The Kettlebell The Art of Strength

The Kettlebell The Art of Strength

The Kettlebell is one of my favourite training tools and dates back around 350 years to Russia when they were used as counterweights (called Girya), for the weighing of grains and other dry goods. However, it is up for debate as to whether this was their place of origin as other cultures had a handle on things many years before.

The Romans and Greeks with their love of all things chiselled from stone, trained with the Haltere (possibly a precursor to the kettlebell and dumbbell) as early as 700BC. Then there are the Shaolin Monks who used stone padlocks in similar ways and called it Suoguong (The Art of Stone Padlock) especially useful for training specific muscle groups in the practice of Martial Arts at the time of the 13th Century.

So as you can see they are steeped in history and are recognised today in challenging strength sports. So they ain’t no fad!

This article wouldn’t be complete without a mention of Pavel Tsatsouline who introduced the Russian Kettlebell to the West in 1998 and started the Kettlebell Revolution. He strongly believes that a faithful practitioner of Kettlebells will develop strength, endurance and flexibility without compromise and will experience the “What-The-Hell Effect!” So if you were to suddenly go outside and test yourself doing something you had never practised before you may find yourself performing with greater physical capability, skill and confidence, “What The Hell!” Who wouldn’t want this kind of transferable functionality? 

This brings me back to 2020 and the modern-day Kettlebell and its evolution. Just when you think it can’t get any better, new and exciting practitioners are now arriving on the scene, learning from the masters then practising their new skills with emphasis on imagination and flow, creating a more powerful and athletic body capable of operating at a whole new level in all planes of movement.

The Crux of it….

I love Kettlebells and I believe that there is no other form of resistance training that you can continually practice whilst developing synergy and flow.

They are not by any means the be-all and end-all in training; however, they date back in time and for me they truly are The Art of Strength, giving workouts a depth that fires up the body and soul.

I teach to those who want to learn and in doing so I am the eternal student.

Peace, Mike.