Opening post: Achieving Rank 2 with World Kettlebell Club

I created this blog to have a record of my experience training with kettlebells. I began lifting kettlebells in January 2010, and I began my journey into the style of lifting used in kettlebell sport competitions (also called girevoy sport, or GS) in November 2011. At the time I began training in this style, I lived in a fairly isolated and rural part of the country, and I was not able to access traditional coaching or classes. As a result, I began teaching myself the various lifting techniques by watching online videos and reading blogs and forums.

But first, let me introduce my self. I'm 33 years old. I'm 5'10" tall and I weigh just under 75kg. My physical fitness background is quite varied: growing up I played golf at a fairly high level, and I played nearly all sports in junior club teams in various forms. I love to run, hike, bike, swim--you name it. If it's physical, I'm into it. Beginning when I was 21 years old, I trained and performed in modern and hip-hop dance for about eight years, and I eventually danced with a professional company for the last fours years. I have an associate's degree in dance performance, and I have trained extensively in Pilates, yoga, and many other forms of fitness and calisthenics. So to sum up, I have a very high level of body awareness and physical coordination, and I generally pick up new movement styles fairly quickly. Luckily, kettlebell sport was no different. In November 2012, I committed to training for a kettlebell sport competition. In order to lift at the World Kettlebell Club (WKC) World Kettlebell Lifting Championships, a lifter must be ranked at least Rank 3 with the WKC. This enables a lifter to compete with 20kg kettlebells. Being the competitive person that I am, I wanted to start at Rank 2.

 

The WKC Ranks progress in descending order--Rank 4 is lowest, then Rank 3 is more difficult, and so on. After Rank 1, a very highly skilled lifter enters the world of Master of Sport categories, which begin with Candidate for Master of Sport and culminate with the highest rank of Honored Master of Sport. So I began training on my own, and in January 2013 I submitted three videos to the World Kettlebell Club for my Rank attempt in Longcycle and Biathlon (which consists of two events: Jerk and Snatch). Although my technique is nowhere near perfect, I was able to successfully pass both Rank attempts, and I achieved Rank 2 status. This is where my real journey begins.

 

Currently, I am signed up for the Ice Chamber 2013 West Coast Kettlebell Sport Classic, which is being held in Richmond, CA on February 9, 2013. I plan on competing in Biathlon with 24kg kettlebells. This will be a real challenge and test, because I really worked hard to make Rank 2 with the 20kg bells, and I only have three weeks to prepare to lift two 24kg bells.

You can view my LongCycle Rank 2 submission here, and my Biathlon submission here (Jerk) and here (Snatch).

And this is where the genesis for this blog comes in...

Being the diligent researcher, I constantly peruse websites looking for good kettlebell knowledge, and in October 2012 I began participating in kettlebell-related conversations on the social-media site Reddit, which has a subsection (called a subreddit) dedicated to kettlebell lifting. This is where--quite serendipitously--I "met" Valery Fedorenko (also known as VF), who is the founder/head coach/chief adviser of the World Kettlebell Club. I had posted a few videos and responded to a few user comments on the kettlebell subreddit, and noticed one day that Coach Fedorenko had joined the site. I was excited to have his wealth of knowledge on the site, and I immediately said hello. He and I exchanged a few comments, and he never shot me down as being incorrect or a buffoon, so I was encouraged. I eventually asked

him if he knew of any training facilities worthy of the WKC in San Diego (my home), but he replied in the negative. He did, however, suggest that he could train me remotely over the Internet and telephone in exchange for my blogging about my progress and sharing that progress on various social media outlets. So that's what I am starting today! 

My first VF-prescribed workout begins today. I will let you know how it goes! I suspect he's pushing me a bit hard because I only have three weeks to train for the competition, but I'm up for it, and frankly, I trust his guidance. 

Lastly, I want to share a few thoughts about this blog in general:

• Although I am training with VF and therefore somewhat affiliated with him and the WKC, I am not a representative of the WKC, and the views expressed in this blog are mine alone and are not endorsed in any way by Valery Fedorenko or the World Kettlebell Club. (I'm also in law school, if you couldn't tell...how am I doing so far? ;)
• I will give my absolute honest opinion of my progress, to the best of my ability. In other words, I will attempt to be as objective as possible regarding my results and the quality of the training. I will not sugarcoat my experience just because I am training with VF.
• I will do my best to be as detailed and up front about the training and coaching experience, and I will do my best to answer any comments or questions, but if for some reason VF asks me not to share a training technique, then I will keep it confidential.

Thanks, and happy reading!