Pavel Tsatsouline Kettlebell Strength Training Weight Lifting Workouts Exercise and Flexibility Questions & Answers.

Pavel, Coach Glassman has kindly invited me to the CF certification this weekend. While I can only be there for the first day, I am excited about learning more about their methodologies and I will give a report about what I learn. 

Rodrigo is a master no doubt, and a true gentleman. I have the benefit of training with him, and I have not seen his DVDs, but I have seen him move and I can attest to his efficiency and knowledge of his craft. You can't go wrong with his stuff. Steve 

Hi Marty, The seminar begins at 2 pm on Saturdday, until 6, then we go to dinner and bombard Valera with questions for several more hours :-) On Sunday the instruction is from 10am-2. There will be open times before 2 on Saturday and afer 2 on Sunday in which Valera is available for private instruction. It will be very good to see you again and share a weekend of pain. Steve

http://home.ironcorelajolla.com/workshowevents.htm#Fedorenko 

Rif is right. This will be one exceptional DVD. Brett breaks down the essentials more clearly and concisely than in any kettlebell instructional that I've seen. It is not so much the breadth as the depth, which is the most important thing for coaches and trainers. As Rif said, Michael demonstrates everything exactly as it should be, with a healthy dose of his personality thrown in :-) While it can be impressive when someone shows a great variety of skills, I have always been most impressed by those teachers who can cover only a few topics, but go extremely in depth and approach from every conceivable angle that applies. This shows real understanding of the material presented. Brett and Michael make a great team, and the shirts they wore are going to be in demand along with the DVD :-) Steve Cotter 

Strong hands help all fighers, in all ranges. As a full contact fighter, in competition we did everythings except groundfighting. (punch, kick, elbow, knee, throws, sweeps) Years later, I now train in BJJ. While I am new to this game, I am finding that my grip strength has given me a distinct advantage. That said, positioning is most important. Knowing how to grab will make someone with an average grip feel very strong, especially if the gi is used. Assuming correct postioning and use of leverage is understood, a strong grip is a very powerful weapon for grappling. Steve Cotter

http://www.fullkontact.com 

This can cover several facets of training. I am under advisement to write an article on this idea:-) I will elaborate a bit more here, and then will have to expand further in an article, or even book (yes it is a pretty deep topic). 3 common flaws in preparation: 1)Lack of understanding of energy systems/demands involved in the execution of technique. Training "cardio" is one component of preparation, in that aerobic capacity is necessary for a well-conditioned fighter. However, strategy plays into how one should prepare. E.g. are you preparing to dance around a ring for 12 rounds, or are you training to knock-out the opponent in 30 seconds. Or both? One thing that is certain is that if a power fighter preps for a fight by spending a few hours on a bike, treadmill, elliptical, etc----he will become less powerful and less effective. This actually happens a LOT. Point 1 is really basic exercise physiology but it is surprising how often the energy demands of the sport are overlooked. 2)lack of systemization To achive peak conditions for a fight, there is more than just conditioning, sparring and drilling techniques; the art of recuperation is key, dealing with nutrition to rest to relaxation; the art of visualization is key--mental rehearsal is a huge part of the equation and at the elite levels is often the difference between first place and fifth place. 3)failure to emphasize mastery: this is prevalent now adays. The allure of fame has a lot of young men entering the fight game. They start out tough and get tougher. But the focus on MMA has people dabbling in this art and that, without really mastering any one range. That is fine when you stay at your level, but when they go into the levels with the top guys, they are completely outclassed. The best guys always have a mastery in one range, and THEN add to the overall by focusing on ranges they are not as strong in. what is better---8 months or bjj, 8 months of boxing and 8 month of muay thai; 2 years of all 3 practiced together, or 2 years of any one art with full immersion? Long term the one who has developed a degree of mastery in one range will be much better than the eclectics. Steve

