Applied Karate #010 (mp3 - 11MB - 11 mins)

DOWNLOAD EPISODE 010 OF THE APPLIED KARATE SHOW

For this episode of The Applied Karate Show, I am pleased to interview a person who is not known as a karateka. Instead, our guest in Episode 10 is a world reknowned expert in stretching, strength and conditioning, and has spear headed the introduction to the west of an ancient tool called the kettlebell.

Pavel Tsatsouline, Master of Sports, is a former physical training instructor for the Soviet Special Forces, currently a subject matter expert to the U.S. Marine Corps, the National Nuclear Security Administration/U.S. Department of Energy, and the US Secret Service. Once a nationally ranked kettlebell lifter in the USSR, today Pavel leads the Russian kettlebell invasion of the US. Power by Pavel, Inc. spreads kettlebell propaganda through print and Tactical Strength, Inc. “explains it manually” in workshops.

Pavel has spent his life immersed in the study and practice of practical strength and muscle training, as it applies in the very hard testing ground of US and Russian special ops, the US Marines, SWAT, professional athletes, martial artists, gymnasts, powerlifters, weightlifters, Olympic champions and numerous others for whom results are everything and failure is simply not an option.

I first became interested in kettlebells because of their reported success in building functional strength and power, without necessarily building bulk. I saw that they had a similarity in design and function to several traditional hojo undo implements used in some forms of karate. I have now being using kettlebells for about 9 months, and have personally achieved some impressive gains in functional strength and conditioning. After having done a couple of kettlebell courses with one of Pavel’s Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC) instructors, Sydney-based Don Stevenson, I have become even more convinced of this tools applicability to the martial artist.

So I was very pleased when Pavel accepted my invitation to be a guest on the show. Please listen in as we discuss:

• Background and history of the kettlebell
• An interesting aside that Bruce Lee was an advocate of the kettlebell exercise called the swing
• Why a karateka should consider incorporating kettlebell training into their own regime
• Pavel’s contention that strength is a skill, and that the kettlebell swing is perfect for building relaxed tension akin to a karate technique
• Key kettlebell drills, including the swing and the Turkish getup (TGU)
• How a karateka can go about introducing kettlebell practice
• Pavel’s background in martial arts, including his study of a style called Applied Karate (!!) in the Russian military
• Breathing techniques to increase power generation, and a reference to work by Dr Stuart McGill’s work into breathing, back fitness and power.
• The Grease the Groove concept, and how it can be used to develop your technique
• The RKC system
• Pavel’s recommended books/DVDs for the karateka - particularly The Naked Warrior (about developing power through bodyweight exercises) and Enter the Kettlebell (which focuses on getting started in kettlebell training).

I highly recommend Pavel’s work, and suggest all karateka get these two books, and consider whether some of his concepts or even programs may be adapted into your own training. Kettlebells are rarely found in retail stores. In the US, you can order kettlebells through Dragon Door, and in Australia through Australian Kettlebells.

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Applied Karate #010 (mp3 - 11MB - 31 mins)

LISTEN HERE TO EPISODE 010 OF THE APPLIED KARATE SHOW

This entry was posted on Monday, February 12th, 2007 at 8:24 am and is filed under Podcast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.