Workshop Experiences

I felt a LOT less silly for setting 3 alarm clocks after the one from the hotel decided not to work Saturday morning.  There was NO WAY I was going to be late for the infamous high volume (work and learning) Saturday that we’d all been warned about.   After we all trundled onto the bus headed for the ESPN Wide World of Sports, some of us still artificially chipper from our various methods of caffeine consumption, we began our various tweets and conversations.   The bus ride was a little on the long-ish side so it was a good time to meet as many new people as possible – it was neat to find out what/why people had sought out the RKC certification and how they felt about the challenges thus far.   Many attendees had family members who were

Following yet another strictly timed and much needed break, we came back to learn about the Press as introduced and taught by RKC Team Leader Cortez Hull.   The proper performance of a kettlebell military press is highly dependent on the quality of the clean used to get the kettlebell to the pressing (rack) position – so it was obvious as to why we had learned the clean first.  It is commonly said by RKCs that the press is only as good as the clean – and this is absolutely the case – a bad clean that throws you off balance or worse will definitely not set up a powerful (or even successful) press.   Further discussion yielded differences in grip for the press vs the jerk – in the press, the handle of the kettlebell should be parallel to the calluses as oppos

Fresh, or fresh enough back from another break, we were introduced (or rather re-introduced, since most everyone had prepared for the initial RKC snatch test) to the kettlebell snatch by RKC Team Leader Franz Snideman.  The snatch is often referred to in the RKC as the "Czar of the kettlebell lifts" – mainly because practicing this intense exercise can lead to amazing strength and endurance gains.   The snatch and swing have done so much for me personally that its nearly hard to describe – the effect on other activities like running (people, having seen what I can do have said "I didn’t know you were a runner!" I reply "uummm I’m NOT!"), jumping higher, and over all general athleticism.  Things are just…

The new episode of DragonDoor.tv includes a video clip of me assembling Girya Girl Style Bacon Cheeseburger as the Dragon Dish! Enjoy the whole program though – DragonDoor.tv is always informative and entertaining. I met the host of the show,Amanda Salas, on the shuttle bus to the Orlando RKC site back in October. We had too much fun twittering back and forth and being silly – she’s awesome!

Look for me at 0:36 doing one handed swings!

Recognize anyone at 0:36 doing one hand swings?

It was fun, it was challenging, I don’t remember her asking me all those questions…? What do you think – could you do it? Are you ready for a challenge?

The time to launch GiryaGirl.tv approaches, and I just have to say that Amanda Salas and her crew are so much fun – we became friends on twitter shortly before the Orlando RKC and had a blast being complete nerds about it. The DragonDoor.tv shows have given me a lot of ideas of how I want to run my own – and this episode is of course my favorite – the Orlando RKC certification weekend recap! Somehow managed to get on there a few times (hair is pulled back), can you spot me?

Sometimes it writes itself, sometimes its a struggle… these last two are so very very important.   The good news for you is – it isn’t over as the RKCII looms large next week – and you bet I’ll be blogging about that too!

**Picking up where we left off a long long time ago recounting the Saturday night.  I have been hesitant to write the Sunday recaps for several reasons –

1. Felt like if I finished them, then somehow that would make it "over" – but now that the RKC2 looms brightly on the horizon of next month that is no longer a concern at all!

2. It gets emotional and a little surreal towards the middle/end.  Plus its come to my attention that a lot more people than I even knew about have been reading these recaps.  With my ‘unusual’ sense of humor (fun fact: sometimes it’s a stress coping mechanism!) there’s potential for harsh criticism.

Sunday at the Disney Wide World of Sports Pavilion thankfully began with another much needed Qigong Morning Recharge session – which unfortunately seemed all too short.   …Could easily be talked into attending a certification workshop for this as well – (HINT HINT, DRAGON DOOR).  Afterwards we reassembled into our teams for one final practice of the crucial RKC 6 exercises – the form tests would soon follow so this last time to run through everything and ask those last questions was super important.  The group "troubleshooting" sessions (where we would watch someone perform an exercise, then help them with fine tuning or whatever else needed fixing) were particularly beneficial – the critical thinking practice there continues to help me (and tho