Very well written! Emphasis on the ‘earned’ part is important too. As a trainer with several nationally recognized certifications, the RKC is by far the most appreciated by me and my clients. Because the RKC is considered the ‘gold standard’ in kettlebell training and the toughest certification to achieve worldwide, the RKC sets a person apart from other trainers. Other trainers in the industry need to realize that the RKC is not a written exam and must be earned physically and thru instruction. I know from experience that clients recognize this difference.

~Cat Holman~
Columbus, OH

Great great post! You really have clarity of thought and eloquently lay out the rationale for your opinion. No one could communicate it this clearly and for that I “thank you.”

DVDs and books will get you started, but without someone providing corrections it is very easy to go the down the wrong path very quickly. I also teach martial arts, and this is a huge problem in the martial arts. Just because someone can learn A technique from a video or book doesn’t mean that they’ve learned all the subtle nuances of the technique or should proclaim him or herself a black belt or master. I can guarantee that if someone’s only learning is from video or books then they have only skimmed the surface and in fact haven’t learned crap. One day they’ll come across someone who truly KNOWS the technique and the difference in quality will be stark!

I know that this sounds harsh, but I’ve experienced this first hand many times from both points of view.

I was one of those guys. I had Pavel’s books and DVDs. I trained without consulting an RKC. I thought I had it all figured out… then I went to the RKC cert. Before the cert I could do 12 minutes straight of swinging a 62lb kettlebell (because I was doing it wrong). Within a few hours at the RKC cert my technique was corrected and improved to the point that doing a correct Kettlebell swing with a 35lb kb was way more challenging than the 62lb-er done incorrectly ever was.

Before I went to the RKC a kettlebell swing was just swinging a kettlebell.

While I was at the RKC I was blown away by all the detail, nuance and corrective drills that went into making everyone’s swing so much better. They had an arsenal of drills that were guaranteed to make the client feel what it is like to perform the technique correctly. All of a sudden the swing was no longer about swinging a kettlebell it was about mastering muscular tension and relaxation in the legs, glutes, abs and lats to an extent that swinging even a light kettlebell correctly became an awesome and punishing form of conditioning. There is no way I could have learned this material from a video or a book. This is just one of the things that makes the RKC so different from any other movement based learning experience I’ve had before. The RKC has proven drill methods that will make a client FEEL what it is like to perform a movement correctly, then the client will go directly into performing the movement.

As an RKC, from time to time I come across coaches and personal trainers that love kettlebells and are teaching them to their clients. They talk up a good storm and come across sounding intelligent and well educated on the subject. When I ask them what exercise progressions or corrective drills they use to take someone from zero to performing the swing safely and correctly they are lost. When I ask them how they assess someone’s movement patterns to determine if that person is ready for advanced techniques such as the kettlebell snatch I get a blank stare. When I ask them if they can one arm press ½ their bodyweight or perform 200+ snatches in 10 minutes with a 53lb kettlebell they fall silent. Then I watch their technique. I’m horrified to see what will ultimately result in massive injury both to themselves and to those they teach. To add insult to injury they are barely able to use a light kettlebells so they are not even close to receiving the maximum potential benefit a kettlebell can provide.

I would not recommend even the world’s most respected personal trainer if he or she is not a certified kettlebell instructor to teach even the most basic or remedial kettlebell techniques. My experience has shown me that a personal trainer or coach is no more qualified to teach kettlebell than I am to teach a golf swing.

Anyone can watch a DVD. Most people can read a book. Very few people can use a kettlebell correctly.
When it comes to teaching kettlebell, leave it to those that can do and have been taught how to teach.

“It’s my opinion that attempting to compare and RKC to 8 years of med school and a couple years of residency is out of line.”This is true. A 3-day RKC certification should in no way be compared to 8 years of med. school. Keep in mind that despite 8 years of med. school there are still bad doctors out there and not all med. Schools are created equal. Similarly, all kettlebell instructor certifications are not created equal.

“It all comes down to pieces of paper that indicate experience.”The paper any certificate is printed on is worthless. They are good and bad RKCs just as there are good and bad doctors. All certifications are not created equal. However, a certified individual has undergone training and experiences that the general population has not. While not every certified individual is qualified, there is an over abundance of unqualified individuals that are uncertified. If you are looking for quality, seeking out a certified individual is good place to start.

Thanks for your feedback. I don’t think I communicated my points well enough.

There is nothing wrong with a DVD. For workout ideas etc. But instruction IMHO opinion includes feedback and a DVD (at least today) can’t do that.

Many, many folks I have trained who are self taught kettlebell enthusiasts needed more than a few new movement patterns to become safe and proficient kettlebell users.

I get coached by other RKCs monthly and if I didn’t I would not keep improving. Pavel has a frickin’ coach!:)

Mirrors can be abused if you become too reliant on them, I think.

For what it’s worth, Dr. JEnn MD was simply saying it seemed to me that everyone is best served by staying in the area of expertise. I train many ways myself. The only thing I teach is Hard Style Kettlebell Practice. Doing anything else would make me a fraud.

A lot of personal trainers and especially kettlebell guys seem to collect certification like they were a rare commodity. A lot of them seem to be using them as a substitution for what they are supposed to represent, experience. It’s not necessarily unfair to call this chick out on her technique but to say a cert is the only way to go is a bit off. A lot of RKCs had their first lessons from one of Pavel’s DVDs. Pavel doesn’t posses a magical juju that allows him to teach better via DVD than anyone else. So it’s a bit unfair to call out all video learning as inherently bad.

It’s my opinion that attempting to compare and RKC to 8 years of med school and a couple years of residency is out of line. That said, the same thing could be argued there. A medical degree denotes nothing more than experience. There was a time when medical degrees were new and at that time, it was generally healthier to go to non-licensed doctors than licensed ones. The reason is that the non-licensed doctors had been doing it for years, even decades, all the licensed ones had only been doing it for less than a decade. It all comes down to pieces of paper that indicate experience.

Dave

Love your comments. Class isn’t necessarily a beginner’s class. So far we have 6 RKC signed up to attend. Beginner’s are welcome for sure but everytime I meet with another RKC I seem to pick something up so I’d hope you’d learn a few things at least!

As for scuba, back in the day, before it became a regulated industry needing certified instructors, that’s how you learned. Found someone with gear, or bought your own, trial and error.

There were these things called J-valves. You had no idea how much air was in the cylinder and when it stopped supplying air, you reached back and adjusted this rod, that opened the secondary valve. Which usually gave you enough air to hit the surface. You also hopped that it didn’t get hit on the dive while you were in the wreck. Otherwise you were in big trouble.

Oh, and is the class in June a beginner level class? I’m sure you guys will have something to nitpick my form about (if I make it).