Florida Kettlebell Championship,
Jan 25th, 2003.
Temperatures were in the high 50's, with lots of sunshine when
3 gireviks arrived for the first ever Florida State Kettlebell
Lifting Competition. The competition consisted of two events,
the 1 arm snatch and the 2 kettlebells clean and jerk ( 1 clean,
multiple jerks ). Each event was for maximum number of repetitions.
Competitors chose whether they would be competing with either
32 kg kettlebells or 24 kg kettlebells. The competitors then got
weighed and were put into weight classes.
The competitors in the first event, the 32 kg one arm snatch,
were Ken James, a former corpsman in Recon Battalion and myself,
Christian Rubio a certified kettlebell instructor. Both Ken James
and I weighed in at the over 90kg weight class. A coin was flipped
to determine who went first, Rubio won the coin toss and selected
Ken James to go first.
Ken James, a.k.a. exrecondoc, going barefoot, wasted no time
snatching the 32 kg kettlebell 33 consecutive times with his left
hand, then switched hands on the fly and matched the 33 repetitions
with his right arm. "That's a personal record" he said
afterward.
Ken James performs a snatch with the 32kg kettlebell.
Then it was my turn. I started with my left arm and cranked out
33 reps, but my grip failed on the 34th rep, so I had to settle
for a tie. I then cranked out 33 reps with my right arm and finished
with a few more reps left in the tank also a personal record.
Chris Rubio executes a snatch with the 32kg kettlebell.
Next up, Jacksonville's own Darren Kahler, shored up the 24 kg
kettlebell division title, with a personal record 15 consecutive
snatches with the 24 kg kettlebell. Darren weighed in in the 80kg
weight class.
There was the mandatory 15-60 minute break in between the Snatch
and the Clean And Jerk. During the break, the competitors discussed
technique and training.
Darren Kahler demonstrates the Good Morning stretch and Chris
Rubio demonstrates the Side Press. These were elements they included
in the training process leading up to the competition.
Approximately 48 minutes after completing the first event, Ken
James was up first in the two kettlebells clean and jerk. An event
that looks easy at first, but gets harder with every repetition,
Ken gave it everything he had with an outstanding performance
of 21 consecutive Jerks.
I was up next, hoping to pump out at least enough reps to beat
Ken and possibly more. However I started running out of gas at
around 14 reps. Still not ready to quit, I put up 2 more reps
for a total of 16 consecutive jerks and decided to set the KBs
down.
Ken James won the competition with a personal record of 21
reps with a pair of 32kg kettlebells.
Ken James became the first person to ever hold the title "Florida
State Kettlebell Lifting Champion"
Darren Kahler, who had never previously jerked 2 kettlebells
simultaneously, gave a valiant effort and performed 4 reps in
the Clean and Jerk. So he goes down in the history books as the
first 24 kg Division Florida Sate Kettlebell Lifting Champion.
I had to settle for last place in my division, but a great time
was had by all. As all of us set personal records, we had much
fun and we all went away feeling good about ourselves. Yet another
amazing benefit from lifting the evil looking cast iron ball,
also known as the kettlebell.
Chris Rubio jerks a pair of 32kg kettlebells for a total of
16 reps.
After the match I had a chance to interview the winners.
Chris Rubio - Doc,
congratulations on winning the FL State KBL competition. How does
it feel?
Ken James - Thanks Chris, it feels great!
CR - How did
you get your start in kettlebell lifting?
KJ - I was a subscriber to MILO and I read one of Pavel's articles
entitled "Vodka Pickle Juice and Kettlebell Lifting".
I was intrigued because of my military background, I was interested
in endurance and strength endurance. I started doing snatches
and clean and jerks with a dumbbell after my power lifting practice
and I realized how fun it was. In the article Pavel mentioned
the DragonDoor.com discussion forum and I went over to it and
about 6 months later I bought my first kettlebell.
CR - How did you train for this meet?
KJ - Well I've been extraordinarily busy and I wanted to get the
most bang for the buck so I did strictly ladders. I would do a
1-5 or a 1-6 ladder without putting the KB down. i.e. 1L+1R+2L+2R
etc. without letting the kettlebell touch the ground. That equals
approximately 4-5 minutes of concentrated work. I also worked
drop ladders, which means I would do a 1,2,3 ladder with the 40kg
kettlebell and without stopping do a 1-5 ladder with the 32 kg
one. For the jerks I would do one clean for each rung of the ladder
and also did not let the kettlebell touch the ground. i.e. 1 clean
1 jerk, 1 clean, 2 jerks etc. After I was finished with my ladder
I would do sets of 10 snatches with a pair of 32kg kettlebells.
You've got to have hip snap if you want to do those. I also do
the evil wheel and the wrestlers' bridge. The whole workout takes
about 15 minutes.
CR - Thank you Doc.
CR - Darren, congratulations on your performance.
How did you start lifting kettlebells?
Darren Kahler - I was doing body building routines for about 2
or 3 years. I was a reader of Muscle Media and came across one
of Pavel Tsatsouline's articles entitled "8 Weeks to Unbelievable
Size and Strength". I was what is known as a Hard Gainer,
but I was impressed by the strength gains I made following Pavel's
program. So I went to his web site and order "Power To The
People". Shortly afterwards, I ordered "The Russian
Kettlebell Challenge" and a 1 pood kettlebell to hack off
the fat.
CR - How does it match up to your previous
bodybuilding routines.
DK - There is a huge difference between kettlebell lifting and
doing body building routines. I always dreaded doing the bodybuilding
routines, but with my RKC and PTP workouts, I look forward to
working out. It relieves a lot of stress and I get a lot of energy
from the workouts.
CR - What does your training look like?
DK - The routine I've been following lately was suggested by Will
Chung, who is one of the dragondoor instructors, who's been helping
me out via e-mail. It is not a prep routine. I do Side Presses,
followed by swings and snatches in order to improve strength and
burn off fat from the holidays. I also do pull-ups 3 days per
week, along with barbell squats and airborne lunges. I always
feel good after a workout, with less stress and more energy.
CR - Thank you Darren.
At the end of the day the results can be summarized in the following
table.
