Kettlebells and Combatives

I started training with kettlebells a few years ago. Before that I was the standard gym rat trying to look like a body builder. While I always trained with heavy weights, i was still missing something when I had to fight. I always felt very stiff and bound up. The strength that I had was not as user friendly as I wanted it to be. I started researching different avenues online. I came across Clubbells and Kettlebells on the same night. My credit card was smoking from all of the purchases. I bought books and videos on both sets of tools. when they got here I started to see what felt right to me. I liked a lot of the Clubbell work, but found a home with the kettlebells.

I use both tools in my training, as they have a place. I use kettlebells about 95% of the time. I felt that the KB's represented a more complete system of training. With the kettlebells you are able to perform an almost infinite amount of exercises. If you can do it with body weight, barbells, dumbbells, cables or other tools you are able to do it with kettlebells. I think that the Get-up, the swing and the snatch are the three most beneficial exercises that a person can do for them selves. that is not to say that the other exercises are slouches, but those three exercises can hit every major muscle group in the body. They give you the most bang for your buck. I have seen people drop lots of fat and develop more lean muscle with those choices.

Not only did I improve my overall physical well being, I found that missing link in my survival chain. The kettlebells gave me more usable strength than I had from the regular workouts. I was more fluid and relaxed in a fight. I credit that to the relaxed tension of kettlebell swings and snatches, where you are loose and tighten up at the top of the movement. As a Defensive Tactics Instructor as well as the owner of a school, my students told me that they felt a different type of power development from me after starting kettlebells.

I will be writing an article about Kettlebells and Combatives this week. It will discuss how kettlebells improve movement in a combative environment.

stay tuned.

We will be holding a Kettlebell Seminar in November. I will post more this week. Please contact us if you are interested in attending.

Paul