http://www.fullkontact.com 

Interesting question. There are those who adhere to the purist approach, in which only "hsing-i" techniques will be applied. That's not me. I find truth in the idea that, "a punch is just a punch and a kick is a just kick," That said, hsing-i is and always has been my base---the mechanism behind the techniques. That was the case 8 years ago when I last competed in kuoshu and it is still true as I prepare to now compete in bjj style fighting. The 5 elements and 12 animals represent the totality of possible applications, throughout all ranges. In their base form, the 5 Elements teach and represent angular forces that can be applied by the human body and used as weapons: splitting (force), drilling, crushing, pounding and crossing. All possible techniques are one or a combination of several of the same 5 basic movements. So a jab is not propriety of a boxer any more than a wood punch is propriety of the hsing-i fighter. As for competitions, in modern sport fighting, the very large majority of 'fighters' use a win at all costs strategy. This is seen in boxing, kickboxing, kuoshu, etc. What this means is that, even in full contact events, many if not most of the fighers are really point fighters. If they have some power it's almost a bonus. You see guys dancing around like boxers, looking for points. Great for trophies, but says nothing about the true spirit and intent of the art. Olympic boxing is famous for the emphasis on points over effective fighting, evidenced at its worse when Roy Jones, Jr. "lost" to the South Korean in the 1988 Olympics. Kuoshu has become the same way, which is sad because less than 20 years ago, kuoshu was still competed with no gear, no weight classes and no interference by referee (no separation of fighters). This means they actually had to fight. That is never the way I trained or my school brothers. We always used tournaments as a testing ground for application. So, I used pure hsing-i in the sense that every movement was designed to penetrate---no dancing or point sparring. It's actually quite sad what has occured in modern sport fighting, even at the hightest levels. Lots of dancing going on. Steve

http://www.fullkontact.com 

Bill, "why bother with the karate punches and blocks if you are going to learn the boxing punches to use in a fight?" Yes, why bother? Tradition, mostly. Any technique will work if it is always practiced against the same people with the same habits. One reason that is overlooked. Not just in karate, but in Eastern fighting arts in general, punishment to the body is valued much higher than punishment to the head. In western culture and our fighting traditions, the opposite is true (the common 'head-hunting') This is because of the (belief) that the spirit is housed in the internal organs (particularly the heart). Whereas in our culture, one fighter just wants to dominate the other, in the Asian traditional arts, that is not enough. The fighter not only wants to kill the other, but more importantly wants to humiliate the man's entire lineage and ancestry. These arts grew out of warfare, not sport. So the emphasis on strikes to the body, were because of the desire to damage the spirit and thus the entire history of the opponent. Western boxing introduced a style of movement around the periphery of the opponent that brought in much more freedom as compared to the traditinal Asian approach of holding center. The main point of superiority of (good) Western boxing the typical MA has nothing to do with the hands so much as it does the footwork.  

Sean, I don't typically practice that lift, although it is a great one. Mechanically, the ribs do have to expand at the top. In my first dvd (volume 2 will be out in March), I talk about positions of strength and postions of Extrem compromise. In KB lifting, the racked postion and the overhead lock-out postion illustrates those positions clearly. One idea of strength training for fighting (full impact activities in general) is that we must learn to be 'open while closed, and closed while open; loose while tight, and tight while loose". Think of it this way: at the top of the high pull, what would happen if you received a strong blow to the ribs at that moment? The same is true in the OH lock-out postion. If the ribs are expanded/exposed, can you still learn to contracted the deep muscles while in the expanded (compromised) position? Thinking about how a movement/muscle action may change under impact as compared to how it would act without impact. This is any area of weight training that is very important, yet not commonly given much attention to. Steve

http://www.fullkontact.com 

the predominant style are boxing and usually muay thai. Frankly, those are the best hand and foot styles, respectively for the ring. Both basic, highly effective fighting systems. That said, ANY fighter in any style can be more powerful with internal training, and as the information becomes more commonplace, we will only see the fighters become more skillful and powerful. Just an example, if you watch some of the UFC, these guys are always talking about how ready they are because they have been really hitting their "cardio " in training. That shows a fundamental lack of understanding of how to prepare for a fight. Yeah, he may be a great fighter, but how good could he be if he learned how to train properly? That is a topic unto itself.