to the subtleties of classical technique the more intriguing ‘The Pavel’ becomes. I had him teach it to some of the cat herd but its pretty subtle stuff.
Putting his technique to the test in the white-hot spotlight of national competition proved a great test-track shakedown cruise for the Pavel. Nothing brings out flaws and problems like limit lifts done in front of steely-eyed judges searching for technical infractions in order to turn down a lift. Pavel asked me to handle his attempts so in quick succession he made 440 and 463 before 479 stopped him. The first two were picture perfect and on the 3rd attempt his initial acceleration off the floor stalled and the height was insufficient (maybe six inches shy) for him to utilize his stylized lockout. I thought it weirdly déjà vu that he had devised a pre-lift foot stomp. This technique is designed to fire the lifter into a psychological frenzy the instant before lifting. The interesting part was that Pavel had unconsciously replicated a foot stomp my Zen Master powerlift sensei taught us to do prior to taking a squat out of the rack. This back in 1979. Pavel won the national title and afterwards asked my advice. If he decided to stay in the power game, I said, he should consider developing more density per inch of height. At a full 198 he would deadlift between 600 and 660. I said. He said he would take it under advisement
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Question
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ZachariahSalazarRKC: October 27 2005
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Pavel, Dr. Thomas Hanna...
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From one of his sites:
"Thomas Hanna, Ph.D. (1928-1990), was a philosopher who became a Functional Integration practitioner, and later developed Hanna Somatic Education® or Hanna Somatics. Thomas Hanna created the word "somatics" in 1976 to name the approaches to mind/body integration and his new magazine, SOMATICS MAGAZINE-JOURNAL OF THE MIND/BODY ARTS AND SCIENCES. "Soma" is a Greek word for the living body, which Hanna re-defined as the body experienced from within, where we experience mind/body integration.
Hanna Somatics is an approach to renewed control of the muscles through use of the voluntary motor system. The effects of the exercises are cumulative: the effects increase and you develop greater flexibility and ease of movement as you repeat them over time..."
He was the guy to coin the phrase Sensory Motor Amnesia (SMA) to describe the idea that if you fail to regularly use a bodypart/motion to its fullest, that part becomes less functional. We become less aware of that body area and therefore less able to use it. His principles also work around the basic syllogism that: if a lack of movement can cause depression and sickness, maybe an increase in movement and especially specific movments can improve both physical health AND mental health and outlook. Not ground breaking to anyone that has worked out after a layoff but ground breaking in the way that movment is so directly important to mental life/well being.
It is his SMA that, in his terms, is the reason for failure for the glute medius/minimus activation that helps to cause the loss of stability/knee tracking in the Pistol. Also why "touch training" (kicking the butt) helps to "wake up/make aware" of ones lateral drivers of the hip to keep the knee tracking properly in the pistol.
He was one of the first(not in origin just to try and make know to the general public) to try to develop movement patterns and touch training to "wake up" those body patterns. Cobbs Z-Health is a continuation of that as is Sonnons' Body-Flow et al.
See ya at the April RKC (finally!), zach_x@hotmail.com
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John Du Cane: October 27 2005
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both by text and in the classroom and learned a lot from him.
I frequently refer to him and to Somatics in my explanations of how qigong functions.
SMA as you probably know is caused by chronic overstimulation of the fight or flight response and tends to become a major issue from the age of 35 on, unless you perform somatic like techniques.
It is interesting that Hanna developed somatics from his knowledge and study of Feldenkreis who in turn developed is ideas as a high level martial artist looking for ways to heal his own serious leg injury.
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